Bands who broke up too early.

My first thought! They made a lot of great music in a short amount of time.

 

Arc Angels. Just saw violetvinyl posted about them already. Apologies. I do love this album cover, though.

 

The Zombies
Creedence Clearwater Revival
Blind Faith

 

Some have been mentioned but...

Roxy Music
10cc
Rockpile
Little Village

 

Thunderclap Newman

 

the Silver Jews with Stephen Malkmus

 

Aphrodite's Child. The band broke up before 666 was released.

 

The Bears

 

agree with New York Dolls
Oysterhead it's was a great project too.

 

The Blues Project. Too much talent, diversity, and clashing egos for one band to contain for very long, but after making a brilliant album like Projections, if they could have kept it together, they possibly could have had another masterpiece of 2 in them. In fact, after Al Kooper and Steve Katz broke away to form Blood, Sweat and Tears and made the brilliant Child Is Father To the Man, Al Kooper said it could just as easily have been the 4th Blues Project album. Danny Kalb and a few others regrouped under the name but it wasn't the same.

 

I love both volumes of Use Your Illusion, too. But it's actually a bit dumb releasing so many songs at the same time. They better had saved some material for a later release.
Even both CDs run more than an hour each, which means they could've been 2 or 3 separate albums to bring out between 1991 and 1994.

 

My votes are all reruns, but hey why not

CCR
Uncle Tupelo
Television

 

Alphaville

 

Blind Faith
Dali's Dilemma
ARK
Messenger
The Datsuns

 

Yes. The debut is stunning, and The Menace is very good too. Lots of talent in that band. A shame drugs got in the way.

 

That's exactly what I'm talking about.

 

If I were selfish: ABBA. But, for their own reasons, they disbanded at just the right moment. They said that they would go on as long as it was fun. When it stopped being fun, they threw in the towel. And I admire and respect them for it, even though I could have used a few more albums of top-notch ABBA hits.

Still, mustn´t grumble. They gave us enough to chew on for the next decades. And then some.

 

The Raspberries and REM. Both for my own selfish reasons. It was probably time for both of these bands to move on. The Raspberries reunited once for a tour, wonder if REM will ever do the same?

 

Beatles
Velvet Underground
Sex Pistols

 

First one I thought of when I saw the thread title. They were just getting really interesting when they called it quits.

 

Yes! I have that album and the second one probably on MP3's. Damon Harris actually got better as he went along. My favorite from the s/t is "Man and Woman." The Pac is Back had a nice cover of the Delfonics "Somebody Loves You."

The Ebonys were very good but they had the misfortune of signing with Buddah Records in the mid '70s (like the Futures) and Buddah wasn't a good home for either. I like this group, great loud lead vocalist...[

 

Fairground Attraction

 

Re The Zombies they were rather like the original Moody Blues - both began on Decca in the UK with a BIG HIT ('She's Not There' / 'Go Now') then had a few minor UK chart hits and a 1965 album each....but then undeservedly both began going downhill on the record success side despite some great imaginative original singles and while The Moodies had their big 'regeneration' in late 1966 and went on with Justin Hayward to greater things sadly The Zombies despite also making great new music in a similar style just at the time got rather overlooked

Being a group whose image was the opposite of most like The Stones, Yardbirds, Pretty Things etc probably cost them at the time - The Zombies consisted of clearly intelligent middle class young men who had been well educated (a background the likes of Mick Jagger played down) the five Zombies were not very fashonable at the time - tho' their music became stronger and stronger when (like The Moodies) they dropped trying to do American blues / R & B and did THEIR own original music instead

Decca never plugged them that strongly and their contract expired in 1967 - the UK wing of CBS signed them up and they themselves paid towards doing 'Odyssey and Oracle' (released in the USA largely thanks to Al Kooper)

the touring had got less lucrative and over time very boring and by late 1968-1969 a few members wanted to drop out - drummer Hugh Grundy and I think guitarist the late great Paul Atkinson (a superbly underrated sophisticated guitarist) had enough of the grind and each left the active music scene, Colin Blunstone was thinking of going solo and Chris White & Rod Argent were already thinking of the prototype band that became Argent

of course 'Time of The Season' then posthumously for the group (apt) became a monster hit while the 'O & O' album also then got it's deserved belated praise which led CBS to want another album - A set culled from various songs, 'B' sides, and album out take tracks was put out but despite lucrative offers Rod refused to reform the band then - Hugh and Paul would very likely not have been interested anyway while Chris took a backroom role writing for Argent but not involved in the band itself as Rod's cousin Jim Rodford and ex-Roulettes Bob Henrit and of course Russ Ballard comprised the seventies outfit - who still performed 'Time of The Season' in concerts

so The (original sixties) Zombies began and ended their band life with a big hit...but in between their great music received too little public acclaim which left at least two band members feeling disillusioned and tired, hence the all too quick demise of a classic underrated band ! (who like The Moodies ought to be inducted into that Hall of Fame - for their influence on others let alone all their great music)

George Harrison rated The Zombies very highly !

re brief career bands - The Seahorses made just one fine album then were gone

The Long Ryders were another great band gone too soon after about three fine albums

 

Agreed.

>But of course The Beatles were so prolific; they recorded more music in eight years than most bands did, or ever will (bands that have been around for decades). Some bands nowadays release two long players in eight years, if we are lucky. One album every three or four years seems to be the norm with today's artists.

>>The Left Banke had one album with the original lineup...would have loved them to have recorded quite a few more!

>>>A few more albums with Syd still in Pink Floyd would have been sweet! Shine on you crazy diamond.