History EarlyInstallmentWeirdness / Music

* Music/KennyRogers is best known as a singer of both traditional and pop-influenced country, one of his best known hits being "The Gambler". [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2P7WMEUkuo This is not at all like his more famous style of music.]] You may recognize this from The Big Lebowski.

* Kenny Rogers is best known as a traditional country singer, one of his best known hits being The Gambler. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2P7WMEUkuo This is not at all like his more famous style of music.]] You may recognize this from The Big Lebowski.

* Ronnie James Dio is best known for his work with Rainbow, Black Sabbath and Dio, but he initially started out in the late 1950s... as a teeny bopper doo-wop musician. His work with Ronnie & The Red Caps and Ronnie Dio & The Prophets is vastly different from anything he would spend the majority of his career on- not that one could blame him, he started out before heavy metal even existed. One has to wonder how his career would have gone if he'd not switched musical genres. Don't believe me? [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRSMAx_X8Xg This is sung by the man who would later record Holy Diver!]]

* Ronnie James Dio is best known for his work with Rainbow, Black Sabbath and Dio, but he initially started out in the late 1950s... as a teeny bopper doo-wop musician. His work with Ronnie & The Red Caps and Ronnie Dio & The Prophets is vastly different from anything he would spend the majority of his career on- not that one could blame him, he started out before heavy metal even existed. One has to wonder how his career would have gone if he'd not switched musical genres.

* The second {{Kiss}} album, ''Hotter Than Hell'' (1974), never became a huge hit with anyone other than die-hard Kiss fans, even in the wake of their later mega-stardom, and it's not hard to understand why: the record hardly fits the Kiss stereotype at all. Although the band had their "kabuki/dungeon porn" look by this time (as opposed to their appearance in the original version, Wicked Lester, where they were simply in street clothes and plain whiteface), only about two or three of the songs were similar to "Rock and Roll All Nite" or other classic Kiss hits. "Parasite" was more of a "stoner metal" song (seriously, you can just picture [[BeavisAndButthead Beavis and Butthead]] rocking out to it), while "Goin' Blind" has a very low-key, almost '90s alternative sound to it. Quite a few of these songs were written by guitarist Ace Frehley, who had much less of a "pop" sensibility than the other band members.

* DeltaGoodrem's first single ("I Don't Care") and the first two video's she recorded were decidedly pop to take advantage of the trend of the time. It was 2001 and she was finding her feet, but contrast incredibly with her Innocent Eyes and Mistaken Identity albums.

* The second {{Kiss}} album, ''Hotter Than Hell'' (1974), never became a huge hit with anyone other than die-hard Kiss fans, even in the wake of their later mega-stardom, and it's not hard to understand why: the record hardly fits the Kiss stereotype at all. Although the band had their "kabuki/dungeon porn" look by this time (as opposed to their appearance in the original version, Wicked Lester, where they were simply in street clothes and plain whiteface), only about two or three of the songs were similar to "Rock and Roll All Nite" or other classic Kiss hits. "Parasite" was more of a "stoner metal" song (seriously, you can just picture [[BeavisAndButthead Beavis and Butthead]] rocking out to it, while "Goin' Blind" has a very low-key, almost '90s alternative sound to it. Quite a few of these songs were written by guitarist Ace Frehley, who had much less of a "pop" sensibility than the other band members.

* The second {{Kiss}} album, ''Hotter Than Hell'' never became a huge hit with anyone other than die-hard Kiss fans, even in the wake of their later mega-stardom, and it's not hard to understand why: the record hardly fits the Kiss stereotype at all. Although the band had their "kabuki/dungeon porn" look by this time (as opposed to their appearance in the original version, Wicked Lester, where they were simply in street clothes and plain whiteface), only about two or three of the songs were similar to "Rock and Roll All Nite" or other classic Kiss hits. "Parasite" was more of a "stoner metal" song (seriously, you can just picture [[BeavisAndButthead Beavis and Butthead]] rocking out to it, while "Goin' Blind" has a very low-key, almost '90s alternative sound to it. Quite a few of these songs were written by guitarist Ace Frehley, who had much less of a "pop" sensibility than the other band members.

* The songs recorded in the mid-1970s by [[Music/{{ACDC}} AC/DC]], arguably the biggest rock band on the planet today, sounded very different from their later hits; this was primarily because they weren't quite taking themselves seriously yet, and mostly preferred crude novelty songs. And the band that was the spiritual forerunner of AC/DC - the BritishInvasion one-hit wonder The Easybeats - hardly sounds like AC/DC at all.

* The Meat Puppets are primarily associated with indie and AlternativeRock, but got their start as an abrasively noisy HardcorePunk band. The only hints at their future direction on their self-titled album were a pair of country covers, "Walkin' Boss" and "Tumblin' Tumbleweeds", which hinted at the country-punk style they'd develop on ''Meat Puppets II''. Especially odd is Curt Kirkwood's VocalEvolution - he spent much of the first album yowling and shrieking [[IndecipherableLyrics unintelligibly]], as opposed to the more sleepy-sounding, [[PerishingAltRockVoice monotone vocals]] he'd start using later on.

* The Break Up's self-titled album was harder and more [[{{Industrial}} EBM-oriented]], in contrast with their major-label breakout ''Synthesis'', which is mainly {{goth}}ic {{synthpop}} / [[NewWave nu-wave]] / {{darkwave}}.

* The Meat Puppets are primarily associated with indie and AlternativeRock, but got their start as an abrasively noisy HardcorePunk band. The only hints at their future direction on their self-titled album were a pair of country covers, "Walkin' Boss" and "Tumblin' Tumbleweeds", which hinted at the country-punk style they'd develop on ''Meat Puppets II''. Especially odd is Curt Kirkwood's VocalEvolution - he spent much of the first album yowling and shrieking [[UnintelligibleLyrics unintelligibly]], as opposed to the more sleepy-sounding, [[PerishingAltRockVoice monotone vocals]] he'd start using later on.

* [[EltonJohn Elton John's]] first album, ''Empty Sky'', had many psychedelic overtones and PurpleProse lyrics (courtesy of his lyricist Bernie Taupin). The album was relatively lo-fi (on four-track tape) and featured session musicians. Elton's use of session musicians continued until 1972, along with the heavy use of dramatic orchestral accompaniment. The earlier albums were very much in the "singer-songwriter" mold, and had considerably less of a rock feel or band sound as he'd be known for, as he was on a limited budget and his songs contained strict arrangements to the note to conserve money and time. By 1972, Elton decided to use his lve backing band (Davey Johnstone on guitar, Dee Murray on bass, and Nigel Olsson on drums) full-time, recorded in France instead of England, and developed more of a rock feel than previously, making less blatant use of orchestration (though he still used it). The resulting release, ''Honky Chateau'', featuring the hit "Rocket Man", established the sound he'd be known for, and helped make Elton a superstar.

* [[EltonJohn Elton John's]] first album, ''Empty Sky'', had many psychedelic overtones and PurpleProse lyrics (courtesy of his lyricist Bernie Taupin). The album was relatively lo-fi (on four-track tape) and featured session musicians. Elton's use of session musicians continued until 1972, along with the heavy use of dramatic orchestral accompaniment. The earlier albums were very much in the "singer-songwriter" mold, and had considerably less of a rock feel or band sound as he'd be known for, as he was on a limited budget and his songs contained strict arrangements to the note to conserve money and time. By 1972, Elton decided to use his lve backing band (Davey Johnstone on guitar, Dee Murray on bass, and Nigel Olsson on drums) full-time, recorded in France instead of England, and developed more of a rock feel than previously. The resulting release, ''Honky Chateau'', featuring the hit "Rocket Man", established the sound he'd be known for, and helped make Elton a superstar.

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* TheFlamingLips' first EP was heavily psychedelic-influenced punk rock, with very low-pitched monotone vocals (courtesy of Wayne Coyne's brother Mark - Wayne got [[StepUpToTheMicrophone promoted to lead singer]] soon after). While psychedelia has pretty much always been a part of their sound, the first EP is barely recognizable as the same band. Even after switching singers, it sort of took a while for their sound to evolve - for instance, [[VocalEvolution Wayne Coyne took a few albums to start using the higher-pitched vocal style he's now known for.]]

* CountryMusic band Lonestar was radically different on their first two albums. Besides the fact that John Rich (who was fired from the band in 1998 and became one-half of Big & Rich in 2004) sang lead a few times on said albums, their debut has honky-tonk and country-rock influences not far removed from BrooksAndDunn, while the second is more breezy and somewhat {{Eagles}}-esque. From ''Lonely Grill'' onward, they dove headfirst into slick country-pop, becoming more slick and theatrical as time went on. It's just hard to believe that their first #1 was the edgy, humorous "No News"; their third was the PowerBallad "Amazed"; and their last two were the soccer mom-friendly, TastesLikeDiabetes "My Front Porch Looking In" and "Mr. Mom".

* White Zombie are primarily known for mixing IndustrialMetal and GrooveMetal in the 90's, but started out as a chaotic, lo-fi NoiseRock band in the late 80's: They cited bands like The Birthday Party, Butthole Surfers, and BlackFlag as influencing this phase. RobZombie's voice was also only sometimes recognizable at this point - instead of the near GutturalGrowler vocal style he'd use in White Zombie's nineties albums (and throughout his solo career), he sang in more of a nasal, punk-ish sneer. The main thread running through both stages of their career are lyrical references to grind-house and horror movies and frequent use of SpokenWordInMusic. Interestingly, [[{{Music/Nirvana}} Kurt Cobain]] was a fan of their early work, as was IggyPop.

* The Avalanches' ''El Producto'' EP did have the same dense layers of [[{{sampling}} samples]] as their more well-known ''Since I Left You''[[hottip:*: (The parrot sample that would later show up in "Frontier Psychiatrist" even makes an early appearance in "Rap Fever")]], but used them to a somewhat trippier and slightly less danceable effect. More importantly, while ''Since I Left You'' was instrumental except for sampled vocals, ''El Producto'' actually featured the group rapping WordSaladLyrics over most of the songs.

* CountryMusic band Lonestar was radically different on their first two albums. Besides the fact that John Rich (who was fired from the band in 1998 and became one-half of Big & Rich in 2004) sang lead a few times, the first album has honky-tonk and country-rock influences not far removed from BrooksAndDunn, while the second is more breezy and somewhat {{Eagles}}-esque. From ''Lonely Grill'' onward, they dove headfirst into slick country-pop, becoming more slick and theatrical as time went on. It's just hard to believe that their first #1 was the edgy, humorous "No News"; their third was the PowerBallad "Amazed"; and their last two were the soccer mom-friendly "My Front Porch Looking In" and "Mr. Mom".

* Project Pitchfork's early works, especially the demo album ''Demonic Puppets'', were avant garde-type industrial in the vein of The Art of Noise, Throbbing Gristle, Cabaret Voltaire, etc. rather then the borderline darkwave/EBM they are better known for.

* The first album by DaYoopers included two dead-serious songs: "My Shoes" and "Critics Tune". It was also their only album besides ''Yoopy Do Wah'' not to include interstitial comedy sketches or guest musicians, and Lynn actually played a synthesizer instead of keyboard.