I’m talking about artists who completely changed genre or otherwise became unrecognisable. Share some that you know of!
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Serj Tankian has been all over the place! Since System of a Down disbanded (essentially), he’s done a couple rock albums, a classical album, a jazz album, has written a few movie scores, even featured in a Tech N9ne song. He’s done it all relatively well too! Guy’s super impressive and a big inspiration to me musically.
Taylor swift went from super country in “Our Song” to super pop in things like “Blank Space”, " Call It What You Want", and “End Game”
Childish Gambino had his Prince phase
David Bowie. The man has had a handful of completely different musical careers, essentially.
King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard have been changing their sound constantly since they began as a a band, to the point where this variety is one of the defining attributes of the band.
First album they released was garage/surf rock. To prevent being typecast as a garage rock band their next album was a narrated, spaghetti-western style story album. Since then, they have done psychedelic and progressive rock, thrash metal, acoustic folk, synthpop/dream pop, jazz fusion, microtonal/Turkish rock, two Beastie Boys style tracks, sludge/doom metal, boogie rock, krautrock, and more.
Once you’ve explored enough of their music and get a sense of their sound you start to notice common styles and characteristics, but it can still be hard sometimes to believe their entire discography is one band.
…Remember Snoop Lion?
The Beatles changed in the very short amount of time they existed. They put out about ten albums in 7 or 8 years and comparing the first with the last they’re almost unrecognizable. Listening with modern ears it’s clear they’re all The Beatles but that’s mostly because of the ubiquitousness of their music.
I’d also like to think that it wasn’t just a shift from A to B, it was more of a shift from A (Love Me Do / R&B Rock and Roll) to B (Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds / Psych Rock) to C (Abbey Road)
Katy Perry was a riot-grrl indie-rocker before she became a pop diva.
Ulver started as a Norwegian black metal band with folk and acoustic influences and starting from the fourth album they’ve been a high-qualiry electronic music project
Bring Me The Horizon went from deathcore in their early career to bubblegum pop.
WOW i’ve only ever listened to that’s the spirit and a few songs off of sempiternal, just gave some of their oldest music an ear and i never realized they sounded like that at all in the beginning!! that’s crazy
Linkin Park went from nu metal to alternative, pop rock etc (I’m not really sure).
Dir En Grey started as J Pop, then one day appeared on a talk show and were from then on Gothic Death Metal.
Anyone ever listen to the Bee Gees earlier stuff, before the disco days? https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0QTQdAKUZmA
thrice went from like pop punk to whatever the fuck the alchemy index was to beggars. they’re not really changing it up much these days but they were all over the place for a bit
I wouldn’t even call their early albums pop punk. Closer to post hardcore (not nearly hardcore but aimed to that audience at the time.) But yea; Vheissue was a sign of what was to come but AI was totally unexpected at the time from what Thrice was and their newer albums aren’t even close to what they were. But fwiw the new stuff is still really good!
post hardcore is more accurate, sure
i enjoy the more recent stuff but havent been blown away by it since beggars. major/minor was good. hurricane is one of my favourite songs they’ve done tho tbeitbn felt kinda jjst okay to me. but yeah i realllllly loved them between identity crisis and beggars
Elvis Costello has taken so many radical departures from his musical style that that’s kind of his musical style.
Born and raised in British Pub Rock, Costello’s Almost Blue album turned country… or perhaps more accurately, in the words of a songwriter he covers on this album… “Cosmic American Music.” I have always admired this Brit’s admiration for, and understanding of, what American Music means, as a genre.
He did an album of old school pop with Burt Bacharach.
He did an album of chamber music with the Brodsky Quartet.
He did an album of… it’s not exactly jazz, in all honesty I say it’s just more cosmic American music… with Allen Toussaint.
He did Marian McPartland’s Piano Jazz.
The guy digs all kinds music, and lets it show.
