4 rock bands who should be ashamed of what they became

Three of the bands that follow have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. There is a bit of mystery about the one that hasn't (OK, that one is REO Speedwagon) because they seem like the kind of band the Rock Hall would want to enshrine. They haven't been on the ballot, though.

The problem with the Hall and the bands that follow is that it works a bit like the Pro Football Hall of Fame. One has a few good years and...boom! They are in. Are they truly worthy? Maybe not.

Each of the bands below did have some snappy tunes, but how the groups ended up is another story. Anyone should be able to make a couple of excellent albums, but sustaining greatness is a different issue. The following musical artists could not.

Four rock bands that got worse as they got older

Fleetwood Mac

As Fleetwood Mac devotees will know, the group began in England as more of a blues-rock band. They were actually pretty good, but that was not going to bring in the coin. After numerous lineup changes with the band, Mick Fleetwood decided to cross the pond to Los Angeles and that is where he met a folk-rock duo called Buckingham Nicks. The group consisted, of course, of Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks.

Nicks and Buckingham joined Fleetwood Mac, and the blues was thrown out, and so was the folk. Instead, the group churned out self-important music that gained a lot of radio play and fooled people into thinking their songs about band members being in relationships with themselves was good. It was glossy, overproduced rock-like drivel that had no soul.

Chicago

The same can be said of Chicago as Fleetwood Mac to some degree. Peter Cetera and the boys were not bluesy, but they did try their hand at some prog rock and jazz-rock. They at least attempted to do something different than the sad music they would churn out in the 1980s. After all, "25 or 6 to 4" is not a terrible song.

But then 1982 happened, and any good artistic sense Chicago might have had went right out the proverbial window. This was when the band began production of saccharine awfulness such as "Hard to Say I'm Sorry." But later in the decade, they got even worse with drivel such as "You're the Inspiration." Hurting music culture, sure, but the band made a lot of money from that terrible stuff.

REO Speedwagon

In the late 1970s through 1981, REO Speedwagon was not bad. They churned out singles like "Time for Me to Fly" and "Take It on the Run," which might not exactly be Led Zeppelin, but they are fine rock songs nonetheless. The band simply must have wanted more (money), however, because after 1980, the band's musical direction took a turn.

By 1984, REO was making songs like "Can't Fight This Feeling." If a musical artist's priority is to create songs to be heard at middle school dances, then the band should stop. Unfortunately, all the money that came from sugary pop puffiness came with a price, and now the band cannot stop fighting and has decided to stop gigging altogether because they just cannot get along.

Foreigner

We here at AudioPhix have long known that mentioning Foreigner in any negative way will cause a huge backlash. The band's dozens of fans are strong. Good for them because everyone should have such a devoted fandom. That doesn't make the band any better, though.

Oh, Lou Gramm and his sometimes mates (like every band on this list, the group has undergone a lot of lineup changes) could make good music. Most of the band's singles through their Foreigner 4 album are pretty good, but then Foreigner put out Agent Provocateur, and they lost touch with what it meant to make proper rock music.

For every "Hot Blooded" in the band's early years, there is an "I Want to Know What Love Is" in the later ones. Just sad, really. Money is fine, but better earned if fans follow the music than the music following the fans.

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