Stylistic changes and where they did and did not work.

The title isn't just referring to say, changing genres, not so much as just how bands have altered their sound and whether or not it worked. This can include singular artists as well, bands who changed their names, bands that were more or less spiritual successors of others, and bands who formed out of the ashes of others and were essentially continuations. Do not simply post a band or artist - tell us why, show us examples, and make points for your arguments.

I'll start with a favourite of mine - Grotesque/At The Gates.

They started out playing somewhat above average ripping Sepultura/Slayer/Kreator esque death metal, nothing too complex but well executed for what it was but showing signs of ambition and promise here and there. Come 1990 and they would adopt a less feral and more distantly insidious sound, with an emphasis on elongated tremolo phrases that are eerily predicting of the Scandinavian black metal to come while their more adventurous structures hint at Alf Svensson's pupating talents as a composer.

After this, they would become At The Gates and put a far larger emphasis on melody, creating some of the first overtly classically influenced death metal. On 1991's Gardens of Grief, we got the first taste of some of the first progressive death metal metal of the era, combing intricate harmony like Iron Maiden filtered through Morbid Angel in chiaroscuro contrasts between light and dark.

Then, 1992 happened.

While commonly dismissed by the plebian corporate metallic imitation art hordes as being too "strange" or "raw" (read: not beating them over the head with the illusion of the avant-garde or repackaged older metal/rock sounds), this is not only At The Gates' greatest achievement but amongst the top ten most well composed extreme metal albums. Dropping a more linear approach to structure for an approach that simultaneously recombined while introducing new pathways, At The Gates took tremolo picking in metal to a level that still very few can match. The classical influence is now at its most upfront with many of Alf Svensson and Anders Björler's interlacing harmonies often sounding less like they descended from Nihilist and Necrovore and moreso from melancholic cello or violin pieces. In fact, a violinist often joins in later on to further emphasize it, not becoming "random" surface-level novelty as much as a powerful addition to their arsenal.

However, after a solid if inconsistent second album, they started to lose it. First came the mediocre Terminal Spirit Disease but then came the album that while it wasn't the first, more or less killed the idea of melodic death metal as something that could live up to its name - Slaughter of the Soul, a somewhat fitting title considering how much they shat on their artistic excellence. Falling back into musical tropes already done far better by traditional/power/thrash/prog bands, this once mighty band essentially just took those genres, added harsh vocals onto them, and popularized the cancerous "chug chug LEAD!" riffs that while once somewhat bearable quickly turned into some of the most tired forms of metal riffcraft out there. This was artistic suicide of a level perhaps beyond even the dreaded "Black Album" and while not quite on the same level as the laughably bad faux-macho antics of Pantera, has had nearly a similar level of negative influence upon metal.

edited 30th Aug '13 1:25:35 PM by StillbirthMachine

Daft Punk has changed their sound for every album after Homework. In their case, I find it's not a matter of whether or not it worked, but how much it worked.

Homework was a lot rougher compared to their later stuff. The duo even admit that the album was just them playing around (paraphrased).

Then Discovery came out. The music was a lot cleaner and more listener-friendly, and few of the songs were straight-up house tracks. It's probably my favorite Daft Punk album.

The next change was Human After All, which had them try combining their usual EDM with rock elements. It was (and arguably still is) pretty divisive, but I liked it. Not to the extent of Discovery or Homework, but I liked it.

Lastly, the big one: Random Access Memories. This one had them forgo EDM almost entirely in favor of sounding more retro, with genres like Disco, Rock/Soul, and contemporary-sounding music. it also had lots of session musicians and guest stars like Pharrell, Nile Rodgers, and Chilly Gonzales.

This, like Human After All, split the fanbase pretty hard. Some loved it, some simply liked it, some thought it ok, some didn't like it that much, and others hated it.

I personally think it's a great album. In a world where pop radio is filled with bland, annoying, and generic dancepop about getting drunk, boning girls, etc., this album is what music needs right now. It's a great change of pace.

Rascal Flatts, upon changing producers from Mark Bright to Dann Huff. They were so obsessed with big power ballads like "What Hurts the Most", all of them with soft first verses, screaming guitars, and over-the-top endings. And the lyrics just took a nosedive — lame lines like "every day, you save my life" or "There's a place I've been looking for / That took me in and out of buildings, behind windows, walls, and doors". I have to wonder how much of this was mandated by their label, because when the label closed, they stuck with Huff for two albums on a different label, and those albums had much better material for the most part.

Springsteen from The River to Nebraska - Bruce basically stripped down his sound for Nebraska, having written all of the songs by himself and finding they didn't quite work with the E Street Band. This album right here is more sorrowful than any of his previous works(and I think could go toe to toe with Johnny Cash's Hurt any day) and builds this really oppressive low-fi atmosphere that just crushes everything so good. Even the more hopeful songs like Reason To Believe has a quality that it's sung out of some run-down tin pan shack along the highway. There isn't a single song here(except maybe Open All Night) that would sound nearly as good in any other of Springsteen's records. I kinda wish he did more songs in this style because some of them would definitely benefit from it (Wreck on the Highway, Promised Land, The River, among others).

edited 2nd Sep '13 6:25:43 PM by iamathousandapples

Radiohead. Everything they do works.^* Except Creep and Skatterbrain.

But seriously, they went from pretty OK indie rock on their first album to a harder, more progressive sound on their second album The Bends, introduced a few electronic and jazz elements on OK Computer and then -BANG- Kid A comes out, with only 4 of the 10 tracks having audible guitar, and yet in my book it competes with OK Computer for the title of their best album. After the more electronic sound of Kid A, Amnesiac showed a jazzier side to things, while Hail To The Thief was rather eclectic, if overly long. After that, In Rainbows saw them return to a sound generally somewhere in between The Bends and OK Computer, with some of their later style also popping in. Then, The King Of Limbs can only be described by playing it to someone...

Genesis going from one of the finest prog bands in existence to a sappy pop band was a terrible stylistic change, but it made them filthy rich so it worked from one angle at least.

Ulver's a band that's changed styles with every album. Most of them worked, however I think they're weakest is their first attempt at industrial/electronic/whatsit the William Blake album. Some songs work but the bulk of the record is largely uninteresting to listen to.

Emperor's last two full lengths, Equilibrium and Prometheus, are really just Ishahn solo records with Samoth a glorified guest start, don't really work as a part of Emperor's discography. They're okay records on their own.

To be fair to Genesis, they seemed the most likely to metamporphose into a pop band considering their material has always been song-based, in direct contrast to acts like Yes. And they didn’t start out as execrably as they ended up. Duke was an excellent disc, mating prog and fusion elements from their past with accessible pop melodies and those newfangled 80s polyphonic synth things in an elegant way. The first half of Abacab is like this too, it could have been a great album if they made it how they originally envisioned it: as a double LP incorporating the “Dodo / Lurker / Submarine / Naminanu” suite. But the record company demanded more stuff that sounded like Phil’s popular solo album Face Value, so instead we get the uninspired “In the Air Tonight” clone “Man on the Corner,” mediocrities like “Another Record” and “Like It or Not” and the justly-mocked “Who Dunnit?”

I maintain that the Shapes album and We Can’t Dance have their saving graces, but that Invisible Touch was one of the most galling examples of corporate sellout this side of Knee Deep in the Hoopla or the entire career of Asia.

edited 7th Sep '13 1:24:54 PM by Bananaquit

I second this, and even Face Value had some really brilliant stuff that was overlooked in favor of the shallow afterthoughts and B-sides(the version of Behind The Lines was pretty awful too). When Genesis used atmosphere in their pop albums, they really became something else.

I just reviewed Keith Urban's latest album, Fuse, for a website I write for. The album has 11 different producers, and a ton of varied songwriters, most of whom Keith has never written with before. I thought the variety was amazing, almost overwhelming, but it worked insanely well. Here's my review: http://www.roughstock.com/reviews/album-review-keith-urban-fuse

The most annoying thing about 80s Genesis was that some of their best material, including pure pop songs like “Paperlate,” was being left off the albums in favour of dreck like “Who Dunnit.” The entire 3×3 EP was better than the last four songs off of Abacab. Even as soon as Duke, I’d much have preferred to have “Evidence of Autumn” on the album instead of one of those similar-sounding ballads (“Please Don’t Ask,” “Alone Again”). I guess the thinking was it was too similar to “Heathaze” but personally, I much prefer those moody Tony Banks songs to yet more trite “loss of love” balladry.

edited 11th Sep '13 1:35:05 AM by Bananaquit