5 Rock/Metal Bands Who Completely Changed Genre…And Probably Shouldn’t Have Bothered!
Progression is important for all bands (unless you’re AC/DC or Motörhead and we never wanted you to change anyway) and while some bands finesse their sound over time, others veer off in a completely different direction overnight; often alienating a large percentage of their fans with a completely unnecessary change in genre.
Admittedly, the results can sometimes be spectacular, (we doubt anyone was sad when Pantera ditched the glam and adopted their Exhorder inspired, groove-thrash style) but more often than not a complete change in genre will often sound the death knell for a bands career.
The 5 bands featured here all changed their sound and opted to either incorporate other genres/influences or completely changed genre altogether….and all had mixed results. However, we’ll leave it to you to decide whether their decision was either foolhardy, brave or if they really shouldn’t have bothered at all!
Leave your comments below….are we being unfairly harsh or are we bang on the money?
Led Zeppelin managed to meld funk grooves into hard rock – we.g. Whole Lotta Love on The Song Remains The Same and Trampled Underfoot. The hybridization of popular music styles went out as soon as the music industry got control back from the artists (roughly mid 1970s onward) and everyone conformed. Get people addicted to one thing (like food companies do with sugar) and people expect the expected. Anyway don’t forget the response Scorpions got with Eye II Eye. (Grunge and techno styles gently mixed with their sophisticated hard rock) upset the narcotic expectation.