I prefer their old stuff

. . .

We all know what this means. Some of us are guilty of it. Some of us feel no guilt about it. Some of us think others should feel guilt about it.

I was in the latter camp for a while. Then I started shifting to the first camp, and then the second.

I’ve thought about this issue for years. It’s impossible not to when one writes about music. For every album one reviews, there’s a person (or a hundred) who says, “I prefer their old stuff”.

My mental framework on this issue has remained constant for years. My personal tastes have not, so my position along this framework has changed.

. . .

Here are my two general principles regarding “I prefer their old stuff”.

1. For bands that operate through raw intensity, the old stuff is better.

2. For bands that operate through technicality and/or melody, the later stuff is better.

. . .

The reasoning behind these principles is simple. Raw intensity thrives on youth. As bands age, they lose a step. Also, raw intensity only goes so far as a modus operandi. Usually after three albums, it starts repeating itself. Thus, you often see bands transitioning from principle 1 to principle 2. They start “growing” and “exploring new ideas”. Kylesa and Nasum are examples of this.

Technicality and melody – songwriting, really – are crafts, however, that take time. If a band’s material is complicated, it often takes it a record or two to acquire the chops and tightness to do it service. Shadows Fall and Between the Buried and Me are examples of this.

Of course, exceptions exist for these principles. In the raw intensity camp, later Converge is better than early Converge. In the technical/melodic camp, early Helloween is infinitely preferable to later Helloween.

One trump card for these principles is production. If a band becomes successful and moves up the record industry chain, it often gets bigger budgets that result in sterile production that renders newer stuff inferior to older stuff.

Another is mastering. In the past five years, the majority of metal records, whether raw and intense or technical and melodic, have had over-loud, over-compressed mastering that, for me, automatically renders newer stuff inferior to older stuff. The newer material might be superior, but I have such an allergic reaction now to over-compressed mastering that it often ruins quality material for me.

My tastes have shifted from technical/melodic to raw/intense. For what I like, the earlier stuff is usually better.

I find no triumph or shame in that.  Go with your gut, and let the chips fall where they may.