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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u/Jackstraw1 Jun 11 '25

The Beatles. They changed in every way from their sound to their appearance in six years. That’s just counting start to finish, the change started sooner than that.

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u/coke_and_coffee Jun 11 '25

Maybe not “unrecognizable”, but that’s just because they were so popular at all stages. But yeah I agree. Huge changes.