Five songs that completely altered the perception of a band
It’s never made sense to me when a band plays the same kind of music for their entire career. Granted, there are some acts that have made a good career doing so, but when you change as an individual, so too does your taste and the kind of music you would like to create. Even the greats like John Lennon were more than open to changing their sound depending on what they were going through.
Good bands are willing to make changes to the norm. Sometimes, these changes are necessary to get them recognised. Then there are other occasions when people deviate from a working formula because they feel as though they need to. Whatever the reason, such changes to music can completely alter the way that the public views a musical outfit.
While it is undoubtedly daunting for some bands to put out a song that will change how people look at them, it is also necessary. Without this change, how can artists grow as individuals, and art grow as a whole?
There are many bands that have taken the drastic step to release music that will change the way people look at them, but for the most part, these changes have been well-received. This list will consider five of those bands, the reasons for the change, and the repercussions of it.
Songs that changed the perception of a band:
Rolling Stones – ‘As Tears Go By’
The Rolling Stones were forced to write this song. Prior to this track, the band had only been playing R&B and blues covers, which people were enjoying, but their manager knew they needed some original material in their library if they were going to be successful. As such, he locked Keith Richards and Mick Jagger in a kitchen and wouldn’t let them come out until they had finished a song. That song? ‘As Tears Go By’.
Keith Richards notoriously wasn’t happy with the song, as he felt it went against the kind of sound the band were trying to achieve. “So suddenly, ‘Oh, we’re songwriters’, with the most anti-Stones sort of song you could think of at the time, while we’re trying to make a good version of [Muddy Waters] ‘Still A Fool’,” he said. While it might not have been the exact sound he wanted, it changed the public perception as people responded well to the track, and it gave the Rolling Stones a new edge as songwriters. They found their sound eventually, and ‘As Tears Go By’ was the starting point.
Pink Floyd – ‘Point Me At The Sky’
It wasn’t this specific song that altered the public’s perception of Pink Floyd, but it was this song that started the transition. When Syd Barrett left the band, Roger Waters tried to write a song which was similar to what Barrett would put out, and the result was ‘Point Me At The Sky’. The public didn’t react well, and Waters himself admitted the song was “One notable failure when Syd left the band.”
That being said, despite the song not being the greatest, it was the first step in many which would see the public’s perception of Pink Floyd change. Waters realised that he was never going to get anywhere writing the same way Barrett did, so he opted to go for a more conceptual approach, putting together elongated pieces of music that tied together over multiple tracks. The end result was the albums that fans love the most to this day, such as Dark Side Of The Moon and The Wall.
AC/DC – ‘Baby, Please Don’t Go’
We recognise AC/DC these days as a band who have an undeniable, signature sound; however, they didn’t start off that way. In the early stages, the band had to fight to be able to play the hard rock that they are now famously associated with. This was because, simply put, that kind of music wasn’t very popular at the time.
They released the song ‘Love Song’, which the public didn’t love, as it was hardly a representation of the band. The B-side managed to gain traction, though. This was a cover of the song ‘Baby, Please Don’t Go’, and was a much better reflection of the band as a whole. They re-released the B-side as a single, and suddenly people were aware of the kind of music AC/DC intended on playing.
Pulp – ‘Common People’
Pulp recently did a surprise set at Glastonbury, where Jarvis Cocker spoke about when the band headlined the festival for the first time. It was an interesting moment, as the Stone Roses had cancelled, so Pulp were enlisted to step up at the last minute. Previously, they wouldn’t have been considered headliner material, but this came very shortly after they released their classic ‘Common People’, a song that changed the way people viewed the band.
It wasn’t just that the song had an infectious energy, but it also had a narrative attached that represented a new era for Pulp. Following an accident where Jarvis Cocker would spend some time in hospital, he rediscovered his love for the normal, and decided to tell stories about these normal people in his music. This resulted in the release of ‘Common People’ and the album Different Class, two pieces of work that would alter how Pulp were considered amongst fans forever.
Arctic Monkeys – ‘Cornerstone’
When Arctic Monkeys burst onto the scene, they did so with a sound that was infectious. They told stories of Sheffield nightlife, what it meant to be a working-class romantic, and the difficulties that come with growing up in a place that seemingly didn’t have much going on.
Their first two albums subscribed to this ideology, but as Alex Turner and co wanted to go in a different direction, their third record, Humbug, presented the band in a slightly different light, one which was more narrative-driven and that heavily used metaphor. One of the songs that caught people’s attention most was ‘Cornerstone’, a slower song that ushered in a new era for a band who have continued to push creative boundaries ever since.
