Name a band/artist that sounds radically different from when they started.

[Beware the Beast Man]

I nominate the Goo Goo Dolls.
Back in the day, when Robby Takac was the lead singer, they were a good little power pop/punk outfit. Since John Rzeznik took over the frontman spot, they have evolved into the biggest uber-wuss band this side of Toad the Wet Sprocket.

Who do you choose?

[mainegreen]

1. Metallica

From Rocks to Repuke!

[tarkus]

47. I would really hate to be Metallica now...

At their shows they will be like "You want some more? How about some new stuff?" and get no reaction, and then they will be like "How about some old shit?" and everyone will go wild and they will play "The Four Horsemen" or something. But imagine how terrible they must feel. One would think they could make good music like they used to, but for some reason they keep churning out shitty albums that everyone obviously hates. I would think it would even be more profitable for them to go back to their old ways at this point.

[mainegreen]

52. They can't

not with the original bassist dead. I think the last album he helped write/influence (but died before getting to play on it) was And Justice for All. Their last good album (skrew you all who think that the black album was good. It wasn't!!!)

[name not needed]

55. Actually, their original bassist,

Ron McGovney, left the band in 1982.

[tarkus]

63. That is a good point. I think Cliff did add a lot to what they were doing.

So much for bassists being unimportant.

And thank you for the trivia, name not needed. I did not know that.

[jeff30997]

2. Metallica

Now I call them Metallicrap.

[Zuni]

3. Fleetwood mac

once the hottest blues band in England, led by soon to be acid casualty and white blues maestro Peter Green (who has since recovered), they became the hottest pop band in the world with Stevie Nicks and lindsey buckingham

[Chemical Bill]

67. Peter Green's the best

But I like the pop stuff too. I just don't love it like the blues.

Bill

[Zuni]

70. Peter Green is one of the all time best guitar players

I have ever heard, if not my all time fave---he is so intense

[SCDem]

4. U2

Joshua Tree I think was U2's greatest.... then they went to Rattle and Humm and then the Zoo tour and I don't know what their latest re-invention is but I still like Joshua Tree the best.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

13. I'll second that.

They went from "Sunday Bloody Sunday" to a song that has "Wooo!" as its main lyric.

[StopTheMorans]

18. i thought it was "Yeah!"

:shrug:

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

36. That's another song.

Goes to show you how far they've fallen.

[LoZoccolo]

65. You hear a little bit of the Zoo sound on /Rattle and Hum/.

When I heard the sound they had on "God Part II" I knew something was a little different about it...I kind-of think of it as a taste of Achtung Baby.

[Wickerman]

5. Yo La Tengo

Started off with a little bit of a country sound, kind of the New sincerity sound. Now they do a much more electronic, soft thing.

Low is another example. They got tired of playing at inaudible levels.

In neither case would I say the change is bad, its only different.

[tigereye]

8. hmmm Yo La Tengo -

some of their stuff is blaster level. At the same time, I really like Fakebook. They have the ability to be very chameleon like.

[Wickerman]

14. The last album was real quiet

and they have been heading that way for awhile. I kinda hope the new one is a straight ahead guitar album, but they are probably done with that.

I loved Fakebook, but Painful was and is my fave.

[meegbear]

6. Chicago

Their first album was rock/jazz slam - "Free Form Guitar" rocks. Then they changed to a rock/powerpop sound, then Peter Cetera took over and :nuke:

[AntiCoup2K4]

56. Chicago died with Terry Kath

or at least they should have.

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

7. Hanson

I dunno, back in the "MmmmmmmmmmBop" days, it was about the MUSIC, man...the freakin' MUSIC...now it's all about the money, the cars, the blow...



:evilgrin:

[tigereye]

10. REM - they were my favorite band for many years -

Where did all the cool guitar jangling go? Last couple CDs were pretty light on it. Also Stipe's head in navel, not so much fun of late. Seems to have lost some of their sense of humor.

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

20. Murmur and Reckoning...

"Radio Free Europe," "Sitting Still"...



"Second Guessing," "(Don't Go Back To) Rockville"...

When I need an REM fix, that's where I usually head first.

:toast:

[tigereye]

22. yes

I like the early stuff the best. I do like Green and some of the later rockier stuff, but I miss the old days and I miss Bill Berry.

[Beware the Beast Man]

25. See, now I dispute the REM thing,

because, despite the lack of "jangle" and the recent coherence of Michael Stipe's voice, there's still that common thread there from their earlier stuff. I'm thinking more along the lines of a band like Radiohead, which despite maintaining its original lineup, sounds absolutely nothing like it did when it debuted.

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

29. OK, I hear ya...

It's like the HARD, brutal blues on J Geils' "Full House" (notably on John Lee Hooker's "Serves You Right To Suffer") versus their later "novelty" songs like "Love Stinks" and "Centerfold."

That, for me, was a real shift. REM is kind of like Neil Young...a snake that keeps shedding its skin...but they're still REM.



:toast:

[tigereye]

34. dunno

there are some aspects of their sound that remain, true, but if you compare the sound of the earliest records with stuff, say, from Automatic for the People or the most recent couple... hmmm.

So you are talking drastic difference then, hmmm, have to think about that one.

Refining the criteria midstream, are we? ;)

[Beware the Beast Man]

35. Touche, that was the criteria.

:D

[tigereye]

72. yup

I reread it after I posted that. Whoops. But since when are you so picky, babe? ;)

[AntiCoup2K4]

57. REM completely fell apart without Bill Berry

Who would have thought the drummer was the crucial member in that band?

[salinen]

9. Genisis

Phil Collins could ruin a kids party.

[KFC]

11. Ministry

From techno dance to hardcore

[Beware the Beast Man]

16. Bingo!

I have to say, neither style Al Jourgensen took on was bad by any stretch, but "Land of Rape and Honey," which was their transition from electronic to metal, was fantastic. I'm not a fan of their straight-up metal stuff as much.

[grace0418]

49. You took my answer! Actually, I'd say they started as straight dance,

then they moved into industrial, then hardcore.

[jonnyblitz]

78. yup, the first band that came to my head before i clicked on this

thread. they are COMPLETELY different now ..

[MissMillie]

12. Prince

Everything he does is different from everything else he does.

[Parrcrow]

15. Marianne Faithful

[Atlas Mugged]

37. Her latest cd, 'Before The Poison' is utterly amazing

[Parrcrow]

51. I'll have to check it out

thanks:hi:

[Atlas Mugged]

69. It's a collaboration with Nick Cave and a few of the other Seeds

Some of it is blistering rock, but even a few of the ballads have lyrics so corrosive that they leave the listener stunned. She done good. Now, if I can only get my ass in gear and see one of her cabaret shows. Her current version of 'As Tears Go By' is a showstopper, from all reports. With Marianne, as so many people don't understand, it's not the loss of her smooth voice; it's her gain of astonishing phrasing. My idea of heaven? Her on tour with Tom Waits.

[leftofthedial]

17. crash test dummies

[quispquake]

19. Talking Heads

Probably made the WIDEST change over their careers...also the Stranglers (who I'm listening too right now!) changed IMMENSELY over their careers...

[zauberflote]

21. Too obvious, but, the Beatles

The original shapeshifters.
Also Radiohead.

[dolo amber]

23. Radiohead

Thom's lazy eye is still secksy, though. :P

[Debbi801]

24. Paul Anka

:rofl:

[NuckinFutz]

53. Anka has a new album out called 'Rock Swings'...

He covers some pretty hard rock songs in a big band/swing style. It's a hoot to hear "Smells Like Teen Spirit" when it swings.

You gotta love Sirius Disorder!

[WeRQ4U]

26. KORN

I actually really loved their first couple albums. It was raw emotion being spewed out. You could feel the rage and anger. They were a fringe band. MTV ruined them. They became mainstream and mellow. They fell for the glitz and money. Now their music is tame and without a heart. It's all loud pop.

Too bad.

[chickenscratching]

27. Vanilla Ice

Different, but still sounding shitty.
though, at least he isn't pulling shit on a good bowie/mercury song.

[WeRQ4U]

32. A friend and I heard "Pressure" on the radio one time and he said...

"Hey, they stole that clip from Vanilla Ice." I was absolutely floored.

[dajoki]

28. rod stewart

liked him with jeff beck in the '60s and faces in the '70s, but don't like his new sound:hippie:

[AntiCoup2K4]

59. Amen! Hasn't made a decent record since Woody left

Who the Hell wants to hear Rod Stewart singing Perry Como songs anyway?

[dajoki]

79. exactly!

not to mention sinatra.:wtf:

[RetroLounge]

30. Pink Floyd

Pipers at the gates to the Wall? Yikes...

RL

[tarkus]

45. I really think I am the only one who loves "The Final Cut" NM

[AntiCoup2K4]

61. Not to mention the complete shit that came after that

The Gilmour solo albums, erroneously labled Pink Floyd.

I doubt they'll record again, but I'm hoping the Live 8 appearance turns into a full tour at least.

[RetroLounge]

31. and lets not forget Spinal Tap!

:D

RL

[kmla]

41. You beat me to it...

Crap.

[jandrok]

33. The Gathering

From death metal to ambient synth-pop.

[Atlas Mugged]

38. Jesus & Mary Chain

[last_texas_dem]

39. GGD have definitely changed

But I disagree that it has made them suck; definitely a different sound, but I think the quality of their music has actually improved. I mean, on their fourth (I think) album Superstar Car Wash Rzeznik was already leading and that's probably the best album they ever made. It's a good blend of their harder earlier sound and the softer stuff they were moving toward. Even their softest overall album Dizzy up the Girl (the one with "Iris" and "Slide") has some cool harder songs, like "Bullet Proof" and "Extra Pale." And their last album was a move back towards a mostly harder sound even if commercially it didn't do a whole lot.

A few I would nominate off the top of my head:

Kansas- went from a very "organic", prog-rock sound with lots of violins and very long songs/suites on their debut album; they were playing short, hard stuff with keyboards and long guitar solo by 1986's Power. Then again, there are probably many bands that made changes like this (Genesis and Yes, to a degree) if they survived through the eighties, but listening to Kansas' mid-seventies stuff vs. the mid-eighties is quite an interesting contrast.

Pearl Jam- one of my all-time favorite bands; it's definitely an interesting contrast to listen to Ten and Binaural or Riot Act back to back. And funny since the only musician who is different is the drummer, which has changed multiple times.

Electric Prunes- from a dirty garage band ("I Had too Much to Dream Last Night"- the song that kicks off Nuggets) to performing rock versions of church music ("Kyrie Eliason"). (You might have to hear it to believe it...)

Most sixties bands- There was so much of a change in sound over the course of the sixties that many bands went along, for their own survival or other reasons. It's pretty hard to find a band that sounded basically the same by the end of the decade if they had debuted in the mid-sixties. The biggies like The Beatles and the Stones may have been directing things, but all kinds of bands changed in their sound, often with positive results. Certainly bands would progress in their sound over the course of their careers but rarely that dramatically. One major example: Tommy James and the Shondells. It's funny that a teenage garage band having a hit with "Hanky Panky" in '66 would be doing the long and trippy acid-pop song "Crimson and Clover" three years later- and have both go to #1 on the singles chart.

[kmla]

40. Spinal Tap....

They've come a long ways from "Listen to the Flower People", I tell ya....

[AllegroRondo]

46. Where are they now?

[Dervill Crow]

80. Doing community theater and dog shows, I think.

[Strawman]

42. Dio

http://www.venco.com.pl/~piotrus/boots/dio/early.htm

[ksilvas]

43. Chicago-Van Halen

[ksilvas]

44. The Flaming Lips, still love'em though

[tarkus]

48. Tool has gotten much more progressive.

They get exponentially better with every album, it seems. And Danny Carey just does more and more impressive things on the drums.

[AllegroRondo]

50. Bela Fleck

OK, not many people know his history.

Started as a bluegrass banjo player, and won several Grammys in that category.

Then in the 90's went into jazz.

And in 2004 - an album of classical music.

[Earth_First]

54. Phish

in more ways than one...

[HEyHEY]

58. 54-40

[Merrick]

60. The Flaming Lips

From a pop band that once appeared on Beverly Hills 90210 to one that makes beautifully ornate and original masterpieces like Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots

[u4ic]

62. Cyndi Lauper

She sounds great now!

[Hell Hath No Fury]

64. Elvis Costello....

I think his arc from punk to standards is pretty radical. :)

[LoZoccolo]

66. Roxy Music

Their first album was this eccentric glam-rock that took all these off-kilter turns, and their last album (soon to be second-to-last album) is like this high-class easy listening. I like both, actually.

[Heddi]

68. Beastie Boys

Pauls Boutique was pure absolute genius. It's like the Abbey Road of my generation. So different than anything being put out at the time.

Then, much to their own demise, they started playing their own instruments. Which meant albums full of half-rate instrumentals.

Then (as noble as it is), they got into the Buddhist thing, and I think their music just sucks ass.

They got where they are today by being smart-ass punks with catchy funny lyrics. Now they're all serious and trying to reclaim their mid-80's and early 90's heyday. Not. Gonna. Happen.

[UdoKier]

71. The Bee Gees.

nt

[philosophie_en_rose]

73. Jefferson Airplane!

:puke:

[KG]

74. the Beatles

did any band evolve more than they?

[Lauri16]

75. Alanis Morrisette

She was pop when she started.

[PittPoliSci]

76. Eighteen Visions.

From metal to EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

[Orsino]

77. Jethro Tull

Fairly psychedelic 'n' bluesy back in '68. They evolved quickly into prog-rockers and folk revivalists. And Ian's voice is nearly gone nowadays.

But he plays ten times better. It evens out.