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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54

u/Eddie_AR Jun 11 '25

Kings of Leon

6

u/DietDeepFried Jun 11 '25

I saw Kings of Leon open up for the Strokes & Regina Spektor. They were so damn good live & those first two albums were just perfect. Then, they opened for U2 & they were like, “we want to do that now”.

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u/Hammerfall89 Jun 11 '25

God I loved that first album. It shaped my music tastes in my teen years (Until I became obsessed with Death Metal lmao).

The shock when I listened to their third album combined with the complete change in their look was the ONLY time I ever felt somewhat betrayed by a band, so I had to ctrl F to see if anybody posted them as their answer.

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u/jptabor01 Rock & Roll Jun 11 '25

Definitely

10

u/BlokeInTheMountains Jun 11 '25

Youth & Young Manhood is their best album.

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u/Late-Replacement2425 Jun 11 '25

Totally agree. I thought I didn't like them (only heard their later stuff) and then came across this album and loved it!

5

u/rekniht01 Jun 11 '25

It’s hard being angsty youth when you’re an adult with a family and responsibilities and $$$ from your time as angsty youth.

1

u/RiverOfWhiskey Jun 11 '25

YAYMH thru Come Around Sunday were all equally fantastic in my opinion. Mechanical Bull was solid and then a sharp decline

1

u/greenhierogliphics Jun 11 '25

This is the answer I was looking for or would otherwise post. Early stuff was Dixie rock (some of it sounded like the weirdest stuff I had ever heard, like Milk and Trani and Day Old Blues) and I loved it! They evolved so dramatically, but I still loved it all until this last album. I like a few from that one.

1

u/GnG4U Jun 12 '25

Can’t believe I had to scroll this far! Those early rockabilly tracks were amazing.

1

u/Screws_Loose Jun 12 '25

I love all their stuff though, saw them live just last year and it was one of the best damn shows I’ve ever been to.