In 2010, American post-hardcore band Sleeping With Sirens released their debut album “With Ears to See and Eyes to Hear” through Rise Records. A quick search online classifies the album as, “post hardcore,” “emo,” and “pop rock.”
In 2011, they released “Let’s Cheers To This” under the same genres and “alternative rock” as well.
Three more albums were released after their 2012 EP, with the most recent one being released in April 2016. Let’s take a look at what a quick Google search classifies the albums’ genres as:
“With Ears to See and Eyes to Hear” (2010) - Post hardcore.
“Let’s Cheers To This” (2011) - Alternative rock.
“If You Were A Movie, This Would Be Your Soundtrack” EP (2012) - Soft rock.
“Feel” (2013) - Pop rock.
“Madness” (2015) - Pop rock.
“Live and Unplugged” (2016) - Acoustic.
There’s a clear pattern visible here; as time went by, Sleeping With Sirens’ music got lighter. Although their transition from “screamo” to “pop” was a slow one, it still had a long lasting effect on many of their fans. To sum everything up, a good chunk of SWS’s longtime supporters didn’t have good opinions on their new music. The main reason a lot of these longtime supporters stopped listening to the band was because their sound changed. Bluntly put, a lot of people say they don’t like Sleeping With Sirens anymore because they no longer create heavy music.
The same thing has happened with other big artists such as Bring Me The Horizon and Of Mice & Men. People like their old music but think their new music is garbage.
Now, doesn’t that seem a bit selfish? Although musicians make music to reach target audiences, their job is their profession. They have more of a right to be happy with what they create than you do. In other words, it’s their life. It’s their music. It’s their career. If you don’t like the fact that an artist has changed their sound, that’s not a sensible reason to tell everyone that they suck.
Take UK rock band Bring Me The Horizon for example. About ten years ago, they were a deathcore band. They released music like this:
Today, they are pop rock and have catchy, pretty songs like this. (WARNING: Although the song is slow and sweet, the music video is very graphic and triggering.)
These music videos were released five years apart.
If people can change in five years, why can’t music?
It’s a serious thing to think about. While a lot of Sleeping With Sirens fans are no longer fans, the band has gained so many new fans that like their new sound. The same goes for Bring Me The Horizon. The same goes for Of Mice & Men and any other band or artist that evolved into something bigger, better, and greater.
I’m not saying that you have to keep liking a band no matter how much they change. I’m saying that if you no longer listen to a band because their sound changed, don't go around telling everyone that the band sucks. In the end, they’re only ever going to be far more successful than you. It really doesn’t make sense to trash someone’s music because of your opinion.
