Strange Loyalties

Scott Hardie | January 15, 2016
Is there a musical artist that you discovered during a strange period in their career, and the music of theirs that you love is the least popular among their longtime fans?

I suppose the same question applies to an author or other artist, if you have a similar case.

Erik Bates | January 15, 2016
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Samir Mehta | January 15, 2016
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Scott Hardie | January 15, 2016
I liked "Losing My Religion" and (ugh) "Shiny Happy People" once upon a time, but I didn't really get into R.E.M. until Monster, their electric album that sold a gazillion copies but remains distinctly unpopular among their "true fans." I think the album sounds like R.E.M. and has some deserving hits, and it's not all loud. To each their own.

Erik Bates | January 17, 2016
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Scott Hardie | January 17, 2016
Another case for me is Iron Maiden's The X Factor, an album despised because it came from a brief dark period when longtime singer Bruce Dickinson had quit the band. Temporary replacement Blaze Bayley isn't a bad singer himself, and there were some heartfelt songs and one epic song in the mix. But it's not Bruce and "it's not Iron Maiden," so it doesn't matter how excellent it is. Some of my friends who never expected to like metal whatsoever were even won over and got into it because it's so good. (Erik, you asked recently for metal that might get you into the genre. This isn't heavy at all; in fact, it's mellow and melodic, lacking the hyperaggression and shrillness so common in metal. I think it's a good starting point.)

Scott Hardie | January 22, 2016
The uber-example of this phenomenon must be Saturday Night Live. It has been said that you can tell someone's age simply by asking them the last time that SNL was funny. Me, I discovered it during the Dana Carvey, Jan Hooks, Phil Hartman, Dennis Miller, Victoria Jackson, Nora Dunn, Jon Lovitz era of the eighties, and of course I thought it was hilarious, but I certainly understand why attitudes about it vary so much.