Thread: Biggest Musical Sellouts of All Time

Mrs. Salami and I were talking about this the other day. What band or artists would you include in your top 10 sellouts. By "sellout", I mean a band or artist who dramatically changed their musical style, effectively leaving behind a small, or at least loyal, fanbase, in order to gain popularity and make money. My first few are:

Metallica (Thank you Bob Rock)
Gwen Stefani (Loved No Doubt's first album)
The Offspring (yea-a hah ha hah)
Green Day (Uber pop)
Eddie Vedder (force the vibrato a bit there fella?)
AFI (If you were a fan of their first 3 albums, you likely weren't a fan of the 4th)


Who else belongs on this list?

every band since 1980.

U2

Originally Posted by DRice

U2

Seconded

Also,

Styx
Post DLR Van Halen

Ozzy Osbourne

Snoop Dogg

Is it "selling out" or is it musical progression? I see why people say Metallica sold out but is it just a band's "sound" progressing over time? Is it weird to expect a band to make albums that sound identical over a period of 20 years or so?

=UnholyGoalie;2609043Is it weird to expect a band to make albums that sound identical over a period of 20 years or so?

The Ramones

Originally Posted by UnholyGoalie

Is it "selling out" or is it musical progression? I see why people say Metallica sold out but is it just a band's "sound" progressing over time? Is it weird to expect a band to make albums that sound identical over a period of 20 years or so?

Sometimes it progression. Other times it just about filling arenas. There's just something different about music written out if the back of a beat up car versus music written in the comfort of a multi-million dollar mansion. I posted U2 earlier because they "progressed" from "Sunday Bloody Sunday" to "It's a beautiful Day".

Originally Posted by C. Marshall

The Ramones

I see your Ramones and I raise you an AC/DC.

I see selling out more in a band like Staind. Their first release was quite aggressive and pretty rocking. Then they scored a hit with "Outside" and their subsequent albums all sounded like an album's worth of "Outside".