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- Paranoid Android.
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- Group: Premium Member
- Joined: Nov 6, 2003
- Posts: 1918
Sorry for the delay. Here’s a topic.
It’s not uncommon for bands to have lineup changes, which often result in a change of musical direction. SO I want this topic to be about the various changes that bands go through, and maybe see which ones have benefitted from them.
Lineup and directional changes can be separate, of course. Some musicians just want to keep experimenting and changing their sound. So I guess I’m making this about ANY changes that a band goes through, and looking to find which ones have been the best/worst.
Because a lot of people identify with the vocals in a song, it’s probably the hardest to survive a change in singers. Pink Floyd began with Syd Barrett at the helm, but he left after two albums. While those albums were important in their own right, the Roger Waters-led Floyd is generally the “classic” lineup, making The Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here, among others. Then when two albums were released after Waters left, they just didn’t feel the same.
However, bands such as AC/DC have survived this. But they sucked so I don’t care.
An interesting example is Joy Division / New Order. Due to an agreement within the band, Joy Division broke up after the death of their singer, Ian Curtis. However, they simply regrouped as New Order, with slight lineup changes, and have been just as influential as their predecessor.
That said, it can be other lineup changes that affect the band. I’m no fan, but I get that Guns N’ Roses without Slash wouldn’t fit. The Who and Led Zeppelin lost their drummers—The Who weren’t quite the same, and Led Zeppelin ended (though there were other factors in their demise).
As I said, sometimes these changes will prompt a change in music, with new members bringing in new ideas (look at what Frank Zappa did when he joined the Mothers). Of course, this doesn’t have to be the cause of directional changes—some bands just want to keep experimenting.
I guess Radiohead are a good example: listen to their first two albums, then see where they’ve gone now. Even each of their recent albums is different from the previous. I’d always thought Muse was kind of bland music, but enjoyed what I heard of their latest album. It seemed, to me, to be more rich and layered and whatever else (
).
Seems to me that the RZA went nuts and so new Wu-Tang albums haven’t felt like any of the older stuff. It’s far enough removed to be a change of direction in my eyes, anyway. Fortunately, I can enjoy both sides of Tom Waits’s catalogue: I like the older, jazzy stuff just as much as I like his weirder, post-Beefheart-discovery stuff.
Then, as an odd one: I like that Big Boi from OutKast has stuck with their original sound, but don’t enjoy Andre 3000’s work nearly as much. He went all into pop music and jazz and it didn’t work for me (except Hey Ya! because that song rules). Listening Speakerboxxx/The Love Below will explain what I mean.
I think that’s a few examples from me now, so on to you guys!
Here’s a few questions to consider:
1. Which bands have changed members, thus improving or destroying themselves for you?
2. Which bands have changed direction, thus improving or destroying themselves for you?
3. Is it possible to lose members and still be the same band?
Tell me what you think about changes then! GET TO IT.
It’s not uncommon for bands to have lineup changes, which often result in a change of musical direction. SO I want this topic to be about the various changes that bands go through, and maybe see which ones have benefitted from them.
Lineup and directional changes can be separate, of course. Some musicians just want to keep experimenting and changing their sound. So I guess I’m making this about ANY changes that a band goes through, and looking to find which ones have been the best/worst.
Because a lot of people identify with the vocals in a song, it’s probably the hardest to survive a change in singers. Pink Floyd began with Syd Barrett at the helm, but he left after two albums. While those albums were important in their own right, the Roger Waters-led Floyd is generally the “classic” lineup, making The Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here, among others. Then when two albums were released after Waters left, they just didn’t feel the same.
However, bands such as AC/DC have survived this. But they sucked so I don’t care.
An interesting example is Joy Division / New Order. Due to an agreement within the band, Joy Division broke up after the death of their singer, Ian Curtis. However, they simply regrouped as New Order, with slight lineup changes, and have been just as influential as their predecessor.
That said, it can be other lineup changes that affect the band. I’m no fan, but I get that Guns N’ Roses without Slash wouldn’t fit. The Who and Led Zeppelin lost their drummers—The Who weren’t quite the same, and Led Zeppelin ended (though there were other factors in their demise).
As I said, sometimes these changes will prompt a change in music, with new members bringing in new ideas (look at what Frank Zappa did when he joined the Mothers). Of course, this doesn’t have to be the cause of directional changes—some bands just want to keep experimenting.
I guess Radiohead are a good example: listen to their first two albums, then see where they’ve gone now. Even each of their recent albums is different from the previous. I’d always thought Muse was kind of bland music, but enjoyed what I heard of their latest album. It seemed, to me, to be more rich and layered and whatever else (
).Seems to me that the RZA went nuts and so new Wu-Tang albums haven’t felt like any of the older stuff. It’s far enough removed to be a change of direction in my eyes, anyway. Fortunately, I can enjoy both sides of Tom Waits’s catalogue: I like the older, jazzy stuff just as much as I like his weirder, post-Beefheart-discovery stuff.
Then, as an odd one: I like that Big Boi from OutKast has stuck with their original sound, but don’t enjoy Andre 3000’s work nearly as much. He went all into pop music and jazz and it didn’t work for me (except Hey Ya! because that song rules). Listening Speakerboxxx/The Love Below will explain what I mean.
I think that’s a few examples from me now, so on to you guys!
Here’s a few questions to consider:
1. Which bands have changed members, thus improving or destroying themselves for you?
2. Which bands have changed direction, thus improving or destroying themselves for you?
3. Is it possible to lose members and still be the same band?
Tell me what you think about changes then! GET TO IT.
