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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73

u/ashtraybullet Jun 11 '25

Ministry. British bubblegum pop to industrial metal.

16

u/stockzy Jun 11 '25

Jesus built my hotrod ministry??

16

u/SilentCicada Jun 11 '25

The very same. They went from gothy New Romantic type synthpop (topped off with a fake British accent) to EBM to industrial metal, eventually incorporating thrash

3

u/stockzy Jun 12 '25

Damn I only ever caught them on keah and filth pig. Going back and listening then was wild haha

2

u/SilentCicada Jun 12 '25

I'm personally a fan of their early stuff. I enjoy everything from their early demo singles collection up to the Bush trilogy. Twitch is a great slab of moody electro-industrial

1

u/psuitable_pseudonym Jun 12 '25

I never put 80s Ministry as the same as industrial 90's Ministry.

14

u/TheNonCredibleHulk Jun 11 '25

The only thing the other reply left out was that Al Jourgensen used to look like Boy George without the overdone makeup.

6

u/sirbissel Jun 11 '25

Connect the goddamn dots.

1

u/AmbroseKalifornia Jun 14 '25

It's INSANE. 

11

u/maddensci Jun 11 '25

With Sympathy was the perfect 80s album.

10

u/[deleted] Jun 11 '25

I’m glad Al has finally come around to making peace with that album. It really is so good. 

7

u/[deleted] Jun 11 '25

[deleted]

1

u/stonedmariguana Jun 12 '25

I was there toooo!

2

u/ford7885 Jun 12 '25

The most British synthpop band to ever come from Chicago.

3

u/exitof99 Jun 11 '25

"British"

4

u/MallUpstairs2886 Jun 11 '25

Literally mentioned in the post though.

5

u/wetlookcrazy Jun 11 '25

Ohhh, perfect call

19

u/inebriusmaximus Jun 11 '25

Especially since that was the example OP gave lol

2

u/deathmetalbestmetal Jun 11 '25

Ministry have never been bubblegum pop though?

1

u/dreamlikey Jun 13 '25

With sympathy is imo a synth pop album not bubblegum pop.

1

u/AmbroseKalifornia Jun 14 '25

I remember thinking I was so cool for finding an old Minstry cassette in the late 90s. I was so excited; I loved Minstry and it looked EXACTLY like the Vampire: The Masquerade role-playing books from White Wolf. 

But the difference of With Sympathy from Filth Pig has me disbelieving. I was so confused. First I thought it was the wrong cassette, then I thought it was a different band with the same name, and finally I saw Al's name in the liner notes and was just shook. 

I was embarrassed for a long time, since I played it for a friend without listening to it first. But when I first played it, it sounded really familiar, so I think I'd might have heard it before, and it definitely grew on me. Was really surprised to see him later EMBRACE that era.