Artists you wish would "split the difference"

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This is the thread for bands who had two distinct and different sounds, and you wish they would've found some sort of happy medium between the two.

For instance you could wish Talk Talk would've at some point made an album that merged their early new wave style with the post rock ambient stuff that followed.

note: I'm not totally up on Talk Talk beyond their last two albums and singles prior, so they actually have a transition album that I am unaware of. However, I'd still like to see other examples.

― filthy dylan, Saturday, 3 March 2007 05:48 (eighteen years ago)

Stereolab:

As much as I've enjoyed the direction they've taken over the past decade, I wish they hadn't completely abandoned the rock sound of their early records. These days they may nod at a rock gesture, but I don't think even their most energetic songs truly rock. Their most recent albums could use a serious shot of the more minimalist approach of the early ones. They are a bit too indulgent in bells and whistles at this point.

― Moodles, Saturday, 3 March 2007 06:23 (eighteen years ago)

make that: "so they actually might have a transition album that I am unaware of. "

― filthy dylan, Saturday, 3 March 2007 06:29 (eighteen years ago)

I kinda wish Saint Etienne hadn't (for the most part) abandoned sampling

― babedad, Saturday, 3 March 2007 11:31 (eighteen years ago)

I wonder if Liars are going to keep going in their new(ish) direction. I hope so.

― Drooone, Monday, 5 March 2007 05:15 (eighteen years ago)

Not that either band could've been improved upon (or needed to be), but it woulda been nice if Parliament had gotten their chooclate in Funkadelic's peanut butter more often. ie. heavier guitars/structured songs for Parliament; Horny Horns/elongated stream-of-consciousness grooves for Funkadelic.

― Myonga Vön Bontee, Monday, 5 March 2007 08:26 (eighteen years ago)

radiohead

― billstevejim, Monday, 5 March 2007 09:48 (eighteen years ago)

Talk Talk kind of DO have a transition record - I've always thought of "The Colour Of Spring" in that way, and it's also my favourite thing by them.

― Groke, Monday, 5 March 2007 10:11 (eighteen years ago)

I was about to mention "The Colour Of Spring" too. I prefer "It's My Life" and "The Party's Over" though, and rather wish they'd continued doing that kind of stuff rather than changing.

My most obvious example would be Beck. I am among those who love both his melancholy singer-songwriter-albums and his more "post modernist" approach, although his definite masterpiece would be an album that would manage to combine the best of his two styles.

― Geir Hongro, Monday, 5 March 2007 15:03 (eighteen years ago)

squarepusher

― the next grozart, Monday, 5 March 2007 15:06 (eighteen years ago)

the beloved. if they'd just kept some of that wonderful guitar ...

― grimly fiendish, Monday, 5 March 2007 20:56 (eighteen years ago)

I prefer "It's My Life" and "The Party's Over" though, and rather wish they'd continued doing that kind of stuff rather than changing.

: o

although his definite masterpiece would be an album that would manage to combine the best of his two styles

IT EXISTS AND IS CALLED 'MUTATIONS'

― unfished business, Monday, 5 March 2007 20:59 (eighteen years ago)

"Mutations" features just one track that might have been on "Odelay", and is otherwise also a weaker singer-songwriter album than the ILM-underrated "Sea Change".

― Geir Hongro, Monday, 5 March 2007 21:00 (eighteen years ago)

"Mutations" features several tracks that were better than anything on Odelay. It isn't a singer-songwriter album per se; he has a fantastic band playing with him on almost every track, and there's sonic wizardry galore, just deployed far more tastefully than on Odelay. Plus, 'Diamond Bollocks' alone makes even Odelay's more out-there moments seem trifling. 'Cold Brains' is hands-down his finest song, and the rest ain't bad either.

― unfished business, Monday, 5 March 2007 21:06 (eighteen years ago)

sigh...I really wish the Beastie Boys hadn't abandoned misogyny...

on a serious note, I wish Insides hadn't totally ditched systems music...and I wish Seefeel woulda kept some of the showgaze tendencies intact when they signed to Warp...

― henry s, Monday, 5 March 2007 21:12 (eighteen years ago)

Really I think Beck's most stylistically comprehensive album is still Mellow Gold, as far as pastiche-stuff meeting folk-singer stuff halfway.

In other news, Grozart very much OTM.

― nickalicious, Monday, 5 March 2007 21:13 (eighteen years ago)

Mellow Gold is one of his best (2nd after Mutations), and its lack of sonic polish actually helps it in several crucial ways, foremost amongst which is that it sounds like the most timeless of Beck's recordings. I wouldn't describe its song style as being quite as riotously diverse as the later albums', however. There's a consistent vibe of eerie, redneck freak-psychedelia which he never really returned to, and that delicately-mined seam is the reason I enjoy the album so much; it tells a very creepy, very consistent story. The uptempo songs such as 'Beercan' and 'Soul Sucking Jerk' are just as unhinged as the more obviously fucked-up numbers (Steal My Body Home being the absolutely terrifying highlight).

― unfished business, Monday, 5 March 2007 21:21 (eighteen years ago)

I think the sonic polish is a good thing, particularly for "Sea Change" and his most recent one.

― Geir Hongro, Monday, 5 March 2007 22:26 (eighteen years ago)

Late to the party, but OTM about The Colour of Spring.

― jaymc, Monday, 5 March 2007 22:59 (eighteen years ago)

Finally, on this thread, Geir has pushed me over the limit.

Whip-round for an assassin, anyone?

― Scik Mouthy, Monday, 5 March 2007 23:13 (eighteen years ago)

haha I was just about to say:

I was about to mention "The Colour Of Spring" too. I prefer "It's My Life" and "The Party's Over" though, and rather wish they'd continued doing that kind of stuff rather than changing.

Geir OTM

― Curt1s Stephens, Monday, 5 March 2007 23:17 (eighteen years ago)

though I like Spirit of Eden don't get me wrong!

― Curt1s Stephens, Monday, 5 March 2007 23:18 (eighteen years ago)

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