The Average Shelf-Life Of A Band

I'd say three or four years. By then a band will either break up, hit mainstream, or go down the toilet altogether, and in the process alienate most of their original fans. BanRAB outlive their welcome all the time, they're what the music industry hangs onto.
 
i think the 3 album rule is a pretty solid concept IF the first album is a hit. if not, the 3rd album better score a few minor hits or have a very solid cult following or there won't be a 4th.
 
I'm not so sure I agree with this. It's certainly true of some artists, but there are also a lot of artists who take a couple albums before they really find their voice. Tom Waits, Faith No More, Ministry and Ween are all examples that come to mind.
 
I don't think Monster is great, but i like the overall "feel" of it. On the plus side, a couple of the songs were really awesome. Strange Currencies, What's the Frequency Kenneth?, and Circus Envy are some of my favorite latter-day R.E.M. tunes.
 
Meh. To me even the best songs on that album, like "Crush with Eyeliner", are merely mediocre. When it came out it was by far the worst thing they had ever released and it kind of killed my interest in the band overall.
 
Automatic For The People is my favorite album by them, though it kind of switches between that and Murmur. And I haven't heard New Adventures, In High-Fi, Document, or Accelerate.
 
Have you heard Up and Around the Sun? Up is awesome, and the songwriting on Around the Sun is pretty good but it suffers a lot because of the arrangements and boring instrumentation. The live versions of Around the Sun songs are awesome though. They add a much more rough feel to it.

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That said, I also think Reveal is perhaps their best since New Adventures. Imitation of Life is one of my favorite songs of the decade.
 
Strongly depenRAB on whether or not the band can maintain any sense of creative momentum and change over a long period of time ie Wilco,Radiohead,Modest Mouse. Otherwise the band will either a)lapse into a rut, b)peter out with nobody listening or c)collapse.
 
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