Some would simply call it an evolution of style, and others might call it a sellout. I’d like to hear your examples of musical acts that changed so radically over time that you’d consider it a sellout.
My example would be Jefferson Starship. Their first album was “Blows Against The Empire”, which was about hippies hijacking a starship. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HzclibWeXM8&t=1126s
Grace Slick was the first person to say “motherfucker” on television when performing their material.
They went from that to shedding personnel, renaming themselves “Starship”, and making pop music. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDI2WQJyE7I
What are your before and after examples that you consider a sellout?
I started to type out a huge, involved comment, but I don’t want to come across like mirror-world Patrick Bateman, so I’ll just say here: Genesis. 1970-1976 and 1978-1998 were almost like two completely different bands.
I wanna see the Bateman commentary lol
I’m glad Peter Gabriel left. He didn’t need them.
It’s hard to imagine where they would have gone after The Lamb, but it’s nice to speculate.
I once saw the two eras of Genesis referred to as Boring Genesis and Shit Genesis, and I was never able to fully disagree.
I think it is fine to just treat them like two completely different bands. Personally, I like both of them. But if I had to pick one 70-76 of course would be the choice.
It’s taken me years to regain an appreciation for their post-Duke catalog. I was intensely negative on anything later for close to 15 years. Slowly I’ve been able to rediscover what it was about their later output that I initially liked, and maturity has smoothed out some of my own rough edges as well. I still find We Can’t Dance to be unbelievably limp and lifeless, though.
Prog Genesis was so weird to discover in my teens. I was used to the 80s Genesis from MTV.
Shapes was my first album, when I was 15. Then Three Sides Live, then Seconds Out, then anything I could get my hands on.
I guess you could also break it up 1970-1976, 1978-1992 and 1998, for whatever the fuck Calling All Stations was.
1978 marked the departure of Steve Hackett, probably their proggiest songwriter. There’s still a bit of old Genesis magic in the following 2 records but by 1981 it was basically completely gone
I finally got to see Hackett this past December, on the last show of the Seconds Out Revisited tour. What a treat.
I agree with you, and I still love Phil Collins era Genesis. Blame my dad.
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ITA, which is crazy when you consider how much of those songs that sounded so much like Phil Collins solo tracks were written by Mike or Tony.