Forum Home Forum Home > Progressive Music Lounges > Prog Music Lounge
  New Posts New Posts RSS Feed - Biggest sound changes between albums
  FAQ FAQ  Forum Search   Events   Register Register  Login Login

Biggest sound changes between albums
 Post Reply Post Reply Page  123 5>
Author
Message
  Topic Search Topic Search  Topic Options Topic Options
Faul_McCartney View Drop Down
Forum Senior Member
Forum Senior Member
Avatar

Joined: October 25 2022
Location: United States
Status: Offline
Points: 121 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (5) Thanks(5)   Quote Faul_McCartney Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Topic: Biggest sound changes between albums
    Posted: April 07 2025 at 23:57
What albums do you think had the biggest change in sound from the band's previous? Genesis' debut to "Trespass" was a big leap. "Obscured by Clouds" to DSotM wasn't as dramatic, but still a big change. Bowie's "Station to Station" to "Low" might be the biggest. (I wouldn't count albums with a gap longer than 5 years, because that's kind of cheating. Otherwise it would be "Red" to "Discipline".)
Back to Top
Starjet View Drop Down
Forum Senior Member
Forum Senior Member


Joined: March 10 2021
Location: Tuscany
Status: Offline
Points: 344 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Starjet Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 08 2025 at 02:52
Interesting topic, thanks.

I would suggest:
Pendragon, from Not Of This World to Believe
and 
Rush from Hemispheres to Permanent Waves


Edited by Starjet - April 08 2025 at 03:05
Back to Top
Atavachron View Drop Down
Special Collaborator
Special Collaborator
Avatar
Honorary Collaborator

Joined: September 30 2006
Location: Pearland
Status: Offline
Points: 65760 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Atavachron Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 08 2025 at 03:08
After some thought, I'd give the biggest change in approach and sound to the Beach Boys' brilliant art-pop of Pet Sounds followed by the astounding if unfinished Smiley Smile.   These two releases in 1966 and '67 (separated by two best-of LPs), were also among the first fully formed progressive rock albums.   Zappa's Mothers would also contribute strongly with Absolutely Free in May of '67, and Pink Floyd's The Piper at the Gates of Dawn in August the same year would cement the English prog footprint, and the rest is history . . .
"Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought."   -- John F. Kennedy
Back to Top
Nogbad_The_Bad View Drop Down
Forum & Site Admin Group
Forum & Site Admin Group
Avatar
RIO/Avant/Zeuhl & Eclectic Team

Joined: March 16 2007
Location: Boston
Status: Offline
Points: 21503 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote Nogbad_The_Bad Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 08 2025 at 06:29
Islands to Larks Tongues In Aspic is the correct answer, followed by Red to Discipline.
Ian

Host of the Post-Avant Jazzcore Happy Hour on Progrock.com

https://podcasts.progrock.com/post-avant-jazzcore-happy-hour/
Back to Top
Psychedelic Paul View Drop Down
Forum Senior Member
Forum Senior Member
Avatar

Joined: September 16 2019
Location: Nottingham, U.K
Status: Offline
Points: 44896 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Psychedelic Paul Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 08 2025 at 06:32
Genesis - We Can't Dance & Calling All Stations, sounding like two different bands altogether. Smile
Back to Top
Cristi View Drop Down
Special Collaborator
Special Collaborator
Avatar
Crossover / Prog Metal Teams

Joined: July 27 2006
Location: wonderland
Status: Offline
Points: 46359 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Cristi Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 08 2025 at 07:07
Triumvirat - from Pompeii to  À La Carte... 
Back to Top
moshkito View Drop Down
Forum Senior Member
Forum Senior Member
Avatar

Joined: January 04 2007
Location: Grok City
Status: Offline
Points: 18385 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote moshkito Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 08 2025 at 07:31
Originally posted by hubertian hubertian wrote:

Soft Machine: Volume Two > Third
King Crimson: Islands > Larks' Tongues in Aspic
Jethro Tull: Too Old to Rock 'n' Roll: Too Young to Die! > Songs from the Wood
Gong: You > Shamal
Yes: Tormato > Drama

Hi,

Nice choices, however the GONG choice should not count ... Steve Hillage, Daevid Allen and Gilly Smith had left, and Pierre Moerlin seemed to take over and take things his own way ... which was vastly different than any of Gong's albums before. It was no longer the same band at all ... specially as the two guitarists left. 

In some ways, "Shamal" feels like a Mike Howlett album more than a Gong album ... even though the production is given to Nick Mason ... which made the album really clean and special.

I have to admit that I can not add a lot to this idea for a topic, as I have always considered the named entity a "composer" not a rock band that changed ways and means ... it feels like we end up telling Beethoven that he can not invent something new ... and that is not what music, or the arts, is really about. To me, this incarnation of GONG is still part of the life and love that we had for GONG, different or not, although it was pretty clear that without Daevid Allen's ideas and concept, there was not much for GONG to do, and while the music was really nice, in the end, it felt a bit empty. It was kinda scary, too , since GONG with Pierre had a very hard rock edge that was really good (2nd American tour!!!) compared to Pip (1st American tour) or their 1999 tour, with a different drummer. That Shamal, kinda brought out material that was a bit more towards the jazzy side was interesting, not that GONG did not have that touch or link to the early Canterburians, of which Daevid was one until he could not re-enter England, that didn't want any more hippies in their country! The drugs were an excuse!


Edited by moshkito - April 08 2025 at 07:38
Music is not just for listening ... it is for LIVING ... you got to feel it to know what's it about! Not being told!
www.pedrosena.com
Back to Top
Easy Money View Drop Down
Special Collaborator
Special Collaborator
Avatar
Honorary Collaborator / Retired Admin

Joined: August 11 2007
Location: Memphis
Status: Offline
Points: 10720 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Easy Money Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 08 2025 at 07:40
Deep Purple - "Concerto for Group and Orchestra" to "In Rock".
Moody Blues - "Go Now" to "Days of Future Passed"

Edited by Easy Money - April 09 2025 at 07:16
Back to Top
Cristi View Drop Down
Special Collaborator
Special Collaborator
Avatar
Crossover / Prog Metal Teams

Joined: July 27 2006
Location: wonderland
Status: Offline
Points: 46359 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Cristi Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 08 2025 at 07:42
Originally posted by Easy Money Easy Money wrote:

Deep Purple - "Concerto for Group and Orchestra" to "In Rock".

Even from the self-titled last album with Rod Evans to In Rock. 
(Concerto was a once and done experiment, also a live album)
Back to Top
Sean Trane View Drop Down
Special Collaborator
Special Collaborator

Prog Folk

Joined: April 29 2004
Location: Heart of Europe
Status: Offline
Points: 20526 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Sean Trane Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 08 2025 at 07:48
Originally posted by hubertian hubertian wrote:

Soft Machine: Volume Two > Third
King Crimson: Islands > Larks' Tongues in Aspic and from Red to Discipline
Jethro Tull: Too Old to Rock 'n' Roll: Too Young to Die! > Songs from the Wood
Gong: You > Shamal
Yes: Tormato > Drama >> 90125

Could also add 
Genesis W&W to ATTWT and from Duke to Abacrap
Rush from Hemispheres to Permanent Waves and from Pictures (or Signals) to GUP

Originally posted by Easy Money Easy Money wrote:

Deep Purple - "Concerto for Group and Orchestra" to "In Rock".

You could say that for Procol with Edmonton & Grand Hotel, I guess 
But anyways from DP's s/t (mkI) to In Rock (mk2) would do it.

.



Edited by Sean Trane - April 08 2025 at 07:50
let's just stay above the moral melee
prefer the sink to the gutter
keep our sand-castle virtues
content to be a doer
as well as a thinker,
prefer lifting our pen
rather than un-sheath our sword
Back to Top
TerLJack View Drop Down
Forum Senior Member
Forum Senior Member
Avatar

Joined: May 18 2006
Location: United States
Status: Offline
Points: 1127 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote TerLJack Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 08 2025 at 07:48
Originally posted by Cristi Cristi wrote:

Triumvirat - from Pompeii to  À La Carte... 

Oh yes. From snap to crap.
Back to Top
I prophesy disaster View Drop Down
Forum Senior Member
Forum Senior Member
Avatar

Joined: December 31 2017
Location: Australia
Status: Offline
Points: 4968 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote I prophesy disaster Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 08 2025 at 07:55
In the case of Van der Graaf Generator, there were a number of distinct changes:
 
The Aerosol Grey Machine to The Least We Can Do Is Wave to Each
Pawn Hearts to Godbluff
World Record to The Quiet Zone / The Pleasure Dome
Although a 28 year interval: The Quiet Zone / The Pleasure Dome to Present
A Grounding In Numbers to ALT
ALT to Do Not Disturb
 
Actually, there wasn't such a big change from A Grounding In Numbers to Do Not Disturb, just that ALT was an odd one out in the middle.
 



Edited by I prophesy disaster - April 08 2025 at 08:04
No, I know how to behave in the restaurant now, I don't tear at the meat with my hands. If I've become a man of the world somehow, that's not necessarily to say I'm a worldly man.
Back to Top
TerLJack View Drop Down
Forum Senior Member
Forum Senior Member
Avatar

Joined: May 18 2006
Location: United States
Status: Offline
Points: 1127 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote TerLJack Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 08 2025 at 07:57
Will add:
Ambrosia - Somewhere I've Never Travelled to Life Beyond LA

and more 'snap' to crap...

Starcastle - Citadel to Real to Reel
Angel - S/T - Helluva Band to On Earth As It Is In Heaven (I believe it is this "progression/degression" that keeps them out of ProgArchives.  The first two records are great!)
Back to Top
Cristi View Drop Down
Special Collaborator
Special Collaborator
Avatar
Crossover / Prog Metal Teams

Joined: July 27 2006
Location: wonderland
Status: Offline
Points: 46359 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Cristi Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 08 2025 at 08:00
Originally posted by TerLJack TerLJack wrote:

Originally posted by Cristi Cristi wrote:

Triumvirat - from Pompeii to  À La Carte... 

Oh yes. From snap to crap.
Unfortunately 
Back to Top
Jared View Drop Down
Forum Senior Member
Forum Senior Member
Avatar

Joined: May 06 2005
Location: Hereford, UK
Status: Offline
Points: 20700 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Jared Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 08 2025 at 08:20
Vangelis: Earth to Heaven & Hell
Music has always been a matter of energy to me. On some nights I believe that a car with the needle on empty can run 50 more miles if you have the right music very loud on the radio. Hunter S Thompson
Back to Top
DoobieBrother6 View Drop Down
Forum Senior Member
Forum Senior Member


Joined: February 04 2025
Location: Ontario
Status: Offline
Points: 146 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote DoobieBrother6 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 08 2025 at 08:41
Home : The Alchemist , Pause For A Hoarse Horse
Back to Top
Cristi View Drop Down
Special Collaborator
Special Collaborator
Avatar
Crossover / Prog Metal Teams

Joined: July 27 2006
Location: wonderland
Status: Offline
Points: 46359 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Cristi Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 08 2025 at 09:08
^ true, but then again Pink Floyd was trying to do something different with every release. Smile
Back to Top
Psychedelic Paul View Drop Down
Forum Senior Member
Forum Senior Member
Avatar

Joined: September 16 2019
Location: Nottingham, U.K
Status: Offline
Points: 44896 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Psychedelic Paul Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 08 2025 at 09:14
Jean Michelle Jarre - Magnetic Fields Thumbs Up to Music for Supermarkets. Thumbs Down
Back to Top
Criswell View Drop Down
Forum Senior Member
Forum Senior Member
Avatar

Joined: March 30 2023
Location: Illinois
Status: Offline
Points: 658 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Criswell Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 08 2025 at 09:26
Strawbs - Dragonfly to From the Witchwood (enter Rick Wakeman)
Back to Top
Jared View Drop Down
Forum Senior Member
Forum Senior Member
Avatar

Joined: May 06 2005
Location: Hereford, UK
Status: Offline
Points: 20700 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Jared Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 08 2025 at 09:31
Originally posted by Psychedelic Paul Psychedelic Paul wrote:

Jean Michelle Jarre - Magnetic Fields Thumbs Up to Music for Supermarkets. Thumbs Down

A bit unfair Paul. Zoolook is not everyone's cup of tea but very creative and original. I've also always had a liking for Rendez-Vous, not so much Revolutions or Cousteau but Chronology is quite good... certainly very hit and miss after that, I'd agree.
Music has always been a matter of energy to me. On some nights I believe that a car with the needle on empty can run 50 more miles if you have the right music very loud on the radio. Hunter S Thompson
Back to Top
 Post Reply Post Reply Page  123 5>

Forum Jump Forum Permissions View Drop Down



This page was generated in 0.141 seconds.
Donate monthly and keep PA fast-loading and ad-free forever.