The Onion: Reunited and it feels so good: 16 acts that came back strong after a long hiatus or breakup

I am voting for The Feelies even though I haven't heard the new album yet because based on what I have heard, it should be a solid release that fits into the band's oeuvre. Their reunion is certainly among the more organic of the bunch, if that counts for anything.

I think the New York Dolls should have stayed away. They only have two original members, their last disc did nothing for me and now they are *supporting* the hair bands that they supposedly emulated, which is never a good sign unless you are Motorhead (Motorhead is always the exception to the rule).

ummmm... this is not what happened w/Kraftwerk iirc:

The group kept quiet after 1986’s Electric Café, but came back in a big way more than a decade later, headlining the British dance-music festival Tribal Gathering in 1997.

Kraftwerk because TDF Soundtracks is under-rated imo + Portishead will walk this

Kraftwerk for sure

write-in for Faust

tempted to vote for Dinosaur Jr. or Superchunk but I don't personally think their comeback albums were actually significantly better than (or necessarily as good as) their last pre-hiatus albums. maybe i'll vote for Steely Dan or Bruce since "Jack Of Speed" and "Land Of Hope And Dreams" are joints.

Mission of Burma - still writing powerful tunes - still giving great performances ... Though I love many late work of above listed, I'm confident in my choice. Wonder if Swans live these days sound as good as their rekkid from this past year.

Swans are still great, but I don't think distinct enough from Gira solo or better than the last "real" Swans albums to beat Portishead out.

voted go-betweens, those post comeback albums very much hold their own. honorable mentions to mission of burma and portishead (portishead making another album and said album being as good as dummy was out of nowhere, like if juwan howard won mvp next year or something).

Unsane

oh wait worst. scratch that

I listened to Portishead's 3 once. Once.

http://content.internetvideoarchive.com/content/photos/103/004329_24.jpg

Congratulations on understanding a reference.

thanks!

The Undertones would walk with this if Onion dudes had bothered to include them. 18th Dye too. Probably a bunch of other bands that I can't think of right now.

As the list is, probably Feelies or Portishead. New Feelies doesn't blow me away, but it's probably at least as good as their last two albums.

Dinosaur Jr. I prefer their last two records to anything they did in the 80s & 90s.

Dinosaur Jr.

No Who, no credibility.

If the rest of Endless Wire was as strong as Mike Post Theme, they'd win in a walk.

^True. Also, if one counted their live shows from 1999 on.

Still haven't gotten that 2007 18th Dye album, but I will.

I would have voted for Polvo in a second if they had been included.

Portishead. I listen to Third more than I listen to their original stuff.

No Van der Graaf Generator ffs.

Burma and Go-Betweens benefitted the most. New York Dolls are the most pointless. Springsteen's as good as ever. Some of the aforementioned groups took less time off than someone like Peter Gabriel typically takes between albums.

I had no idea Versus had reformed. Anyone heard the new stuff?

I feel like I should give this to Portishead b/c Third has become my favorite album of theirs by a significant margin.

Still, Dino Jr. & Mission of Burma.. I feel almost identically about both. Both were hugely welcome surprises wrt both the strength of the new material & live performances. I don't quite feel that the new records, in either case, were quite on par with the BEST of their early output, but pretty damn close.

Also, TDF Soundtracks also rules!

damn, this is tougher than I thought..

Head says Portishead, heart says Go-Betweens.

Is it tough when I point out that the small print says "vote for the worst" ?

It doesn't!

which of these 16 acts has made the best of their comeback?

And though it's not a poll, which one hurt their legacy the most and should have stayed in the mothballs?

Doesn't the small print say "vote for the best, also discuss the worst"? (xp)

which of these 16 acts has made the best of their comeback?
which of these 16 acts has made the best of their comeback?
which of these 16 acts has made the best of their comeback?
which of these 16 acts has made the best of their comeback?

And though it's not a poll, which one hurt their legacy the most and should have stayed in the mothballs?
And though it's not a poll, which one hurt their legacy the most and should have stayed in the mothballs?
And though it's not a poll, which one hurt their legacy the most and should have stayed in the mothballs?
And though it's not a poll, which one hurt their legacy the most and should have stayed in the mothballs?

just to clear things up

Kenickie

Of what I've heard, I'd have to peg NYD for most wtf 'reunion,' even tho those albums are better than they have any right to be (not that they're all that - just sayin)

Gotta go with the Go-Betweens followed closely by Dino Jr. The albums they made post-reunion are among their most essential work.

American Music Club

Kraftwerek over Portishead, because I love Tour De France Soundtracks (and still play it, several years on).

The new Versus record is terrific. Lookin forward to the new Feelies.

Voted Kraftwerk also. And for who should've stayed in the mothballs? Well I wasn't the hugest fan of the Go-Betweens to begin with, but Friends of Rachel Worth was horrible.

Portishead is the only one of these who actually made their best album after their long hiatus

Funny to see American Music Club on here. I went to one of their reunion shows and it was every bit as poorly attended as their pre-breakup shows.

Hello, why is Wire not on this list?

The Steely Dan comeback I feel is among the better comebacks ever. Missing Aerosmith on the list though. IMO they are the only band who became better after reuniting.

I cannot really pick a worst here, as in the case of atleast half of the bands in the list here, they are acts where I am not familiar with their new material at all.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Feelies comeback album is outstanding. Didn't miss a beat. Soory I voted for D Jr before I heard it.

Dino seems the most vital, bad blood with the original line up + unfinished business on that end. Burma too for the chance to play audiences they never got in first place + have more than single album in catalogue. Go-Betweens was natural as it was pretty much the Robert and Grant show anyway. I guess it's good that a lot of bands that needed straightened out legacy-wise have got it together and at least fixed that, and also great that some bands who ended it right haven't gone back on it. A lot of the more desperate acts on the reformed circuit seem to be missing one or more key members as well.

Becker and Fagen's post-reunion solo albums > the last couple Dan albums

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

The Steely Dan comeback I feel is among the better comebacks ever. Missing Aerosmith on the list though. IMO they are the only band who became better after reuniting.

don't want to let this insanity go unrefuted

Aerosmith has sucked since Night in the Ruts, take it from the source

cheee-rist. Aerosmith has, like, 2.5 good songs since the comeback.

Negative polls like this one, i.e. vote for the worst, often have confusing results. Looking at the list it seems like many people voted for the best of these bands.

tired of people on ilx fronting on Pump and Permanent Vacation singles

heard what it takes on the radio a week ago and kinda welled up. tour de force vocal performance.

i don't wanna wanna burn in paradi-ese!

what it takes, deuces are wild, maybe a couple of songs on Pump and PV each i can get behind

i'd listen to all of the single from PV and Pump if they came on the radio i think. even "angel".

jaded doesn't make me throw up

so maybe 5.5 good songs since the comeback

tired of people on ilx fronting on Pump and Permanent Vacation singles

"Dude (Looks Like a Lady)"
Released: October 1987[5]
terrible
"Angel"
Released: April 1988[5]
terrible
"Rag Doll"
Released: June 1988[5]
can't front on this one but when he adds "man" to "back door" it's the weakest fuckin shadow of the guy who wrote e.g. "Same Old Song + Dance"

"Love in an Elevator"
Released: 1989
"Janie's Got a Gun"
Released: 1989
"What It Takes"
Released: 1990
"The Other Side"
Released: 1990
"F.I.N.E.*"
Released: 1989 (promo only)
"Monkey on My Back"
Released: 1990 (promo only)

all terrible

good morning mr tyler

xpost

guilty as charged

Eurgh, what a load of Amnesiac

would have voted AMC of course.

"Funny to see American Music Club on here. I went to one of their reunion shows and it was every bit as poorly attended as their pre-breakup shows."

true, but if you saw them in the US this is no surprise, they have never been well received here, ever. It is a shame. But at this point, what can you expect, really. I'm glad mark still sticks his neck out. he's got nothing else to do, really.

The one band that I'd really love to see get back together is Husker Du. That would truly be phenomenal news.

Re: AMC reunion, I saw them at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London on the first comeback tour and that was a sold-out 900 capacity venue. Seen them a couple of times locally since then and both times it's been relatively full, probably 200 or so. I get the impression that Mark and AMC have a decent European fanbase, he plays all over Spain, Italy etc whenever they're over here.

Eitzel opened for She & Him in Chapel Hill a year or two ago and 3/4 of the audience had never heard of him and he knocked every last person in there over. Reportedly just a masterful performance from open to close. People were going nuts: "Who is this guy? Why haven't I heard of him?"

When he's on form (which is most times I've seen him and/or AMC tbh) then he is one of the best live performers I've ever seen. I'm a big fan, and wholly biased, but people who I've dragged along always dig him too.

eitzel is a musician who it's always somebody else's job to like

I've been slogging away at that particular job for over 20 years now...

the correct answer to this is swans btw

portishead seems like a weird answer here, not only cuz I didn't like 3 that much, but also because they seem like a band with a glacial production pace, when their 2nd album came out it felt like a comeback

look forward to their next album in 15 years

yeah, i mean, did portishead really ever "break up"?

Scott Walker's hiatuses are longer than most of these bands' breakups.

thanks for the challops, underrated aerosmith singles I have fronted on

yeah, i mean, did portishead really ever "break up"?

16 acts that came back strong after a long hiatus or breakup

guess portishead is really the only "hiatus" band here, right?

Well, I mean, technically the Police never officially broke up, either. It was always just a long hiatus. Sleater-Kinney is on an "indefinite hiatus," whateve that means. So when does a hiatus become a break-up? Is there a statute of limitations?

c'mon, the Police totally broke up

guess portishead is really the only "hiatus" band here, right?

Kraftwerk, Superchunk and Spinal Tap all definitely hiatus cases too. you could argue Descendents if you squint.

I think there's legal shit that needs to be sorted out for it to be an official "break up" (dissolving their business partnership, dividing shit up, etc) which may be why bands go for the "indefinite hiatus" angle.

Sleater-Kinney's deal AFAIK is that dayjobs and babies stopped them from being a working band, but they'd like to play again sometime if they can

there is nothing stopping them since 2/3 are now in wild flag and corin also has a band, I don't know why they didn't get back together. I'd certainly go see them again, SK shows were some of the best live shows I've ever seen.

yeah to me breakup means "we hate each other/being this band and don't plan to do this again" and indefinite hiatus means "we don't want to call this a breakup because that implies ill will that isn't there, we just want to take a break and do other things with our time"

yeah but come on do you see the Police ever getting back together again

besides that one time

Two times: they played a bunch of shows on the 1986 Amnesty International tour.

so i had to look at this title a whole bunch of times to realise it was meant to be to the tune of 'chain lightning', which oy

"Love in an Elevator"
Released: 1989
"Janie's Got a Gun"
Released: 1989
"What It Takes"
Released: 1990
"The Other Side"
Released: 1990
"F.I.N.E.*"
Released: 1989 (promo only)
"Monkey on My Back"
Released: 1990 (promo only)

all terrible

ummmmm no. This might be my favorite song by the 'Smith... and I generally shy away from power ballads but I did this at karaoke on a dare/whim and gained newfound appreciation for it. Very solid songwriting imho.

whoops, bold = "What It Takes"

this person so OTM:

this one goes out to my ex i just found he's doin 3 years in the state pen i been tryin to get him back i left for some1 that wasn't worth a damn and by the time i realised my mistake i found he's in jail when he gets out i don't care what it takes i'll have him back

namey420 17 hours ago

so i had to look at this title a whole bunch of times to realise it was meant to be to the tune of 'chain lightning', which oy

― thomp, Monday, April 25, 2011 1:45 PM (19 minutes ago) Bookmark

um or maybe this song that topped the charts for four weeks in 1979 fyi:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZOhm7qS-AI

Negative polls like this one, i.e. vote for the worst, often have confusing results. Looking at the list it seems like many people voted for the best of these bands.

― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Monday, 25 April 2011 01:00 (Yesterday) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

And you'd have to read the small print to realise that that is exactly what they should have been doing (i.e. it's not a negative poll)