Asklemmy

Linkin Park

If the last thing I’d heard from them was Meteora and then woke up to hear a song like Heavy or Talking to Myself, I would straight up just not believe it’s the same band. That’s not to say I don’t like their later stuff, but its radically different.

On the other hand, the 20th anniversary editions of Hybrid Theory and Meteora would blow my mind.

Leave Britney alone aged.. well.

Hanson. They're still together and touring.

Justin Timberlake became an actor and SNL regular renown for his holiday dick jokes.

I'd say collectively the genre of black metal. In 2004 most black metal acts were still doing the same kind of lo-fi DIY "buzzsaw in a garbage can" style that had been popular throughout the 90s. You could find artists who were starting to get more creative with it, but you really had to look hard sometimes.

Don't get me wrong, I still love old school black metal, but when that's all there is it starts to all sound alike after awhile.

Now it seems like every time I hear a new black metal release people have really started pushing the genre WAY past a bunch of white guys in corpse paint singing about how depressed they are lol! Now there's tons of interesting electronic bands, lots of crossover bands, lots of avant garde artistic stuff, lots of stuff from different countries all over the world all adding their own unique sounds... It's just really refreshing to hear a genre that was notoriously strict become something so much bigger and better

Ok I’ll start. Radiohead To me the are like the Beatles (continued) Every album has a new direction Not surprised, just glad every album is new and they arent cookie cutter.

Sigh...Antiflag. as a band that stood so strongly for pro-feminism, anti-racism, anti-corporate, just progressive politics to the max, having that news come out about Justin Sane being a complete fucking creep really shatters the music and the message.

Andre 3000 making a flute album was unexpected and I wasn't even in a coma for 20 years. It's good

Maroon 5.

They have adapted to the times in ways no one could have expected.

I'd be amazed and impressed to see the Psychedelic Furs are playing.

Honestly I'd mostly be upset about people who have died. Bowie. Prince.

George Michael dying of a heart attack on Christmas day was pretty out of left field given that he wrote Last Christmas I Gave You My Heart. I probably would have to see a newspaper to believe it.

I would say the prevalence of K-Pop. The occasional foreign language song would hit the charts every once in a while, but for an entire genre of foreign music to have fans everywhere is surprising.

Taylor Swift. She started out as a country singer, completely changed her genre, and became a pop sensation.

Edit: Nevermind, her first album was in 2005 I think.

Honestly, the fact that I can still see any bands from 20 years ago surprises me now, so..

Lit. Went from pop punk to straight modern country.

Probably Beyonce, Robert Plant, and well, not musically but R Kelley.

I wouldn't know about biggest surprise, but I didn't see the Red Hot Chili Peppers replacing guitar with keyboard. I really liked what John Frusciante and his predecessors had brought to the group. I went from a deep Peppers fan to not listening to anything post Stadium Arcadium

The Deftones managed to pull off what they were heading toward in their self-titled album, which was deeply iffy back in 2003. Going from Around The Fur and White Pony to the likes of "Good Morning Beautiful" or "Lucky You" was jarring. Even promising tracks like "Minerva" felt unpolished and off-brand. "When Girls Telephone Boys" had the right energy but wasn't exactly an easy recommendation for new listeners. It's the kind of song where you think you know the lyrics, and then you read what they're supposed to be, and you understand even less than you did before.

Saturday Night Wrist captured more of the frisson from their earlier work. "Cherry Waves" and "Kimdracula" in particular. But it's considerably more relaxed than anything previous. Even seemingly frenetic tracks like "Combat" feel halfway to pop. Diamond Eyes has more of the vibe but less of the polish. It does let parts of each song stand out more. "Command / Control" and "You've Seen The Butcher" aren't great songs, but they understood what was good about them, and let it come to the fore. "Risk" is solid.

They finally nailed it for Koi No Yokan. The first song is so-so - as is tradition - but beyond that it's just A+ material. Spacious, detailed, bombastic, and like little else. The classic vitriol comes out in "Leathers." The gentle new stuff becomes "Entombed." The dreamy frisson evolves into "Rosemary." It's unambiguously a fantastic album.

No idea what the fuck happened on Gore. They had it and they lost it. The first track is one of their best songs ever, and then it's half an hour of ehhh. The album only picks up for some transitions on either side of "Phantom Bride." For about two non-consecutive minutes, Sergio Vega and Stephen Carpenter get to flex, and then it closes with a track that just leaves you wanting.

Ohms veers back toward the right idea. It's a lot more 90s than even their self-titled album, between the opening track and the middle run of "The Spell Of Mathematics" through "This Link Is Dead." Tracks like "Error" are novel, and modern, and clean. Holy shit, the things this band has done to clarify and distinguish all the work they put in. I can't even listen to 80s wall-of-sound sludge anymore. Better to convey the world's loudest guitar than a whole orchestra constantly going hard.

But now I want to check back in after another twenty years, because they pissed off the bassist they've had since Diamond Eyes. I have no fucking idea what they're going to sound like next. I might be more interested in whatever that guy does without them.

Kinda surprised the Beatles released a new song to be honest.

Beastie Boys.

Bush.

Justin Timberlake.

Gwen Stefani.

Coldplay switched to making lifeless, generic pop music...

I just noticed that ABBA very recently made a new album.

Sido