Bands that dramatically changed their sound for the better?

[gtmalone]

Here are some no one has mentioned. Better, worse - too subjective.

Byrds - rock to country
Darius Rucker - rock to country
Kenny Rogers - rock to country
Beach Boys - change of direction with Pet Sounds
Queen Latifah - rap to jazz

 

[bobyoung53]

The Zombies, in their unfortunately short career, Odessey and Oracle is IMHO genius.

 

[Aqualung60]

XTC. Their early albums had a harder punk edge to them until about the "English Settlement" LP, then they made a change toward a more pop/Beatle-esque sound resulting in what in my opinion are some of their best albums like "Skylarking" "Oranges and Lemons" and "Nonsuch".

 

[jnuts1]

So much for “for the better” lol

get a grip wasn't a bad album

 

[bobyoung53]

As someone else mentioned Tull probably fits into this category.

They started as a very mundane, run of the mill, British blues band, with their only notable differentiator being Ian Anderson’s flute playing.

By Thick As A Brick/Passion Play they were a full bore, classically influenced prog band. With proto metal leanings.

First album, 'This Was'- 1968, They were actually marketed as a "jazz rock" band when they first came out.

 

[lucas303]

How about Joni Mitchell? Started out as guitar-strumming sensitive singer-songwriter type and finished as a brilliant and innovative guitarist and composer exploring the far reaches of jazz--while her songwriting got even better.

She is a genius in my book.

Yeah but Joni didn't go from bad to good, or from good to bad. She just went from one type of great to another type of great.

 

[kjp360]

They should have hung it up after Quadrophenia, it would have been a fitting bookend, a ten year arc, considering the lookback at their origins and sad nostalgia embedded in the lyrical content/storyline. They had nothing new to offer after that, and Keith was already starting to go down the tubes at that point.

I assume you mean the 1979 film and resultant soundtrack vs the original 1973 LPs? If not, that excludes some of their biggest cash cows.

 

[lucas303]

Outkast

They were very good, though only somewhat unique, southern hip hop in the beginning. Then they blossomed into a very unique sound of their own. Also, and not that this is the sole deciding factor, but they were more commercially successful in their later years.

Compare this...



...to this...

 

[fhm555]

Forget artists, what about genres? Country found it’s voice in polished hillbilly stuff but constantly chases the pop dragon. Go to any era and there are attempts by Nashville to find crossovers to inject whatever is dominating the pop charts into their productions. Todays country is hair metal about trucks and dogs.

 

[58kites]

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

Yes, but the thread is supposed to be about bands that improved, not the opposite.

Pretty hard to deny that Fleetwood Mac and Rumors were incredible albums, Buckingham/Nicks were hired and lightning struck twice.
I liked the Bob Welch years as well, especially Mystery To Me album.

 

[J-Bassomatic]

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.

I always thought of Radiohead as a sort of 'Beatles' kind of group in that they do not like to repeat themselves and are always pushing outward. Many is the time I have listened repeatedly a Radiohead record to fully understand it, I always come out respecting them. It's not easy sometimes, they make you work for it but I have found it's worth it. FWIW: JTs first record 'This Was' is still one of my favorites.

 

[dcbluesbass]

Every band that fired me!!!

 

[bobyoung53]

FWIW: JTs first record 'This Was' is still one of my favorites.

I bought it when it was new and still think it's by far their best one, loved Mick Abrahams guitar playing and style. I liked Stand Up and kind of liked Benefit but the change in that band was one of the biggest disappointments of my then young life.

 

[J-Bassomatic]

First album, 'This Was'- 1968, They were actually marketed as a "jazz rock" band when they first came out.

That's what I'm talkin about, I posted before I saw your post on JT.

 

[jdh3000]

While not a "band" per se, check out how Ronnie James Dio evolved from a doo wop to metal...
I wouldn't say worse to better, just an enormous span of genres.

 

[58kites]

As someone else mentioned Tull probably fits into this category.

They started as a very mundane, run of the mill, British blues band, with their only notable differentiator being Ian Anderson’s flute playing.

By Thick As A Brick/Passion Play they were a full bore, classically influenced prog band. With proto metal leanings.

I don't think Jethro Tull was even slightly run of the mill or mundane on anything they recorded from the first note of This Was in 1968 ...up to the last note of Minstrel in the Gallery in 1975.
After that, they were still playing their instruments as well as ever, and the compositions were more "sophisticated", they just did not deliver the hooks that all of the early stuff was choc full of.

 

[Eon Sky]

Am I going to get murdered for suggesting Metallica?

 

[bobyoung53]

While not a "band" per se, check out how Ronnie James Dio evolved from a doo wop to metal...
I wouldn't say worse to better, just an enormous span of genres.

There's some videos of him playing an EB-0 bass with a band at a backyard party during the mid-60's on YouTube.

 

[Relayer71]

And I'll throw out another - Simple Minds. Their first 3 albums were a hodge-podge (or Reel Cacophony - hehe) before they meshed out their style, which then changed again after the hit their peak of popularity (Don't You...) when their original drummer and bassist had both left the band. Now they're a lyric/guitar driven pop band - not bad, but not what they once were (in my opinion, but then I might be bitter that they won't do a decent tour here in the States...)

Oh! How could I forget them! I'm a big fan. And their 3rd through 5th albums were fantastic and completely different from what followed. They still put out a few excellent albums after, but also quite a number of mediocre ones, and their early 80s sound really was unique.

 

[swarfrat]

Might get the thread locked, but AC/DC.