Refused shouldn't come back. They influenced a good deal of bands... a HUGE deal of bands actually and it's sad that most bands and their fans today DON'T EVEN KNOW.

It's like how I'm the only person I know personally that's stoked to see The Get Up Kids. A shame.

i wish Distillers and Tsunami Bomb never broke up. they'd show paramore and hey monday what a real female fronted punk rock band is all about, thats all i gotta say.

Yeah thinking about my favorite bands finishing just breaks my heart. I dont want them to go away ever. They day a band like Brand New or Lydia or something quits is the day I quit living

Depends on which band. I like the way TSL decided to go on a hiatus for a little while. That would be my ideal way of finding out your favorite band is going to quit. A press release and a tour and a chat with the members to ask any questions you may have. It's difficult to be able to realize when a band should quit though. It's difficult to know when a band has passed their prime or still has the best of things to come. A band like Taking Back Sunday who put out a fucking classic in this scene should have disbanded before Louder Now was released but you never know when a band has truly lost its influence on you until you hear what they have become. It's tough to decide

In a perfect world, Northstar would have never broken up and continued to make amazing music. While I understood their reasoning for breaking up, I still think if they stuck it out that the next album after Pollyanna would have been even more spectacular, and that is saying a lot.

As Cities Burn just made a MASTERPIECE of an album...and they won't be touring behind it because they have disbanded. They went out with there best record, pure and simple.

This

Absolutely. Their breakup was a huge disappointment for me.

That would be sweet. Jesse Lacey and other Jersey people would be crazy to see.

Exactly. In a perfect world, all my favorite bands would stay together forever and magically continue to put out great album after great album, but that, of course, is impossible. I'm sad some bands are no longer together, and I wish others would have called it quits before becoming an embarrassment, but there's nothing I can do about it. Nature takes its course.

I guess I'd just want my favorite bands to go out with a bang, but continue to do things in the scene and give you a chance to still be a fan and to still talk/hang with them as if they were still in their band. Does that make sense?

My best friend would be insanely happy if Refused got back together though, she's still hoping on it.

I'm suprised Midtown hasn't been brought up yet..Suppose I will be the first one to do so.
With Midtown, the debate of them reuniting goes back and forth for me. On one side, they are one of the bands I grew up listening to and I miss them dearly every day and even though Cobra Starship is catchy, it doesn't compare. But on the other side, FWYK is such a great record for them to end on that if they were to reunite and put out a shitty record, the sort of mythical aura that comes along with their name nowadays would be shattered and they wouldn't be as special anymore. Not to mention all the idiotic fan girls that would bombard their shows to see Gabe in his "new band".

In general though when it comes to quiting time, I think the day you have to force songs out of you is the day you should stop, or at least take a break. Or if you want to try something completly different genre wise, make a side-project and don't ruin the majesty of your band.

Same here, in regards to TGUK. It's horrible how kids nowadays don't care about the cultural history of their own scene.

Wasn't it like this in the beginning? Movielife, Brand New, Taking Back Sunday, Breaking Pangea, The Rookie Lot .... all just musicians trying to find a band.

As for the main topic "It's better to burn out, then to fade away"

I think if a band wants to tour into forever and slowly digress from their prime that is fine, I just feel bad for everyone who missed the hayday..... ie. Wire

Leaving a band at the top, though, is leaving your name and your history untouchable.

before this year, i would have said that bands should disband before their legacy deteriorates too much. But this year has proven that bands can return to form sometimes and pick back up from their slump. This was proven this year so far already by NFG, Thursday, and Silverstein. They all returned to form and put out relevant CDs again, not just creating more music because it was a few years since their last mediocre efforts. I never thought I would have been excited to hear a new Silverstein CD in 2009, i labeled them as irrelevant for the past few years.
But to answer the question about whether a band like Refused should return now, I would definitely say no. Their legacy was set in a certain time and place. It they tried to renew it now and push forward, it would probably end up sounding forced and out of place. To me, the Movielife is one of my all time favorite bands and although I would love to see them all together live on stage again, I don't think I would like it very much if they reformed and tried to recreate what they helped invent 5-8 years ago. It just wouldn't be the same and would ruin their name and legacy a bit. However, in the case of blink, I think the 3 or so year break they took was just what they needed to have an epic return shortly after. I cannot wait to see them once (or twice) again this summer, especially that they're taking weezer out with them. Also, I can't wait to see what those guys come up with in the studio.