Artist/Band-defying songs

[Mr Delicieux]

Songs that go against the genre in which an artist or band is known for.

I'll start with this lovely, gentle little song by pop-punksters Green Day:

[Jah Womble]

Sweet and Low - Fugazi

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIxAa0shpx0

[Satchmo Distel]

Julie Ocean - Undertones

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rVrgauVv-fQ

[Mr Delicieux]

I remember seeing FNM perform this cover of a Bee Gee's song on late night gross-out show the Word, and his voice blew my socks off.
The video features David Hoyle and a young Martin Freeman.

[Jah Womble]

I remember their early punk outings, but I don't know a whole lot about Angelic Upstarts: clearly, the subject matter is not atypical of their later work, but suffice to say that I was surprised by this, Mensi's touching tribute to Solidarnosc from 1983:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owrVQebWCtc

[Tony C]

On their Houses of the Holy album Led Zeppelin had a funk influenced track called ‘The Crunge’ and piece of cod reggae excruciatingly entitled ‘D’Yer Make’r’. They were both knuckle-chewingly awful.

[Amor de Cosmos]

Roger McGuinn's un-Byrds-like dive into punk rock. Rock and Roll Time

[Wouter D]

For those people that mostly know Love Me Do and Yellow Submarine etcetera...

[Mr Delicieux]

Great shout.
Still sounds fresh now.

[Satchmo Distel]

The Beach Boys had a few. 'Cabinessence', 'Mrs O'Leary's Cow', 'Wonderful.'

[Mr Delicieux]

'Trader' is one that seriously surprised me.

[Sits]

Great shout.
Still sounds fresh now.

Tomorrow Never Knows may well still sound fresh in another 50+ years.

[Jah Womble]

"But...but...they were just a 'glorified boy band', or (insert other ill-judged cliche here)."

As regards The Beatles, there were so many handbrake turns one could probably fill the entire thread.

[Mr Delicieux]

On their Houses of the Holy album Led Zeppelin had a funk influenced track called ‘The Crunge’ and piece of cod reggae excruciatingly entitled ‘D’Yer Make’r’. They were both knuckle-chewingly awful.

I worked with a big led zeppelin fan, that was the album he loaned me and I didn't feel the need to delve deeper afterward, those two tracks being part of the reason.

[Bored Of Education]

"Jump" by Van Halen seem musically a massive diversion from their normal output at the time. Now, I am not sure it was.

Julie Ocean - Undertones

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rVrgauVv-fQ

Wednesday Week also felt like a left turn.

Motorhead strayed from their usual sturm und drang later in their career with songs like "1916" (pretty much Lemmy singing over a cello), "Love Me Forever" (a ballad) and "Whorehouse Blues" (an acoustic country/blues song with Lemmy on harmonica).

Ramones version of "Baby I love you" was a definite departure from the norm even for the "End Of The Century" album

"Rapture" by Blondie sort of fitted in inasmuch as they had already flirted with disco in "Heart OF Glass" and reggae in "The Tide Is High" but rap was so new and this was the first time it had been incorporated into a mainstream hit. Obviously, it laid the way for a lot of rap crossover atrocities.

[3 Colours Red]

"Jump" by Van Halen seem musically a massive diversion from their normal output at the time. Now, I am not sure it was.

That's more of a "sign of things to come" song, with the increasing influence of synths during the Hagar era.

[Sits]

Talking of Van Halen - it doesn’t seem so looking back, but at the time Michael Jackson’s Beat It was quite a departure from his more typical RnB / funk / soul vibe previously, into something a lot rockier. The guitar solo seemed pretty radical at the time.

[elguapo4]

Happy Talk by Captain Sensible.

[Tony C]

I worked with a big led zeppelin fan, that was the album he loaned me and I didn't feel the need to delve deeper afterward, those two tracks being part of the reason.

If he had loaned you the second, third or fourth album
you may have been more enamoured. It’s wildly unfashionable these days to admit to having been a Zeppelin fan - not least because Jimmy Page’s dark sexual history was subsequently revealed - but they were damned good over those albums.

[Eggchaser]

Talking of Van Halen - it doesn’t seem so looking back, but at the time Michael Jackson’s Beat It was quite a departure from his more typical RnB / funk / soul vibe previously, into something a lot rockier. The guitar solo seemed pretty radical at the time.

He only did the solo. Steve Lukather did the rest of the guitars.

And Jeff Porcaro, who probably belongs on the Prolific thread given the amount of stuff he played on, was the drummer.

[Sporting]

It’s wildly unfashionable these days to admit to having been a Zeppelin fan - not least because Jimmy Page’s dark sexual history was subsequently revealed - but they were damned good over those albums.

I'm wildly unfashionable. Brilliant music.

[delicatemoth]

Neil Young was (unsuccessfully) sued by his record company for making an "unrepresentative" album (Trans).

[Amor de Cosmos]

Neil Young was (unsuccessfully) sued by his record company for making an "unrepresentative" album (Trans).

Oh yes, definitely fits the bill. As does Lou Reed's Metal Machine Music.

[Sporting]

Neil Young was (unsuccessfully) sued by his record company for making an "unrepresentative" album (Trans).

Wasn't Metal Machine Music along the same unrepresentative of the artist lines?

[Gangster Octopus]

Too slow...