Top Ten Albums That Changed a Band's Sound

NOT IN ORDER OF BEST ALBUMS, BUT ORDER OF THE ALBUMS THAT MOST CHANGED THEIR SOUND. - EvilAngel

With this album, Steve Hackett was out of the band, and the three made their move to the pop era. - Gg2000

That album sucks - JCHOW

This sound is more alternative and experimental than their first three albums, it also had very good tracks as Knight Of Cydonia and Map Of The Problematique

Nah, I think they started to change when they made The 2nd Law. - Userguy44

Released in 1980, this album changed their sound from heavy blues rock to heavy metal. - Metal_Treasure

Let's stop a bit fulling this list of metal bands a let's look at other bands
OK Computer is the album that changed Radiohead career forever, it has some vibes to The Bends and Pablo Honey but also has a very deep and alternative style that make Radiohead as an experimenting band

Honestly, Kid A is a much better example. They were still a guitar rock band with OK Computer (albeit one of the most promising ones); with Kid A, they rejected the normal roles of being in a rock band. - Gg2000

To post-punk and indie rock to alt rock, it is a really good album but not so good as Blue and Pinkerton

To pop punk and alt rock to indie rock, I know self titled album had a lot of changes too but you can still hear old Paramore in that album, in here you hear something very different to Riot, but that doesn't mean is a bad album

To alt rock and indie rock to folk rock, I think this was a very good transition to P! ATD is also their best album

Similar to Paramore change, the only difference is while Paramore influenced to 80's pop this one looks more a popular mainstream album

To pop punk and alt rock to space rock and pop rock, it changed in a very good way, now My Chemical Romance sound a lot more happy and fresh than their old post-hardcore style

To nu metal to alr tock and hard rock, a very good album in my opinion

To pop punk to alt rock and pop rock, sure it doesn't sound so different as SRAR and ABAP but it changed a lot to FOB

Similar to IOH, the only difference is that while IOH is alt rock this one is more funk rock oriented

With this album, the Dead traded their psychedelic sound for a more country and folk influenced direction. Their songs also got considerably shorter and more focused. - Gg2000

This is the album where the Stones went from being a blues/R&B band to experimenting with more musically complex ideas. - Gg2000

I'm surprised this wasn't on here already. This is the album that changed Deep Purple from a psychedelic rock band to one of the first heavy metal bands. - Gg2000

Half-electric, half acoustic- it was his transition from the acoustic folk of the past to the electric rock and roll of the future. - Gg2000

The Byrds went from being a more folk-rock/ Beatles-influenced pop band to a psychedelic band with this album. - Gg2000

With this album, the Eagles changed producers from Glyn Johns to Bill Szymcyk, and changed from a country rock band to a more hard rock influenced band. - Gg2000

Realizing that the Britpop movement was gonna crash down on them, Blur changed their style to a more lo-fi, American-influenced sound. - Gg2000

With this album, The Kinks went from an R&B based garage band to a more sophisticated group with stronger pop, baroque, and music hall influences. Ray Davies also began to branch out from traditional love songs into more observational lyrics. - Gg2000

This album is important in that Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler began tuning their guitars down to C# Standard Tuning, giving their riffs a much heavier sound. No one (as far as I know) tuned their guitars down that far before. - Gg2000

This album transformed them from a standard British R&B band to symphonic rock. They were the first major rock band to successfully blend rock with orchestra. - Gg2000

This album pretty much marked the beginning of synth-era Rush. - Gg2000

With this album, The Clash gave up straight punk and started experimenting with other genres (such as reggae, rockabilly, and ska). They had flirted with these genres a handful of times beforehand, but it wasn't until London Calling that they fully went for it. - Gg2000