# Bands that underwent big transformations **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [November 28, 2021, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-that-underwent-big-transformations/955080 "2021-11-28T19:13:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![its\_the\_daddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/bb73d2/32.png) [@its\_the\_daddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/its_the_daddy)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2021, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-that-underwent-big-transformations/955080/21 "2021-11-28T22:34:32Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > Fleetwood mac only wanted Buckingham but he told them they had to take Nicks too as she was his GF at the time. Because they already had a perfectly good female singer/writer/keyboardist at the time. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2021, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-that-underwent-big-transformations/955080/22 "2021-11-28T22:36:08Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > Don’t forget between the Peter Green/Jeremy Spencer/Danny Kirwan version and Buckingham/Nicks version, there was also the version with Bob Welch. Totally did forget the Bob Welch version, thanks! ---
**Author:** ![jaycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat/32/3015_2.png) [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2021, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-that-underwent-big-transformations/955080/23 "2021-11-28T22:39:43Z")
> [@solost](#): > > The Beatles, evolving from “I Wanna Hold Your Hand” light poppy love songs to songs that were much more complex musically and thematically. You might be surprised at how musically sophisticated many of those early songs were. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2021, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-that-underwent-big-transformations/955080/24 "2021-11-28T22:52:00Z")
I guess you wouldn’t call him a band, but Bob Dylan went from straight-up acoustic folk music to electric and has continued to evolve over the decades. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2021, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-that-underwent-big-transformations/955080/25 "2021-11-28T23:01:42Z")
And went from activist to absurdist to Jesus freak to devout Jew to… whatever he is now. ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2021, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-that-underwent-big-transformations/955080/26 "2021-11-28T23:02:34Z")
Didn’t _Jefferson Airplane_, a psychadelic rock band from the '60s, de-evolve into _Jefferson Starship_, that further de-evolved into _Starship_? They went from **this** : [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/WANNqr-vcx0/hqdefault.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEmCOADEOgC8quKqQMa8AEB-AH-BIAC4AOKAgwIABABGHIgTig5MA8=&rs=AOn4CLBGVG6ggfJNrtVRMxId1pA4lQ6aCw "Jefferson Airplane -White Rabbit-") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WANNqr-vcx0) . . . to **this** : [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/K1b8AhIsSYQ/maxresdefault.jpg "Starship - We Built This City (Official Music Video) [HD]") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1b8AhIsSYQ) I mean, there’s a lot of history I’m glossing over, if I’m remembering the fall from Grace the band had. Tripler Pun intended. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2021, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-that-underwent-big-transformations/955080/27 "2021-11-28T23:07:55Z")
Ms. Slick has stopped dyeing her hair, and I’ve seen pictures of her with it close-cropped. [https://www.grammy.com/recording-academy/news/grace-slick-talks-painting-expression-madonna](https://www.grammy.com/recording-academy/news/grace-slick-talks-painting-expression-madonna) KISS tried the disco thing (with predictable results) and in the 1980s and early 1990s, Rush also turned poppier, with shorter songs, and Geddy Lee reverted more to his natural tenor voice. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2021, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-that-underwent-big-transformations/955080/28 "2021-11-28T23:09:45Z")
> [@jaycat](#): > > You might be surprised at how musically sophisticated many of those early songs were. I didn’t mean to discount the work of the early Beatles, which I still enjoy to this day. But you can’t deny there’s miles of difference between “I Wanna Hold Your Hand” and, say, “A Day in the Life”. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2021, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-that-underwent-big-transformations/955080/29 "2021-11-29T02:11:29Z")
Blood Sweat and Tears went from a blues-based band with a horn section to starting out their second album with a classical piece. They continued to move away from blues as they became successful. Donovan started out as a Bob Dylan imitator, then switched to be a psychedelic troubadour. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2021, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-that-underwent-big-transformations/955080/30 "2021-11-29T02:28:31Z")
No. Just…no. The _history you are glossing over_ is a band that is connected to a previous band by the thinnest of threads. Jefferson Airplane was no more Starship than the Quarrymen were Wings. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2021, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-that-underwent-big-transformations/955080/31 "2021-11-29T02:35:40Z")
A much better singer too. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2021, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-that-underwent-big-transformations/955080/32 "2021-11-29T02:44:09Z")
I don’t know about “biggest”, but Depeche Mode’s _Speak and Spell_ album was a breezy bit of uplifting 80s synth pop with the hit “I Just Can’t Get Enough,” transitioning their sound on their follow-up, still keeping their synth pop bounce, but mixing it with a bit of melancholy, before becoming the mysterious, moody, brooding band that we most associate with Depeche Mode. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2021, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-that-underwent-big-transformations/955080/33 "2021-11-29T02:46:41Z")
Ministry started as a synth pop/alternative/New Wave band and turned into an industrial metal band. ---
**Author:** ![SomeDeadSinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/91b2a8/32.png) [@SomeDeadSinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SomeDeadSinger)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2021, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-that-underwent-big-transformations/955080/34 "2021-11-29T04:29:50Z")
Talking Heads went from a tightly wound four piece minimalist band to an expansive world music influenced band with 10 to 15 people on stage at any given time. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2021, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-that-underwent-big-transformations/955080/35 "2021-11-29T06:29:18Z")
It’s not like Gabriel didn’t also ride that MTV wave of pop hits… ---
**Author:** ![TCMF-2L](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tcmf-2l/32/16553_2.png) [@TCMF-2L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TCMF-2L)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2021, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-that-underwent-big-transformations/955080/36 "2021-11-29T12:02:22Z")
**The Cure** have done a bit of most things in their time. TCMF-2F ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2021, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-that-underwent-big-transformations/955080/37 "2021-11-29T12:10:00Z")
Beastie Boys from punk to rap/metal fusion. Ministry from Duran Duran type stuff to industrial metal. ---
**Author:** ![TCMF-2L](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tcmf-2l/32/16553_2.png) [@TCMF-2L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TCMF-2L)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2021, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-that-underwent-big-transformations/955080/38 "2021-11-29T12:12:02Z")
British legends **Status Quo** started as psychedelic (their first big hit **Pictures of Matchstick Men** ) before soon establishing their better known (in the UK) Hard Rock style ( **Rocking All Over The World** ). Towards the end of their long career they became more and more pop orientated and even put out dance singles comprising of medleys of other - not their own - songs. TCMF-2L ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2021, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-that-underwent-big-transformations/955080/39 "2021-11-29T12:44:54Z")
Bowie. Aladin Sane/Ziggy Stardust. TVC15. Scary Monsters. Serious Moonlight? And then there’s Neil Young going off the rails with the Shocking Pinks. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2021, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-that-underwent-big-transformations/955080/40 "2021-11-29T12:47:46Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > Beastie Boys from punk to rap/metal fusion. They didn’t perform as a punk band under the name Beastie Boys or if they did, they did not achieve any significant level of success as a punk band. From Wikipeidia: > Beastie Boys were formed out of members of experimental hardcore punk band The Young Aborigines in 1978… > > After achieving local success with the 1983 comedy hip hop single “Cooky Puss,” Beastie Boys made a full transition to hip hop… > **[Beastie Boys](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beastie_Boys)** > > Beastie Boys\[a\] were an American hip hop/rap rock group from New York City, formed in 1981. The group was composed of Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz (vocals, guitar), Adam "MCA" Yauch (vocals, bass), and Michael "Mike D" Diamond (vocals, drums, programming). Beastie Boys were formed out of members of experimental hardcore punk band The Young Aborigines, which was formed in 1979, with Diamond on drums, Jeremy Shatan on bass guitar, John Berry on guitar, and Kate Schellenbach later joining on percus Af... [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-that-underwent-big-transformations/955080.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bands-that-underwent-big-transformations/955080.md?page=3)