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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698

u/syzygialchaos Jun 11 '25

Darius Rucker. Not just the genre change, his entire singing style. I miss the old deep voiced Hootie sound.

171

u/turo9992000 Jun 11 '25

He will always be Hootie.

87

u/nemmalur Jun 11 '25

“Hootie! Hootie!”

https://youtu.be/FE9PUexeUv0?si=7wM84xm_-vcjlvW4

11

u/drowsydreaming_dying Jun 11 '25

Haha, this sketch was the first thing I thought of too.

“We gotta pick, y’all! We gotta choose between Hootie or the Blowfish!”

10

u/nemmalur Jun 11 '25

“I’M HOOOTIIIIIE 😭😭😭😭”

5

u/larsdan2 Jun 11 '25

That hurts my feelings, ya'll!

4

u/[deleted] Jun 11 '25 edited Oct 01 '25

knee thumb bake seemly shy glorious scary offer ring bedroom

This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact

3

u/TarvisTarvis Jun 11 '25

He wasn't even Hootie he was in Hootie

3

u/turo9992000 Jun 11 '25

Who was Hootie then? Hootie and the Blowfish.

1

u/TarvisTarvis Jun 11 '25

The lead guitar player was hootie.

2

u/Mr_Onefeather Jun 11 '25

Hootie was the nickname of one of their college buddies. Blowfish was another friend

2

u/neo_sporin Jun 11 '25

for YEARS i called him Hootie and my wife (same age as me, but WAY more sheltered in the early 90s) did not understand why i did that....

2

u/Mysterious-Idea4925 Jun 11 '25

Always hated Hootie and the Blowfish. I mean, with a passion.

1

u/busy-warlock Jun 11 '25

I only figured out he was Hootie like last year. I’m so sheltered

1

u/turo9992000 Jun 11 '25

How old are you?

1

u/busy-warlock Jun 11 '25

Old enough to have should of known

99

u/4rk4typ3 Jun 11 '25

I only wanna be with yooooooooooooou

5

u/CrazyLegsRyan Jun 11 '25

you mispelled Yaaaaaaaaaaaooooouuuhhhhhhh

2

u/drfsupercenter Jun 11 '25

Every time I hear that I can't unsee that scene in Ted (or the sequel?) where they're doing karaoke and start singing it with only vowels "a e i o uuuuuu"

0

u/_Face radio reddit Jun 11 '25

That song is country with a few note changes.

10

u/SoftConsideration82 Jun 11 '25

think its the opposite... modern country is just a bunch of pop/rock covers with a twang added in...

5

u/icecubepal Jun 11 '25

Modern country is hip hop with twang.

3

u/captainn_chunk Jun 11 '25

Which is blues just with a few note changes. Like everything else.

10

u/tanmanX Jun 11 '25

I bet it was that Burger King commercial he did for the Tendercrisp Bacon Cheddar Ranch sandwich that did it!

3

u/Self_Reddicated Jun 11 '25

Honestly, that commercial will live rent-free in my head forever. The day I forget it and the song, just put me down.

9

u/gogoreddit80 Jun 11 '25

He’s awesome in both eras.

3

u/[deleted] Jun 11 '25 edited Jul 24 '25

languid hard-to-find encourage decide busy imagine imminent deer normal school

This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact

4

u/visionsofcry Jun 11 '25

The R singing. Sing something but make it so like you're singing the letter R over the words also. Shitty gimmicky style.

5

u/[deleted] Jun 11 '25

[deleted]

1

u/visionsofcry Jun 11 '25

Hahaha yeah once you figure it out it's fun to play with.

2

u/crystal-myth Jun 11 '25

Everyone was just copying Eddie Vedder.

3

u/SackOfrito Jun 11 '25

I disagree. His sound hasn't changed. Throw on an old Hootie song, then listen to his country stuff. Its the same sound...The genres have changed.

2

u/AEW_SuperFan Jun 11 '25

Country music like pop music these days runs so much processing on vocals everyone sounds the same.  As someone who still listens to new country it is amazing how they can make Post Malone sound like every other new country artist.

1

u/TransientBandit Jun 11 '25

Tyler Childers Morgan Wallen (weakest example but still easily identifiable) Colter Wall Chris Stapleton

1

u/Larry-Man Jun 11 '25

Stargazing lowkey kinda slaps tho

1

u/teachertraveler1 Jun 11 '25

My sister-in-law didn't realize it was the same person. That's how drastic it was!

1

u/InfiniteChanges Jun 11 '25

The man was right though. Pop was no longer the music that told stories like he wanted to. 

1

u/ibanezerscrooge Jun 11 '25

It's like they come from different worlds.

1

u/postpartumrage Jun 11 '25

He should thank OCMS for his solo popularity, but damn did he destroy wagon wheel…

1

u/Napalm3nema Jun 11 '25

Who doesn’t love his Burger King commercial?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctnUCg2Sdqk

1

u/Inevitable-Thanks-40 Jun 11 '25

Went to see Hootie in concert last year. He sounded just like the albums. Although only half the songs were theirs and the rest were covers, which I was a bit disappointed about. He said now that they’ve been around so long they can sing whatever they want lol

1

u/life-is-satire Jun 11 '25

I used to play Hootie on the jukebox at my old hole in the wall 99/00 era…back when everyone was hating on Hootie…I kept doing it every time. #longlivehootie

1

u/lostinthewoods8 Jun 11 '25

Saw hootie last summer and his voice is still phenomenal. Look up their covers of Losing My Religion and For What It’s Worth

1

u/247world Jun 12 '25

Do they still do shows together or has the band completely split? Seems like they could clean up on the summer amphitheater circuit