"Hope you like our new direction": Who holds the record for the most abrupt wholesale change of style?

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Inspired by this frankly bewildering story about tedium-oriented UK soul singer Beverley Knight going metal under the influence of Iron Maiden and the like (http://www.ananova.com/entertainment/story/sm_995290.html?menu=entertainment.music), I'd be interested to hear about other examples of such abrupt changes of musical direction. Can anybody top the Tap (c. Jazz Odyssey) on this?

― M Carty (mj_c), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 08:23 (twenty-two years ago)

Let Loose going from camp boy-banders to Britpop guitar weilders.

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 08:31 (twenty-two years ago)

Slowdive going alt.country after a spell of ambient.

― Baaderoni (Fabfunk), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 08:33 (twenty-two years ago)

Didn't menswear go alt.country as well? Not that anyone ever heard it...

― M Carty (mj_c), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 08:41 (twenty-two years ago)

i would have to add Age of Chance (for a change !) to this thread. their first lp proper, '1000 years of trouble' was all rock noise and samples and off key rants and shouts. excellent stuff. then lead singer "walks out" and the next thing we get from the Leeds gang is all fakepopsoulrock stuff with a Terence Trent D'arby type front man. did my head in when i first heard Times Up and the Mecca album.
i now hear their 2 albums as completely different bands and enjoy both in very different ways.

― mark e (mark e), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 08:46 (twenty-two years ago)

Primal Scream
the Shit Dragons

― NickB (NickB), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 08:47 (twenty-two years ago)

Wasn't the menswear album released in Japan? like i care.

Bobby Darin went from comedy rock and roll "Splish Splash" to Frankie boy swing, overnight with "Mack the Knife"

― mark grout (mark grout), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 08:49 (twenty-two years ago)

PWEI too I guess.

― NickB (NickB), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 08:49 (twenty-two years ago)

Gong in the late 70s, from daft & dippy space-rock into arid & humourless jazz-rock.

Kevin Ayers, virtually track by track over the course of his first three albums (Joy Of A Toy, Shooting At The Moon, Whatevershebringswesing).

Harry Connick Jnr's "rock" phase.

― mike t-diva (mike t-diva), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 08:51 (twenty-two years ago)

Oh, and Scritti Politti of course...

― mike t-diva (mike t-diva), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 08:52 (twenty-two years ago)

pwei nicked their new sonic direction (and artwork!) from the Chancers.

― mark e (mark e), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 08:56 (twenty-two years ago)

>Bobby Darin went from comedy rock and roll "Splish Splash" to Frankie boy swing, overnight with "Mack the Knife"

and then to folk-rock (his LP of Tim Hardin/John Sebastian covers), and self-penned/self-arranged/self-produced comments on society ("Born Walden Robert Cassatto").

― harveyw (harveyw), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 09:14 (twenty-two years ago)

PWEI changed their style on every record, really (kept tDR tho)

― kit brash (kit brash), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 09:20 (twenty-two years ago)

Let Loose going from camp boy-banders to Britpop guitar weilders.

They always played their own instruments though - that was the NOVELTY. So it wasn't much of a conceptual leap. Sean Maguire on the other hand...

― DJ Mencap (DJ Mencap), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 09:41 (twenty-two years ago)

pink from urban hip hop inglunced pop'n'b to winey postpunk bollocks

― lukey (Lukey G), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 09:44 (twenty-two years ago)

Pulp went from whimsical strummy folk to dark angry goth rock to Russian disco to squelchy Roxy pop - that's pretty fine I reckon.

― CharlieNo4 (Charlie), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 09:46 (twenty-two years ago)

Rob Halford from screeching closet metal god to opportunistic marilyn manson/trent reznor disciple (and back again (minus closet) once that didn't sell).

― M Carty (mj_c), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 09:49 (twenty-two years ago)

I've got a tape somewhere of Suede on Gary 'The Crow' Crowley's Demo Clash doing a song called 'Wonderful Sometimes' that's all wah wah pedal guitar and totally different vocal and lyrical style to what followed. I liked it at the time - hence the taping! I'm still not entirely sure that it's the same band as the glam pop fops that came along a while later.

― N. (nickdastoor), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 09:55 (twenty-two years ago)

moby going from rave to thrash metal to coffee table electronica

― Robin Goad (rgoad), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 09:58 (twenty-two years ago)

see also, The Notwist metal to electronica.

― Jarlr'mai (jarlrmai), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 10:14 (twenty-two years ago)

Ministry going from campy synthpop to industro-metal.

The Shamen going from whatever-they-were to comedy rave

― Jacob (Jacob), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 10:36 (twenty-two years ago)

Bobby Darin went from comedy rock and roll "Splish Splash" to Frankie boy swing, overnight with "Mack the Knife"

...and then he went to Folk Rock and covered lots of Tim Hardin songs then he went back to Vegas and did an album of songs from Doctor Dolittle then Robert Kennedy got assassinated and he gave away all his possessions and lived in a trailer and started writing his own folk songs and calling himself Bob Darin then he went back to Vegas again then he died when he was 37. Neil Young calls him a genius.

― Dadaismus (Dada), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 10:45 (twenty-two years ago)

Dada: see my post upthread.
Anyone want to start a Bobby Darin thread? Neil Young is right; Bobby Darin is a genius.
Isn't someone like Kevin Spacey making a film about Darin's life?

Yes they are.
http://www.bobbydarin.net/official.html

― harveyw (harveyw), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 10:59 (twenty-two years ago)

Oops didn't see your post harveyw

― Dadaismus (Dada), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 11:02 (twenty-two years ago)

Black Dice going from spastic violent hardcore to avante garde noise / musique concrète.

― Jon Williams!!!!! (ROFFLE!@!@!@) (ex machina), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 11:24 (twenty-two years ago)

hardcore kids and noise kids arent so differentreally though, are they jon? haha

― emma cleveland (emma cleveland), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 11:28 (twenty-two years ago)

Alanis Morrisette from synth-pop strumpet to angry rockah grrl.

― Vic Funk, Tuesday, 22 June 2004 11:29 (twenty-two years ago)

http://www.showandtellonline.com/images_splash/hatebreed.jpg http://www.ihatetorock.com/digital/wolf_squelch_chicken_splitter/wolf_eyes_09.jpg

― Jon Williams!!!!! (ROFFLE!@!@!@) (ex machina), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 11:30 (twenty-two years ago)

http://www.eviltwinsphotography.com/files/blood_for_blood_2.jpg
http://www.majesticdetroit.com/uploaded_images/stick/black_dice.jpg

― Jon Williams!!!!! (ROFFLE!@!@!@) (ex machina), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 11:33 (twenty-two years ago)

surely our ILM fave of late David Bowie owns this thread ? so many ch-ch-ch-changes in one career. details not required hopefully.

― mark e (mark e), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 11:33 (twenty-two years ago)

Throbbing Gristle - on the same album ("20 Jazz Funk Greats")

― Dadaismus (Dada), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 11:36 (twenty-two years ago)

http://www.bumbanet.de/music/features/pics/2001/soia-0201-6.jpg http://www.meirion.lewis.btinternet.co.uk/pics/lb1.jpg

― Jon Williams!!!!! (ROFFLE!@!@!@) (ex machina), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 11:36 (twenty-two years ago)

Quite a lot of extreme metal bands have morphed into acoustic folk or ambient projects (Mortiis, Ulver, Empyrium, Ildjarn, Disembowelment).

― Siegbran (eofor), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 11:38 (twenty-two years ago)

Cornelius

― Crickets Dance On Tequila Booty (Barima), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 11:39 (twenty-two years ago)

Sonic Youth sounds pretty different

― Jon Williams!!!!! (ROFFLE!@!@!@) (ex machina), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 11:43 (twenty-two years ago)

Mick Harris:

Drummer in Napalm Death to 'inventor' of Isolationist ambient soundscapes.

― aldo_cowpat (aldo_cowpat), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 11:44 (twenty-two years ago)

Beverly Knight must have a damn good PR. Every time she releases a single or a record, it seems to appear on a national news bulletin - or in this case on ananova (who I don't think report music news from minor stars who have had one or two top twenty hits all that often). Odd, then, that she's never managed to follow it up with a decent size hit single. I hope her new material will be no exception - dreary middle of the road rock destined for Heart FM.

Some of her pop stuff wasn't too horrid but, really, go away now..

― hobart paving (hobart paving), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 11:51 (twenty-two years ago)

It's either me or Weird Al Jankovic. But 'cut price' might be a better adjective than 'wholesale'.

― Momus (Momus), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 12:19 (twenty-two years ago)

When did Slowdive ever go "alt-country"????

― Mr. Snrub, Tuesday, 22 June 2004 12:26 (twenty-two years ago)

Mojave 3

― Baaderoni (Fabfunk), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 12:43 (twenty-two years ago)

Tarrie B went from Rap to Angsty Metal quite abruptly.

― mei (mei), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 13:01 (twenty-two years ago)

lou reed's jump from 'rock n roll animal' to 'metal machine music' (with a few albums i've never bothered to listen to in between) seems pretty abrupt to me.

― j c (j c), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 13:06 (twenty-two years ago)

Michael Bolton from loud/gross metal singer to sad/gross r&b singer.

― Johnny Fever (johnny fever), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 13:15 (twenty-two years ago)

moby going from rave to thrash metal to coffee table electronica
All on the same album! ("Everything is Wrong")
xpost j c, I'm shocked it took so many posts for someone to remember MMM.

― Barry Bruner (Barry Bruner), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 13:20 (twenty-two years ago)

AC/DC from cheesy blues rock band to, well, AC/DC.

― Colin Meeder (Mert), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 13:26 (twenty-two years ago)

― hstencil (hstencil), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 13:34 (twenty-two years ago)

Vanilla Ice from corny rap to corny metal

― Josh Anomaly (josh_anomaly), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 13:34 (twenty-two years ago)

http://www.fontymusic.de/tori/video/yktr.jpg

― mookieproof (mookieproof), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 13:56 (twenty-two years ago)

Swans going acoustic folk after being "LOUDEST BAND EVER"

― sexxyDancer, Tuesday, 22 June 2004 14:07 (twenty-two years ago)

Giles, Giles, & Fripp ---> In the Court of the Crimson King
From Genesis to Revelation ---> Trespass

― Joe (Joe), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 14:16 (twenty-two years ago)

garth brooks > chris gaines.

i mean even after all this time...wtf?

― piscesboy, Tuesday, 22 June 2004 14:17 (twenty-two years ago)

Kid Rock, white hip-hop dude (point of reference: Slick Rick) to country balladeer (point of reference: Charlie Daniels).

― The Devil's Triad (calstars), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 14:41 (twenty-two years ago)

Cave-in: from brutal tech metal to semi-ok prog rock/nu metal.

― greg, Tuesday, 22 June 2004 15:34 (twenty-two years ago)

Cliche perhaps, but the Stone Roses made a pretty radical change between their first and second albums

― King Kobra (King Kobra), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 15:37 (twenty-two years ago)

It took them five years to do it tho so that scarcely counts as abrupt does it? And it's hardly "Love Me Do" to "Tomorrow Never Knows" is it? And that was only four years!

― Dadaismus (Dada), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 15:40 (twenty-two years ago)

The difference between hardcore and noise is probably the facial hair.

― Thor, Tuesday, 22 June 2004 15:42 (twenty-two years ago)

NEW BEARD AMERICA

― Jon Williams!!!!! (ROFFLE!@!@!@) (ex machina), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 15:53 (twenty-two years ago)

Bowie before and after "Space Oddity"
Also, on a lesser scale, the Auteurs ---> Black Box Recorder

― joseph cotten (joseph cotten), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 16:13 (twenty-two years ago)

whoops, missed mark e's bowie post, apologies.

― joseph cotten (joseph cotten), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 16:15 (twenty-two years ago)

Liars maybe?

― Neb Reyob (Ben Boyer), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 16:22 (twenty-two years ago)

― Gribowitz (Lynskey), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 16:32 (twenty-two years ago)

Nobody's mentioned Neil Young yet! (Well, they did, but only to quote his Bobby Darin endorsement.)

― Myonga Von Bontee (Myonga Von Bontee), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 16:44 (twenty-two years ago)

Come on people, how 'bout TALK FUCKING TALK!!!

― Mr. Snrub, Tuesday, 22 June 2004 16:48 (twenty-two years ago)

Miles Davis In A Silent Way -> Bitches Brew.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 16:57 (twenty-two years ago)

http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/dre400/e480/e48096k0dkv.jpg

― Joseph McCombs, Tuesday, 22 June 2004 16:58 (twenty-two years ago)

Literally, the record: 12 wholesale changes in one LP.

― Joseph McCombs, Tuesday, 22 June 2004 16:59 (twenty-two years ago)

Kid Rock, white hip-hop dude (point of reference: Slick Rick) to country balladeer (point of reference: Charlie Daniels).

as has been pointed out on other threads, going from slick rick to charlie daniels is NOT a major change of direction. it really isn't.

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 17:27 (twenty-two years ago)

bob dylan finding jesus - THAT was a change of direction.

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 17:33 (twenty-two years ago)

Surely White Light/White Heat to The Velvet Underground is pretty goddamn drastic.

― Myonga Von Bontee (Myonga Von Bontee), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 17:45 (twenty-two years ago)

Has anyone mentioned the Cult yet?

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 18:15 (twenty-two years ago)

The Cult, yeah, that's a good one.

Bob Dylan going electric anyone?

How about Japan going from glam metal on their first two albums to sleek synth-based dance music from then on (well, it wasn't all danceable, but still about as far from the first two album as you could get)?

― Bimble (bimble), Tuesday, 22 June 2004 18:23 (twenty-two years ago)

Pantera's transformation from 80's glam types to 90's moshcore types.

― M Carty (mj_c), Wednesday, 23 June 2004 07:59 (twenty-one years ago)

Oh, I always fancied that turtles album. How good is it?

(I'd repost the pic, but in italics. How do you do that?)

― mark grout (mark grout), Wednesday, 23 June 2004 08:05 (twenty-one years ago)

Jon Bon Jovi getting a Kurt Cobain hairtcut and going indie-dance on "Keep The Faith"!!!! (A great song!!!! The song in question being "Fait Accompli" by Curve!!!!!)

― Old Fart!!! (oldfart_sd), Wednesday, 23 June 2004 10:28 (twenty-one years ago)

oh sure, Bobby Darin, but what about Dion? Doo Wop to Blues to Heroin Folk.

― scott seward (scott seward), Wednesday, 23 June 2004 10:50 (twenty-one years ago)

but i guess that wasn't all that abrupt either if you mean from album to album.

― scott seward (scott seward), Wednesday, 23 June 2004 10:51 (twenty-one years ago)

Beck! (ducks)

― mark grout (mark grout), Wednesday, 23 June 2004 11:03 (twenty-one years ago)

Oh, I always fancied that turtles album. How good is it?

The concept is better than the execution. Some tremendous songs ("Elenore," "You Showed Me," "Earth Anthem") buttressed by some lame-o gags ("I'm Chief Kamanawanalaya (We're the Royal Macadamia Nuts)," which is just repetitions of the title phrase with a John Barbata drum solo) and some moderately-successful dips into country and surf-rock territory.

I do wonder who could execute an album like this now: Pharrell? Flaming Lips?

― Joseph McCombs, Wednesday, 23 June 2004 11:57 (twenty-one years ago)

I remember Julie Burchill indicating "You're my pride and joy etc" as one of the most cynical lines of the sixties (as in Oh, we've been told to write another "Happy Together" type hit song)

― mark grout (mark grout), Wednesday, 23 June 2004 12:00 (twenty-one years ago)

23 Skidoo from scratchy and jittery but streamlined post-punk ("Ethics") to sonic weirdness galore on Seven Songs (varying from reinvented exotica to creeped-out horn blasts over tape loops) to tribal weirdness/gamelan/reggae beats/sound collage ("Tearing Up the Plans" single) to improvisational abandon on The Culling is Coming and then to off-kilter dance music fused with gamelan... All within five years.

― Ian Moraine (Eastern Mantra), Thursday, 24 June 2004 01:06 (twenty-one years ago)

The fucking FALL!

― Sasha (sgh), Thursday, 24 June 2004 01:24 (twenty-one years ago)

Frank Zappa?

― mei (mei), Thursday, 24 June 2004 06:48 (twenty-one years ago)

Zappa doesn't count because he was a comedy act.

― Colin Meeder (Mert), Thursday, 24 June 2004 06:59 (twenty-one years ago)

Zappa doesn't count because he was a comedy act.

::::splutter::: GAH! ::::splutter:::::

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Thursday, 24 June 2004 13:57 (twenty-one years ago)

Yup, that's generally the reaction when I say that. But that emperor is nude, dude.

― Colin Meeder (Mert), Thursday, 24 June 2004 13:59 (twenty-one years ago)

Hey man, I'm not the hugest Zappa fan in the world, but that is a grave disservice to the great man.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Thursday, 24 June 2004 14:00 (twenty-one years ago)

uhhh... how bout the great musician, artist, etc.

But he doesn't count because the styles change mid-song. At that point changes from album to album are less surprising. Unless he had made a straight-ahead folk album or something.

― no opinion, Friday, 25 June 2004 05:31 (twenty-one years ago)

Jewel from folkie to teenpop?

― My name is Kenny (My name is Kenny), Friday, 25 June 2004 13:29 (twenty-one years ago)

bruce springsteen, nebraska.

in hindsight, it doesn't seem as radical a change of pace as it did back then. there are songs on the river that directly anticipate it, and he'd been working toward those lyrical ideas for awhile.

but in overall sound, arrangements, compositional style, etc., it was an absolute shocker when it came out.

not to mention his best album by far.

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Friday, 25 June 2004 20:34 (twenty-one years ago)

five months pass...

How did I not mention Simple Minds? In three years they went from average (if promising) to excellent and diverse to refined but still diverse to mature sophisti-pop/post-punk to grandiose/pompous pop!

― Ian Moraine (Eastern Mantra), Sunday, 28 November 2004 03:41 (twenty-one years ago)

Goldfrapp!

― MC Transmaniacon (natepatrin), Sunday, 28 November 2004 03:44 (twenty-one years ago)

Paul McCartney going arubtly from musical genius to utter, utter, utter shite.

― Bumfluff, Sunday, 28 November 2004 05:37 (twenty-one years ago)

U2!

compare, say, Rattle and Hum to Pop, to cite the albums that marked the end of two stylistic periods.

― Riot Gear! (Gear!), Sunday, 28 November 2004 05:42 (twenty-one years ago)

60s Moody Blues to thread!

Also, Radiohead obviously.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Sunday, 28 November 2004 11:17 (twenty-one years ago)

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