Top Ten Pairs of Albums by the Same Artist that Sound Most Different

Linkin Park are widely considered to be the greatest nu metal band and of the essential rock bands of the 2000s. But their once heavy rock sound tip toed more and more towards soft electro pop. Even though their previous album "The Hunting Party" implied they wanted to go back to their roots, their most recent record "One More Light" is even softer and poppier than before.

Tokio Hotel started the German emo scene, with their English language debut "Scream" being a relatable alternative rock record full of authentic teen angst (the band wrote the lyrics to the German versions, and they were very accurately translated into English).
After they came back from their hiatus they had an entirely different musical direction, now being electro. While "Kings of Suburbia" still had a strong pop sound, "Dream Machine" sounds more indie, more laid back.

Silbermond are among Germany's most popular bands and stayed relevant for over a decade with only a handful of albums.
Their original style can be best described as alternative rock with a certain pop punk touch and cheeky lyrics targeted at people following the trends.
But over the years the band's style changed. The rock-ish, energetic elements heavily decreased in favor of more melodious, bleak and dreamy indie pop. Even though their anti-populism attitude and lyrics remained the same, they are a whole lot more laid back now.

Kanye West constantly re-invents himself, being foremost a musician and producer, then a rapper. Even though you could as well compare his mainstream albums to his artsy records and would as well come to the conclusion they sound entirely different, I decided his two most different albums are both in his less weird phase: the soulful, organic and almost conscious hip hop album "Late Registration" and the purely electronic, autotuned and emotionally driven sung synth pop record "808s & Heartbreak".

Aguilera is one of the brightest stars the 21st century had to offer: an incredible voice and a creative and gifted songwriter all in one package.
She showcases both on "Back to Basics", a nostalgic flashback to the great soul, jazz and gospel era but with shiny new songs.
Whatevet happened to her in the 2010s and made her release the generic house pop club album "Lotus" still bothers me.

Even though I am not a hater, "It's Hard to Be a Diamond in a Rhinestone World" is one bad album in every respect. Cheap club beats, unintentionally lyrics about sex, bad singing and poor quality rapping. Not to mention the ridiculously long title.
But wow did they improve. The best example is "The Anthem of the Outcast", a 2012 album which is more rooted in the alternative rock / emo genre and features memorable melodies, awesome instrumentals, fairly relatable song lyrics about teen angst and even slower emotive songs that work out very well.
Not only quality-wise but also musically this is drastically different.

Even though always having sounded unique and outstanding, and very organic and soulful, Björk's first three albums after the break up of the Sugarcubes can still be described as electro pop, "Debut" being by far her most conventional (we're talking about Björk, so that means her least weird). After that phase, the Avantgarde became strong in her, and each album sounded strange in another way, sometimes pleasantly experimental, sometimes straightforward bewildering. Her (mostly) acapella effort "Medúlla" is without a doubt the most difficult to listen to.

Debut came out in the beginnings of the rave era, and the singles were among the first techno - house influenced songs to be broadcasted on mainstream channels (eg: Violently Happy & Big Time Sensuality). Great album which has been highly influential.

Their 2003 self-titled debut album was a massive hit in their home country Estonia, but even after their breakthrough in other European countries and Japan, it still is nor available elsewhere in the world - neither physically nor digitally. But thanks to YouTube, I have heard it.
And you wouldn't believe this is the same band. Upbeat funk pop with silly lyrics, not taken all too seriously, but catchy and poppy.
Their other three albums are full of powerful synth rock anthems, overproduced and emotive, and "Blue Tattoo" even has a strong symphonic touch that sometimes borders on softer and more radio friendly Nightwish songs.

Madonna is known for constantly re-inventing herself and rarely sounding the same for more than two albums maximum. So you could basically compare each Madonna album coming to the conclusion it sounds entirely different.
But what takes the cake is the pairing of 2003's "American Life" and 2012's "MDMA", one being an exciting and lyrically wonderful experimental, minimalistic combination of acoustic guitars and basic electronic tools, the other one being your average 2010s house pop album. Kind of makes me sad as a huge fan to see her decade long creativity suddenly disappear.

I agree with you, I miss the Madonna from the past, when almost every single or clip she released was an event in itself, because she always brought something new, was ahead of her time, and defined the trends (and was still somehow classy).
Now I have sometimes the impression to hear and see a caricature of what she was, and I practically dropped out since Confessions on a Dance Floor (my favorite album is still Ray of Light).

Kay One was known to be an exceptionally gifted freestyle and battle rapper and his albums were much anticipated in German speaking countries. But what fans eventually got what Germany's answer to Pitbull: basic raps about partying and sex over generic house beats. His third album "Rich Kidz" is considered his worst, and I agree. Even though it is essentially the same as the two albums before, its production sounds much less professional and cheaper, and often the pop choruses sung by guest stars lasted much longer than Kay One's verses. That was barely hip hop anymore. But obviously, Kay One realized himself that this sound was simply not good, and so he began scratching all the pop elements. His fourth album "JGUDZS (Jung genug um drauf zu scheißen)" is essentially an hour of pure battle rap in which Kay One proves to anyone who already considered him a whack rapper that he is actually very talented and can destroy whatever comes in his way. Since then, his music became really ...more