Started this conversation the other night with some folks, about that band (without losing more than half of the personnel) has had the most drastic and/or successful changes in their sound. There's hunndreds of great examples, but the 3 that topped my list immediately were

1) The Beatles
2) Primal Scream
3) Ministry

What pops into your head when you hear this? I was thinking Jmi Hendrix would probably top this list if he had lived for like 3 more years, but we'll never know about that.

Those are all pretty good. David Bowie and Bob Dylan come to mind, but to today's ears I don't think their changes are as drastic. Mercury Rev had a shift, but not as big as the others listed.

U2?

Ohhhh yeah.

Radiohead and to a lesser extent Wilco and the FLips.

Hands down: Talk Talk.

Smashing Pumpkins

In fact, Adore and Machina are my favorites.

I think there is a fair difference between Pink Floyd's earliest incarnation compared to what it developed into.

Do you mean from the Syd Barrett era into the DSOTM era? If so, I definitely agree with you -- worlds apart, and definitely great.

Agree here. Too bad Radiohead and Wilco just kep getting more boring

One you might not think of here is Jigga. Started off as a Biggie knock off, and progressed to the biggest thing in rap. And there is a change in his beats/samples etc...

blur
silverchair comes to mind as well. not only for the work theyve done but for the work they have yet to do.

Genesis

hip hop is a little harder I think to have a drastic change. Unless you are Ice Cube and you now suck.

with Jigga I don't know if he necessarily changed things up as just got better with his flow/became a LOT more confident and found much better producers. But yeah you're on to something with that...

Funny, cos I was totally gonna mention Ice Cube's devolution. And Iw as trying to spice things up, get a little convo started.

Pac actually changed a lot as well, in terms of beats, rhymes, and subject matter. Depends on which era is your favorite, or if you even like him, though.

It's a far cry from Brenda's got a Baby to California Love any way you wann look at it though.

might be considered a joke, but I would say Depeche Mode. They started out as bubblegum synth-pop and morphed into their moody (yet more lucrative) sound of Music for the Masses and Violator.

Yeah, that what I was thinking. I'm a newbie when it comes to this band, having just heard all of it within the last year, but I was amazed that it sounds like 2 different bands, at least to me.

I also think that Mercury Rev sounds like to different bands, the difference between Yerself is Steam and Boces compared to Deserter's Songs and All is Dream is pretty dramatic, I think.

what about Cool J? I mean he went from being the greatest rapper on the planet to that smooth love crap pretty quick. Sure, there have been comebacks (no pun intended), but man he fell quick.

No, that's pretty much a given -- the Vince Clarke era, and the post Vince Clarke era. It was a little more abrupt than that, though: A Broken Frame had a bit of both, and then it was pure moody.

muse

Yeah, but isn't that the way with most rappers? I think the one thing that sets Jigga, and maybe even Dre apart from almost everyone is that they have had a career to evolve within. Most the time the template is:
Ghetto Phenomenon
Hard first album
Bitches and Champagne Second album
Unemployment Line
25 to Life for stabbing somebody at a card game

Not sure where they fit, cos I don't like 'em, but what about The Roots?

I don't think I'd give Dre that credit, if only because he's never actually written a rhyme in his life. Not to mention that his persona has...shifted...a bit form World Class Wreckin' Cru to the Chronic...

but yeah, few can stay on top, but I don't even think LL started to suck, he just only started to care about getting laid. or something.

I don't know what his problem was...and I guess he has moved on, but yeah, the early shit through Mama Said is unfuckwithable...14 Shots and on....NOT SO MUCH.

And does this topic take into account genre-defiers like Willie Nelson?

i would give dre credit because the production has changed so much over the years.

same with Gang Starr, the sound on their alums chnaged gradually, but there is a huge leap in sound from the start to where they are now.

YEah, you lose that a bit, cos its always Guru rapping, but the crazy shit that Primo does one the boards....Man I haven't listened to the first few albums in YEARS, but there's what sounds like coffee being poured right on the chorus of "Just to Get a Rep," and always thought that shit was tight.