Who are some artists that there are at least two versions of?

Question

Often during a musical artists career, they undergo some sort of transformation that changes not only themselves, but the music that they make.

For example, the Beatles of 'Revolver' and 'A Hard Day's Night' were NOT the Beatles of the White Album or 'Sgt. Pepper'.

Another example might be the Toxic Twins incarnation of Aerosmith, versus the MTV nuthugging version of the band. Blues-infused hard rock that was airtight, versus a band that recorded songs tailor-made for FM airplay.

Others?

Answer 1

the Cure would be my favourite example, followed closely by Ministry, both of which underwent some dramatic changes leaving them with two sets of work that would not be idenifiable by anyone as being by the same artists.

Answer 2

I would say that there are different categories to this:

A. Bands that had some sort of line-up change, be it one musician or a new line-up all together eg:
Velvet Underground
Jefferson Airplane/Starship
Black Sabbath
Metallica
Joy Division/New Order
The Byrds

B. Bands that like to explore and eventually find a new sound, eg:
Pearl Jam
The Beatles
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Incubus

Often bands experience a mixture of the two over their careers (eg: The Who, Fleetwood Mac, etc.)

I would say that most any band that has been around at least 10 years will sound significantly different towards the end of their career. Especially solo artists with long careers (eg: Bowie, Dylan, Young, Waits, etc.)

Answer 3

David Bowie routinely reinvents himself, as does Madonna. There were a bunch of punk bands in the late '70s and early '80s that morphed into pop bands, like The Police and The Damned. Social Distortion started as punk and then quickly evolved into more of a rockabilly band. And then there's John Doe who went from punkish stuff with X to straight-up country. Lee Ving from Fear. The list goes on and on.

Answer 4

Well, I know you've got a hard rock thing going on, but being the Jersey girl that I am, I have to go with Bruce Springsteen who was never the same after 1980's "The River" True fans called him a sell out after that, but he definately changed after that album and even though I still think he's good, he was never as edgy as he was in the beginning. JMHO

Answer 5

Deep Purple just as themselves had
Deep Purple Mark I II III IV & V
Black Sabbath has been through at least 5 incarnations, so has Whitesnake
Rainbow went through 3 seperate phases of their career, as did UFO
Lots of Classic Rock/Metal bands have went thorugh many diffrent phases and styles in their careers actually

Answer 6

There is Dear Diary, From First to Last

and Heroine, From First to Last.

also Underoath. There is The Changing of Times, Underoath
and Underoath after that.

Answer 7

Van Halen - Roth years vs Hagar years( we don't count the third incarnation)

Commodores- As Lionel Richie's influence increased, they changed from a true funk band to a pop oriented ballad band

Styx - AOR rock evolves to theatric rock under Dennis DeYoung. He gets fired, they only play classic rock in concert!

Answer 8

Metallica after Master of Puppets
The Guy from House of Pain(Jump around) went on to do folksy acoustical crap
Linkin Parks new album is a big departure from the previous two

Answer 9

Talking Heads -> Tom Tom Club

Answer 10

Ministry- they were completely New Wave synth pop before they became industrial metal. Most are shocked to hear the early stuff!

Also Prodigy- they were completely techno and then all of the sudden they became much different- alternative punk if you will.

Answer 11

Neil Young is the true standard in this category.

Listen to:

Everbody Knows this is Nowhere (pre-grunge grunge)
On the Beach (concept)
Trans (electronic/experimental)
Everybody's Rockin' (rockabilly)
Old Ways (country)
This Note's For You (blues)
Greendale (rock opera)
and
Living with War (political/protest)

Not to mention his time with Buffalo Springfield and CSN.