What artists clearly came into new territory after firmly establishing
themselves in a certain genre?
I'm thinking when Emerson did Tarkus, it was for me a step in a different
direction than the Nice or the first ELP album. It really was more of
a symphonic development, or longer structural development, even though
the Nice put out side long pieces, they don't seem the same.
So, he was a professional for about 4 years already when he did Tarkus.
(I guess he was 27 at that age).
Some, it's the whole band that is plodding along until some of us feel
they reach their great stage. Sometimes, it may be a leader of a band
as far as main writer.
Curious if anyone else sees any patterns out there.