Post by kds on Mar 26, 2020 13:55:32 GMT
There are a lot of fans who, through personnel changes and the passage of time, have managed to pretty much maintain a signature sound - The Who, The Stones, Deep Purple, Queen, AC/DC, the list goes on.
But, then, there are other bands with distinctly different versions / eras, sometimes to the point where fans of one era might not even recognize the other. Here are some that came to mind.
Fleetwood Mac - For the last 45 years, Fleetwood Mac's brand of FM radio friendly California rock music made them one of the most popular bands in history. However, the early bluesier version of Mac with Peter Green on guitar is often ignored. There was even a brief bridging the gap era with Bob Welch on guitar before Buckingham / Nicks took over.
Genesis - Genesis spent their early career writing extended prog rock pieces with virtuoso performances from guitarist Steve Hackett and keyboardist Tony Banks, as well as their theatrical frontman Peter Gabriel. At the 70s went on, Gabriel would leave the band. Drummer Phil Collins assumed vocals, but the band still retained their prog sound, until Steve Hackett left. The "three man" version of the band became more of a pop rock band with tons of hits in the late 70s and 1980s.
Journey - With Steve Perry on vocals, Journey were the kings of AOR. But, they released three more blues / fusion based albums prior to Perry, with keyboardist Greg Rolie singing lead on the non instrumental tracks.
Rainbow - Ritchie Blackmore was fed up with the more soul / funk direction Deep Purple were going into, so he formed Rainbow in 1975 with Elf singer Ronnie James Dio. They released three albums of hard rock, helping to lay the groundwork for what would become power metal. But, Blackmore wanted to go into a more radio friendly direction, so he hired Graham Bonnet as a vocalist, and with the help of former Purple mate Roger Glover, Rainbow with Bonnet, and later Joe Lynn Turner, went into a more AOR direction. This wasn't a complete 180 like the previous three bands, and there are still plenty of signature Blackmore pyrotechnics, but they're very different from the Dio albums and tend to divide fans.
I'm sure I'm leaving some out..........
But, then, there are other bands with distinctly different versions / eras, sometimes to the point where fans of one era might not even recognize the other. Here are some that came to mind.
Fleetwood Mac - For the last 45 years, Fleetwood Mac's brand of FM radio friendly California rock music made them one of the most popular bands in history. However, the early bluesier version of Mac with Peter Green on guitar is often ignored. There was even a brief bridging the gap era with Bob Welch on guitar before Buckingham / Nicks took over.
Genesis - Genesis spent their early career writing extended prog rock pieces with virtuoso performances from guitarist Steve Hackett and keyboardist Tony Banks, as well as their theatrical frontman Peter Gabriel. At the 70s went on, Gabriel would leave the band. Drummer Phil Collins assumed vocals, but the band still retained their prog sound, until Steve Hackett left. The "three man" version of the band became more of a pop rock band with tons of hits in the late 70s and 1980s.
Journey - With Steve Perry on vocals, Journey were the kings of AOR. But, they released three more blues / fusion based albums prior to Perry, with keyboardist Greg Rolie singing lead on the non instrumental tracks.
Rainbow - Ritchie Blackmore was fed up with the more soul / funk direction Deep Purple were going into, so he formed Rainbow in 1975 with Elf singer Ronnie James Dio. They released three albums of hard rock, helping to lay the groundwork for what would become power metal. But, Blackmore wanted to go into a more radio friendly direction, so he hired Graham Bonnet as a vocalist, and with the help of former Purple mate Roger Glover, Rainbow with Bonnet, and later Joe Lynn Turner, went into a more AOR direction. This wasn't a complete 180 like the previous three bands, and there are still plenty of signature Blackmore pyrotechnics, but they're very different from the Dio albums and tend to divide fans.
I'm sure I'm leaving some out..........