Indie bands who changed the most on signing for a major label

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We've Got A Fuzzbox and We're Going To Use It

Shambolic fuzz-driven punkettes turn into over-produced fuzz-free forgettable pop act.

― Kim Tortoise, Wednesday, 16 April 2003 08:37 (twenty-three years ago)

sonic youth, maybe? although sometimes it does shambolic fuzz-driven punkettes the power of good to become more of a pop act.

― weasel diesel (K1l14n), Wednesday, 16 April 2003 08:41 (twenty-three years ago)

how abt unforgettable pop act: blondie

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Wednesday, 16 April 2003 08:41 (twenty-three years ago)

SY weren't that fuzzy really. they were out of tune.

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Wednesday, 16 April 2003 08:42 (twenty-three years ago)

Anthrax
record company: we suggest you drop your singer and go grunge
anthrax: OK!

― M Carty (mj_c), Wednesday, 16 April 2003 08:42 (twenty-three years ago)

The Soup Dragons: went from credible indie band to shameless bandwagon jumpers. Grunge didn't work so they went baggy.

Remember Kenickie's last single & video? Shades of Fuzzbox there also.

― Johnny Jarvis, Wednesday, 16 April 2003 08:44 (twenty-three years ago)

"SY weren't that fuzzy really. they were out of tune."

true. but this remark...

"although sometimes it does shambolic fuzz-driven punkettes the power of good to become more of a pop act."

...wasn't specifically about sonic youth. in fact, "dirty" isn't as consistently excellent as other sonic youth albums. i was more commenting on the fact that lots of wanky-indie-types get better once they "sell out". the flaming lips were better when they "went pop", for instance.

― weasel diesel (K1l14n), Wednesday, 16 April 2003 08:46 (twenty-three years ago)

Yes, Kenickie's a good one, though I would still listen to most of their 'hits' (unlike Fuzzbox). This whole 'signing to a major' thing used to be quite a big deal. I remember the Mighty Lemon Drops losing a lot of their edge (and most of their support) when they signed to WEA (I think it was). The distinction between indie and major seems to be irrelevant these days. The indie charts were scrapped weren't they for this reason?

― kim tortoise, Wednesday, 16 April 2003 08:53 (twenty-three years ago)

Nirvana

― Evan (Evan), Wednesday, 16 April 2003 09:07 (twenty-three years ago)

yes! and it did them the world of good! more sell-outs please.

― weasel diesel (K1l14n), Wednesday, 16 April 2003 09:08 (twenty-three years ago)

was deserters songs mercury rev's first album on a major? i think it was on V2...i don't know much about most bands' record company history...

― weasel diesel (K1l14n), Wednesday, 16 April 2003 09:10 (twenty-three years ago)

The Happy Mondays had a rather unhappy transition from Factory Records to London Records though I believe there were mitigating narcotic circumstances (and a lot of them)

― beezlebub, Wednesday, 16 April 2003 09:22 (twenty-three years ago)

REM? You could actually understand some of the words he was saying when they went major.

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Wednesday, 16 April 2003 09:23 (twenty-three years ago)

''i was more commenting on the fact that lots of wanky-indie-types get better once they "sell out". the flaming lips were better when they "went pop", for instance.''

yes, It can work in both ways.

With the FL the thing is they didn't change right away once they signed on the major labels. They were allowed to do what they wanted. A lot of their albums are more 'indie label' albs (though that changed on the soft bulletin/ zaireeka).

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Wednesday, 16 April 2003 09:30 (twenty-three years ago)

super furries? series of lo-fi albums masquerading as top-end megabucks epics, which are great. then join a major, actually do get megabucks to spend, and it sounds overproduced! bummer.

― pete b. (pete b.), Wednesday, 16 April 2003 10:20 (twenty-three years ago)

The Railway Children left Factory and appeared to devote the rest of their career to attempting to write a hit single to please Virgin. They got a couple of minor hits (Music Stop & Every Beat of the Heart) then faded into obscurity, whilst Factory replaced them with The Wendys.

― Johnny Jarvis, Wednesday, 16 April 2003 10:43 (twenty-three years ago)

Suede underwent a bit of an post-Nude album-chart-position transformation.

― alexfack (alexfack), Wednesday, 16 April 2003 10:47 (twenty-three years ago)

Hurrah! - raved about by many indie fanzines in the mid-80s on the strength of their Kitchenware singles (& live performances)- rightfully so. They signed to (can't remember), released a dreary, overproduced album & disappeared

― bham, Wednesday, 16 April 2003 11:19 (twenty-three years ago)

Kenickie didn't change that much. Their major label LP contained three of the songs from their previous indie single anyway.

― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Wednesday, 16 April 2003 11:36 (twenty-three years ago)

Nirvana seemingly needed signing to a major label to be able to refine their sound, making better music.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Wednesday, 16 April 2003 11:38 (twenty-three years ago)

Finally having a good drummer for more than a couple of weeks probably never hurt.

― earlnash, Wednesday, 16 April 2003 11:46 (twenty-three years ago)

"Kenickie didn't change that much"....

Not TOO much in sound, but that last video took a rather worrying direction. I'm glad it didn't develop. I'm not knocking Kenickie - I know them actually (or used to anyway) and they thought the whole experience was a laugh.

― Johnny Jarvis, Wednesday, 16 April 2003 11:56 (twenty-three years ago)

Slampt released a 7" called 'Fuck Sell Outs Up the Arse' in mourning over Kenickie's sell-out

― schnellschnell, Wednesday, 16 April 2003 11:59 (twenty-three years ago)

Slampt were quite peeved when Kenickie "made it", because Kenickie said something about one of Slampt's dads in an interview. They responded via a letter in the NME. It all went a bit bitchy for a while. Quite funny as well, though. Slampt were terribly serious about what they were doing. They even had their own photocopier.

― Johnny Jarvis, Wednesday, 16 April 2003 12:12 (twenty-three years ago)

Gosh, when I sign to a major I'll buy a photocopier. Then when I get dropped I can make my own sleeves and zines and stuff.

― Momus (Momus), Wednesday, 16 April 2003 12:39 (twenty-three years ago)

Deserter's Songs was Mercury Rev's first album for a faux-indie, at least in the U.S.

― hstencil, Wednesday, 16 April 2003 12:41 (twenty-three years ago)

Slampt Girl's dad was editor of the Mail on Sunday at the time (she was extremely nice, and the one time I spoke to her dad he sounded like he was on 'gardening leave'). That may be what Kenickie were so peeved to discover. However, Slampt Girl was pretty U&K as far as Riot Grrrl was concerned - I like to think of her Associated Newspapers-derived money funding stuff that the Femails amongst the British population would be pretty ignorant about.

Oh and answer to the question at hand: The Smiths. They didn't even get to make a record, did they?

― suzy (suzy), Wednesday, 16 April 2003 12:47 (twenty-three years ago)

Scritti Politti were unrecognizable when their early dub-influenced Eps gave way to pop after "Sweetest Girl." This transformation actually started before they signed with a major, though.

― briania, Wednesday, 16 April 2003 12:54 (twenty-three years ago)

''Gosh, when I sign to a major I'll buy a photocopier. Then when I get dropped I can make my own sleeves and zines and stuff.''

Atari teenage riot did sign to a major label and they used the money from when they were dumped to form their own label etc.

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Wednesday, 16 April 2003 13:04 (twenty-three years ago)

Depending on whether the Smiths were signed to Warners before or after the split (woiuld have to have been before really), then this thread belongs to the Smiths - they just couldn't have survived on a major.... and they didn't.

Fuzzbox - I loved them before and after the indie/major move. The Rules And Regs EP was brill - and their version of Walking on thin ice was superb, too - they were overproduced and glossed-out, but they were still loveable scamp-like foxes.
Where are they now?

― russ t, Wednesday, 16 April 2003 13:44 (twenty-three years ago)

Didn't Creation Records itself get bought out by a major after My Bloody Valentine took them to the cleaners? I don't remember the output changing much (for better or worse) subsequently. Maybe that was the point when they ditched Momus!!

― kim tortoise, Wednesday, 16 April 2003 13:49 (twenty-three years ago)

LIZ PHAIR

― jm (jtm), Wednesday, 16 April 2003 14:19 (twenty-three years ago)

The Bangles. No one ever believes me when I tell them that the "Getting Out of Hand" 7" and self-titled EP (both indie) were actually great little pop records that stand up nicely.

― mike a (mike a), Wednesday, 16 April 2003 14:29 (twenty-three years ago)

The Divine Comedy

― Lynskey (Lynskey), Wednesday, 16 April 2003 14:39 (twenty-three years ago)

guided by voices

― kephm, Wednesday, 16 April 2003 14:46 (twenty-three years ago)

The Divine Comedy is an odd one. Didn't they have all their big hits on an indie label (Setanta) and then sign for a major (Parlophone) just as their popularity was waning? I thought their last album (the Parlophone one) was very underrated actually and their best effort since the superlative Promenade.

― kim tortoise, Wednesday, 16 April 2003 15:06 (twenty-three years ago)

Built To Spill's Perfect From Now On was a pretty major change from There's Nothing Wrong With Love. Same thing with Shudder To Think (Pony Express Record vs. Get Your Goat).

― Nick Mirov (nick), Wednesday, 16 April 2003 15:19 (twenty-three years ago)

Husker Du

no, not from Zen Arcade to New Day Rising, since that was still on SST.

But from Warehouse: Songs & Stories to Candy Apple Grey

― Andrzej B. (Andrzej B.), Wednesday, 16 April 2003 23:23 (twenty-three years ago)

Scritti Polliti and the Bangles are pretty good nominations. The best ones I can come up with are Soul Asylum and the Goo Goo Dolls, both of whom had probably watered down their sounds already *before* they signed with the majors, so I'm probably wrong. (Actually, come to think of it, their predecessors the Replacements and Husker Du might be even better choices.) Um.....what about Onyx (assuming Def Jam counts as a major label)? On some early 12-inch I heard, a few years before they hit big, they sounded almost like country-blues rap!! (Wait...Elvis Presley, maybe? Sam Cooke?? When did Charlie Rich sell out? Not White Zombie or Butthole Surfers, right? Didn't think so.)

― chuck, Wednesday, 16 April 2003 23:30 (twenty-three years ago)

Wow, I didn't know somebody else was nominating Husker Du at the same time! (But didn't *Candy Ass Grey* come BEFORE the equally wimpy *Warehouse*?)

― chuck, Wednesday, 16 April 2003 23:33 (twenty-three years ago)

couch. they rule now. oh wait they always did.

― di smith (lucylurex), Thursday, 17 April 2003 01:34 (twenty-three years ago)

Candy Apple Grey did come before Warehouse.

― Sean (Sean), Thursday, 17 April 2003 02:54 (twenty-three years ago)

Candy Apple Grey did come before Warehouse.

And BOTH of them were on Warner Bros.

― paul cox (paul cox), Thursday, 17 April 2003 02:57 (twenty-three years ago)

And BOTH of them are pretty much lame in the same ways.

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Thursday, 17 April 2003 03:05 (twenty-three years ago)

With REM, Sonic Youth, and (from what I know of them) Husker Du, it really seems that the change upon going major label was marginal compared with the changes they'd already made as indie bands. Michael Stipe's voice was way up in the mix from Life's Rich Pageant onwards. The shift from Document to Green (in style not in quality) is really not that great compared to the shifts they'd already made since the Chronic Town/Murmur days. In fact, their 'pop' sound was pretty much fully formed on Document except maybe without syrupy ballad hits - and that didn't come for another couple albums. Daydream Nation to Goo also doesn't strike me as being more of a change than Evol to Sister. They were clearly going for an alt-rock anthem sound (which was definitely a change from their no wave days) by Sister/DN - at most, more experienced songwriting and major-label production allowed them to realize it better. They were doing poppy stuff before and they continued to do more out-there stuff afterwards. With Husker Du as well, it would seem that the biggest change was from the early hardcore stuff to the melodic indie stuff.

― sundar subramanian (sundar), Thursday, 17 April 2003 03:14 (twenty-three years ago)

I've always thought that the House of Love should have stayed on at Creation and released "Safe" as a single instead of "Never" which was de-fuzzed - although House of Love fuzz was fairly glimmering already. The butterfly album was excellent, but could have been better and subsequent records might have been better still.

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Thursday, 17 April 2003 04:39 (twenty-three years ago)

Candy Apple Grey was still on SST.

― Colin Meeder (Mert), Thursday, 17 April 2003 08:25 (twenty-three years ago)

No! WRONG! I've confused it with Flip Your Wig! And those three albums listened to in order don't add up to that distracting a change.

― Colin Meeder (Mert), Thursday, 17 April 2003 08:27 (twenty-three years ago)

Sony bought a 50% share in Creation in 1993. I remember Dick Green showing me the contract he'd been working on, it was the size of six copies of the yellow pages. 'This will be good for you, Momus,' Dick said. Shortly afterwards they dropped me and signed Oasis. Whether you think that means their output changed for better or worse is a question of whether you think Momus is better than Oasis.

Personally, I'm always happier on indie labels. The fewer employees a label has, the better it is, in my experience. Today I will be making a sleeve for a compilation of my Creation albums to be released by Analog Baroque, finally returned to us by Sony (who had the rights, but were doing nothing with them). Hostages are being released and returned to their family.

― Momus (Momus), Thursday, 17 April 2003 09:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Depends how you define "better" I suppose. Popular? More lucrative? Or more intelligent? ;-)

― kate, Thursday, 17 April 2003 09:10 (twenty-three years ago)

More easily found in the cutout and promo bins. But that's just begging the question.

― fortunate hazel (f. hazel), Thursday, 17 April 2003 10:08 (twenty-three years ago)

Oh but Kate, surely you see Nick is an artist whereas Oasis are merely entertainers ;-).

― suzy (suzy), Thursday, 17 April 2003 10:27 (twenty-three years ago)

If you change the word "entertainers" to the word "wankmonsters", I'll vouch for the preceding statement.

― Lord Custos Epsilon (Lord Custos Epsilon), Thursday, 17 April 2003 11:24 (twenty-three years ago)

:-(

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 17 April 2003 12:21 (twenty-three years ago)

"Thats my opinion, but it also happens to be true. And thats what gives it that extra ooomph."

― Lord Custos Epsilon (Lord Custos Epsilon), Thursday, 17 April 2003 13:49 (twenty-three years ago)

'Wankmonsters', what a great word! I must call my next album 'Splenetic Wankmonster' or something similar.

― Momus (Momus), Thursday, 17 April 2003 16:32 (twenty-three years ago)

Or "Wankstarwars"

― Lord Custos Epsilon (Lord Custos Epsilon), Thursday, 17 April 2003 16:38 (twenty-three years ago)

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