I feel the nature of the band is the reason why, they cover so many different styles with their music - that it's very difficult for them to hit the hopes and predictions of fans. Do you know of any other fanbases that divide every time an album hits?
Yep... It's usually one of these: 1) OMG IT SOUNDZ THE SAME AS THE OTHER ALBUM 2) OMG ITZ TOO DIFFERENT MAKE SOMETHING LIKE THE OTHER ALBUM AGAIN PLZ 3) OMG SELLOUTS
Most or all of them. Even historically. The Beatles were criticized quite a bit in their time for instance.
I guess I stand corrected lol, this is the only band that i've been a fan of enough to join a fansite..
Well, in that case, welcome! We do have very strong opinions here on LPA, but looking around on Youtube videos, for example, you'll find that a large amount of musical artists seems to have fans with extremely different viewpoints on the track at hand. (We try to be more civil here than those on Youtube, though. )
People complain when a band changes their sound, and people also complain when a band doesn't change their sound. I've never seen a band have a fanbase that all agree on the subject. It's not even just music, this can be taken into context for movies, TV shows, anything really.
The way to get near-universal acclaim is to die at your peak. Nirvana/Tupac style. Otherwise if you don't quit, you will be criticized for being either too stale or too different. That said, I do think there are some differences between fanbases. No base is free of pointless, inflammatory loons, but some will have it worse than others. Especially for long lived bands that have changed a lot like LP and Metallica.
Virtually every band has been scrutinized by their own fans, but one notable one is Metallica. As Rolling Stone puts it, Metallica fans love to complain.
I kinda like St.Anger, and its drums sound. And I'm serious. I know...I always feel alone when I say this
It's not even restricted to the arts. People will complain about YouTube and Facebook layout changes.
But yes, it is very true what Zak said. People who don't want change complain when something changes, and people who do want change complain when it doesn't. Regardless of what it is.