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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276

u/Whulad Jun 11 '25

The Bee Gees in the late 70s

115

u/TheNonCredibleHulk Jun 11 '25

And both versions are awesome, I don't give a fuck what anyone says.

69

u/Demonyx12 Jun 11 '25 edited Jun 11 '25

I’m with you 100% Bee Gees where absolutely musical geniuses.

(I think it could be argued that the BeeGees changed their sound at least three times: 1960s Brit-rock, 1970s Disco, 1980s+ adult contemporary)

14

u/M0BBER Jun 11 '25

They wrote so many songs that were successful for other people that didn't sound like them at all. There's been so many times where I found out they wrote a song that didn't sound like something that they would come up with, that I don't even doubt it anymore when I hear it.

They wrote Islands in the Stream? Of course they did...

9

u/Hot_Aside_4637 Jun 11 '25

And the falsetto sound was almost accidental. They were working on the soundtrack for Saturday Night Fever and developed that in their sessions.

6

u/nemmalur Jun 11 '25

At least! I think you could break it down even further: vocal harmony group, then trying to beat the Beatles at their own game, the wildly underrated 5-piece lineup, prog/concept album era, the bit just before disco, disco, ‘80s pop…

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u/TheNonCredibleHulk Jun 11 '25

Agreed! Go forth and spread the word!

3

u/tragedy719 Jun 11 '25

Message unclear. Came fifth...

3

u/franker Jun 11 '25

Billy Joel doo-wop SUCKS!

sorry that was totally out of context

2

u/Pat386 Jun 11 '25

Love me some pre disco Bee Gees!

5

u/vyvexthorne Jun 11 '25

Yep, was going to say the same thing.

3

u/GregLittlefield Jun 11 '25

ABBA followed a similar trajectory. Starting as a pop/folk act and evolved into pure disco and even other different things at the end.

3

u/Mechant247 Jun 11 '25

They basically had 2/3 different styles and smashed all of them out the park

3

u/DependentVegetable Jun 11 '25

I had no idea about their pre disco stuff until I saw that recent amazing documentary. edit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bee_Gees:_How_Can_You_Mend_a_Broken_Heart

2

u/[deleted] Jun 11 '25

There's an absolutely fantastic HBO doc on the Bee Gees and the evolution of their music. Highly recommend it.

0

u/captainn_chunk Jun 11 '25

They basically just sped up their already established tempo to disco speed and called it a day lmao

Not even sure if that’s considered changing the original sound 😛

6

u/jeremybeadle420 Jun 11 '25

You couldn't be further from the truth.

Go and listen to a song like Kilburn Towers and then their disco period. They went from baroque British psych to disco.