Quitting Time -- Your Thoughts
 

When Refused announced their breakup in 1998, it came shortly after the recording of their landmark The Shape of Punk to Come, citing that they did not want their art to become compromised. Once they issued their final manifesto, that was it. They were done, and their legacy remains over a decade later.

Bands break up for many different reasons. Some bands like Refused decide that they have been exhausted creatively. Other bands may credit personal differences between members to a break up. Some just can't sustain being in a band financially and decide to get a "real" job.

Music fans often hang on hope that their favorite band will return and 2009 has given many fans on this site their wishes with the return of Blink 182. After years of absence and personal strife, the band announced a much-wanted reunion. However, this year has also highlighted bands that are playing well past their expiration date.

When is it time for a band to throw in the towel? If you could decide, would you want a band like Refused to return?

If a band's music is deteriorating, would you, as a fan, rather your favorite band quit in their prime, or prolong their existence and continue to release subpar music? Could age even be a factor?

In a perfect world, how would your favorite band break up?

First of all, Refused's TSOPTC was and is still a musical opus!
I'd like a band to announce their breakup/retirement with a final record coming out and a final tour. Sort of the way one of my favorites growing up, Five Iron Frenzy, did it. It was tough to swallow but we all knew as fans that 2003 would be THE END.

in a perfect world....jimmy eat world would never really break up. they would just decide to spend more time at home watching their children grow up.

so i suppose it would be an indefinite hiatus.

I think that if the band members aren't really feeling it, and they have other things they'd want to do, then it should be time for them to break up. It still sucks, and I'm still sad; like I still miss bands like Chasing Victory, Life in Your Way, Sullivan, Autopilot Off, and Once Nothing and I know I'm forgetting more. Though those are more recent. But they had their reasons, whether it was money or personal reasons...and I still have their music which I can always listen to. And with what seems to be an imminent break up of As Cities Burn, next Tuesday is going to be such a bittersweet day for me. I can't prevent my favorite band from breaking up and if that is what they feel and what they want to do, more power to them. I'll be heartbroken the day Relient K or August Burns Red breaks up, but I will always have great memories associated with their music and I'll always have their songs to listen to.

Then again, it's always great when bands get back together, I'm really hoping Yellowcard gets back together, so stoked that blink is back, and I can't wait for TSL to get together again. It's awesome when bands are able to pick up where they left off and continue to make music again after a hiatus, like Weezer and now blink. And I'll always tend to listen to whatever new projects members of bands begin, like AVA, Runner Runner, and Big If. Sometimes, I'll like them better and that's fine. And I'd rather it be a 'hiatus' rather than a breakup.

I wouldn't want Refused to make a new album, and if they did decide to get together and be a band again it should just be touring.

New Found Glory just can't physically play their songs live anymore. More than anything I can deal with a band not wanting to record anymore and just continue to play live shows. For a band like blink they have a lot to live up to reuniting. A lot of people are gonna have HUGE expectations for the album. To be honest I just want an album and maybe a live DVD of that tour with footage of them fucking around.

I think that if your heart isnt in it anymore than what s the point? Bands like yellowcard are on hiatus, but as you can see ryan key is going on and doing other things. Sometimes thats what it takes. The people who care the most about music will continue to inspire and will continue to do it because its their passion.

Id rather in the situation of yellowcard - if paper walls is their last album, then they went out with a bang, that album was amazing. It sucks because you will always wonder what if? but you have to respect that these artists are people too.

Tom Delonge said over and over - family first, and sometimes its all about your priorities.

You gotta throw in the towel before the towel throws you in.

(TREOS, Blood Brothers, etc.)

In a perfect world, my favorite band would just keep making awesome music forever.

But really, if a band is creatively exhausted they should just call it quits instead of disappointing their fans. If they decide later on down the road that there is still something left in them.. then they can make another album. But if I want would them to make a new album depends on the band. A band like Refused would be one that probably should not make a new album. Blink182 on the other hand, I'm curious to see what they're going to come up with.

The New Frontiers definitely quit ahead of their time. That's all I came to say...

Damn, I thought absolutepunk.net was shutting down. If only, if only.. If the music becomes compromised than yeah you gotta fucking quit. NFG hasn't put out a good album since Sticks and Stones which was what, 2003? Time to quit. Pink Floyd took a turn for the worst as well when Roger Waters left, and they then put out two shit albums. You just have to know when to stop. I would rather have a band quit and go out with dignity then try and create a somewhat decent album but fail miserably only to humiliate themselves and forever be slandered as a fiasco.

I have so much respect for bands when they realize they've done their best work and do not want to compromise it by putting out shit. Kinda wish Saves the Day that after In Reverie.

I couldn't imagine MCS disbanding. I don't want to even think about it.

Also, Guns and Roses should have quit a long time ago

I remember thinking a few years back about a musical experiment. A dozen or so musicians with common interests and/or a common background (think of the fabled Long Island scene) form different bands, release music in their respective bands, then after a few years dissolve the old bands and shuffle around to form new bands. Of course this experiment would be difficult due to the long commitment, and it would only work with musicians who get along and "click" together, but the test would be interesting. I wonder if the results would be as fresh as I imagine they'd be.

I feel like bands that had to quit due to financial reasons or their labels screwing them over really get the shitty end of the stick, but at least it's understandable. I feel like a band should quit when they realize that there are other things more important to them than what they are doing, and hopefully they have a final tour or something along those lines before they quit entirely.
Of course, being the year of the reunion, you can always hope that they will get back together in the future.


Even though Saves The Day is one of my favorite bands, I don't completely disagree with your statement about them.
Here's hoping Daybreak will be good enough.

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.

Yeah, young Brand New and Taking Back Sunday were the inspiration for that idea.

Touche. Except in those cases, certain musicians stopped playing and new musicians stepped in.

Adrian, any word on who is reviewing the new As Cities Burn album??? I think it and Machester's new one are leading the way for Album of the Year.

If you have read Atlas Shrugged you should know the directive 10-289 doesn't work ..... there has to be room for departures and arrivals. That is why their music scene still kind of wins.

most of this website, myself included, would disagree with you about NFG. i can see you saying that after Coming Home, but not after Not Without A Fight, i think it's some of their best material to date. they're still (or again) at the top of their game.

Yeah, I don't think it's the best idea, just something to mentally kick around.

you should ALL be listening to refused.

Paper Rival is a band I was so upset to see disband. They were going places. Their album completely blew me away.

Bands that I usually think should break up, are bands that don't appeal to me. It's pretty selfish really. I also think those bands shouldn't break up on account they most likely appeal to someone else. This is a really tough topic.

Thanks for posting this. I had never heard Refused before, but decided to read up and listened to the first minute of "New Noise" on YouTube and then immediately proceeded to download the album. I'm listening to it right now and am enjoying it.

Personally, The Refused "TSOPTC" is still my favorite album of all time. And as much as I would love to see them reunite, You cant top how they went out. The open letter and having the final show get broken up by the cops is something you just dont fuck with. So as much as I would kill to see them live, can they out do what they have already done?

I would however love to see a few other bands reunite...The movielife, Jawbreaker, cro-mags, american nightmare, ben folds five, Verse (yes, even if they just broke up), lifetime (again), jets to brazil, promise ring, Misfits with Danzig to name a few.

I can usually respect bands reasons for breaking up. And most of the time, I have a feeling that only the band members themselves know the true reasons for parting ways. If you cant get along, then being in a band wont work (unless you are Oasis). If youre broke, you wont be able to afford equipment, and so on.

Bands should break up after that dynamic is gone. I'm not talking the usual "ohemgee FOB will never top TTTYG". I mean more Good Charlotte going from "little things" to a depeche mode cover band or Metallicas "St Anger". It doesnt matter how long they have been around, it just matters that they loose that spark.

Ive said it before, and i'll say it again. The refused had the perfect breakup. "the refused are fuckin' dead" should be a literary reference for most bands on how to break up. And getting broken up by the cops can't hurt.

Nice avatar. And there are wayyyyy too many kids in even the Lawrence/Kansas City area who have no idea who TGUK are.

Engine Down did it the right way

The album is fucking epic. Listen to it from start to finish...it makes more sense (for lack of a better term)

To be totally honest, the day NFG calls it quits I will cry like a fucking baby.

Same goes for Punchline.

the day thrice hangs it up would be a sad day...

and im still not sure why FROM AUTUMN TO ASHES called it quits!!!!

Refused is one of my favorite bands, but I didn't even know who they were when the existed. [I was 7 when they broke up.] I would love to have experienced them when they were together, but if they got back together I feel it would contradict everything they were and are.

It seems wise for a band to hang it up once they think they've reached a creative pinnacle, but that, to me at least, is a different issue from making a bad album.

I accept change, and live with it. All my favorite bands are broken up, or making shitty music now. its just how the flow goes I guess.

To me, it's almost like founding out someone has died when you hear that one of your favorite bands has broken up. You know, one of those bands that made a record that defined a moment in your life? That's how I felt when Blink broke up.

Refused did it perfectly - for who they were.

It completely depends on the band.

I'm glad the Get Up Kids reunited. I think At the Drive-In, Northstar, Boys Night Out, and Heavens should come back as well. I'm sure there's more but I'm tired as balls. Oh, I think those bands should come back because the music out there right now has no substance or emotion behind it. It's mostly songs about partying/dancing. And the songs that are about real issues suck major ass. I'm not dismissing the current state of music all together, just a large sum of it. For instance, I got into Fleet Foxes this year and they totally re-sparked my love for music. Don't get me wrong, I was fine listening to all my favorite bands for the past year, but there hasn't been a band that has struck a chord with me so much in a long, long time. They reminded me why I listen to music in the first place. Anyways, I'm tired like a whore who works two corners instead of one. If this rambling didn't make sense, I apologize. Not really. Enjoy this jumbled mess of rants and praise.

I cried when the Movielife broke up