← Behind The Song: Classic Rock Chronicles
Behind The Song: Classic Rock Chronicles
Total Transformation: Bands Who Abandoned Their Debut Sound
00:11:12
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Welcome to the behind the Song podcast, taking you deeper into classic rock's most timeless tunes. Here's your host, Janda. I'm Janda, and in this bonus episode of the behind the Song podcast, let's get into bands who totally changed how they sounded over time, a total evolution from their debut albums, in some cases changes so drastic that you'd hardly recognize them from their early days. Let's start with the Beatles, musical architects of their ever changing sound. They made such a remarkable transformation from their debut Please please me in 1963, raw, energetic rock and roll with tight vocal harmonies that dominated their Beatlemania era. By 1965's Rubber Soul, they made a pivot to more lyrical introspection and the use of diverse instruments, not just guitar, bass and drums anymore. And then this gave way to the super experimental and psychedelic Beatles era with albums like revolver and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. In this era, the recording studio became another instrument. They revolutionized studio tricks like tape loops and backwards recordings, and even more non traditional instruments were used which expanded their sound beyond what could be reproduced in a live setting. And finally, they continued this sonic exploration to the very end, a sophisticated blending of sounds that maintained the focus on studio craftsmanship and allowed the songwriters in the band to become more and more individualistic. Between the Fabs and Sir George Martin, they revolutionized how rock music was created, and every Beatles album is another page in the history of rock and roll. Pink Floyd's musical journey is a really dramatic series of changes, starting with their super whimsical, eccentric psychedelic debut in 1967, the Piper at the Gates of Dawn, which was heavily influenced by founding member Syd Barrett, whose own mental health and erratic behavior declined to the point that he had to be replaced. After David Gilmour filled in as a temporary replacement, the rest of the band simply stopped picking Barrett up for shows, so he was never officially kicked out, but he was no longer a part of the group either. With the addition of Gilmore, Pink Floyd's sound quickly became much broader, shifting through a period of cinematic pieces and experimental prog rock on albums like A Saucer full of Secrets and Metal, and by the 1970s, the band crystallized their style into highly polished, atmospheric and thematically complex rock with meticulous sound design and cutting edge studio techniques, along with soaring guitar solos by Gilmour. Roger Waters lyrics became more conceptual, all of which came together to create global masterpieces the Dark side of the Moon and the Wall. Totally unrecognizable from their debut, Fleetwood Mac's sound evolution is one of the most dramatic in rock, starting with their 1968 self titled debut as a British blues rock band centered around Peter Green's soulful guitar work and blues driven songwriting. After green left in 1970, the band entered a transitional phase with a revolving door of band members and their sound gradually adjusted as Danny Kerwin and Bob Welch joined and left the band and Christine McVie took on a bigger songwriting role. The final, most commercially successful shift took place in 1975 when the Americans arrived. Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks helped move the Fleetwood Mac sound toward a polished west coast pop rock style with complex vocal harmonies, tight production and the deeply personal and confessional songwriting that would define one of the biggest blockbuster albums of all time, 1977's rumors did you know.
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Book now@vrbo.com I've always found it interesting that the first album to feature Buckingham and Nicks was another self titled Fleetwood Mac album released in 1975. In retrospect, that was a reset completely from their first self titled album. In Sound for sure and everything else but the name. The sound of the Alice Cooper Band on their debut album, 1969's Pretties for your was a much more psychedelic rock sound with unusual time signatures and surreal lyrics, a sound that was influenced by artists like Syd Barrett. That artsy approach gave way to the hard rock sound that brought them mainstream success from 1971's Love it to Death and through their peak with the Billion Dollar babies album in 1973. This classic era was given the polished Bob Ezrin treatment on production and their signature blend of riff heavy rock and theatrical lyrics evolved into glam rock and heavy metal with a focus on what would become known as shock rock A far cry from the early stuff. Indeed, The Scorpion's music changed so much from their debut that only diehard fans even remember it. Lonesome crow, released in 1972, is the least representative of the band's sound of all their albums, and it was the only album with Michael Shanker on board as a full time member. That debut album was an experimental blend of ballads, psych rock and kraut rock with the anthemic riffs and the hooks that defined their later success. Nowhere to be heard. Guitarist Yuli John Roth's addition to the band in the mid-70s created a heavier, more aggressive sound, producing albums like In Trance. But their biggest commercial shift came in the late 70s and early 80s with a lineup that included guitarist Matthias Jabs. This period was where their sound was refined into stadium ready hard rock and heavy metal with powerful riffs, huge choruses and the iconic power ballads that made them global superstars. With albums like Blackout and Love At First Sting, The sound of the band Genesis went under a multi phase transformation from their 1969 debut album from Genesis to Revelation that was a kind of psychedelic pop album with elements that sounded like the Bee Gees. It's hardly recognizable from what their future identity would be. When it came to how they sounded from that debut. They quickly changed into one of the pioneers of prog rock with albums like Foxtrot and Selling England by the Pound, led by Peter Gabriel's theatrical narrative vocals and multi part compositions with complex time signatures. After Gabriel and then guitarist Steve Hackett left the band, the remaining trio, Phil Collins, Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford got down to brass tacks, so to speak. Albums like Duke and Abacab introduced shorter, more poppy songs with heavier synthesizers and more modern production with Collins drums and ever more commercial vocal style right up front. The Genesis evolution peaked with the Invisible Touch album in the 80s when the band fully embraced radio friendly St stadium rock and a synth pop sound so far from the sprawling epics of their early prog rock days. When Judas priest released their 1974 debut album Rocka Rolla, they were wearing bell bottoms, flowy shirts and feathered hats. The music was rooted in bluesy hard rock with some psychedelic elements, kind of a heavier Led Zeppelin. It was low budget, the production was raw and it had nothing to do whatsoever with the future sound of one of the leaders of British heavy metal. Their sound and their look shifted with the albums that came after their debut. And by the time the British steel album was released in 1980, they dropped the psychedelic stuff for shorter punchy songs and embraced the all important twin guitar attack of KK Downing and Glenn Tipton. Rob Halford's vocals gave the sound an intensity that would help define the genre for the 1980s and beyond, and the look of the band was cemented by then too, leather studs and all. You didn't think I'd skip David Bowie, did ya? His musical evolution is a story of relentless reinvention, his starting out far removed from his later styles. His self titled 1967 debut album offered a baroque pop and music hall sound with plenty of British theatrics and orchestral arrangements instruments like brass and woodwinds instead of the traditional drums bass guitar combo heard all over rock music. This early style full of novelty was quickly abandoned as he moved through folk rock with hits like space oddity in 1969, which was just as quickly dropped for the harder edged glam rock that defined the era of his alien alter ego ziggy Stardust in 1972. He shifted into American soul and funk his Plastic soul era with the Young Americans album in 1975, which was followed by the experimental art rock of the Berlin trilogy in the late 70s before he hit his commercial peak with 80s new wave pop rock the colossal let's dance album in 1983. And he kept changing, embracing new sounds. No two albums alike really at all. A constant mutation all across his whole career. Truly the chameleon of rock. Sometimes it takes an artist, an album or two to find their footing, their identity, the sound that brings them closer to the audience and the audience closer to them. It's always a gamble when the sound does change because inevitably there will be fans who prefer the Peter Gabriel era Genesis or or the Peter Green era Fleetwood Mac. And there are other examples of really successful bands who started out way differently than they ended up. So who would you add to this list? Let me know in the comments. And as always, thanks for listening to behind the Song. If you like it hit, subscribe and on the way, much more Classic Rock.
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