Fave band/singer changing their music genre

[PkmnTrainerElio]

Has one of your favorite singer/bands changed his/her/their genre from rock to country or whatever and you prefer their older music, rather than their new, or you may even like their new music better than their old.

One of mine has and it really has impacted his music career and possibly changed his fanbase from predominantly teen girls and some boys to both teenagers and adults, Justin Bieber changed from teen pop/pop to R&B, quite abruptly to be honest, I do prefer his older stuff, a few of his newer songs have been worthy to be liked by myself, but, not as much. I find it unfair how he didn't say he was changing his style. I actually would consider myself a fan of the "real" Justin Bieber (2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012), when his music was good, he was a good person and was smart (I don't want anyone whining about this either). I can even say I don't like most of his new songs, they just don't do it for me.

 

[Crunch Punch]

I guess The Black Keys falls in this genre. I really prefer their older, garage-blues rock than their newer poppier stuff like in El Camino. (though Gold In The Ceiling is pretty catchy) Turn Blue is also a bit ruined by the over production and Fever has no guitar on it...

 

[Treecko]

Personally I think any good artist or band should be allowed to change their style a bit every now and then. It shows they're willing to experiment with the sound they originally started with. When an artist/bands sticks to one style , they can get dull imo. Though I definitely get where you're coming from. When they make a very drastic change in their music, such as going from one genre to one very different than what they usually put out (say like an alternative or hard rock band changing to a more pop rock/electronic sound) , it can throw me off and I can sometimes hate their newer sound.

For example, I used to be a big Black Eyed Peas fans around 2005/2006. I'd follow their every move on their website/blogs (this was before Facebook,Twitter,etc existed) and had all their music. I really loved their R n B/hip-hop sound, with lyrics that were pretty meaningful at times ("Where Is the Love?" is a great example). But I admit, I can't stand their new electronic/dance/EDM music. I liked Boom Boom Pow at first (barely recognized that it was BEP song at first if it weren't for Will.i.am's voice), but now I realize it's just one of the annoying songs ever. I still kind of like "I Gotta Feeling" just because it's a cheerful feel good song, but even that isn't as appealing anymore. I didn't even bother fully listening to their new album. I heard two songs and I already thought they were awful. And will.i.am 's solo projects aren't any better, especially the newer ones. His lyric writing quality has definitely declined imo. And don't get me started on his new song "It's My Birthday". Oh dear God. I don't think he tries to write anymore.

I guess The Black Keys falls in this genre. I really prefer their older, garage-blues rock than their newer poppier stuff like in El Camino. (though Gold In The Ceiling is pretty catchy) Turn Blue is also a bit ruined by the over production and Fever has no guitar on it...

I wouldn't say no guitar, just more muffled or not as obvious guitar. https://tabs.ultimate-guitar.com/b/black_keys/fever_tab_1472134id_25032014date.htm And I never got the hate the older fans had for albums like El Camino and Brothers. I think it's a solid album and it's still good blues rock even if it is a bit poppish. Pop/Mainstream sound doesn't always equal bad. (In a lot of cases it does though. I.E. Black Eyed Peas). Just an opinion.

 

[Crunch Punch]

I wouldn't say no guitar, just more muffled or not as obvious guitar. https://tabs.ultimate-guitar.com/b/black_keys/fever_tab_1472134id_25032014date.htm And I never got the hate the older fans had for albums like El Camino and Brothers. I think it's a solid album and it's still good blues rock even if it is a bit poppish. Pop/Mainstream sound doesn't always equal bad. (In a lot of cases it does though. I.E. Black Eyed Peas). Just an opinion.

A tab doesn't necessarily mean that it was played on a guitar, it sounds like synthesizers was all over it. I guess I could be wrong though, I dunno.

Also I don't really hate The Black Keys for changing their sound, it was essential for them to as half of Magic Potion showed that they were running out of ideas as being a simple two-piece band; I just prefer their older songs I guess. Brothers is a decent album, and I was initially turned off by Turn Blue but it is kinda growing on me now.

 

[Hikamaru]

Personally I think any good artist or band should be allowed to change their style a bit every now and then. It shows they're willing to experiment with the sound they originally started with. When an artist/bands sticks to one style , they can get dull imo. Though I definitely get where you're coming from. When they make a very drastic change in their music, such as going from one genre to one very different than what they usually put out (say like an alternative or hard rock band changing to a more pop rock/electronic sound) , it can throw me off and I can sometimes hate their newer sound.

For example, I used to be a big Black Eyed Peas fans around 2005/2006. I'd follow their every move on their website/blogs (this was before Facebook,Twitter,etc existed) and had all their music. I really loved their R n B/hip-hop sound, with lyrics that were pretty meaningful at times ("Where Is the Love?" is a great example). But I admit, I can't stand their new electronic/dance/EDM music. I liked Boom Boom Pow at first (barely recognized that it was BEP song at first if it weren't for Will.i.am's voice), but now I realize it's just one of the annoying songs ever. I still kind of like "I Gotta Feeling" just because it's a cheerful feel good song, but even that isn't as appealing anymore. I didn't even bother fully listening to their new album. I heard two songs and I already thought they were awful. And will.i.am 's solo projects aren't any better, especially the newer ones. His lyric writing quality has definitely declined imo. And don't get me started on his new song "It's My Birthday". Oh dear God. I don't think he tries to write anymore.




I wouldn't say no guitar, just more muffled or not as obvious guitar. https://tabs.ultimate-guitar.com/b/black_keys/fever_tab_1472134id_25032014date.htm And I never got the hate the older fans had for albums like El Camino and Brothers. I think it's a solid album and it's still good blues rock even if it is a bit poppish. Pop/Mainstream sound doesn't always equal bad. (In a lot of cases it does though. I.E. Black Eyed Peas). Just an opinion.

A tab doesn't necessarily mean that it was played on a guitar, it sounds like synthesizers was all over it. I guess I could be wrong though, I dunno.

Also I don't really hate The Black Keys for changing their sound, it was essential for them to as half of Magic Potion showed that they were running out of ideas as being a simple two-piece band; I just prefer their older songs I guess. Brothers is a decent album, and I was initially turned off by Turn Blue but it is kinda growing on me now.

I can see where you guys are coming from over here, I remember listening to Fever for the first time and I was like "this is so different to The Black Keys I'm used to" and after hearing about this, I might have to try and listen back on the older stuff of theirs so I can compare it to the sound on Turn Blue. Their last two records (Brothers and El Camino) weren't actually that bad at all, in fact they had some catchy stuff on their own. The direction they have gone with for Turn Blue will take time getting used to, but I'm sure it will grow on me eventually.

I even had a similar thought when I first listened to Foster The People's Coming Of Age because it didn't sound anything like the upbeat, poppy sound of theirs I was used to (think of Pumped Up Kicks, Helena Beat and Call It What You Want, all of which were really catchy imo) so it did take time to grow on me, and now after listening to some of the other stuff from Supermodel I have to now admit it's basically a case of sound evolution.

Sure, new directions may feel weird to us at first but with time we'll all get used to it and while the result may sometimes be mixed reactions, and as you mentioned sticking to one sound does make it feel "boring" so having new sound direction means it can open up potential new fans. Heck I even used to not like Arctic Monkeys much many years ago but after hearing the material from AM I was like "this is really good" and guess what happened? I love their music now, because evolution of the sound can open up new fans.

And yeah I agree on The Black Eyed Peas part there, they sound really terrible now, despite trying something fun and different. I just couldn't adjust to it well, and they never really suited my taste that much anyway. I've been an avid music listener for 15 years and I admit that in recent years I have discovered way more new stuff than I did when I was younger, and several cases of "new directions" have been part of that. It's something that all takes time to get used to, and who knows maybe the new sound might actually be really great in the end. Heck I'm even loving the direction Coldplay took with their latest stuff, it reminds me a lot of their early hits.

 

[Treecko]

A tab doesn't necessarily mean that it was played on a guitar, it sounds like synthesizers was all over it. I guess I could be wrong though, I dunno.

.

I know that. Looking at live performances of Fever, there's definitely still some guitar in there. It definitely has synthesizers too though. (Which I personally have no problem with cause I like some electronic/synth stuff if it isn't overproduced or beyond obnoxious like most pop/club songs today.Or if it has extremely repetitive lyrics.. Just a preference. )

 

[Eruption]

I usually have to cope with this from album to album since I listen to a lot of artists that constantly change influence for each new record. So I agree with Kouzan, most good artists should change their sound here and there. Of course his example of BEP was perfect for when it goes horribly wrong (in the old fans' eyes).

Animal Collective are the most erratic example I can think of, their 2009 record Merriweather Post Pavilion is definitely one of my favourite albums ever and I'm sure due to its popularity it just generally is more accessible than their rest of their albums. As an experimental group, some of their albums are just weird to me personally and some I can't stand to get through. So you can get them at two extremes - albums that are your favourite and the worst albums you've ever heard.

Kanye is probably the most famous example I can think of outside the aforementioned Black Eyed Peas. From my point of view, the autotune r&b on 808s & Heartbreaks was just awful for the most part, but I know a lot of people I enjoyed it. Then the just all round different production style on Yeezus was really appealing to me, but a lot of people hated it. Hopefully he keeps switching it up each album though because I'd rather listen to two albums that are close to perfect (MBDTF and Yeezus) in exchange for putting myself through one meh album (808s) over three great, but not groundbreaking albums (College Dropout, Late Registration, Graduation).

Oh and just for definite universally hated worst attempt at experimentation genre-wise ever, Lil Wayne why did you make Rebirth? Whyyyy?

 

[maccrash]

Animal Collective are the most erratic example I can think of, their 2009 record Merriweather Post Pavilion is definitely one of my favourite albums ever and I'm sure due to its popularity it just generally is more accessible than their rest of their albums. As an experimental group, some of their albums are just weird to me personally and some I can't stand to get through. So you can get them at two extremes - albums that are your favourite and the worst albums you've ever heard.

while I see what you're getting at with AnCo and if you're listening to MPP and then going to, say, Danse Manatee, the difference is gonna be jarring, if you go through their whole discography chronologically it seems like a logical progression. (which I highly recommend you do, if you haven't, because it's actually quite cool. even though some of the earlier albums blow.)

also, my favorite Black Keys album is Brothers, and I haven't bothered listening to Turn Blue because the single that was first released I wasn't too fond of.

anywho, I'm pretty sure the biggest example of a group who completely changed their style is Radiohead. they went from alternative rock with some britpop elements even (for example) to weird, cold experimental rock with a lot of electronic and IDM elements (for example) and had great success doing both (even though my favorite album of theirs is Kid A they're all at least decent (except for Pablo Honey which is absolutely mediocre)).

 

[kuzronk]

while I see what you're getting at with AnCo and if you're listening to MPP and then going to, say, Danse Manatee, the difference is gonna be jarring, if you go through their whole discography chronologically it seems like a logical progression. (which I highly recommend you do, if you haven't, because it's actually quite cool. even though some of the earlier albums blow.)

also, my favorite Black Keys album is Brothers, and I haven't bothered listening to Turn Blue because the single that was first released I wasn't too fond of.

anywho, I'm pretty sure the biggest example of a group who completely changed their style is Radiohead. they went from alternative rock with some britpop elements even (for example) to weird, cold experimental rock with a lot of electronic and IDM elements (for example) and had great success doing both (even though my favorite album of theirs is Kid A they're all at least decent (except for Pablo Honey which is absolutely mediocre)).

Creep was rather grunge sounding. Spirit They've Vanished might put them off though due to the opening song.

 

[Flushed]

The only example I can think of is Paramore. I mean the change isn't too drastic, but people are complaining about wanting the old Paramore back. If I recall correctly with their latest self-titled album came a regime change, and in addition to the fact that natural progression and experimentation will eventually occur, I can't really hate on their new sound that much. I happen to like the lighter, poppish sounds. They're not all about fast-paced punkish music anymore (at least that's how I interpreted it), and I'm ok with that.

 

[acatfrommars]

Ugh, Linkin Park did this and suck now imo. In 2011 Linkin Park changed there once heavier rock music to more of a pop sound. I'm not sure why they did this, maybe to try and appeal to more people. However, they lost the respect of their older fans. Their old music is 10x better than their new garbage, and the only new song I like by them is Burn it Down.

The only person I can think who made a good transition would be Taylor Swift. She has good country and pop songs. Switching back and forth, she's a good artist.

 

[Trev]

Katy Perry originally sang christian songs on her album Katy Hudson (a lot of which were fantastic) and then crossed-over into pop, which isn't exactly a fantastic transition considering that I Kissed a Girl was one of her first hit singles lol.

 

[Karinmo]

Near the end of their career , many groups will change their style of music.
Personally, one that hit home was when My Chemical Romance started going pop. It seemed like they were no longerthe punk rockers that changed so many minds and lives. Similarly, many more pop artists, as you said Sideshow Bob, like Justin Beiber, have become R&B. This change is a way for those people to see what their fans like. Bands will change, people will change, and though unfortunately, that's life.

 

[PkmnTrainerElio]

Near the end of their career , many groups will change their style of music.
Personally, one that hit home was when My Chemical Romance started going pop. It seemed like they were no longerthe punk rockers that changed so many minds and lives. Similarly, many more pop artists, as you said Sideshow Bob, like Justin Beiber, have become R&B. This change is a way for those people to see what their fans like. Bands will change, people will change, and though unfortunately, that's life.

True, Justin's new music is quite a bore to me, it gives me no feeling, it's too R&B and he is delusional enough to believe he is going to go far with this new music... Does he want to end up fading into obscurity? Or does he want to last for generations, like MJ did? If he wants to last, he has to keep up the sound he started and not abruptly change due to his obsession.

 

[Atomic Pirate]

Near the end of their career , many groups will change their style of music.
Personally, one that hit home was when My Chemical Romance started going pop. It seemed like they were no longerthe punk rockers that changed so many minds and lives. Similarly, many more pop artists, as you said Sideshow Bob, like Justin Beiber, have become R&B. This change is a way for those people to see what their fans like. Bands will change, people will change, and though unfortunately, that's life.

Thing is, though, MCR never were punk. Semi-somewhat-pop-punk in the vein of Green Day and Blink-182 mixed with emo, maybe. But punk, no. Punk is The Clash, Black Flag, Bad Brains, Dead Kennedys, etc. If anything, Danger Days could be seen as more punk than their older stuff because it wasn't all about whining about life.

Speaking of punk bands that started to suck, though, I do need to bring up Green Day. No, they never were a serious punk band, but 1039/Smoothed Out Slappy Hours and Kerplunk were both really fun to listen to and had a certain vibe to it. Then they started selling out to mallgoths and Hot Topic with American Idiot.

 

[Talon]

Ronnie Radke. I never got into Escape The Fate that much, but I love Falling In Reverse.
Black Veil Brides haven't had an absolutely huge change, but I prefer their new sound. It's cleaner and nicer.
KoRn had a drastic change over the years, and honestly, I love all their music. I don't prefer new or old, I like both equally.
Avenged Sevenfold has gone towards a more slow paced, classic sound. I hate it. I don't really like their old stuff that much anymore, I've outgrown it, but I do prefer it. By a light-year.
David Dramain, former frontman of Disturbed, is now in the band Device. Device is great, Disturbed was the best, and I can't say I like Device more, but I do love them both.

Just a few examples.

Oh yeah, The Black Keys. I like both eras of them equally.

 

[Omicron]

Peter Gabriel. After leaving Genesis he had a Pop Rock stage that I quite liked. He then transitioned to Progressive Rock and was quite a dark era for him. He returned to Pop Rock but the influence of the past albums was undeniable. This is one of the most extreme examples I could think of.

All and all, Peter Gabriel is one of the best out there. Great singer, wonderful performer and a spectacular singer/songwriter.

 

[Grand Wizard Ryan]

The only example I can think of is Paramore. I mean the change isn't too drastic, but people are complaining about wanting the old Paramore back. If I recall correctly with their latest self-titled album came a regime change, and in addition to the fact that natural progression and experimentation will eventually occur, I can't really hate on their new sound that much. I happen to like the lighter, poppish sounds. They're not all about fast-paced punkish music anymore (at least that's how I interpreted it), and I'm ok with that.

I'd like to say that I am in no way a Paramore fan at all, but the change was drastic. Okay, maybe I'm not a Paramore fan (Para♥♥♥♥♥, according to some), but I have listened to all of their albums. Why? Because I was told that they were good. A few songs are bearable at best, but that isn't the point. Anyway, as I was saying, the change was as drastic as a drastic action. Maybe a fan of Paramore could argue that they still have a Paramore-like sound, but I honestly don't see it. Some people like their new sound, and I'm cool with that, but the point is that they have changed. 'Sold out', some would say. I will admit, as ♥♥♥♥ as their new album was, they sound like they're having fun.

Personally, one that hit home was when My Chemical Romance started going pop. It seemed like they were no longer the punk rockers that changed so many minds and lives.

MCR are an interesting case of a drastic change. Maybe they were sick of being called 'emo'? I will admit, Danger Days was a little more poppy than their previous works, but it wasn't pop. It seems to be a love/hate album, though I actually adore it, along with their earlier work. Their change was wise and welcome too. Black Parade was a brilliant album, but there seemed to be no way of topping that with the genre that they were playing with, and so they changed and created a new brilliant sound. I wish they'd stuck around for a little longer, Conventional Weapons could have been interesting. I'm not going to lie, and it'll sound harsh, but the people who claimed that MCR had 'saved their lives' are the ones who seemed to ♥♥♥♥♥ the most about the change. Just an observation.


I can think of so many bands that have changed their sound with every album yet kept an element of their music that sounds like themselves. I'll use Muse as an example, whether you like them or not. Every album they have created has been alternative rock in some way or another, yet with every album there is something different. When listening to a Muse album, you are guaranteed that you'll be listening to Muse, even if it's a different type of Muse from their previous album. That's why I love 'em so much (I want to have their babies!); because they're diverse. With each new album they'll have the alt. rock, and they'll have another sub-genre. It's brilliant and a good way of keeping old fans whilst trying to bring in new ones.

 

[Sir Codin]

In the metal world, this is often called "selling out." Just look at Metallica. They haven't produced anything good in 24 years that wasn't ruined by clipping.

Machine Head did this when the band fired Logan Mader and were subsequently kidnapped by this evil alien named Ahrue Luster. Luster held the remaining member's families at gunpoint to force them to collaborate with him to make a couple of stupid nu-metal albums (they were originally groove/thrash metal), which they did. Then they broke free when Ahrue put the gun down for a second and the band, along with new recruit Phil Demmell, subsequently told Ahrue to go ♥♥♥♥ himself with Through The Ashes Of Empires and The Blackening (where they returned to their old style).

The only band I know of that achieved the opposite of this was Pantera. They were originally a hair rock band, so already they were sell-outs. Then they hired Phil Anselmo, changed their style to Groove Metal, and proceeded to dominate all things that rock.

Also, My Chemical Romance was never punk and I hate you.

 

[Marsyas]

There's a big difference between selling out and changing genres.

My favorite musician, Casey Crescenzo, just wrote a 4 part symphony but it obviously wasn't for the public or fanfare; It was to satisfy his own musical yearnings. Most talented musicians get tired of doing the same thing after a while and decide to mix it up. Usually the ones that don't mix it up are the ones that can't because they lack the background/"education".

A lot (not all) of "rock" bands' knowledge of music only goes as deep as a few chords and the major and minor scales (not even the harmonic or melodic minor or the intervals triads are built on, just what they are, if that. This is why "power chords" and chugging open notes on the top string for rhythm is so common in metal and rock.) Most of them don't even consider timing and so all of their stuff ends up falling into a simple 4/4 meter with the most variety being some accented off-beats or triplets.
Then once in a while a band realizes their composition has been getting a little stale and try shake things up but the fans end up getting upset because they lack a basic understanding of music theory, have a very limited pallette, or don't like change in general.
It's sad really.

But then again, there are legitimate examples of when bands try to change and suck or are owned by a record label that forces them to change to a more mainstream sound, like Metallica.
My point is that it's not always selling out. Sometimes musicians just actually know how to write music and sometimes the reason a band's music all sounds the same is because they don't know how to do anything else.

Love Pantera though.

(Hope you don't feel like I was attacking you. I was just mentioning metal and rock because this is the fandom I most commonly see it with. I was actually a huge metalhead when I was younger and I pretty much described myself prior to starting my music education. Sorry in advance for the wall.)