How do you feel when your favorite musicians change their sound?

[Fenris]

I love seeing fans jump ship when a band or solo act puts out a record that doesn't fit the mold of what they released previously; it's like watching rats on a sinking ship. One of my favorite Hank Hill quotes is when he hears a boy band and says, "I like this. It sounds like the Beatles, before they left for India and went insane." To me, that sums up how so many people react to even the slightest change in the sound of a band (granted, the shift in the Beatles sound, while gradual, was enormous).

I get bored with a band if they produce the same album over and over again, because I like to be surprised and I like deviation from the norm. I agree with the sentiment expressed by Beck, that when I buy a record and every song sounds the same, I sort of feel cheated. But that's just me.

Among my favorite "experimental" albums would have to be "Trans" by Neil Young. I have no idea why, but I love the music; it's like a slightly acid-rock version of Kraftwerk. What makes me love the record even more is the fact that it pissed David Geffen off so much, because he had signed Neil Young believing he would make Neil Young records. After "Trans" Geffen told Young that he wanted him to make a rock record. So Young made a rockabilly record. When Geffen became even more angry and pressured Young further, he made a country record. The thing is, none of those records are bad. But they alienated his fair-weather audience, who were uninterested in hearing anything other than "Cinnamon Girl" on a loop.

So, do you like when musicians change their sound or experiment? And if so, what are your favorite records that deviate from the artist's normal sound?

[bobthedrummer]

1. That's creativity.

It's natural.

2. yeah, Like Bob Dylan

What was he thinking when he started playing rock n roll?

just kidding!! One of my all time favorite albums is Highway 61 Revisited.

[gonefishing]

5. What was I thinking

Of course Dylan. He did Folk, Rock, and Country.

[Feanorcurufinwe]

3. It depends on how well they do it.

[gonefishing]

4. Cool subject

I think change is the differentiator for artists that last. Very few bands in the rock era have been able to stay the same and stay popular. I am sure I will get debate on this but I can only think of one - the Rolling Stones. The Beatles obviously mastered the art of change. Off the top of my head, I am sure there are others, Elvis Costello did a good job of changing his music styles.

[wyldwolf]

6. Van Halen - 1984

I recall the big Album Rocker radio station in town having fits because Van Halen was using "synthesizers."

[democracy eh]

7. Blur, new Blur, neo Blur, oasis-lite Blur, nothing like Oasis Blur

hard to keep up

[bobthedrummer]

8. U-2, R.E.M., Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Joe Jackson, Madonna, David Bowie

and many other major and minor musicians and artists have gone through different phases of career development at various times.

[khashka]

9. I have mixed feelings

I adored Tori Amos. Then she did Boys For Pele and lost a lot of fans. Too different! Too Surreal! They cried. I understood it, loved it, treasured it, even if it wasn't what I expected or wanted.

KaTe BUsh fairly early in her career did The Dreaming. A lot of people didn't want to go there when it came out.

Siousxie and the Banshees went from punk to rock to middle of the road. I still loved 'em.


Neil Young might almost be god. But he did this rock/country shtick for a while and lost me. Couldn't go there. So who's wrong? Me or him? I'd say me. If I can't follow you, OK. But I prefer a musician who does something new that I hate than be stuck with the same old thing for the next forty years.

[Deja Q]

10. Neil Diamond instantly comes to mind... as does

the B-52s, though I thought "Cosmic Thing" and "Good Stuff" had greatly benefitted from Nile Rodgers' creative input! (pre-Nile B-52s was also nothing short of great, just different.)

[mitchum]

11. When Howlin' Wolf went all musique concrete during his collaborations...

with Pierre Schaeffer...ugh...or did I just dream that?

[havocmom]

12. makes me glad they are still alive and creative

sorta like moi