I’d add Husker Du’s Zen Arcade, which took hardcore punk out of the ghetto and married it to Beatlesque pop songwriting, damn near inventing “alternative rock” in the process.
Metallica, Black album
Absolutely - excellent example.
A lot of critics dumped on Grand Funk Railroad, although they sold a lot of albums, until “We’re an American Band”. John Cougar Mellencamp got a lot of grief as an ersatz Bruce Springsteen (he was managed by Springsteen’s former manager, who ended up as the target of rock journalists like Dave Marsh) until the mid 80s.
Marvin Gaye made the usual Motown pop in the 1960s and in the 1970s had some deeper records like “What’s Going on” and the under appreciated “Here, my dear” about his divorce.
I wonder if Merle Haggard could make some really great records if he teamed with Rick Rubin as Johnny Cash did at the end of his life.
Does it count if this corresponded with a major change in personnel (in this case, the departure of Denny Laine and the addition of Justin Hayward and John Lodge)?
If so, a similar example might be when Lindsay Buckingham and Stevie Nicks joined Fleetwood Mac.
I would say that Guns 'n Roses were megastars even before November Rain. I think the point of the OP was the song that changed a group’s direction and made them legendary.
I was going to chime in with Beach Boys and Good Vibrations, but somebody beat me to it.
Wow - this is turning out great!
Great observations about so many bands, no way to address them all. Stuff like OK Computer, Paul’s Boutique, Ziggy and a bunch of others seem pretty clear. I would never have thought of Layla that way for Clapton, Bo, but I can’t argue the point - it represents a significant artistic shift that added depth to his image. I would put Disraeli Gears there, too - the shift from straight blues to heavier power-trio rock added a dimension that hadn’t been there either.
**Gordon Urquhart **- I have to push back on Van Halen. Jump expanded their commercial appeal, but was not an ambitious artistic statement or artistic shift in style. It wasn’t like, say, Paul Simon’s Graceland. It was much more the stylistic complement to Eddie’s lead on Michael Jackson’s Beat It - EVH gave MJ some rock heft; keyboards in Jump gave VH broader pop appeal.
Where do the **Rolling Stones **fit in all this? They started off as wannabee bluesers and lame pop stylists (sorry, but As Tears Go By just stinks) but - quickly - evolved into great pop songwriters. But then - I guess by Let it Bleed - everything changed and they shifted into a whole ‘nother level of excellence. Okay, that’s it - I am calling the Rolling Stones’ Bohemian Rhapsody moment: Gimme Shelter. After that, everything changed…
This is the first one that leapt to my mind, unsurprisingly.
For their first three albums, Rush, Fly By Night, and Caress of Steel, Rush was regarded as a Zeppelin knock off from Canada that could play but not write songs people wanted to hear. Heck, even the band acknowledged that it wasn’t going anywhere as the tour for the Caress of Steel was informally called the ‘Down the Tubes Tour’.
But the release of 2112 with a full side, 20 minute suite of songs that combined a bit of Ayn Rand and science fiction appears to have hit the target perfectly for the time. Suddenly they were a ‘must see’ band and sales skyrocketed, even of the earlier albums.
I would argue that the shift came about a year earlier with the first production job by Jimmy Miller, Jumpin’ Jack Flash and then the Beggars’ Banquet album. I think with this, they started their best period, lasting till Exile.
VH’s moment, if there was one, would have to be the switch to Van Hagar. I, for one, could have done without.
For my money, the parallel moment for the Allman Brothers Band was the entire “Fillmore East” album, and if we have to get it down to one song, then Stormy Monday.
Just so they will have been mentioned in an otherwise Rock context,
Dave Brubeck Quartet’s Take Five from the Time Out album
and
Miles Davis Group’s So What from Kind of Blue with the Blue in Green track running a close second.
And although it’s not in the same league as those two, I would have to say that Are You Going With Me? from Travels is the Pat Metheny Group’s entry in that category.
This is exactly what I came in here to mention. Not only the new direction that the band took with album, but the almost phoenix-like rebirth of the band itself after survivng both significant personnel changes and struggles with their record company. If you haven’t seen it, check out the documentary “I Am Trying To Break Your Heart” which chronicles the making of the “YHF” album.
I agree with the song, but I’d argue that it was when Are You Going With Me first appeared on Offramp - the first album on which Pat played the synclavier guitar - that the Group dynamic changed to a more experimental sound.
For something outside mainstream music, I would nominate Ali Farka Toure’s album with Ry Cooder called “Talking Timbuktu”. Prior to that album, Toure was well-known in West Africa and to hard-core fans of world music, but that album won him a Grammy and international recognition, and is a superb example of his genius.
Side note: if you like that track or even if you don’t, check out JC Brooks’ cover of “I Am Trying To Break Your Heart”.
In the theatre world, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice were seen as two young kids who got lucky playing off the Jesus Rock movement.
And then they wrote Evita, and Broadway super producer Hal Price, recognizing a masterpiece when he heard one, got involved. And the rest is history.
And funny enough, I would think that it came earlier with the release of (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction which marked a change from concentrating solely on blues to becoming more comercially oriented with songs that were more rock than anything else, and original rock numbers at that, such as Paint It Black and Let’s Spend the Night Together, among others.
But then again, it could be argued that some bands can have more than one “Bohemian Rhapsody moment”, couldn’t it?
I guess you haven’t listened to Queen II? Fairy-Feller’s Masterstroke and March of the Black Queen are every bit as complex and ambitious as Bo Rhap.
They didn’t have remotely the same impact on Queen’s success and rep as BR.
R.E.M. - Out of Time (single: Losing My Religeon)
Smashing Pumpkins - Melon Collie and the Infinite Sadness (double album)
Red Hot Chilli Peppers - Blood Sugar Sex Magic (single: Under the Bridge)
Eminem - 8 Mile film / Lose Yourself single
U2 - Possibly The Joshua Tree, Rattle and Hum or Actung Baby. If I were to pick a single song, One from Actung Baby.
Meat Loaf - Bat Out of Hell II (single: I Would Do Anything for Love)
I would argue that while** Paul’s Boutique **made them a critical success, Ill Communication was the album that turned them into musical superstars.