New Sound Album: Difference between revisions

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However, Band X decide to do [[And Now for Something Completely Different|something completely different]] for their next album, for whatever reason. Maybe they're tired and believe they've taken their style to the limit. Maybe they're afraid of being one-trick ponies. Maybe it's [[Executive Meddling]]. Regardless, the result will be a change of style. This can be either a total [[Genre Shift]], general simplification for bands with highly complex styles (thrash metal, prog rock, etc.), more prog tendencies for simple pop-rock bands, whatever. The point is that they will continue with this style for a period, to either continued success or diminishing returns.

Cue shock and [[They Changed It Now It Sucks]] from parts of the fanbase, along with a whole spectrum of opinions from others.

Cue shock and [[They Changed It, Now It Sucks]] from parts of the fanbase, along with a whole spectrum of opinions from others.

The [[New Sound Album]] represents an album where a band generally known for a certain style backs away from its roots and makes a radical change, if not a total [[Genre Shift]]. Reactions to this tend to vary. There's always a segment of the fanbase that says [[They Changed It Now It Sucks]] and labels them as [[Money Dear Boy|sellouts]], even ignoring that sometimes the band honestly admits to wanting a change. In other parts there's a whole range of reactions, from mixed to positive. In the worst case the album will [[Broken Base|divide a fanbase]] into [[Old Guard Versus New Blood]], and in the best case a majority of fans will enjoy both periods of the band's career. When this happens, fans will usually cite the album as a case of [[Growing the Beard]].

The [[New Sound Album]] represents an album where a band generally known for a certain style backs away from its roots and makes a radical change, if not a total [[Genre Shift]]. Reactions to this tend to vary. There's always a segment of the fanbase that says [[They Changed It, Now It Sucks]] and labels them as [[Money, Dear Boy|sellouts]], even ignoring that sometimes the band honestly admits to wanting a change. In other parts there's a whole range of reactions, from mixed to positive. In the worst case the album will [[Broken Base|divide a fanbase]] into [[Old Guard Versus New Blood]], and in the best case a majority of fans will enjoy both periods of the band's career. When this happens, fans will usually cite the album as a case of [[Growing the Beard]].

Contrast [[Something Completely Different]], where the change is usually temporary, and the artist goes back to their old sound with the next album.

* [[My Chemical Romance]] pulls this with pretty much every album. "I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love" was straight ahead [[Post-hardcore]]/[[Emo (Music)|Classic Emo]] with alot of screamed lyrics and downtuned guitars. "Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge" largely continued with this sound but also added small traces of [[Pop Punk]], [[Goth Rock]] and [[Post Punk]], as well as slightly decreasing the amount of screamed lyrics. [[The Black Parade]] was a major shift since it was a full on [[Concept Album]] with a big influence from 70's music such as [[Progressive Rock]] and the artier side of [[Glam Rock]], all while still staying true to their post-hardcore roots. Danger Days was the biggest shift as it fully abandoned their roots in favor of straight ahead [[Pop Punk]] with synthesizors and even an adult contemporary song.

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* [[Motley Crue (Music)|Motley Crue]] was a great hard rock 80's hair metal band. In 1992 lead singer Vince Neil left the band, he was than replaced by John Corabi. At this point, Hair Metal/Hard Rock is dead, and Grunge/Alt Rock became mainstream. John Corabi morphed the sound of Mötley Crüe into an grunge band. It did not fit well with their fans, they stop touring in arena, went to theaters, then eventually canceled the tour. This went on for a decade, with Vince Neil and Tommy Lee leave then return again from time to time.

** [[And the Fandom Rejoiced]] when the classic line up got back together in a comeback tour, Carnival of Sin, then later released the ''Saints of Los Angeles'' album. The Saints of Los Angeles album returned the sleazy hard rocking fast living sound with a bit of a modern edge, it's their best album in years.

* Muse's most recent album ''The Resistance'', which has raised cries of [[They Changed It Now It Sucks]]. Really, every single Muse album makes changes to their sound. Compare ''Showbiz'' to ''Origin Of Symmetry'', ''Origin Of Symmetry'' to ''Absolution'' and so on.

* Muse's most recent album ''The Resistance'', which has raised cries of [[They Changed It, Now It Sucks]]. Really, every single Muse album makes changes to their sound. Compare ''Showbiz'' to ''Origin Of Symmetry'', ''Origin Of Symmetry'' to ''Absolution'' and so on.

*** Frankly, it wasn't that radical departure from ''Black Holes'' at all. Other than the song with no guitar parts, which was a first. But still Muse.

* [[Arctic Monkeys]] (''Humbug''), a [[Pink Floyd]]-influenced psychedelic album, quite different from the frantic garage-rock of their previous material.

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* [[Pet Shop Boys]] albums are pretty consistent--almost entirely electronic and typically dance-pop or house-influenced beatfests with the occasional political snark, historical reference, or cultural observation. Then, out of left field, 2002's ''Release'': a guitar-based album full of sixties-ish pop (with [[The Smiths|Johnny Marr]] playing the guitar parts, no less), the occasional use of Autotune ([[Justified Trope|mostly to simulate a phone line]], but fans still cried "they ruined Neil's voice!"), and slow, sincere ballads, with only two dance-oriented tracks. Critics tended to like it, but [[Broken Base|many fans hated it]] for being [[Three Chords and The Truth|"too acoustic"]].

** Ditto for Erasure's ''Union Street'' album.

* Speaking of [[Erasure]], the 2000 album ''Loveboat''. It can best be described as "Erasure goes indie", with a lo-fi, "basement-y" feel, heavier bass, and much greater use of acoustic instruments. in stark contrast to their typical campy, danceable synthpop. Fans ''[[They Changed It Now It Sucks|hated]]'' it because the style was so different. A sizable majority of the fanbase consider it [[Fanon Discontinuity]] and the end of classic Erasure. It sold terribly in both the UK and the US and it didn't get released in the US until 2003 because Maverick Records dropped them like a hot potato when they refused to remix a good portion of the tracks. Even lead singer Andy Bell [[Creator Backlash|panned it]] [[Old Shame|years later]]. The worst part? Critics tended to like it, and it's a well-written album with a subdued, personal sound to it.

* Speaking of [[Erasure]], the 2000 album ''Loveboat''. It can best be described as "Erasure goes indie", with a lo-fi, "basement-y" feel, heavier bass, and much greater use of acoustic instruments. in stark contrast to their typical campy, danceable synthpop. Fans ''[[They Changed It, Now It Sucks|hated]]'' it because the style was so different. A sizable majority of the fanbase consider it [[Fanon Discontinuity]] and the end of classic Erasure. It sold terribly in both the UK and the US and it didn't get released in the US until 2003 because Maverick Records dropped them like a hot potato when they refused to remix a good portion of the tracks. Even lead singer Andy Bell [[Creator Backlash|panned it]] [[Old Shame|years later]]. The worst part? Critics tended to like it, and it's a well-written album with a subdued, personal sound to it.

* [[Beck (Music)|Beck]], on '''every''' '''single''' '''album'''.

** From ''Guero'' onward, he's no longer been radically changing his sound on each release: but maybe it only seems that way, because (by now) he's ''already'' explored '''every possible''' genre.

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* The Doobie Brothers -- During the Tom Johnston era, the band was known for hard-rocking and bluesy songs. After Michael McDonald became lead singer, the band became much more concentrated on falsetto and harmony-heavy pop songs. By ''Minute by Minute'', they were completely rid of their old sound. They got their old sound back, however, when the band reunited with Johnston on lead vocals.

* Every one of Falling Up's five records sounded generally different from the rest, as they moved more and more in the direction of experimental rock. They took it to a new level with "Fangs!" though, which saw a complete restructuring of their sound and how the band performed and recorded. Unfortunately it was also their last album.

* The [[Foo Fighters (Music)|Foo Fighters]], after their [[Post-Grunge]]-heavy first two albums ([[Self Titled Album]] and ''The Colour and The Shape''), have decided to explore different styles - including an all-acoustic disc for their double-disc set, ''In Your Honour''.

* The [[Foo Fighters (Music)|Foo Fighters]], after their [[Post-Grunge]]-heavy first two albums ([[Self-Titled Album]] and ''The Colour and The Shape''), have decided to explore different styles - including an all-acoustic disc for their double-disc set, ''In Your Honour''.

** The Colour And The Shape is also their only album with a notable emo influence, which was caused by the band's bassist and then drummer (who had both been in Sunny Day Real Estate) contributing to the songwriting process. My Hero is the primary example of this, though so are the verses of Hey Johnny Park. Awkwardly, it remains the band's most popular album despite the fact they rock much harder these days.

* Few bands have pulled off a radical [[Genre Shift]] more successfully than [[Ministry]]. Their first two albums were ordinary, if slightly pessimistic, [[New Wave (Music)|New Wave]] 80's pop (one reviewer dubbed them "The Human League's surly little brother"). On their third album, ''The Land of Rape and Honey'' they revamped their lineup and completely changed their sound, abandoning pop for a [[Trope Makers|brand new musical style]] that would become known as [[Industrial Metal]] and catapulting themselves to stardom in the process.

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* [[Dream Theater (Music)|Dream Theater]] does this quite often, the most notable one being when [[Executive Meddling]] forced ''Falling Into Infinity'' to take on a more mainstream rock sound than the [[Progressive Metal]] of their earlier albums.

* Bloc Party's debut album Silent Alarm was well received and known for its heavy use of guitars and was generally considered an example of a good indie album. As the band's career progressed they released A Weekend in the City and Intimacy, two albums with increasingly dancier music and less emphasis on guitars and other standard indie fare. [[Your Mileage May Vary]] on the extent of their change.

* [[The Offspring]] became popular as a punk rock band with catchy upbeat songs. Their recent album ''Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace'' has only two songs in their signature style with the rest being slow and more thoughtful. [[Your Mileage May Vary]] on whether this counts as [[They Changed It Now It Sucks]].

* [[The Offspring]] became popular as a punk rock band with catchy upbeat songs. Their recent album ''Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace'' has only two songs in their signature style with the rest being slow and more thoughtful. [[Your Mileage May Vary]] on whether this counts as [[They Changed It, Now It Sucks]].

** There breakout album, 1994's ''Smash,'' is itself a [[New Sound Album]]. Their previous two albums are much rougher hardcore punk, while ''Smash'' marked the debut of better hooks and a strong metal influence.

** To be fair, they often had slower, "more thoughtful" songs and interludes on almost all of their albums (except maybe ''Smash'') and they worked quite well, at least in counterpoint to the harder material - some of my favourites being album tracks where they skillfully blended the two (''Gone Away'' or ''Gotta Get Away'' (despite the similar titles, two quite different songs), for example). They diced with the powers of suck with ''Conspiracy of One'' but just about made it, however I'll admit ''RAFRAG'' didn't hit my local market with any kind of fanfare so I missed it... would be well worth trying out and seeing which side of the line it falls.

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* [[Feeder]] seem to have a habit of changing every two albums. Swim and Polythene are pretty heavy grungey style stuff, Yesterday Went To Soon and Echo Park are more straightforward rock albums, with a bit of punk influence, Comfort In Sound and Pushing The Senses are much softer (but still with some straight up rock songs, like Godzilla and Helium). Their newest albums, Silent Cry and Renegades, seem to be if you shoved all their previous albums into a blender, with the softer stuff on Silent Cry and the heavier stuff on Renegades.

** Indeed, putting Echo Park on a christmas / birthday list one year and receiving Swim instead (when a confused relative couldn't find their then-unavoidable chartbuster) was a heck of an eyeopener. I had to fire up the 56k modem to go double check it was actually the same band. Then again they've done this in a miniature way with just ''one version of a single''. The world gets to know Just A Day through the Gran Turismo soundtrack's perfectly formed edit. What's released to market is a set of increasingly different and overly busy-sounding mixes with the original nowhere to be seen, other than by recording it from the console's optical-out.

* [[Bad Religion]] did this in ''Into The Unknown'', then went back again to their old style, progressing into a new sound in a more subtle way. They made another big change in ''The New America'', and their fanbase still argues if it's a great record or if it's a case of [[They Changed It Now It Sucks]].

* [[Bad Religion]] did this in ''Into The Unknown'', then went back again to their old style, progressing into a new sound in a more subtle way. They made another big change in ''The New America'', and their fanbase still argues if it's a great record or if it's a case of [[They Changed It, Now It Sucks]].

** ''Into the Unknown'' has since become the band's [[Old Shame]].

* [[Bon Jovi]] had two, maybe justified as the lineup underwent a slight change and lead singer/writer Jon aged and mellowed a little - and they went after the changing tastes of ladies more their own age ([[Hair Metal]] always being, in the end, all about the ladies)... but, the stylistic shift experienced between the classic but ironically titled ''Keep The Faith'', and newer, poppier, mushier ''Crush'' (with "These Days" as a confused, halfway turning point, and "Crossroads" being a sort of "this is the ''Best Of the OLD Bon Jovi'', now watch as we ''change it all"'') is still a heck of a jolt for male fans who enjoyed the heavier, more traditional rock flavour of their first 15 or so years. Those two start the [[Broken Base]], with women (stereotypically) liking the new phase and rockers (of both genders) the old one.

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* If [[HIM|Screamworks]] isn't a new sound album, I don't know what is. It diverges from their ''long-''standing sound of dark goth with...something more pop and upbeat. The ''lyrics'' are still quite dark, although they too have taken quite a change. Venus Doom, their previous album began off as incredibly metal, so it too was a bit of a new sound album--the transition can be...difficult.

** Basically, going from the incredibly messed up song "Gone With the Sin" (Razorblade Romance) from all the way back in ''1999'' to "Scared to Death" (Screamworks: Love in Theory and Practice) may leave people wondering just who the hell they're listening to.

* Backseat Goodbye and ''The Good Years''. It diverges from his previous sound of pop-folk to a more solid folk-country (with pop elements). Some people [[They Changed It Now It Sucks|thought it sucked,]] some were like [[Growing the Beard|"cool,]] [[Broken Base|whatever."]]

* Backseat Goodbye and ''The Good Years''. It diverges from his previous sound of pop-folk to a more solid folk-country (with pop elements). Some people [[They Changed It, Now It Sucks|thought it sucked,]] some were like [[Growing the Beard|"cool,]] [[Broken Base|whatever."]]

* [[McFly]], a band commonly known for their chirpy Pop-Rock music. In 2010, they released ''Above The Noise'', an album filled with mostly electro-pop music, with heavy involvement from [[Taio Cruz]]. [[Broken Base|Fans weren't impressed]].

* [[Daniel Amos]] started off in 1975 with a self-titled country album. They considered themselves a rock band, with the country just being a temporary phase, so their followup ''Shotgun Angel'' mixed it with an ambitious rock opera. It was their third album, ''Horrendous Disc'', that signalled their complete abandonment of country, and let fans know to expect more surprises in the future.

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* UK thrash metal band Onslaught's album ''In Search of Sanity'' features a more melodic and complex style of thrash than the simpler, Slayer-esque sound they had on their previous release. It also featured vocalist Steve Grimmett from Grim Reaper, whose soaring and clean vocal style was a point of contention at the time of the album's release.

** On the topic of Onslaught, their first album was more of a thrash and hardcore punk hybrid than the full-on thrash they would play on their second album.

* The Butthole Surfers were initially known for psychedelic noise rock, but slowly started sliding towards more conventional alternative rock as time went on. The ''real'' big change in sound came with [[Lost Episode]] album ''After The Astronaut'' (and ''The Weird Revolution'', which had revamped versions of many of the same songs) - their sound became much more electronic and danceable, although [[Word Salad Lyrics]] and some sophomoric humor remained. The change wasn't entirely out of the blue though - their contribution to the ''Spawn'' soundtrack had them working with [[Moby]], and "Whatever (I Had A Dream)" from ''[[William ~~Shakespeares~~ Romeo ~~and~~ Juliet (Film)|William Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet]]'' had a heavy trip-hop influence. Their [[Black Sheep Hit]] "Pepper", often compared (or just plain [[Misattributed Song|misattributed]]) to [[Beck (Music)|Beck]], could be considered a precursor too.

* The Butthole Surfers were initially known for psychedelic noise rock, but slowly started sliding towards more conventional alternative rock as time went on. The ''real'' big change in sound came with [[Lost Episode]] album ''After The Astronaut'' (and ''The Weird Revolution'', which had revamped versions of many of the same songs) - their sound became much more electronic and danceable, although [[Word Salad Lyrics]] and some sophomoric humor remained. The change wasn't entirely out of the blue though - their contribution to the ''Spawn'' soundtrack had them working with [[Moby]], and "Whatever (I Had A Dream)" from ''[[William Shakespeare's Romeo+Juliet (Film)|William Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet]]'' had a heavy trip-hop influence. Their [[Black Sheep Hit]] "Pepper", often compared (or just plain [[Misattributed Song|misattributed]]) to [[Beck (Music)|Beck]], could be considered a precursor too.

* [[Mariah Carey]] is easily this. Her debut album, ''Mariah Carey'' incorporated 80s synths with slight R&B dance vibes. It switched to a 50s/60s/70s Disco/Soul vibe in ''Emotions'', which then suddenly changed into Adult Contemporary mellow-sounding ballads for ''Music Box''. ''Daydream'' started to lean more towards modern, underground music and incorporated, and fused, pop, R&B, hip-hop and AC. ''Butterfly'' later dropped the noticeable Adult Contemporary aspects and went for a heavy R&B/hip-hop sound with slight pop/AC leanings (like 75% R&B/hip-hop, 25% pop). This eventually turned into full R&B/Hip-hop with a bit of pop (90% r&b/hip-hop, 10% pop) during ''Rainbow'', where there was some pop but only because she was really popular at the time. It dropped the AC leanings completely. Then came the infamous ''Glitter'' which utilized a myriad of rappers and incorporated a bunch of 80s pop samples creating some weird 80s influence r&b/hip-hop with modern day rap. Then, during ''Charmbracelet'' she had slight r&b/hip-hop leanings and returned back to her old AC style only for her to return back to full R&B/Hip-Hop for ''The Emancipation of Mimi''. Then, for E=[[MC 2]], she adopted... [[Follow the Leader|whatever was popular]] in 2008 and used some reggae/dance hall music and returned to a more familiar pop/r&b/hip-hop/dance sound. Finally, for ''Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel'' she utilized an R&B style with heavily, electronic instrumentation which had some 80s influences. So, in short, we have:

** 80s pop with slight R&B/Dance vibes (''Mariah Carey'')