# Genre change - Bands changing their sound **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 8, 2011, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genre-change-bands-changing-their-sound/573885 "2011-03-08T03:37:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2011, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genre-change-bands-changing-their-sound/573885/41 "2011-03-09T03:46:02Z")
Since we threw out the “bands” qualifier eons ago, how about every individual? Elvis, Bobby Darin, Rick Nelson, Diana Ross, Elton John, Rod Stewart, Eric Clapton, Joni Mitchell, Neil Diamond, Prince, Madonna, Cher, and probably Che, Ch, and C. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2011, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genre-change-bands-changing-their-sound/573885/42 "2011-03-09T04:15:46Z")
40 replies in and no mention of Elvis Costello? New wave\>alternative\>country\>adult alternative\>classical\>pop\>R&B\>soul, etc. mmm ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2011, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genre-change-bands-changing-their-sound/573885/43 "2011-03-09T15:55:35Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > In all fairness, the Goo Goo Dolls sound has stayed remarkably consistent throughout their career. Don’t know about that…I wouldn’t say you can really compare their first-album material like _[Don’t Beat My Ass With A Baseball Bat](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxiKStbcObY)_ to their movie-soundtrack fare. Incidentally, _Hold Me Up_ has been one of my “desert island” records from the day it was released. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2011, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genre-change-bands-changing-their-sound/573885/44 "2011-03-09T16:04:09Z")
Almost forgot my contribution: Ron Keel [then](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rK2iq-jClLw) to Ron Keel [now](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1pThMOXjsQ). ---
**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:** [March 9, 2011, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genre-change-bands-changing-their-sound/573885/45 "2011-03-09T18:04:48Z")
[Swans](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHES9YAGGkU) then, [Swans](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9HU3V-ne5U)later. ---
**Author:** ![It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/it_s_not_rocket_surgery/32/312_2.png) [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2011, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genre-change-bands-changing-their-sound/573885/46 "2011-03-09T19:26:11Z")
Return to Forever circa 1972 had a [very ethereal sound](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2E3W9xygWM&feature=related), while the 1976 version was [practically progressive rock](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1tcmWt_x7s&feature=related). ---
**Author:** ![Suil\_Dubh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85f322/32.png) [@Suil\_Dubh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suil_Dubh)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2011, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genre-change-bands-changing-their-sound/573885/47 "2011-03-09T23:11:36Z")
[Primal Scream](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primal_Scream) I first heard this band at my friend’s bar. He was playing their newest CD “XTRMNTR” (this was back in 2000), and to me they sounded like an edgy techno / dance / pop hybrid like “Nine Inch Nails”. A few months later and I was at another friend’s house and he puts on a CD of what sounds to me like mellow Southern country / blues / rock. I thought he was playing “The Black Crowes”. Turns out it was an earlier Primal Scream album. (I don’t remember which one, but from the Wikipedia article I’m guessing it was [Give Out But Don’t Give Up](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Give_Out_But_Don%27t_Give_Up).) I could not believe it was the same band. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genre-change-bands-changing-their-sound/573885/48 "2011-03-11T01:43:56Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > I’m having a harder time thinking of relatively long-lived, vital bands that kept the same sound throughout their career than I am thinking of those who changed or varied their sound. No better example than **Slayer**. If anything, they’ve just gotten louder, faster and more pissed off over the last 30 years. And for my money, there’s no better example of a change-up artist than Neil Young. The guy has done it all: country, country rock, folk, folk rock, big band, swing, jazz, punk rock, arena rock, pop, ballads, experimental noise, etc., etc. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genre-change-bands-changing-their-sound/573885/49 "2011-03-11T02:50:41Z")
So has Todd Rundgren, come to think of it. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genre-change-bands-changing-their-sound/573885/50 "2011-03-11T03:09:07Z")
> [@Nobody](#): > > So has Todd Rundgren, come to think of it. Aye, he’s a wizard, a true star who just wants to bang on the drum all day. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genre-change-bands-changing-their-sound/573885/51 "2011-03-11T03:10:11Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Aye, he’s a wizard, a true star who just wants to bang on the drum all day. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Harvey\_The\_Heavy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Harvey\_The\_Heavy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harvey_The_Heavy)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2011, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genre-change-bands-changing-their-sound/573885/52 "2011-03-13T14:57:26Z")
Deep Purple released three rather mediocre psychedelic albums before switching singers and going proto-metal. ---
**Author:** ![jordanr2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/838e76/32.png) [@jordanr2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jordanr2)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2011, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genre-change-bands-changing-their-sound/573885/53 "2011-03-13T17:10:29Z")
They didn’t exactly become more famous, but I can’t help but think that Talk Talk would be a footnote in music history were it not for _Spirit of Eden_ and _Laughing Stock_. ---
**Author:** ![Marc\_Xenos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@Marc\_Xenos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marc_Xenos)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2011, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genre-change-bands-changing-their-sound/573885/54 "2011-03-13T18:03:38Z")
The MOST radical sound change had to be Kenny Rogers. His first hit, Just Dropped In To See What Condition My Condition Was In, was pretty good. I pushed my soul in a deep dark hole and then I followed it in I watched myself crawlin’ out as I was a-crawlin’ in I got up so tight I couldn’t unwind I saw so much I broke my mind I just dropped in to see what condition my condition was in And then they turned to some slow ballad, preachy pseudo country format. I mean, any band has got to evolve or it’s just churning out re-releases of its old stuff. But Kenny, that wasn’t evolution, but transmogrification, shape shifting in the music industry. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2011, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genre-change-bands-changing-their-sound/573885/55 "2011-03-13T18:05:18Z")
The Four Seasons went from 50’s Schmatz to 70’s Disco with their comeback-of-the-decade megahit “Oh, What A Night.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/genre-change-bands-changing-their-sound/573885.md?page=2)