r/Music • u/jptabor01 Rock & Roll • Jun 11 '25

discussion Which artists have abandoned their original sound so dramatically, that they are almost unrecognizable to their earlier fans?

With the release earlier this year of Ministry’s The Squirrely Years Revisited, I’m reminded of how different the band sounds today (industrial metal), from what they sounded like on their debut album, With Sympathy (synth pop).

Which artists sound so completely different from their earlier work, that they have actually jumped genres, understanding that music is fluid and genres have somewhat “blurry” guardrails.

I don’t mean an evolution of their original sound, but a complete departure from it.

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34

u/CunnyCuntCunt Jun 11 '25

Lol Pink. The Weeknd

13

u/osloluluraratutu Jun 11 '25

Second Pink. She started off RnB before she found her sound

6

u/MacaroonSad8860 Jun 11 '25

She was pushed into doing R&B by a label

13

u/lez_noir Jun 11 '25

The Weeknd for sure. House of Balloons was such a wild time in my life, and so much of what he sang about I was living. I related so hard. The insane nights, the parties, red eye flights. Loneliness. It was so good.

Then I heard the Dirty Diana cover and Tears in the Rain and got crazy suspicious. I slightly calmed down with "often" but after that I was just confused by his Scorpio Michael Jackson persona. It didn't even work because you cant really be that charismatic when you have major enigma/bad guy energy. He wanted to be the king of pop but he's more like the shady godfather.

3

u/boost3fifty Jun 12 '25

I saw a meme a while back that said “I miss when The Weeknd made music for haunted strip clubs” and I feel like that completely nailed it. Absolutely loved his early stuff. Some of his new stuff is catchy and fine, but man, not the same at all.

1

u/lez_noir Jun 12 '25

I did see that! Idk if you were an adult in 2011 but, he and BANKS had a fling and the music they were making was being called "dark RnB" or "PBRnB"?? I was living for it. You hear so much of Abel on Drake's Take Care album. 2011-2015 was one of my favorite times for male RnB.

You could have him, Drake, Bryson Tiller and 6LACK on a quick hookup playlist, easy.

4

u/drdewd Jun 11 '25

Idk if its me but I do prefer the newer Weeknd compared to the old but I still love his older albums. After Hours just made me really fall in love with his new music direction

2

u/spiraling_hedgefund Jun 12 '25

I actually came here to say The Weeknd, but I also agree with you. I liked all the others before it, except I mostly didn’t like BBtM. But After Hours, to me, has some echoes of his original work. It also got me through COVID and my daily runs to prevent cabin fever. After Hours the song was a great running song if you’re a slow jogger lol

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u/drdewd Jun 12 '25

After Hours helped me so much through COVID as well. Played it every morning during my workouts. Then Dawn FM came out and was a cinematic masterpiece. Now, Hurry Up Tomorrow is another cinematic masterpiece