“If you love something, let it go.” This could be the thesis of this article. When thinking about my favourite bands, local or international, most of them are dead (broken up).
And that’s the reason why I love them so much: the memories associated with them is what keeps them alive in my mind. I hate seeing a band stick around for too long or replace members just to fade into obscurity, or simply have the members not recognize their own potential.
For example, nu-metal band Slipknot came out with their first release in three years on September 9th with their new single “Arsenal.” The track features the newest version of the band’s lineup.
In my opinion, the track is a redundant mess of nu-metal cliches and stupid lyrics that make for a cringey attempt from the group to try and capture the band’s original sound, while only having half of the original members. Everyone tore this song to shreds and for good reason, the first two slipknot albums are truly some of my favourite guilty pleasure albums and I wasn’t afraid to admit that… until now.
I think this phenomenon boils down to a few things. The first, which mostly affects bigger bands and artists, being that record labels don’t want their bands to stop making music because it’s too big of a loss to the label. That’s why you often see bands sign deals with their labels that force them to produce a certain amount of albums for their contract.
This really boils down to major record labels being slimy, and cutting deals that do not favour the artist, but that’s really a bigger problem than what I’m talking about. The result of these label deals are bands leaving their original sound and being forced to crap out albums that are rushed and sub par.
The second, which affects smaller bands, is some kind of hometown blindness. I think when bands find moderate success within their hometown they want to keep the magic going, to keep their band in the public eye, and to keep having people engage with them. However, in my opinion, from being in many bands and being heavily engaged with the music community, I’ve often seen bands reach a certain point and linger around the same bars/venues for years.
Which for the record, there’s nothing wrong with that! It is incredibly commendable to find comfort in the bar scene and commit to being reliable musicians that play the bar circuit. I just wish more bands would recognize that the potential of the individual members of the band branching off and forming projects independently is much more beneficial for the musical community of whatever city you perform in and for yourself creatively.
All in all, I don’t think if you are happily in a band you need to end it in order to progress as a musician per se, but nobody’s first band is ever going to be their best band (I know mine wasn’t).
But take a second to look back on some of your favourite bands, think about how much more fondly you’d think of them if all they had released were those first two really good albums.
What’s most important is that you keep making music, analyze how you’re making it, and think about how you could be making it differently. Don’t be afraid to step out of your comfort zone, even if it means letting go of that band that might be stopping you from realizing your full potential.