IMO that pattern is consistent, but not always the case. In general music is a matter of taste, but hardly anyone who likes some group like Pink Floyd thinks their early stuff was that great, and nobody really likes anything past the Wall half as much as their middle period. Whether you like them or not their biggest selling records are also the ones I think are any good. Some groups come out full blast, but I would say for you, groups doing embryonic styles like Industrial were too experimental right away. You're not alone, a lot of people prefer Industrial as a flavor, or the sub genres of it like EBM, Electro Industrial etc. I like a good amount of experimental music, so early Industrial is something I will put on every once in a while.BONES wrote: ↑Wed Oct 11, 2023 11:18 pmI don't think that's how it goes at all. I don't find much creativity in old Industrial music. They were just doing the best they could with the tools at their disposal. As the tools got better, it allowed them to do what they had probably wanted to do from the get-go. Die Krupps certainly never blanded out and by the release of The Crackdown, the Cabs had ceased being Industrial, long before they went completely to shit. Portion Control never blanded out, either, it just took them 30 years to put out anything worth listening to.machinesworking wrote: ↑Wed Oct 11, 2023 4:22 pmIMO groups in general have periods where they're creative and have solidified their sound into something coherent, but aren't desperate yet and trying to bland out their sound for the masses.
Don't get me wrong, I like some of their early stuff, Voice of America, Living Legends and 2x4 (the EP I think is named that?), I just also like Micro Phonies, Crackdown, Arm of the Lord etc. I'm not as into the later stuff, it sounds too radio friendly. You can clearly hear IMO the middle period as being a perfect balance between cut and paste dada noise and dance music. IMO Virgin didn't have a clue on what to do with them, they should have been much bigger in the USA.That's pretty much how I see it and it's the middle period stuff that shows their original intent, I think, and it's better gear that allowed them to realise it. It was the same for me - I did the best I could with the equipment at my disposal, and my limited talent and skill, but it's only really been the last 25 years or so that I've been able to express myself the way I had always wanted to. That makes me realise that the other factor putting pressure on these artists would have been record companies. The Cabs were signed to Virgini and you can bet Virgin wanted to see results.(Cabaret Voltaire's) early stuff is mostly just noise and their later stuff is just dance music, they have a decent middle period.
