Bands Once Established, Changed Dramatically

[Facelift]

Tull. This Was was a blues-rock album. Stand Up had a few blues songs. Benefit had some blues influences. Aqualung, Thick as a Brick, A Passion Play and War Child? Not so much; in fact, none at all.

No blues influences on Aqualung?

[arturs]

Not to me. What's amazing is how bands can reinvent themselves, not those who stick to a formula. I'm not criticizing them for it. But, I see nothing amazing about it. Their market clearly asks for no more, no less. So, good for them. There's something to be said for consistency. It's like buying a McDonald's hamburger. They're consistently crappy around the world (I'm not saying AC/DC is crappy); but people know what to expect.

What is amazing to me about AC/DC is that they continue to fill arenas decade after decade after decade by doing the exact same type of music. Most bands who try this just lose their audience over time. I can't think of one other act beside AC/DC who has pulled that off. Maybe Status Quo in the U.K.? But even they started as psych-popsters (and probably were a blues group before that...)

[viukkis]

What is amazing to me about AC/DC is that they continue to fill arenas decade after decade after decade by doing the exact same type of music. Most bands who try this just lose their audience over time. I can't think of one other act beside AC/DC who has pulled that off.

Iron Maiden is another one, I think. Although their songs started to become longer during the CD era, they still have the same basic sound as in early 80s.

[bob_32_116]

What is amazing to me about AC/DC is that they continue to fill arenas decade after decade after decade by doing the exact same type of music. Most bands who try this just lose their audience over time. I can't think of one other act beside AC/DC who has pulled that off. Maybe Status Quo in the U.K.? But even they started as psych-popsters (and probably were a blues group before that...)

Wouldn't Kiss be another group who pulled that off? Not that I would know from experience, never having attended a Kiss concert.

I think once a band gets to a certain stage of mass appeal, the concerts become less about hearing the music and more about getting the T-shirt and the warm fuzzy feeling of hanging out with other members of your tribe.

[ronmac]

What is amazing to me about AC/DC is that they continue to fill arenas decade after decade after decade by doing the exact same type of music. Most bands who try this just lose their audience over time. I can't think of one other act beside AC/DC who has pulled that off. Maybe Status Quo in the U.K.? But even they started as psych-popsters (and probably were a blues group before that...)

Could be because their demographics stay the same.

[Camelogue]

Rare Bird
Santana
Jean luc Ponty

[Progbear]

Ah, another band that changed dramatically:

Sweet (from bubblegum pre-teen cartoon-ish music to proto-metal -- quite a switch!)

...and then on to 10cc-ish arty pop on Level-Headed.

she was on Wings as an incredibly paranoid and nasty girlfriend of the intensely self righteous but annoying Tim Daly character. She left to pursue a music career, which apparently was to be legitimized by a duet with Peter Cetera. If anyone can name the song, they are a far better person than I.

LOL, I knew I recognized that name somewhere. I had this image of poofy Aqua-Net hair and a Southern accent. Never bothered watching Wings, always thought it was kind of a paragon of sitcom mediocrity.

Rare Bird
Santana
Jean luc Ponty

Rare Bird have lineup shifts to blame for their sound changes at least partially. Compare the dual keys/no guitar lineup of their first two with their dual guitars/one keyboardist plus percussion of Epic Forest and it’s no surprise they sound different.

All of JLP’s albums sound a bit “Mahavishnu-lite” fusion to me, so I don’t hear any drastic shifts in his sound. Mind you, I have not heard his very early output from the 60s.

[Halmyre]

Wouldn't Kiss be another group who pulled that off? Not that I would know from experience, never having attended a Kiss concert.

I think once a band gets to a certain stage of mass appeal, the concerts become less about hearing the music and more about getting the T-shirt and the warm fuzzy feeling of hanging out with other members of your tribe.

Kiss explored new directions (cough) in a way that AC/DC never did - disco (I Was Made For Loving You) and half-arsed prog (The Elder).

[klothos]

Kiss explored new directions (cough) in a way that AC/DC never did - disco (I Was Made For Loving You) and half-arsed prog (The Elder).

Dont forget the entire mid 80s cliche "Pop Metal" route

[trurl]

And grunge (Carnival of Souls)

[Kavus Torabi]

Has anyone mentioned Status Quo yet?

[No Pride]

All of JLP’s albums sound a bit “Mahavishnu-lite” fusion to me, so I don’t hear any drastic shifts in his sound. Mind you, I have not heard his very early output from the 60s.

The first time I heard Ponty (aside from Zappa's "Hot Rats," which he was on iirc) was this oddly named live album, "Jean Luc Ponty Experience with The George Duke Trio (pick a band name, guys!)." It came out in '69, before Duke got involved with Zappa. I guess some of it could be considered as early fusion, but more of it is straight ahead jazz. His writing on those '70s albums were hit and miss (often within the same tune) for me; it felt like glued together sections that weren't quite related; some of those sections being great, some not. I haven't heard that Ponty/Duke album in eons, but I remember liking it much more than anything he did since. And I just happened to find it on YT:

[Rune Blackwings]

...and then on to 10cc-ish arty pop on Level-Headed.



LOL, I knew I recognized that name somewhere. I had this image of poofy Aqua-Net hair and a Southern accent. Never bothered watching Wings, always thought it was kind of a paragon of sitcom mediocrity.



Rare Bird have lineup shifts to blame for their sound changes at least partially. Compare the dual keys/no guitar lineup of their first two with their dual guitars/one keyboardist plus percussion of Epic Forest and it’s no surprise they sound different.

All of JLP’s albums sound a bit “Mahavishnu-lite” fusion to me, so I don’t hear any drastic shifts in his sound. Mind you, I have not heard his very early output from the 60s.

Wings was actually pretty good if you could get past Crystal Bernard and Tim Daly being a pair of assholes to each other and everybody else. One of the best episodes involved everybody thinking (wrongly) the old woman who ran the main characters' flight services was a "black widow" on the run. There's a sequence of events that takes place in a kitchen where both brothers knock themselves out and she is standing over them with this giant leg of lamb (the choice of murder weapon for the black widow) and Crystal Bernard comes in and thinks she killed the brothers. I nearly died laughing. We watched the show so much that part of a joke in our family was having a big sandwich at family functions (including one of my birthday parties).

Tony Shaloub was in Wings, too.

[Fracktured]

Santana

Santana was the first artist to come to my mind. Surely not the only. After the hits of the first three release, he or they changed direction pretty drastically with Caravanseria.

[ronmac]

Did anyone mention the Bee Gees?

[trurl]

Did anyone mention the Bee Gees?

Ooh, good one.

[yamishogun]

A-Ha

It went from synth to guitar in 1990, a great change. I liked those until they released one in 2009 and 2015 that I haven't given a fair listen to, maybe because a minute of a few songs seemed like enough.
Best from the guitar era in descending order: 1) Major Earth, Minor Sky 2) East of the Sun, West of the Moon 3) Lifelines

[bob_32_116]

A couple of solo artists who definitely changed dramatically after establising themselves early on as folk:

Donovan
Joni Mitchell