Albums That Showcased Maturity

[HailTheGillberg]

Forgive me if my post doesn't adhere to all of the forum guidelines, as this is my first time posting.

Many of us have witnessed the major label debut of an up-and-coming band that either brings forth a style and sound that catches us off guard, or is just very pleasing to our unique set of ears. There have been instances where bands have taken what made them famous and built their careers around it. In many cases, however, a band will re-invent itself for various reasons (including the expansion of their fan-base).

It is often during these periods of reinvention that we see a band show signs of maturity, whether it's through increasing the complexity of their songs or simply adding an extra element to their performances. With that in mind, I ask you to name an album that showcased maturity for a particular band and explain why.

I will start off by saying that These Days by Bon Jovi stands out to me among many releases. Anyone who knows the history of Bon Jovi knows that they made their mark by connecting with their audience through an array of stadium anthems (some of which are still massively popular even in today's era). "These Days" demonstrated that Bon Jovi has the ability to connect with their fans on a much deeper level. Unlike its predecessors, this album didn't make its connection through energy and uplift, but through brutal honesty. I suppose the dark, non-commercial tone of this 90's release is part of why it remains unknown to many casual listeners.

I look forward to your responses!

 

[Starship Punk]

Blink 182 and their last album the untitled one back in 2003 was very mature and nothing like their previous stuff. It was sort of a dark but still had some pop stuff on it album that I enjoyed and now that they are back and releasing a new album soon I expect it to be very similar to the last one and not like their early but classic to me obnoxious punk stuff but who know with them lol

 

[El Rev sXe]

Good thread sir!

I understand completely, I think that is one if not the most important thing on a band, progression, evolution, musical maturity.

Honestly I don't like at all hear aband through the years and feel that I am listening to the same band, the same songs over and over again. I know people will disagree with me, nut I feel that way with AC/DC, Blink 182 (and many more pop punk acts) and reggae/ska music. You heard one song, you've hear them all.

Onto the topic, I think that the latest Foo Fighters album proves completely the musical maturity. "Wasting light" completely goes to a different musical direction. When you hear something so dark like "I should've known", well it doesn't seem like anything you heard about the Foos before. WL is a record that has this feeling of a classic rock band in the 60's, 70's. Maybe is the fact that they recorded it like they did it before, without computers.

Anyway, "Wasting light" proves that the Foos have become a band that have grown within the parameters of punk rock and hard rock but have that feeling of Queen amongst many other arena rock bands.

 

[Cracka Jack]

Pretty. Odd.
by
Panic! at the Disco

If any album represents the maturity of a band to me, it's this one. Panic's first album, while fun and catchy, was a bit too simplistic for my tastes. The potential for greatness was definitely there, especially in main songwriter (and now former member) Ryan Ross. I didn't expect the change and growth to come as quickly as their second album, but it was a welcome surprise. The depth of the songwriting and the use of instruments typically outside of the rock landscape gave them a fresh sound, like they were a brand new band. It showed that they were willing to step away from the sound that made them popular to try something else, and I applaud them for it. Getting everyone involved in the songwriting process was great, since each member clearly had a different voice in the music, and it was also the first time I was able to hear Ross's wonderful singing. Unfortunately, the lineup for this album is no longer together, and didn't get the chance to do another record with their new sound, but I'll always have Pretty. Odd. to remember them for. For that, I am grateful.
​

 

[The Newfie Bullet]

I will start off by saying that These Days by Bon Jovi stands out to me among many releases. Anyone who knows the history of Bon Jovi knows that they made their mark by connecting with their audience through an array of stadium anthems (some of which are still massively popular even in today's era). "These Days" demonstrated that Bon Jovi has the ability to connect with their fans on a much deeper level. Unlike its predecessors, this album didn't make its connection through energy and uplift, but through brutal honesty. I suppose the dark, non-commercial tone of this 90's release is part of why it remains unknown to many casual listeners.

Great choice on that album , I am a huge fan of Bon Jovi and i feel that they are a band that can play several styles of music(country,hair metal,hard rock , modern rock , etc) , but I feel they really matured on the "Keep The Faith" album. Before this album Bon Jovi mainly played a lot of glam rock that a lot of other bands played in the 80's, but after taking a break for a couple years they returned with this album that showcased a more hard rock style sound .

This album also featured a lot of ballads and longer songs with longer guitar solos.This also featued a lot of my favorite Bon Jovi songs (Dry County, Keep the faith, Bed of roses,In these arms, etc)

This was also the period where members of the band cut of their 80's hair styles for a more mature look that fit in with the style of music this album showcased.

 

[Con T.]

I'm going to go ahead and go with Usher, and Confessions.

[YOUTUBE]w1Sta0oEuV4[/YOUTUBE]

Again, let's take a look into the context of the matter. Usher is rarely the guy to let you in to his personal life, and see his demons. And boy, does he have quite a few of them. Of course, the song of note for this album definitely has to be Confessions (Part 2), in which Usher accepts his responsibility and deals with the crippling situation of having a baby by a woman he barely even knows. The whole thing is about as honest as we're going to get from a superstar that has women throwing themselves at him every night; Usher learns to accept the fact that he royally screwed up, and has to accept the consequences of his mistakes.

Now, does Usher have some poppy hits, the likes of which likely sour the overall message of maturity and growing up? Meh, You can make the argument. Remember, this is the album that did yield us "Yeah", perhaps the second worst song in Usher's arsenal. But you take that with the artist. You understand that this is where Usher makes his money, and that the transition from teeny bopper music to legitimately touching stuff isn't going to happen overnight. But the fact that Usher was actually letting you in, seeing the fact that his personal life isn't always perfect (Rather, it's a mess, filled with the same issues you and I all have) would lead into his ability to reveal more of himself in Here I Stand, arguably an album that denotes Usher's maturity more than Confessions

And then, welp,

[YOUTUBE]CzmpYRmOOpw[/YOUTUBE]


Yeah, there goes that whole maturity thing. Usher seems to have hit a snag, choosing to regress more his older, more synthetic style. That said, Confessions really opened up Usher for the world to see. It allowed us to see his progression as a man, something that would be welcomed again, should he choose to try showing us it again

 

[GI Cake]

I guess I would have to say Linkin Park's Minutes to Midnight was the album that showed a lot of maturity and growth in the band. Granted it started with them losing the emo/dark goth look and feel to their appearance and their music videos and became more of a edgier hard rock look.

In case you need some examples on their change here are some pictures and samples of their music from their first album, Hybrid Theory. To their Minutes to Midnight album.
First look from 1998-2006

And the song, perhaps their best single of all time in my opinion.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yw1Tgj9-VU

And their new look since Minutes to Midnight.

And their hit from Minutes to Midnight
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnuuYcqhzCE

 

[Moxi Mayhem]

I have to go with "Angles" by the Strokes. I've been a huge fan of their work since their self-titled album dropped back in 2003, and have since kept up with their body of work. The first two albums were tight, danceable smart-rock gems, as they were still figuring out who they were as a band. Their third release, "The First Impressions of Earth", was really experimental and went in a lot of different directions. It took 4 years, and a number of side projects later for them to regroup and put out their best album to date in "Angles". It's back to the roots of where the band started, while drastically improving on their distinct sound. You immediately know who it is when the first track kicks into it's chorus.

I highly recommend it.

 

[Captain Morgan Freeman]

I would have to say Humbug by the Arctic monkeys. The made their name with indie albums "Whatever people say i am thats what im not" and "favourite worst nightmare" gaining a huge popularity in the Uk but then their eagerly anticipated third album Humbug shows a big change in musical direction. Produced by Josh Homee their darker more guitar driven songs on Humbug such as "my propellar" and "crying lightning" diddnt please some arctic monkeys fans but this is the album they wanted to make. Their new album "suck it and See" keeps to the same sound as Humbug.
Their maturity really shows with humbug it was a bold move from Arctic monkeys to make the album as it alienated some of their fanbase but theve won over a lot of their critics.

 

[Nas pins jay-z]

Untitled(ni**er) and hip hop is dead both by nas. He took a huge risk with untitled. He was calling it the other word up until a few weeks before the release. The song ni**er-the slave and the master was nominated for a grammy as well as the lp as a whole. That's a tough subject for any artist to handle. Hip hop is dead really called out all the fake artist only in it to make money. On the song can't forget about you, i loved the line, Henious crimes help sell records more than creative rhymes. Also the lost tapes and distant relatives by nas are also mature. The latter was a duet lp with damien marley and the proceeds go to africa.

 

[RicoLen]

Metallica's Black Album. The lyrics were so much better, and so much deeper and mature in content. That album also took a turn towards favoring melodic baritone singing than the hard thrash sound they pioneered. It was a big step towards maturity for them, one not looked upon highly anymore I guess, but even so. The Unforgiven & Nothing Else Matters are two of the very best songs in any genre I've ever heard, and the lyrics are so amazing.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

Metallica's Black Album. The lyrics were so much better, and so much deeper and mature in content. That album also took a turn towards favoring melodic baritone singing than the hard thrash sound they pioneered. It was a big step towards maturity for them, one not looked upon highly anymore I guess, but even so. The Unforgiven & Nothing Else Matters are two of the very best songs in any genre I've ever heard, and the lyrics are so amazing.

That is an excellent choice. Metallica's self-titled album was a very big change from their earlier thrash style, which appealed far more to the masses, which led to its commercial success and high charting of "Enter Sandman" as a single. It recieved far more radio play than any of their ealier releases.

As you mentioned, Hetfields singing was a lot more melodic on The Black Album than anything previously released, and songs such as "Nothing Else Matters" and "The Unforgiven" build on their rare earlier slower songs such as "Fade To Black" and are phenomenal pieces of music, with much more emotion that in most earlier Metallica songs.

It appears that the band had outgrown just simply playing angry music as fast as possible and wanted to display their talent through a different style of music, and I like it. I know alot of Metallica fans claim that this is the point where the band went downhill, and I can understand their frustration if they really loved 'Tallica as an out and out thrash metal band. I love alot of their earlier stuff, but also love The Black Album. I think its great when a band can play in different styles, it avoids their albums sounding repetative (a claim that can be thrown at Godsmack- one of my favourite bands), and Metallica definitely matured as musicians on this album.

 

[RicoLen]

However it was nice to have Death Magnetic... That album was long overdue. REALLY hope their followup in more in line with Death Magnetic too, rather than another Load session. And I really do like the Load sessions. For me it just takes me back to when I was an older teen, when I got my first car and used to blast King Nothing on my tape player. Geez I'm old. However as I myself have matured I've grown to like the thrash from Master of Puppets more than their later stuff. Battery to me is the perfect example of what Heavy Metal means to me. It's great to see them get back to their roots again too. They've kinda come full circle now, and meshed all their sounds together with Death Magnetic. That Was Just Your Life is like something from Master of Puppets, only with the sound of St. Anger, and in the best possible way. Unforgiven 3 reminds me off their S&M album with something from the black album.

What I'm getting at is, it's nice to experiment like a lot of bands will, but IMO, the true sign of maturity is when you can release an album after the fact that rolls all your traditional and experimental sounds into one cohesive album, and that's what Death Magnetic did. It takes the best from every album they've released in the past, and puts it all together into what is IMO their best album in over 20 years.