I've just started getting in to Daughters (the band, not, y'know, actual daughters) and it would appear that the general (at least on the internet) consensus is that they blew it by, predictably, selling out. Their last album apparently caused a rift because one member pushed for a big change of direction and the band split before the album was properly released. Thing is, I think that last album is fantastic and represented a massive step up in quality. Here's Daughters in 2002:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSAUysXY7Fs
And in 2010:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKeapWaTMlQ&feature=colike
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMCeBPT0gi4&feature=related

It may make me some kind of callow manchild but as much fun as filthy slabs of spasmodic noise can be, I much prefer that weirdness being channeled in to actual song structures. It's not as if they became some stadium rock behemoth; they're still plenty noisy and fun and dark, but are now playing music you could actually envision listening to regularly.

Is this kind of backlash just inevitable when a band refines its style? And are there other examples of bands who've shed some of the wilder excesses of youth and emerged as a better band (in your opinion)? Do you think it matters if you were "there" or if you caught on later, viewing their whole career in retrospect?