Dramatic style changes and reinventions are common among musicians. Many bands changed their aesthetic and sound to reach a new audience while others can’t help but go on that path as a natural part of their organic growth.
These are eight bands that not only dared to change but also pulled it off gaining more than they lost along the way.
1. Metallica
Metallica had been making head-turning thrash metal for four records when they made the legendary self-titled album known as “the black album” by metal fanatics around the world.
With this record, Metallica moved away from the style they had been playing in all of their previous releases. The black album not only features shorter songs but also simpler compositions, and a one-of-a-kind sound for that time.
Needless to say, the black album was a turning point for metal and for all heavy music. Thrash made it to the mainstream radio stations driven by Metallica’s success. Also, the album registered over 30 million copies worldwide and stayed for 488 weeks on the US Billboard 200.
It’s hard to think about modern metal without thinking about this album.
2. Panther
The first four records by Pantera are what you’d call hair metal. Yes, with a singer named Terry Glaze, they put out three glam metal albumsMetal Magic, Projects in the Jungle, and I Am the Night. With Anselmo on vocals, they made a fourth album called Power Metal in 1988.
Until that point, Pantera had seen little to no success, and only with Power Metal did they secure a record contract with Atco, a metal label.
By the time Cowboys from Hell came out, the entire landscape of ’90s metal was about to be changed. The follow-up, Vulgar Display of Power with songs like “Walk” propelled Pantera to the highest of metal’s royalty.
After the murder of Dimebag Darrell and the death of Vinnie Paul, the remaining two members of Pantera’s original formation went on tour with metal legends Zakk Wylde and Charlie Benante on guitar and drums respectively.
3. Muse
When Muse broke into the mainstream, they caused a seismic reaction. Although they were praised by peers and fans because of their heavy, fast riffs, falsetto vocals, and surgical compositions, the band went through not one but many different sound and aesthetic reinventions. One more grandiloquent than the previous one.
From the space rock found in Origin of Symmetry to the dubstep and electronica in The 2nd Law, to the arena-ready rock anthems of The Resistance, Muse didn’t step twice into the same sonic territory in the past two decades.
Although the marketing book says you should find a niche and exploit it as much as humanly possible, Muse made an entire career doing the opposite.
4. Nine Inch Nails
Trent Reznor’s baby morphed so many times in his career that even its creator might not recognize it entirely.
When Pretty Hate Machine came out in 1989, it caused massive waves creating fans and detractors alike. By 1992, the Broken EP marked the band’s departure from synthpop and electronica to embrace industrial metal completely with 1994’s The Downward Spiral.
Since then, NIN has been a one-of-a-kind musical force not only relevant in pushing the boundaries of show business further away but also because it has influenced countless acts that came after them.
5. Van Halen
By the time Van Halen moved on to their 5150 album in 1986they had lost one of their most prominent pieces, David Lee Roth. Well, any other band on the planet would have suffered this turnaround and stylistic change as a defeat, but when your guitar player is Edward Van Halen, you have to think about that statement again.
Van Halen endured a major change in their sound but also in their image and the lyrics because they went for a more serious, down-to-earth music with the new compositions with Sammy Hagar.
Although the party band Van Halen was changed drastically, their followers accompanied their shift.
6. Bring Me the Horizon
Going from deathcore to pop, and atmospheric influences is something very few bands can do and remain likable for their fans. Well, Bring Me The Horizon’s 2006 Count Your Blessing, established their reputation as one of deathcore’s most prominent acts.
Slowly but steadily, BMTH went through sonic and aesthetic changes until they arrived at their current state of affairs as a heavy pop, electronic band with hints of atmospheric music.
Although it took several albums for that to happen, we have to say it’s been a shift their fans accompanied and celebrated.
7. Underoath
Underoath is another band that managed to move from post-hardcore to atmospheric metalcore. Underoath didn’t make this change in the lapse of several records but did it with only one, Define The Great Line in 2006.
The darkness, thick and heavy sound, and soul-searching lyrics marked a departure from the band’s foundation but it was a change that their followers embraced, supported, and accompanied.
But that wasn’t the only major change the band went through because they started out as a Christian metal band and have since distanced themselves from those topics and the Christian scene.
Underoath remains a relevant band in the touring scene today after their reunion in 2015.
8. Silverchair
These Australian legends broke into the mainstream with an amazing heavy record that was way too much for the 16 years Daniel Johns and the rest had at the time it was released. Frogstomp, released in 1995 put them under the spotlight of worldwide metal recognition and they started touring the world with their moms for being underage.
Their sound, compositions, and lyrics grew increasingly complex and by the time their third album Neon Ballroom dropped in 1999, there were barely any elements of the easygoing, heavy, simple songs that made the band famous.
Their fifth and last studio album, Young Modern came out in 2007 following the same line of complexity the rest of the new material offered and in 2011, the band announced an indefinite hiatus they have yet to come out of.
Silverchair’s fans across the globe followed the band’s musical path until the end.
The Bottom End
Changes and shifts in a band’s aesthetics and sound are somewhat impossible to avoid. Bands are organic units made of humans who change their minds and tastes with time just like each of us does.
Some stories were successful while others weren’t accompanied by fans.
These are healthy examples of embracing change and daring to the unknown. There might be gold on the other side of fear.
