Artists whose songs all sound the same to you

The Four Tops

Points for admitting it, though...

 

"dog on the road" is a legit great ac/dc song.

 

Any band where I haven't heard many of their songs...

...also any band I don't like...

...and AC/DC 'cos Angus says so

 

What is it with this Beatle band i hear so much about? Imlove the Beatles, have an accomplished collection of their nusic, but i do find the admiration for this band tiring and over the top. They changed the landscape, but so did Chuck Berry, Elvis, and so on. They get their fair share of flack, the Beatles are not above that. Some of their work was genius, but that also counts for other artists pre, during and after the Beatles era.

 

You probably know, but this was wrote by Holland-Dozier-Holland in response to criticisms that Motown songs all sounded the same.

 

A lot of mentions of Status Quo, but the name doesn't really set expectations for a lot of changes...

 

Bruce Springsteen

 

The Beach Boys.

 

pavement? sonic youth seriously!!!

 

Tiny Tim

 

You've never heard his albums I presume? For a start he uses all sorts of different vocal registers depending on the material.

 

Well, they did change their style at least once , let's not forget they started out as a pop band with psychedelic overtones in the 60's

 

' Mud Slide Slim.. ' ' One Man Dog ', ' Gorilla ' et al...
I know these are different James Taylor albums but they all sound the same to me.

 

the Motown sound is the same, the tunes /melodies aren't

 

Not matter what 'style' or 'instrumentation' they use...
BOTH
-Cocteau Twins
and
-They Might Be Giants
always sound like THEMSELVES....
and, I enjoy both of 'em!

 

he used the same group of musicians on most of his earlier albums , but I think there is enough stylistic variety between ballads like Don't let me lonely or Fire and rain and more rockier songs like Chili dog or Steamroller , also the whole One man dog album has a different concept to the preceding albums with connecting songs, instrumental interludes (featuring John McLaughlin) ,jigs and dances,etc

 

Well, just about every artist and band has been mentioned so far... I guess everyone sounds the same to somebody.

Except for Bowie. He might escape this one.

 

Nope, just TV appearances. Is there one I should listen to?

 

"God Bless Tiny Tim"! There's even a poster on here named after it!

 

No, you don’t understand. The Beatles must invade every thread in SHF... even the ones about Bulgarian folk singing. It’s a rule. Even on Johnny Action’s own “sexually suggestive band names” thread, somebody suggested The Beatles. You know, because beetles have sex.

 

Maroon 5 and Coldplay definitely, Radiohead meanwhile haven't been on a major label since Hail to the Thief and have generally had a lot of creative control over the years, so calling them "corporate" is a bit misleading.

I will agree though that their songwriting style hasn't changed that much since The Bends; still enjoy them nonetheless.

 

This is funny and somewhat true. Irrespective - great band and fun, clever lyrics

 

In general, it's inevitable for most artists to settle into a single niche songwriting-wise and stick with it through their careers, assuming they don't try to do any 180's like Bowie constantly did. Heck as this thread shows, even a lot of the more well-regarded acts like the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and Radiohead are guilty of it. You could make similar arguments for a large number of other acclaimed artists while we're at it (e.g. Queen, Roger Waters, Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones [especially since Sticky Fingers], etc.). If anything my big takeaway isn't that these artists are bad (ignoring, of course, the Mike Love-fronted era of the Beach Boys' careers), more that consistency can still produce good results if it's properly managed. Besides, as previously mentioned in this thread, once you listen to an artist long enough, you can pick out key differences between works and eras even if the base sound remains the same.

I guess at this point the question to ask about an artist in regards to their quality isn't "do all their songs sound the same?" and more "is their songwriting template good and used well?" It certainly helps better draw the line between, say, Brian Wilson and Mike Love.

 

Apart from rap artists (I hate the genre so much that 5 seconds in and I'm done), I've never thought that an artist's songs "all sound the same". There might be a certain homogenous tone but there is always a degree of variation (I'm talking about things like ACDC, Ramones, Motorhead and headbanging Quo).

 

Bo Diddley, but it's a really good song.