Musicians Who REALLY Improved

Boo, my comment got deleted. Can't speak bad about Kanye, I guess. Admins must love him. SMH

 

I'd say you're majority percentage wrong 'bout that - but let's avoid the "99%" "100%" proclamations, shall we? I'm 99% certain we can do that. Time will tell, though, as it always does - and I don't think that, say, 30 or 50 years will be quite so kind to Kanye as perhaps you're thinking. I don't find his bloviating sufficient to save his art from himself. A gas bag is merely that. Unless perhaps you're just trolling, which is 99%, or even 100% possible...

 

They got me, too, and actually didn't delete my comment that really laid into Kanye. Strange.

 

I thought that Jake Clemons' sax playing in Springsteen's band was pretty poor in the beginning. But he has improved a lot and now is reasonably good.

 

I thought Jon Anderson's vocals improved immensely between the release of their first album and Close to the Edge.

 

Steve Rothery of Marillion, on the first singles and Album he's a little stiff, now he's one of the most fluid, lyrical and inventive guitarists you could ever hear

 

I was just listening to Tyler, The Creator’s Flower Boy and was struck by how much of an improvement it is over the albums that preceded it. I like his first three albums alright, but there’s no denying they’re marred at lest in part by amateurish production and immature attempts at edgy lyrics. This is all gone on Flower Boy, replaces by lush jazz-rap and neo-soul production and thoughtful, introspective lyrics. His singing and rapping are also more technically proficient and tastefully executed. Tyler continues this new level of quality on his recent album Igor, cementing his status as a legitimately talented artist.

 

Merle Watson.
First recordings he served as accompaniment to Doc as rhythm guitar.
Later became an accomplished lead guitarist in his own right.

 

The drummer from That Dog and Beck. I remember they were on KCRW once, and the DJ said, "Oh, you got a new drummer!" Nope--same guy, just way better! (Joey Waronker, I believe.)

 

Flower Boy was a BIG improvent over Cherry Bomb, Wolf, Goblin, and Bastard, but IGOR is a HUGE step up from Flower Boy even. At this rate of growth, Tyler’s next album could end up being the greatest of all time (not hyperbole).

 

Van Morrison's voice between 1965 and 1970

 

The Flaming Lips. They formed in 1983 and peaked in the early 2000s. It's rare for bands.

 

He sounded so much better in the 80s. Even if he didn't sound like a "charismatic NYC boy", he more than made up for it with his incredible range and power. Listen to Donington 1988 for one of the best live vocal performances in rock history.

 

Ray Cooper's tambourine playing has always improved with age

 

I'd like to nominate David Byrne for this thread; starting off as a stiff-voiced art punk artist, he went on to become a pioneering force in American post-punk, worldbeat, and art pop both with and without Talking Heads. Comparing Talking Heads: 77 to American Utopia, and it's like night and day (I do think 77 is a decent album, I'd just say Byrne and the rest of Talking Heads very much surpassed it in the years since). Remain in Light alone is frequently regarded as one of the best albums of the 1980's, and I'd say it's deserving of that position.

 

Even the jump from Ultramega OK to Superunknown is quite substantial in terms of maturity and sonic variety - they started off an awesomely aggressive band with lots of attitude which is already great, to a very nuanced and multi-faceted unit

 

Paul Simonon of the Clash. In the early days, Strummer had to show him where to put his fingers on the neck and he was a pretty rudimentary bassist all told. Later, as the band evolved, he also evolved into a genuine musician capable of writing something as good as this

 

Jimmy McCullough? As a 16 year old with Thunderclap Newman, he was capable. By the Wings Over America period, that guy was just fantastic.

Had he lived, I feel sure he'd have reappeared with McCartney at some point.