Albums you hated at first because the band changed style

This has happened to me several times. Examples:

Bride - Kinetic Faith
I had just discovered Bride the year before and loved Live to Die. I was ecstatic about them having a new album coming out. But from the first time I heard the KF album, I hated it because it was so different. I’ve come to really enjoy it over the years now.

Bon Jovi - Keep the Faith 
I have become a major metalhead by this point. I loved New Jersey because it had a really hard rocking edge to it. Then after a four year wait comes Keep the Faith. They dumped the huge arena rock sound with the massive guitars and big drums. I was crushed. I’ve since come to enjoy this album as well, but it took me a while. 

Whitecross - In the Kingdom
Much like Bon Jovi above, WC stripped away the massive guitars and drums and went for a more stripped down sound. I hated this album when it came out. I like it now but it’s still my least favorite of the Rex era albums. 

Other examples include:
The Brave - Trust
Skid Row - Subhuman Race*
Deliverance - Learn
Guardian - Buzz
Holy Soldier - Promise Man
Def Leppard - Slang*

I’ve come to appreciate all these albums except (*). I still hate those albums.

Keep The Faith sucks, let‘s be real :-)

Tourniquet - Everything after POD
Stryper -ATL (altho „hate“ is too strong, it was more confusion)
Deliverance - everything after WaJ
Whitecross - High Gear* (In The Kingdom was great, just one or two ballads too many
Idle Cure - Inside Out
Believer - Gabriel, but certainly Transhuman*
Suicidal Tendencies - The Art Of Rebellion

 On top of my mind, may think of some more.

Hard to remember them all but certainly these would be on the list:

The Brave - Trust
Deliverance - Learn
Holy Soldier - Promise Man
Sacrament - Haunts Of Violence

In the secular scene:

Icon - Night Of The Crime
Iron Maiden - Number Of The Beast
Queensryche - The Warning
Griffin - Protectors Of The Lair
Slayer - Hell Awaits
Universe / Universe Infinity - Rock Is Alive
Blondie - Autoamerican, The Hunter

A few of the above I still dislike....

Some bands changed their style drastically and now I only like their older stuff (e.g. Aerosmith, Chicago, Exile, Hexx, Great White, Cry Wolf, etc.).  

Other bands changed drastically but for the better (e.g. Goo Goo Dolls, Pantera, David Bowie, Amorphis, Red Hot Chili Peppers, etc.)

Still other bands changed their style drastically but it was good either way (e.g. Fleetwood Mac, Journey, Genesis, Pink Floyd, REO Speedwagon, Scorpions, Whitesnake, etc.)

I don't think I have any bands that fit the topic exactly. Oh, maybe Vanishing Lessons--it's now one of my favourite metal albums. And, yes, DC Talk's Jesus Freak.

I do have a few bands that that I didn't like b/c I was expecting a different style when I first listened to them. But now I really enjoy them. These are:

Stavesacre-Friction (I was expecting Focused b/c of Dirk Lemmenes, The Blamed b/c of the drummer (Moffat??) or The Crucified b/c of Salomon)

King's X - Best of King's X (I was expecting metal)

Holy Soldier- s/t (I was expecting faster & heavier)

Muse - (I was expecting progressive metal after reading an article in Guitar World magazine)

And I do have some albums that I STILL dislike b/c of of the change in style.

Deliverance-Learn
Guardian's later albums like Buzz & Bottle Rocket
Holy Soldier - Promise Man
Living Sacrifice - Reborn (I know, I'm just a close-minded old school metalhead)

Yeah, I still don't like those Guardian albums but Holy Soldier kind of grew on me.
Blind Guardian comes to mind with A Night At the Opera but over time I've come to enjoy it.
Helloween with Pink Bubbles Go Ape and Chameleon had me ready to give up on them but they came back strong with Master Of The Rings.

Also Reborn by Stryper and I still hate it. I feel like people try to like it because it's Stryper but it's baaaad.

Black Rider wrote:Also Reborn by Stryper and I still hate it. I feel like people try to like it because it's Stryper but it's baaaad.

I like it. I like it a lot! I'm not quite sure why but I've gotta be honest. But I also like that they didn't make any more of them!

The Brave: Gravedigger

Not sure what they were going for here. But I am not a fan. It was especially disappointing given how awesome Evie’s Little Garden was/is.

Also, Queensryche had their run of okay to bag albums.

Sevenoneself wrote:

Black Rider wrote:Also Reborn by Stryper and I still hate it. I feel like people try to like it because it's Stryper but it's baaaad.

I like it. I like it a lot!  I'm not quite sure why but I've gotta be honest. But I also like that they didn't make any more of them!

I'm not even sure what style they were going for? Grunge mixed with modern rock?

Not remotely metal, but I wasn’t a fan of Relient K’s style shift on Forget and Not Slow Down. However, I grew to love that album.

A few more:

Newsboys: Love Liberty Disco

Still not much of a fan of this album and I get off the train entirely when Peter Fuller bows out.


Petra: Praise 2 and Revival

Praise 2 let me down when it came out, but I love it now. I still don’t care for Revival.


Audio Adrenaline: Until My Heart Caves In

Wasn’t a fan when it dropped. I like it ok now, but it doesn’t get much play. I completely jump off the train after this one.


Steve Taylor: Goliath

The musical style isn’t the problem for me here, but the lyrical style. Steve went from some of the best and hardest-hitting lyrics in CCM to much more cryptic lyrics reminiscent of Chagall Guevara. It struck me as a waste of his incredible talent.

It’s funny to me how many of us end up liking an album that, at first, was a huge disappointment.

Black Rider wrote:

Sevenoneself wrote:

Black Rider wrote:Also Reborn by Stryper and I still hate it. I feel like people try to like it because it's Stryper but it's baaaad.

I like it. I like it a lot!  I'm not quite sure why but I've gotta be honest. But I also like that they didn't make any more of them!

I'm not even sure what style they were going for? Grunge mixed with modern rock?

Yeah, that's about right. And so that included axing the guitar solos and introducing sampling.

I enjoyed Reborn more than Murder by Pride. MbP represents them trying to find their old sound again, but they didn't quite get there. By the time The Covering came out, they had found it again.

Follower of Jesus wrote:It’s funny to me how many of us end up liking an album that, at first, was a huge disappointment.

To which are you referring to? Reborn?

Reborn not being on Spotify, I haven't heard it but I feel some morbid curiosity to check it out now.

Living Sacrifice - everything after s/t

King Kobra-Thrill of a Lifetime (save for Iron Eagle)

WildWorld wrote:King Kobra-Thrill of a Lifetime (save for Iron Eagle)

Completely agree.  Much more AOR than the first album and I hated it the first several times I've heard it.  Made my peace with it now and actually enjoy it on occasion.

Barenaked Ladies - anything after they formed.

I hate their music now, but I hated them at first too.

MagnusPrime wrote:Barenaked Ladies - anything after they formed.

I hate their music now, but I hated them at first too.

Same goes for Hootie & The Blowfish, Dave Matthews Band, Matchbox Twenty and Counting Crows.

You haven't always wanted a monkey?

^I intensely dislike the music of Counting Crows and that whiny voice of his.

BUT....

He (with Vanessa Carlton) does the best cover of "Big Yellow Taxi" that I think we'll hear in this lifetime.   Way better than Amy Grant's version.