Disappointing, Dull New Albums

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I know it's so trendy to be like, "I liked their old stuff better!" But frankly I'm quite sick of so many new albums being disappointing, showing no creativity and only managing to have a few good songs. Albums I WANT to like...but don't. Can't make it through most of the songs because most just sound so...boring. Like the artist just doesn't have what they used to, and rather than growing as an artist they're regressing to being more bland and/or commercial. It's irritating.

My examples:
-Angelspit - "Blood Death Ivory"
-Cradle of Filth - "Thornography" (but hey, I liked parts of "Nymphetamine" okay...the song I've heard from "Godspeed on The Devil's Thunder" hasn't seemed to good though!)
-Danny Elfman - Most of his post-"Sleepy Hollow" stuff
-Dark Sanctuary - "Exaudi Vocem Meam [Part I]" (it's good but it can't even TOUCH "Les Mémoires Blessées"
-Disturbed - "Indestructable" (not that they were ever that creative but hey they used to be better than this!)
-The Dresden Dolls - "No, Virginia" (fortunately Amanda Palmer's solo album made up for it)
-From First to Last - "From First to Last" (what's the point without Sonny Moore and Wes Borland? "Heroine" was fantastic...)
-Hanzel Und Gretyl - "2012: Zwanzig Zwolf" (...though I do love "Fukken Uber Death Party" and "Heil Hizzle Mein Nizzle" is pretty funny just for its name)
-Korn - anything after "Issues" (not that I've ever been a fan)
-Linkin Park - "Minutes to Midnight" (again, never been a fan, but I think their first two albums are a hell of a lot better than this emo crap!)
-Marilyn Manson - "Eat Me, Drink Me" (though it's grown on me quite a bit)
-Mushroomhead - "Savior Sorrow" ("XX" = brilliant. This? Not so much)
-Orgy - "Punk Statik Paranoia" (to be fair I like some of it okay, but compared to "Vapor Transmission" it's terrible)
-A Perfect Circle - "eMOTIVe" (I love APC but I didn't love this)
-Rammstein - "Rosenrot" (bland, bland, bland, what happened?)
-Rob Zombie - "Educated Horses"
-Sleepytime Gorilla Museum - "In Glorious Times" (for some reason it just doesn't do it for me much)
-Slipknot - "All Hope Is Gone" (title pretty much says it all, it's disappointing as hell!)
-Virgin Black - "Requiem - Fortissimo" (to be fair I just don't like the style of extreme metal that this album does, and those that do ate it up...I much prefer the classical/metal hybrid of "Requiem - Mezzo Forte" and the sweet darkness of "Sombre Romantic")
-Zeromancer - "ZZYZX" (though the bonus tracks, "New Madonna" and "Gone To Your Head," are lovely, and the samples from "Sinners International"--which HAVE BEEN ONLINE FOR LIKE FOUR YEARS NOW WITH NO WORD OF WHEN THE ACTUAL GODDAMN ALBUM WILL COME OUT--have all been fantastic.)

What are your disappointing albums to come out in the past 5 or so years?

Gotta disagree with Disturbed, KoЯn, and Slipknot. However, although I love Rob Zombie's Educated Horses, I admit it's a big change from his earlier stuff.

I agree with almost everything you've listed. I'd have to add KMFDM's remix album, Brimborium. I usually like remix albums but this one just disappointed me. Other than that, AFI's most recent album, Decemberunderground, is so different from their old stuff! I do still like it but it seems like such a great departure. Of course, I know, it isn't THAT new, but still.

I don't like Metallica's new stuff at all. Once I heard St Anger, I was off their new stuff completely. Yuck.

Oh! And I can't forget.. I used to love Coldplay. But Viva La Vida.. the entire thing is just poo. I like the single but that's it.

These days if a band/artist has released something I think is great, I usually take it for granted that they won't come up with anything to match up to it again so I won't be so disappointed. And when I'm wrong, I'm pleasantly surprised, which is nice I guess.

The only bands that have been mentioned so far that I am familiar with and listen to are Korn, Slipknot and Metallica and I gave up on them at an earlier stage - I haven't bothered hearing their latest material.

You didn't like No, Virginia? That was B-sides and stuff not good enough to make Yes, Virginia. It's not like it was their best work from the outset.

I'm going to go ahead and buck the trend here.

For one thing, I like Metallica's 1990s stuff better than their 1980s stuff, and think the selling out accusations are BS. However, based on the new songs? NOW they've sold out.

Slipknot, I think their last two albums are far better than their first two.

And I think Machine Head's The Blackening is their greatest record.

I wasn't exactly thrilled with Boris' current 'Smile' CD, though the last song on it is not only good, but a great example of modern Shoegaze.

Yes, the new Dresden Dolls album was a compilation. Of course it's not gonna be as good as the rest of their stuff.

"The Day That Never Comes" (the new Metallica song and their first US Top 40 charting single since the pretty good "The Memory Remains" is among the biggest wastes of 8 minutes ever. Now i'm sad. Death Magnetic is gunning to be the second garbage album in a row for them.)

I'm a huge fan of Testament, but their new album is somewhat dissapointing to me. Though they did get back Alex Scolnik who is an amazing lead guitarist, the songs seems less powerful and creative.

I LOVE all the bands you mentioned... I have to say I feel the same way. The last albums I actuallty liked were Disturbed, Kill Swtch and some of All that Remains... LP, though -- they failed the worst.

corporate rock still sucks.

have a cigar, you're gonna go far. the band is terrific, that's what i really think. by the way, which one's pink? - is pretty much how it seems to work.

I generally agree with you and would like to add NIN's The Slip, because I really wanted to like that album, but couldn't for some reason.

On a side note, A Perfect Circle's eMOTIVe is a cover cd, so the only thing by them is Counting Bodies Like Sheep to the Rhythm of the War Drums (Passive was originally supposed to be by a band called Tapeworm which had people from NIN and Maynard). That being said, I liked most of it.

I absolutely adored Cascada's first album, "Everytime We Touch". But... their new "Perfect Day" album is anything but perfect.

Most of the songs lack the energy and rhythm that made the first album so addictive, and the signature track is a bad cover of an otherwise good song ("What Hurts The Most"). As a matter of fact, pretty much every one of Cascada's cover songs is horrible. They should leave that department to Groove Coverage, whose covers actually sound better than the originals.

... But, I digress.

Anyway, the one song I did enjoy from "Perfect Day" was "Dream On Dreamer", which sounded a lot like the stuff from their first album.

I still didn't like it. I won't hold it against them of course.



Yeah, I know, but "Passive" was the only really good song IMO. And technically the Tapeworm version of it was different, so the eMOTIVe version was basically an APC song. And "Counting Bodies Like Sheep to the Rhythm of the War Drums" wasn't even a new song, it was basically a remix of "Pet." Bottom line, I just don't like the album, I think it lacks creativity. An entire album of covers isn't something I'll necessarily hate, but the fact that it seems to have been APC's swan song makes it all the worse.

I think The Stooges should have never reunited and made a new record. I thought that record was awful.

The new New York Dolls record (with 2 original members, the other 4 being dead) did not impress me either, but at least it was listen-able - playing in the background during a small party.

I had no intention of even buying that. It had no chance of being any good.

If you ask me, the one album that a lot of metal fans are despising lately is Cryptopsy's new album "The Unspoken King" because of the clean vocals and metalcore influence. Although I haven't heard it yet, I do believe those people, and plus Matt McGachy is a crappy vocalist, Lord Worm from what I have heard was a great vocalist. But if I was to hear it, I would certainly have every reason to believe that this album is a very bad album. Also, I have heard that Metallica's new album "Death Magnetic" has gotten great reviews and it destroys St. Anger by a long shot, even though I also haven't heard Death Magnetic yet, I will certainly concur that Metallica have come back to their original roots.