I'm a fan of Phish and their frontman Trey, but I've noticed a significant change in their music over the years.  Earlier albums were exact, cohesive, energetic, and purposeful.  Later albums were recorded without practice or polish.  A friend said the reason for the change is that Trey's music has matured over the years.  He's less about energy and fun, and more about emotion and feeling.  To me, that's total BS.  When a singer doesn't hit the notes and his guitar isn't in tune, I don't consider that to be a sign of maturity.  When the harmonies don't match up and the songs sound like they were written in 5 minutes (and oftentimes they were), I don't call that progress. 

I'm also a fan of Audioslave.  I think they're a perfect combination of Rage Against the Machine's guitar riffs and Soundgarden's rock vocals.  And what's interesting is that I'm in a position to watch this band mature.  I originally hated them because of radio singles off their first album (honestly, who chooses what songs get played on the radio?).  But I bought the second album after I heard some great songs.  I bought the third album a while later, and I was only mildly impressed.  And then to even out the mix, I bought the first album, and I was totally floored.  You can really see how their music progresses and changes over time.  Their earlier stuff is more energetic and loud, while their later stuff is a bit more toned down and calm.  The quality is still all there, and if anything, it's gotten technically better.  But the style of music is changing as the musicians age and mature.  I'm personally not a fan of the newer stuff because I like my music loud, but I can at least recognize that musicianship can mature over time without degrading in quality. #entertainment