"I Can't Believe It's The Same Band.." Thread

[Mister Pink]

A topic for bands that have really evolved over time, so much so that you'd be forgiven for thinking they were two different bands. 

 

I'll start off.

 

Depeche Mode in the 80's before Vince Clarke left and formed Yaz/Yazoo and then Earasure... happy pop love song. 

 

 

1990's Depeche Mode and song about battling with heroin and suicide. 

 

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Another would be The Beatles pre-1966.

 

 

Tomorrow Never knows then in 1966, still sounds futuristic or something. It's crazy. A lot of pioneering techniques on this track. Backwards guitar solos,  strange vocal processing, weird hypnotic and unconventional beat, and strange psychedelic samples in the background as well as sitars. Chemical Bros sampled this beat for Setting Sun. 

 

Edited September 20, 2019 by Mister Pink

[Mr. Galloway]

Upbeat 80s new wave song about sex (I think).

 

Gloomy gothic rock song about a doomed relationship

 

[Mister Pink]

Nice tracks, I forget about The Cure some times. ^

 

Kraftwerk started off as a more "conventional" band. Well, not really. But they had instruments like bands at the time, kind of. 

 

 

Now they look more futuristic and and dropped conventional band instruments like guitars and drums. Well, they did that in the 70's but the difference is more pronunced now. 

 

 

1970...

 

2013?

 

[sivispacem]

Ministry's "Work for Love", circa 1983. A fairly inane synthpop/new wave anthem.

 

Ministry's "Rio Grande Blood" circa 2006. Fairly brutal slab of industrial/thrash metal.

 

[Death]

Swedish band Therion experiment in the first four albums and change their sound in the mid-1990s as a symphonic metal band but since 2007 they sound a little different like they used to be.

 

A mix between Death/Thrash/Grindcore Metal early 90s:

 

 

1996:

 

 

2007 until today:

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 21, 2019 by FearThoseWhoFearHim

[Uncle Sikee Atric]

It's not so much a band as a group for this one, because they changed their name, but it's the same individuals....

Early 1990's :

 

 

 

There was a fire in 96 that destroyed their studio and most of their back catalogue masters, so the next time we saw them was 98, as a new band :
 

 

 

And they changed again into the 2000's :
 

 

 

They've just returned from a 10 year hiatus and where they go with their next album?  We will wait and see....

 

[Mister Pink]

4 hours ago, sivispacem said:

Ministry's "Work for Love", circa 1983. A fairly inane synthpop/new wave anthem.

That's insane. I had no idea Ministry started off as a New Wave band. It reminds me, I think I heard Pantera started off as a more glam metal band. 

 

@Uncle Sikee Atric: I kind of know Doves by name, never gave them a listen but I actually like them as Sub Sub, it's real groovy, dance music with instruments. 

 

@FearThoseWhoFearHim Never heard of them but I can see the difference you speak of. 

 

I suppose Joy Division are worth a mention. Simple, post-punk music.. to more electronic/80's as New Order without Curtis of course. 

 

 

 

[Uncle Sikee Atric]

@Mister Pink : Doves are a brilliant band, one of the few where they even managed to avoid the problems of the difficult second album too....

 

There's another option to think about for bands in this thread as well.

1970's with John Foxx :
 

 

1980's with Midge Ure :
 

 

Amazing what happens when you change the lead singer and drop the exclamation mark from the name (It is Ultravox! with John), isn't it?

 

[Mister Pink]

2 minutes ago, Uncle Sikee Atric said:

Amazing what happens when you change the lead singer and drop the exclamation mark from the name (It is Ultravox! with John), isn't it?

Had no idea Ultravox had another sound or singer other than Midge Ure. I'm getting an education from this thread!

 

70's Prog Rock.. with huge funk elements.. Yes in 1973..

 

 

 

A huge departure to their normal sound.. very pop 80's and very radio friendly. 

 

[Death]

Paradise Lost

 

Death/Doom Metal early 90s

 

 

93-95 Gothic/Doom Metal with some Sisters of Mercy / Depeche Mode influence.

 

 

1997 until 2002 - Rock-style mixed with electronic stuff and barely some metal riffs. More Depeche Mode influence.

 

 

2005 - Present - Trying to going back to roots with a modern sound.

 

 

 

Edited September 21, 2019 by FearThoseWhoFearHim

[sivispacem]

Some more (including one I'm surprised @FearThoseWhoFearHim didn't mention)

 

Tiamat circa 1992; death/doom with some second wave black metal touches

 

Tiamat circa 2012, goth rock

 

 

-----

 

Swans circa 1984; slow, sludgy noise rock that heavily influenced the likes of Godflesh

 

Swans circa 2017, sounding very much like an indie band who've taken too much PCP.

 

 

-----

 

However possibly the kings of "what the f*ck, is this the same band?" are Ulver

 

1997- fairly raw second-wave black metal

 

2017- new-wave/synthpop

 

 

And yes, @Mister Pink, Pantera did start as a glam metal band.

[Death]

8 hours ago, sivispacem said:

Some more (including one I'm surprised @FearThoseWhoFearHim didn't mention)

 

Tiamat circa 1992; death/doom with some second wave black metal touches

 

Tiamat circa 2012, goth rock

 

For me Wildhoney (1994) is where they started like a psychedelic, experimental, art rock band with some doom metal prints.

 

1994 (Apparently influenced by Pink Floyd)

 

 

1997

 

 

2002

 

 

Edited September 21, 2019 by FearThoseWhoFearHim

[sivispacem]

The move from Wildhoney to ADKOS is probably the biggest transition of their sound in a single album, but the difference between their current output and Sumerian Cry or Astral Sleep is the most jarring.

[Captain_Fluffy]

I came to mention Ulver but sivispacem beat me to it. Hell of a change in direction

[Rhoda]

Swans were going to be my pick, especially because it's one of the few instances where I actually like the directions explored for each "phase" of their career. I find this contrasts with a band like Guided By Voices, which hosts about as many (if not more) line-up changes but their sound has remained pretty much consistent over the course of 25 years. This isn't so much to their detriment, but it's interesting that even amid changes to the roster you'll either end up with a new direction altogether or you'll stick with the sound you know.

 

Anyway, I digress. Bloc Party come to mind, I guess. Their debut album back in 2005 was a well-produced and well-intentioned post-punk revival that had enough charm and sincerity to cement them alongside contemporaries of the time. It wasn't anything particularly groundbreaking but it was a good enough listen. From here, their sophomore LP teased a slightly different approach but still had roots in the scene at the time. For context, here is "Helicopter" from the album in question, Silent Alarm Interestingly, they released a non-album single called "Flux" shortly before their second album A Weekend In The City which had only traces of guitar elements. Those sharp hooks were replaced by fast synthesiser stabs and autotuned vocals. What makes this particularly odd is that their second LP A Weekend In The City didn't exactly carry this trend on. As far as Bloc Party were concerned, they were still a rock band. This put the band into a difficult position - those that appreciated the change in direction may not necessarily enjoy this backpedal, and those that disliked it were treated to more electronic experimentation with their third LP Intimacy and the cheap tactic of a remix album following shortly afterwards. I imagine it was a puzzling time to be a fan of Bloc Party during these years.

 

Also, Radiohead with OK Computer and Kid A. This video explains this better than I ever could.

 

 

[sivispacem]

Woods of Ypres went through some fairly dramatic transitions, from blackened doom to goth/neofolk. However they managed to maintain the same "feeling" across these.

 

 

 

[Big_Dog]

This:

 

 

Compared to something like this:

 

 

or this song from the same album that never fails to choke me up:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 23, 2019 by Potto

[Big_Dog]

It's crazy to think that ''Pretty Hate Machine'' is from the 1980's.

 

 

I love how this song opens.

 

[Death]

Anathema

 

Death/Doom Metal

 

 

Doom/Gothic Metal

 

 

Experimental/Alternative Rock with some Progressive Rock touches.

 

 

 

 

[Lonely-Martin]

Sorry I can't link videos, but two bands/artists come to mind on this. A pretty cool topic BTW.

 

Gwen Stefani is one that comes to mind. Her days with No Doubt as a ska/rock band. But then her solo career was/is a much different pop sound and one would definitely be forgiven if they heard Don't Speak of No Doubt's and then Hollerback Girl of Gwen's I feel.

 

Ooh, Pink Floyd too. Definitely from the Sid Barret era to the Roger Waters/Dave Gilmour lead era's with the concept albums coming like The Wall or Dark Side.. But given the length of career, much like Michael Jackson really, they had to change with the times or circumstances of splitting etc. But the Jackson Five is much different to Thriller and beyond.

Edited September 27, 2019 by Lonely-Martin
Added a couple more. :)

[Big_Dog]

14 hours ago, Lonely-Martin said:

Sorry I can't link videos, but two bands/artists come to mind on this. A pretty cool topic BTW.

 

Gwen Stefani is one that comes to mind. Her days with No Doubt as a ska/rock band. But then her solo career was/is a much different pop sound and one would definitely be forgiven if they heard Don't Speak of No Doubt's and then Hollerback Girl of Gwen's I feel.

 

Ooh, Pink Floyd too. Definitely from the Sid Barret era to the Roger Waters/Dave Gilmour lead era's with the concept albums coming like The Wall or Dark Side.. But given the length of career, much like Michael Jackson really, they had to change with the times or circumstances of splitting etc. But the Jackson Five is much different to Thriller and beyond.

Pink Floyd made the best music between 1966-1972 in my opinion (With several gems after that as well). 

 

 

 

 

and Syd easily has the best solo work.

 

 

[Lonely-Martin]

@Potto. Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun is one I like a lot from that era, kind of mixes their experimental stuff with a more moody feel that would grow later I find. But in general I much prefer the Roger Waters darker stuff to be fair (including The Pro's and Con's of his solo career too). Though that's a bit like saying I like salt more than vinegar on my chips/fries as I very much enjoy all the flavours I can get from my Pink Floyd collection.

 

I need to listen back to some older stuff again, and learn more of Syd as all I know really is that he had troubles/demons that the band struggled with, so will make use of those videos too, thanks. 

[Mr. Galloway]

On 9/21/2019 at 5:21 AM, Mister Pink said:

70's Prog Rock.. with huge funk elements.. Yes in 1973..

-snip-

A huge departure to their normal sound.. very pop 80's and very radio friendly.

-snip-

The same can be said about Genesis.

 

1974

 

1983

 

[DOUGL4S1]

For me it's Chumbawamba. I heard Tubthumping and Amnesia, and knew they were around for a while, but after watching Todd in the Shadows' video on Tubthumping I realized just how much they changed as a band.

 

Here's them in 1987:

 

Here's them in 1997:

 

Here's them in 2010:

 

Edited September 29, 2019 by DOUGL4S1

[Mister Pink]

Beastie Boys started off as punk band in the late 70's and early 80's. They had a 4th member who happened to be female, Kate Schellenbach on drums. Although Beatie Boys are known more for their brand of Hip Hop, they make a lot of instrumental music with congas, bongos, flutes, wah-wah guitar. They're very open minded when it comes to styles of music as you can see from the music they reference and sample from Led Zep/The Beatles to collaborating with Lee "Scratch" Perry. 

 

Here's the late 70s punk Beastie Boys.  They must be about 16/17 in the video. 

 

 

Last work from Beastie Boys below.. 

 

 

[Death]

Not a famous one ... Carbonized.

They only released three albums and each one is different.

 

Death/Grindcore Metal

 

 

Progressive mixed with touches of Jazz, Post-punk, Avant-Garde and some Grindcore/Latino elements.

 

 

Psychedelic and disonant metal.

 

 

Edited October 9, 2019 by FearThoseWhoFearHim

[Rhoda]

This one might not count, but it's such a shift I couldn't help but mention it. X-Ray Spex were a British punk band from the 1970s who were self-proclaimed "under achievers". With only five singles and one album to their names, they still managed to capture the attention of those even remotely interested in the movement. Lead singer Poly Styrene is shrill, energetic and lively, even if she is a little tonedeaf at times. Hey, it's punk, right? It's supposed to sound like that. Here's "Oh Bondage, Up Yours" from the previously mentioned album Germfree Adolescents.

 

 

What many might not realise is Poly Styrene broke free from this punk bracket and went on to release a solo album in 1980 called Translucence. Labeled as "post punk", the tone could not be more different. Her vocals are softer, the instrumentation is gentle and even borrows influences from shoegaze and dream pop in places, something which wouldn't become popular for another few years. I can just imagine the faces of punk purists who caught wind of a new album from the voice of X-Ray Spex only to hear this coming out of their speakers. Those allergic to diversity might just turn this off half way through the first track and take it back for a refund.

 

 

[kobeni]

Talk talk

 

1984

 

1988

 

[BS_BlackScout]

2007

 

2016

 

f*ck them.

[Mister Pink]

Again Kraftwerk, in 1975. It's unusual enough in the mid 70's to see a band without guitars. This wouldn't be normal until the synthwave explosion from Britain in the 80's. 

 

This track is about radioactivity but it's in their concept album of the same title that explores themes of radio transmissions and radio and so the title might be taken as a double meaning radio-activity and radioactivity. :P  

 

 

Then they added a warning at the start about radioactivity as seen below in the Museum of Modern Art in New York. 

 

 

Over the years, Kraftwerk update their music catelogue. Below is a video of them doing the same track in 2012 in Japan, with Japanese lyrics, and they replaced "the "Hiroshima" lyric with "Fukuskima"

 

It's interesting, the evolution and one-off versions. In 1975, it's apolitical, just them making music about inanimate things, science etc. Then the song became politicized and became an anti-nuclear track. Not an anti-nuclear man myself, just for the record but I find the track interesting.