Bands that dramatically changed their sound for the better?

[spatters]

Inspired by the following exchange in another thread:

I disagree. There are plenty of bands ranging from okay to legendary who’ve switched up their sound to interesting effect.

Who?

Here are a few examples off the top of my head of bands who became something very different, and better, than they started as.

Radiohead
Pantera
Talk Talk
Beastie Boys
Ministry

Can we add to this list?

Please, only bands that changed dramatically -- enough to be considered a different genre -- and that most people would agree improved as a result. We can all name a million bands that simply got old and lazy, or sold out.

 

[two fingers]

Well, "better" is a matter of opinion. I will say this. I absolutely respect bands that kept up with the times and were able to crank out hits over decades. Yes and Rush are two examples. But many here hate their 80s stuff. They remained relevant. And, to me, their sound/music was just as good.

 

[spatters]

Rush is exactly the sort of band I do NOT mean. They started out as a rock band, and they ended as a rock band. They went through stylistic shifts - from straightforward rock to prog rock to poppy, synthy sort-of-prog rock, and back to straightforward rock - but they were always a 3-piece rock band.

Here's an example of what I DO mean.

Ministry started out as a pseudo-British new wave synth-pop band:

Next stage was fully electronic techno-industrial:

And then they basically invented industrial metal:

 

[DirtDog]

I think it’ll be a short list then if that’s the level of change you’re thinking of.

I always thought there were two kinds of bands: first being those that are on a journey to perfect what they’re doing (AC/DC would be a great example) and those that are willing to change it up and experiment with different sounds (or set/follow trends)...U2 would be a prime example. There’s a ton more in both categories that have done this to different degrees.

I’m having a hard time coming up with just one band, that has some modicum of name recognition, having completely switched gears and still remained relatively popular.

Maybe my ears aren’t tuned very well for the genre, but aside from “In Sounds from Way Out”, the Beasties were still pretty much rap/hip hop until the end....to me...unless you’re counting their pre-fame punk stuff. Even the outlier of Paul’s Boutique and the sampling used on that was still put into a rap/hip-hop context. Experimental for sure, but not a genre jump.

Even a “crossover” artist like Darius Rucker doesn’t qualify....still guitar-driven music, despite going solo and then going country.

 

[StereoPlayer]

I call it the evolution of a band.
These come to my mind easily.

The Beatles
Jeff Beck in general.

Really, a lot of bands evolve their sound.

 

[Michedelic]

Souxie and the Banshees...started as an inspired amateur throw-together outfit of some of the earliest Sex Pistols followers, long on ideas but short on execution skills, but that was the whole idea of those times— just get in there and do it instead of standing around with your hands in your pockets. Though they were of the London punk scene, they weren’t a punk band, drawing inspiration from all sorts of sources, and after some personnel changes they got it sorted out, bit by bit, album by album, and it really came together on Juju, their fourth.

 

[Michedelic]

Another bunch of suburban London kids, the band Japan, who came together slightly before the punk/new wave movement, but were seemingly a bit behind the times as their whole modus operandi was based on the by then passe’ glam rock era. Looking like a bad New York Dolls imitation, and sounding like faux Ziggy-era Bowie, they still got signed(by a clueless German label)and started cranking out albums just in time for punk to happen. They then started learning on the job, being paired with producer Giorgio Moroder for a sequencer-driven dance track, and then frontman David Sylvian traded in his braying Bowie-isms for a more sonorous Bryan Ferry-like baritone; likewise, the band took on a richer Roxy Music and Eno style synth sound, guitar was downplayed, but most important, bassist Mick Karn, inspired by Percy Jones, pulled the frets out of his Travis Bean bass, and evolved his own unique fretless style, before moving to a Wal and its singular tone. Visually, they were still drawing from glam, but it was their own look; they had musically transformed on Quiet Life and the impressionistic Gentlemen Take Polaroids, and on their masterpiece Tin Drum album, they dove deep into Asian percussion motifs and otherworldly electronics to come up with something that was truly progressive. Unfortunately, due to band tensions, it was their last, and they broke up right before the new romantic movement(which they had influenced)took off, but their materal had way more depth than any of those followers, like Duran Duran, who copped the look but not the music.

 

[yodedude2]

interesting that "straightforward rock to prog rock to poppy, synthy sort-of-prog rock, and back to straightforward rock" doesn't count here but "pseudo-British new wave synth-pop band...[to] fully electronic techno-industrial...[to] industrial metal" does.

too many split hairs for me.

but: genesis.

 

[Gorn]

The Beatles are the only band that comes to mind, although I’d say the music got more interesting than necessarily better.

On a somewhat related note, Jethro Tull (my favorite band) dramatically changed their sound for the worse, to me subjectively.

 

[Michedelic]

interesting that "straightforward rock to prog rock to poppy, synthy sort-of-prog rock, and back to straightforward rock" doesn't count here but "pseudo-British new wave synth-pop band...[to] fully electronic techno-industrial...[to] industrial metal" does.

too many split hairs for me.

but: genesis.

Genesis...for the better? Uh, no.

 

[mambo4]

David Bowie pivoted stylistically almost constantly

 

[Michedelic]

Though they eventually hit their point of diminishing returns after their ‘classic era’, the Moody Blues almost ended up being just yet another unspectacular British beat group covering American R&B songs until personnel changes brought Hayward and Lodge into the fold, and things turned around.

 

[jnuts1]

Fleetwood mac - originally a hard hitting blues band.
Aerosmith - completely reinvented themselves in the 90s as a power ballad machine

 

[Danny O Danny]

Fleetwood Mac is an obvious example as they went from their Peter Green era to their Bob Welch era to their Buckingham/Nicks era.

Def Leppard went from being a great metal band on their first couple of albums to being a pop band. I don't think that was a improvement, but they sold a bajillion records after their transformation so obviously a lot of people liked the change.

 

[the federalist]

David Bowie pivoted stylistically almost constantly

With respect to changing musical styles, I can't think of another artist that comes close to David Bowie.

His initial outings were unremarkable, foppish stuff. But then came The Man Who Sold The World (1970), a different sound with Hunky Dory (1971) and then Ziggy Stardust (1972). Young Americans (1975) was a new path. Same with Low and Heroes (both 1977). Let's Dance came in 1983. That's impressive pivoting when you consider the level of artistry and musicianship on those albums.

 

[RichardW]

Define "better."

Plenty of Genesis fans (me included) feel their 80s output was terrible compared to their progressive era stuff. On the other hand, Supper's Ready did exactly burn up the charts and would not have filled stadiums worldwide. I'd say Phil, et. al. feel their bank accounts are much better now than they would have been.

Bands evolve all the time and you either like it or you don't. So what?

 

[DavidG]

Japan is a good example. Complete stylistic shift.

PJ Harvey. Not a band but always searching and changing. Also absolutely brilliant!

 

[Jefus]

Not a band I talk about often, but I think we can all agree that R.E.M. evolved until they made that one album we liked, then evolved into something terrible. What that one album was is different for all of us.

 

[brianrost]

Anyone mentioned T.Rex yet? As Tyrannosaurus Rex, they were an acoustic duo. As T. Rex they were a rock band.

Miles Davis

1950s



1970s

On a somewhat related note, Jethro Tull (my favorite band) dramatically changed their sound for the worse, to me subjectively.

I (sadly) agree. For me, Aqualung was the end of the line. For most people, that was the start of their popularity. I still think "Stand Up" was their best ever.

 

[josephbass86]

Mr.Bungle started as a thrash/death metal band with their demo Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny.

Turned into a weird cartoony funk/ska-metal group with their self titled debut album.

Then turned into an avant-garde jazz noise band with occasional dips into metal, lounge, and middle eastern music with Disco Volante.

Then got really poppy with a strong Beach Boys/Burt Bacharach influence on California.

Then went back to death/thrash metal with The Raging Wrath Of The Easter Bunny Re-recording.

Definitely a wild ride.

I should also add that I thought Bungle got successfully better musically with each release, with the possible exception of the Easter Bunner re-recordings.