>Listening through a band's discography
>A few albums in
>Abrupt drop in originality & quality
>Wtf
>Check Wikipedia
"XXXX marked the departure of the band's bassist"
>Never good again

>>126726024 (OP)
It's not every time, not even most of the time, and I'm frankly sick to death of seeing this stock opinion in literally every band fandom in existence.

>>126726131
if it's fans who know a long time member left, that's gonna cloud their judgement and they might convince themselves it's no longer the same. if it's a newcomer who doesn't know much about the band, notices the change in sound and then discovers someone left then that's a pretty valid conclusion to come to.