Bands with strong outputs after a long history...

...of successful releases

although it often seems to be the case and somehow natural, that a bands output-quality declines looking back on a long history of successful releases (e.g. YES..), there are bands that still come up with very strong albums.

they surprise with very good albums that catch up with their most admired works and might even top them.

bands that come to my mind here are of course IQ but also the Flower Kings and Spocks Beard - they recently seem to have crafted albums, that show them as strong as ever (at least what one can tell by the ratings here on PA).

are there other bands, that surprised us with awesome albums although their predecessor albums maybe weren´t that much critically acclaimed? what could be the reasons for this? do lineup changes play a role here or a turn in terms of  style?

discuss (if u want)!

Edited by octopus-4 - July 04 2014 at 08:35

Nogbad_The_Bad wrote: I'd put forward the avant bands Univers Zero, Present, Magma, Cheer-Accident, Miriodor and Thinking Plague. All these bands recent releases have been comparable to their best stuff.

OK, but I think the OP is looking for variable factors that might have an influence on quality over time e.g how long have a band been together and what personnel changes might have served to elongate or shorten  their shelf life etc?

Steve Hackett is vey prolific now and fresh. There are albums in the 90s and especially the 2000s that stand up against his 70s masterpieces. In part I think this is because of his current line-up and because of he's in charge of his own productions.

octopus-4 wrote: Need more?

I can't speak for Magma but I don't see how Gilmour fits in with the OP. He's not even made that many solo albums.

Recently, there have been good releases from Camel, Steve Hackett, Uriah Heep, Deep Purple, among others.

To elaborate on the "why", I think it has to do with a confluence of maturity with inspiration.  Maturity typically leads to conservatism, but occasionally it will result in a wild hair up one's butt and lead to some real crazyass creativity.  I think that's what's happened to Swans and Cheer-Accident, for example.

HolyMoly wrote: To elaborate on the "why", I think it has to do with a confluence of maturity with inspiration.  Maturity typically leads to conservatism, but occasionally it will result in a wild hair up one's butt and lead to some real crazyass creativity.  I think that's what's happened to Swans and Cheer-Accident, for example.

this! is another awesome description of what might be a reason for the posthype-brilliance phenomenon
thanks for your creative input!