Blue Moon Playlist Review Club - Season 2 - Episode 24 - RobMCFC – Primary and Secondary Colours (pg 412)

[threespires]

I was betting the under for when you'd get the Coatigan question on this. ;-)

And he's right, lots of band evolution between A to Z, including the Beatles, U2, Yes, Genesis, Van Halen, (even gasp, Rush!) etc., and not just a lead singer change. Gonna give this some thought, though I do have an initial offering right up my alley ready after a proper write-up.

Yeah there are some obviously big names who qualify, unlike my Depeche Mode example I'm not sure you could have listened to Please Please Me and predicted you'd end up with Tomorrow Never Knows a mere three years later.

 

[Coatigan]

Tell me how - Paramore.

A band that started as somewhat typical teen-punk angsty-cute power pop, tight t-shirts and fringes that are longer on the boys than on the girl, etc. The first two albums were for the 'alternative' crews of youngsters, and they worked fine. Then they became a bit broodier and more thoughtful emo-rock, with their 4th self titled album being actually very good imo. Then for the next one, After Laughter, they ditched any semblance of heavy, got bright colours, highlights, and synths, and went quite happy-poppy. I appreciate the attempt but is imo their weakest album.

But I went with a song off it that I quite like, ironically not like most of the album. Their latest album has gone back to more of a rock route, although it is still different from their previous and has a bit of an 'alternative' sound to it. Somewhere between evolution and outright reinvention.

 

[BimboBob]

In my opinion Depeche Mode only really did one album that moved away from their roots/ ideals and predicted pattern and that was Songs Of Faith and Devotion. Especially since it followed their magnum opus, Violator. Very easy to pick a song from that album so I won't. Instead I'll pick a side project of dear old Dave.

Soulsavers feat Dave Gahan - Longest Day

 

[threespires]

In my opinion Depeche Mode only really did one album that moved away from their roots/ ideals and predicted pattern and that was Songs Of Faith and Devotion. Especially since it followed their magnum opus, Violator. Very easy to pick a song from that album so I won't. Instead I'll pick a side project of dear old Dave.

Soulsavers feat Dave Gahan - Longest Day

Hmm, I'm not entirely convinced this qualifies as a reinvention rather than an interesting side-project. It's getting in though cause:

(a) it is fairness different from the norm (though you could easily argue DG is in part a modern day torch singer anyway)
(b) more to the point it's Dave Gahan so he gets a free pass
(c) 'banning' a song from an internet football forum playlist for not quite conforming to the slightly sketchy criteria I came up with will make me look like a sad nutter.

But if we can focus on the musical reinvention aspect rather than interesting diversions this would be good.

(Hmm, reading back..tried to not sound like a sad nutter and failed)

 

[threespires]

Tell me how - Paramore.

A band that started as somewhat typical teen-punk angsty-cute power pop, tight t-shirts and fringes that are longer on the boys than on the girl, etc. The first two albums were for the 'alternative' crews of youngsters, and they worked fine. Then they became a bit broodier and more thoughtful emo-rock, with their 4th self titled album being actually very good imo. Then for the next one, After Laughter, they ditched any semblance of heavy, got bright colours, highlights, and synths, and went quite happy-poppy. I appreciate the attempt but is imo their weakest album.

But I went with a song off it that I quite like, ironically not like most of the album. Their latest album has gone back to more of a rock route, although it is still different from their previous and has a bit of an 'alternative' sound to it. Somewhere between evolution and outright reinvention.

Despite their fame I only know a handful of Paramore songs though Hayley Williams did seem to pop up everywhere at one point. I should probably have a bit more of a mooch though it sounds as much like they just can't make their minds up as much as deliberate reinvention !

Your No Doubt observation earlier was interesting; I could never quite understand what their change of direction was about so have always assumed it was simply the benjamins.

 

[Black&White&BlueMoon Town]

Rise - Doves

Take three guys making alternative dance and EDM music in the mid-90s as the band Sub Sub "Ain't No Love (Ain't No Use)", have their studio burn down in 1996, and then return in 2000 with the album Lost Souls as the band Doves with a totally different indie/space rock focus. This track even throws in a harmonica solo for a few of the unconverted. :-)

One of my favo(u)rite songs of theirs of all time, I will always play this on the beach, and looking forward to hearing this soon at the shore as it hit 30C here today.

 

[Coatigan]

I'll probably struggle with this one.

I like my artists to either stay the same or evolve slowly. Can't immediately think of anything suitable, so will have to concentrate on the song titles.

On this side of the morning, I'd beg to differ, on at least one count.

 

[RobMCFC]

On this side of the morning, I'd beg to differ, on at least one count.

Del Amitri?

Not listened to much of Justin Currie's solo output, other than the few tracks that have made it onto the playlists.

 

[Coatigan]

Del Amitri?

Not listened to much of Justin Currie's solo output, other than the few tracks that have made it onto the playlists.

Yea although I was thinking more the band themselves.

They imo had a bit of a reinvention, when they shifted from 80s-y Pop rock with a hint of romanticism, to more folk driven storeytelling to music, and added accordians fiddles etc to their songs.

 

[threespires]

I was betting the under for when you'd get the Coatigan question on this. ;-)

And he's right, lots of band evolution between A to Z, including the Beatles, U2, Yes, Genesis, Van Halen, (even gasp, Rush!) etc., and not just a lead singer change. Gonna give this some thought, though I do have an initial offering right up my alley ready after a proper write-up.

There are lots of sub categories that probably exist within the theme, for example there's car crash examples everywhere. Does something different after a long layoff and personnel changes, like Chinese Democracy, count as a reinvention or is that virtually a new band? I'd just about give that a reinvention tag. Does Blackmore's transformation into a doublet wearing lute botherer count as reinvention when it was always quite apparent he was mad as cheese in the first place? I think so and good for him too.

There's lots of heavier bands have a go at something different with varying degrees of success. I'm not a big metal fan but occasionally i'll hear something on autoplay and wonder what it is to only to find myself nonplussed by my perception of an artist and what I'm hearing.

I did think about King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard as a nominee but discounted them on the basis if you are 'simply' rotating through, or mashing up, half a dozen genres every time you release something then that's just your modus operandi rather than a reinvention.