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Bands that changed sounds for better or worse

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    #26
    Yes, novelty pope might’ve got some
    members of The Sweet a hard time in their local pub

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      #27
      Ha, remember Brian Connolly got beaten up really badly outside a pub once. Now we know why.

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        #28
        By the way, The Bee Gees are another conspicuous candidate for this thread. First fragile-sounding pop-folkers, then hirsute "Kings" of Disco. Barry Gibb even changed his singing style completely.

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          #29
          Originally posted by G-Man View Post
          Steely Dan: West Coast-hued rockers to jazz-inspired sophisticates (a rather incomplete shorthand to describe a complex body of work, I admit)
          Indeed - there was always a significant jazz element in what they did.

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            #30
            Adam And The Ants.

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              #31
              (As MsD has suggested upthread...)

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                #32
                D'oh!

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                  #33
                  Not a band, but Tom Waits shift musical shift in the late 70s from the Blue Valentine/One From the Heart period right into Heart Attack & Vine period was pretty dramatic. Though of course you could say the same for Dylan's early jumps from acoustic folk to electric rock to country.

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                    #34
                    The Beach Boys did it more than once, firstly by mellowing into the Pet Sounds/Smile orchestrations then by spreading out the songwriting (due to Brian Wilson's mental issues) and injecting a simpler rock sound into 20/20, Sunflower, Surf's Up and Holland (the latter two with minimal Brian Wilson input).

                    The Beatles - every album sounds different from the previous one in key ways but the most obvious innovations are the Dylan/Byrds influence on the mid-period (Help, Rubber Soul), the Indian music George brought in, then the impact of LSD on 'Revolver' and 'Pepper', and maybe heroin on Lennon 1968-69 tracks (culminating in Cold Turkey, which the other three refused to put out as a Beatles track).

                    Small Faces were quite a different band by 1968 than when they started. The Who went from mod to rock. Pink Floyd obviously slowed their music down to a crawl post-Syd.

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                      #35
                      Outkast.

                      Southern variant of standard player rap on Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik (1994).

                      Stripped back electronic alien rap on ATLiens (1996).

                      Connecting to a vast smorgasbord of Southern influences on the why-isn't-there-a-ten-mics-rating-in-The-Source Aquemini (1998).

                      Into the drum 'n' bass stratosphere but taking the P-Funk along for the ride on Stankonia (2000). Also: Miss Jackson rules the world.

                      Yin/yanging the duo into two separate records that still sound kind of connected on Speakerboxxx/The Love Below (2003). Imperial phase continues with standard pop song Hey Ya!.

                      Fall back into mediocrity (barring the individual great track: Mighty O, The Train) but also unleash Janelle Monáe onto the world on Idlewild (2006).

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                        #36
                        Originally posted by Amor de Cosmos View Post
                        Not a band, but Tom Waits shift musical shift in the late 70s from the Blue Valentine/One From the Heart period right into Heart Attack & Vine period was pretty dramatic. Though of course you could say the same for Dylan's early jumps from acoustic folk to electric rock to country.
                        I think also significant for Waits is the switch in the early from where at least tried to sing to the unintelligible noise from his later stuff. Not sure if this is deliberate of the ffectvof too much booze and cigarettes.

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                          #37
                          Originally posted by Wouter D View Post
                          Outkast.

                          Southern variant of standard player rap on Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik (1994).

                          Stripped back electronic alien rap on ATLiens (1996).

                          Connecting to a vast smorgasbord of Southern influences on the why-isn't-there-a-ten-mics-rating-in-The-Source Aquemini (1998).

                          Into the drum 'n' bass stratosphere but taking the P-Funk along for the ride on Stankonia (2000). Also: Miss Jackson rules the world.

                          Yin/yanging the duo into two separate records that still sound kind of connected on Speakerboxxx/The Love Below (2003). Imperial phase continues with standard pop song Hey Ya!.

                          Fall back into mediocrity (barring the individual great track: Mighty O, The Train) but also unleash Janelle Monáe onto the world on Idlewild (2006).
                          All of that, except I also loved 'A Bad Note' on Idlewild.

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                            #38
                            Herbie Hancock. From a child prodigy playing Mozart with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at 11, through the modal jazz and post-bop of his 60's solo albums and Miles' Second Great Quintet, the early jazz-rock of 'Bitches Brew' era Miles, his own foray into the Afro-centric mix of free jazz, funk and electronics that was the wonderful Mwandishi band, the Sly-inspired jazz funk of the Headhunters band a brief disco period and dabblings with electro and hip-hop. Along the way he has recorded duet albums with fellow-pianist Chick Corea, saxophonist Wayne Shorter and Gambian vocalist and kora player Foday Musa Sosa, played in numerous piano trios and released several albums of standards with a diverse mix of vocalists. He wins this thread hands down.

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                              #39
                              We played Headhunters in full at a party yesterday. Still great.

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                                #40
                                I imagine there are a number of jazz people who'd fit, not least Miles himself.

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                                  #41
                                  Gonna try and win this thread with sub sub (ain't no love, ain't no use) turning into Doves (pick your tune).

                                  Particularly fun as they were good at both house and indie rock.

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                                    #42
                                    Originally posted by Satchmo Distel View Post

                                    The Beatles - every album sounds different from the previous one in key ways but the most obvious innovations are the Dylan/Byrds influence on the mid-period (Help, Rubber Soul), the Indian music George brought in, then the impact of LSD on 'Revolver' and 'Pepper', and maybe heroin on Lennon 1968-69 tracks (culminating in Cold Turkey, which the other three refused to put out as a Beatles track).
                                    If we just take Abbey Road as an example, the stylistic variation and range of genres in most of the tracks is frankly astonishing.

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                                      #43
                                      Arctic Monkeys, never really got the early stuff but Tranquility Base Hotel I really like, markedly different.

                                      The Damned, first album excellent Stooges style punk, second a bit of a hurried mess but still very listenable then into Machine Gun Etiquette post Brian James, hit the peak for me with The Black Album moved on from there and after the great Strawberries on to the poppy Phantasmagoria before it all got a bit patchy.

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                                        #44
                                        I thought that The Beatles had been exempted? (Or was that another thread?)

                                        One further not-so-good example comes to mind: The Strawbs/Hudson-Ford/The Monks. Nowt much wrong with the first pairing as a folk-influenced pop act, but Richard Hudson and John Ford’s foray into new wave as The Monks left a little to be desired. (Suffice to say that the ‘other’ Monks were much better.)

                                        Reckon I concur that Sub Sub/Doves should win this.

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                                          #45
                                          dEUS.
                                          Worst Case Scenario - Mainly instrumental art rock
                                          In A Bar Under A Sea - Indie Rock
                                          The Ideal Crash - REM if they came from Belgium

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                                            #46
                                            Fink. From archetypal purveyor of Ninja Tune downtempo electronica to singer/songwriter and guitarist.

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                                              #47
                                              Originally posted by Etienne View Post
                                              dEUS.
                                              Worst Case Scenario - Mainly instrumental art rock
                                              In A Bar Under A Sea - Indie Rock
                                              The Ideal Crash - REM if they came from Belgium
                                              I'd never noticed the change like that but spot on. Are those albums in chronological order?

                                              Comment


                                                #48
                                                Originally posted by Amor de Cosmos View Post
                                                Not a band, but Tom Waits shift musical shift in the late 70s from the Blue Valentine/One From the Heart period right into Heart Attack & Vine period was pretty dramatic. Though of course you could say the same for Dylan's early jumps from acoustic folk to electric rock to country.
                                                Though once you start introducing not a band then Bowie becomes the default answer.

                                                Ultravox changed sounds with their change in vocalist though interestingly they were evolving more towards the band they became when Foxx left.

                                                Stranglers always seemed comfortable in trying different sounds and tempo.

                                                And how do The Clash fit in with this thread? Sometimes seeming like trying just a little too hard to switch/mash genres.

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                                                  #49
                                                  Originally posted by Antepli Ejderha View Post

                                                  I'd never noticed the change like that but spot on. Are those albums in chronological order?
                                                  Yeah.

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                                                    #50
                                                    The Be Sharps

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