Top 10 Style Changes that Resulted in Bad Albums

ClemofNazareth wrote: presdoug wrote: ClemofNazareth wrote: Unfortunate lineup changes and shift to a more pop-structured song format for Jefferson Airplane on 'Bark'. Abandoning strings for synthesizers (The Moody Blues on 'Octave' and ELO with 'Discovery'). Wishbone Ash trying to do country (poorly) on 'Locked In'. you know, i happen to really dig the Locked In album, though i realise that i am in the minority on that (i understand even the band themselves have bad memories of that album) Don't know a heck of a lot about that album's history, although I assume since Laurie Wisefield joined the band around then that he brought some of that sound with him from Home, although Home sounded more authentic in a country-rock role than Wishbone Ash did IMHO.

I remember reading that according to some band members, there were a lot of things that went wrong during the recording of Locked In (even a funeral!), though i don't have all the details. Interesting that the first Laurie Wisefield WA was the previous There's The Rub-man, talk about two different albums! Yeah, i can see a Home influence in Locked In, but definitely not in There's The Rub-i sampled some of Home, but it did not do much for me-much prefer Locked In's sound

presdoug wrote: ClemofNazareth wrote: Unfortunate lineup changes and shift to a more pop-structured song format for Jefferson Airplane on 'Bark'. Abandoning strings for synthesizers (The Moody Blues on 'Octave' and ELO with 'Discovery'). Wishbone Ash trying to do country (poorly) on 'Locked In'. you know, i happen to really dig the Locked In album, though i realise that i am in the minority on that (i understand even the band themselves have bad memories of that album)

Don't know a heck of a lot about that album's history, although I assume since Laurie Wisefield joined the band around then that he brought some of that sound with him from Home, although Home sounded more authentic in a country-rock role than Wishbone Ash did IMHO.

snowsnow wrote: Worst changes:   1) Mike Oldfiled - his drift away from the epic compositions (Hergest ridge, Incantations etc) to the more song-based material. Though he did get it back for the marvellous Amorak.   2) Queen - I loved this band around the Queen2/Sheer Heart Attack/A night of the opera period. Some of the pop stuff they produced later (which sold by the barrel load) left me completely cold.   Best changes:   1) Talk talk - going from pop to making the sublime Spirit of Eden and Laughing Stock albums. 2) Anathema - going from death metal to make the excellent - We're here because we're here and the new release.

+1 on Anathema comment!!

Interesting comments - and I do like some of the albums that followed such as Platinum and Crises. But it is the long pieces rather than the songs that standout for me.

snowsnow wrote: Worst changes:   1) Mike Oldfiled - his drift away from the epic compositions (Hergest ridge, Incantations etc) to the more song-based material. Though he did get it back for the marvellous Amorak.

Edited by richardh - April 21 2012 at 10:02

 

Nick Dilley wrote:   To the guy referring to Moody Blues--I can feel you their about the change to synth, but I am still a fan of the compositions overall after that change. I'm not clear on whether you feel the same way. Was it just a difference of taste in tone for you? Or did you feel a shift in quality accompanied that shift in tone?

For the most part I enjoyed the albums that followed 'Seventh Sojourn', especially 'Long Distance Voyager', but the loss of Pinder was definitely a downer for the band's lyrical and moody qualities.  More than anything the movement away from the Mellotron and acoustic orchestral string arrangements took some of the sonic depth out of their music, and in general the 80s albums  and their trending toward a more commercial sound (not just for the Moodies but for a lot of prog bands) was sad as much because it was so anathema to what 'prog rock' meant in the 70s.

colorofmoney91 wrote: Style is spelled incorrectly in the thread title, which is a change in style that I don't agree with.

I am sorry, but when I talk music with like-minded people I just about pee my pants. I hold my breath and type as fast as I can. So mistakes are sure to happen!


Yeah, the Opeth change was pretty big, but there are some keepers on there! And if it wasn't Opeth doing it, I bet tons of people would be into it. I do enjoy that album, though...

That brings up an interesting point. When they did Damnation a lot of their old fans were kind of up in arms over it. I personally don't think it was a change in style per se, but more of a decision to take one aspect of their style (heard in all sorts of their songs) and take it to the extreme--i.e. writing and entire album in clean with clean vocals. Although you can't really call that metal, it totally had an Opeth AND a metal vibe to it.



To the guy referring to Moody Blues--I can feel you their about the change to synth, but I am still a fan of the compositions overall after that change. I'm not clear on whether you feel the same way. Was it just a difference of taste in tone for you? Or did you feel a shift in quality accompanied that shift in tone?

Jethro Tull and drum machines in the early 80s. The beginning of the end for me.

Nick Dilley wrote: I guess non-prog bands are cool for this thread too, and probably much easier to come up with! +1 on the comments on Deftones and Pain of Salvation. When I heard Saturday Night Wrist I thought, "C'mon, you can do better than this Deftones!!" Also, for non-prog bands, when Megadeth returned to heavy stuff on The World Needs a Hero, I thought it was pretty great, but then United Abominations and Endgame sounded like rehashes of The System Has Failed...and it's been downhill from there, imo. As for positive changes in style, I think Silverchair made awesome progress in artistry along the way. Frogstomp was punk and rock and grunge, and Freakshow was grungy, and suitably alternative for that time, but after that, Neon Ballroom is awesome songwriting, and Diorama if pure symphonic prog (in short compositions). If you haven't heard Diorama, I recommend it for fellow proggers. I can't guarantee you'll like it, but I would bet you'll have more respect for Silverchair if you're not currently a fan! BTW, Dream Theater fans, I love the album Scenes from a Memory, which to me was a bit of a departure in style. My prog buddies mostly think that Scenes from a Memory is a weak album. What do you guys think? Even though I'm not a huge DT fan, that's one of my favorite albums!

Also, here's another question:

I'm a big fan of people like Steve Vai and Satriani (well, sometimes Satriani), and I pretty much dig certain tracks off of certain albums, and never quite get into an entire album by either one. For a friend of mine who is HUGE into Satch, he thought Joe kept up his quality until Professor "Satchafunkilus and the Musterion of Rock."

And some say, like Sampson, he lost his awesomeness when he lost his hair. I don't buy that, do u?

Any challenges to these notions?