Top 10 Musicians Who Tried and FAILED to Reinvent Themselves

Top 10 Musicians Who Tried & FAILED To Reinvent Themselves

Welcome to WatchMojo, and today were counting down our picks for the musical artists who attempted to switch up their sound, public image, or both only to be met with crickets.

#10: Katy Perry

Typically, we should encourage people to be themselves and let their individualism shine. However, in the case of Perry and her 2017 album Witness, baring it all might not have been the way to go. Perry went on a four-year sabbatical after the release of her hit album Prism, citing a personal need to focus on rejuvenating her mental health. In describing the feelings that had inspired Witness, the pop star confessed to the Guardian that Katy Perry was a character she had created, and that she planned to embrace her given name of Kathryn Hudson. Despite Perrys radical honesty, reviewers found Witness shallow and disingenuous, and that its attempts at tackling politics and female empowerment didnt meet the mark.

#9: Korn

Look, were not saying that we expected these beloved kings of nu metal to produce the next Abbey Road. But when lead singer Jonathan Davis claimed that the bands goal for The Path of Totality was to create art that's different and not conform to what's going on, we definitely expected well not whatever it ended up being. The December 2011 record marked a significant change-up for Korn, in which they embraced the then-inescapable sounds of the eras electronic music particularly dubstep. While they strove for authenticity, collaborating with major artists like Skrillex, Noisia, and Excision, The Path of Totality was halted dead in its tracks by its instantly-dated genre leanings.

#8: Snoop Dogg

Youd be hard-pressed to find someone who doesnt love Snoop Dogg, a.k.a. hip hops favorite uncle and spokesperson. Whether its hanging with Martha Stewart, or his eclectic social media presence, Snoop has seemingly done it all. So, it only tracks that, after years as a legendary and prolific rapper, he would naturally make the transition to performing reggae. Rebranding himself to Snoop Lion in 2013, the artist traveled to Jamaica and immersed himself in its culture, taking inspiration from famous reggae musicians like Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, and Bunny Wailer. Unfortunately, Snoops leap of faith went up in smoke: the resulting Reincarnated album received lukewarm reviews at best, and peaked at #16 on the Billboard 200 chart.

#7: Jewel

Jewel rose to prominence with 1995s Pieces of You, which produced the hits Who Will Save Your Soul and You Were Meant For Me. Her 2003 album 0304 completely threw out the playbook. In the albums liner notes, she wrote that This record may seem different to you. To me, it's closer to what has been in my head for years. To say that 0304 seemed different was a dramatic understatement. A far cry from the folk-rock stylings of her previous albums, 0304 attempted to reestablish Jewel as a star of contemporary dance-pop. While the record debuted at #2 on the Billboard 200 and garnered mostly positive reviews, her follow-up quietly pretended 0304 never happened at all.

#6: Drake

Canadian rap superstar Aubrey Drake Graham has never been one to shy away from a good marketing gimmick. Just look at his 2015 mixtape If Youre Reading This Its Too Late, a cheeky middle finger to the rappers record label. While Drake had, indeed, flirted with electronic music before dropping 2022s Honestly, Nevermind, that album represented his first full foray into the genre. Despite the shift in sound, even positive reviews criticized Drake for failing to bring anything new to the table. Said Pitchforks Alphonse Pierre, A breezy Drake dance album sounds great in concept, but the half-measure house beats and lackluster songwriting keep it from really popping off.

#5: Neil Young

Youngs experimental 1983 album Trans represented a staunch departure from his signature sound, a staunch departure from his politically-charged brand of folk rock. Instead, guitars were swapped for metallic synthesizers, and the singers distinctive wail with a proto-Daft Punk vocoder. The Canadian-born icon has shared that the album was an attempt to communicate with his son Ben, who was born with cerebral palsy, as well as a lamentation on an increasingly detached and digital world. Although he clearly went in with good intentions, Trans was met with mostly baffled reviews at the time, with Barney Hoskyns of NME comparing its vocoder use to the kind of horrid electronic carols you get on your Christmas TV.

#4: Chris Cornell

In the early to mid 2000s, super-producer Timbaland was unstoppable. Having produced Justin Timberlakes smash hit albums Justified and FutureSex/LoveSounds, Timbaland went on an almost unprecedented hot streak, culminating in the release of his 2007 solo album Shock Value. After turning himself into a household name, his next challenge was, of course, turning Soundgarden and Audioslave frontman Chris Cornell into a pop star. Almost completely eschewing the hard-rocking styles of Cornells past projects, Scream was ultimately nothing more than a whimper. The album was blasted by critics who found the collaboration between Timbaland, Cornell, and Timberlake incongruous. Said Allmusic, Scream is one of those rare big-budget disasters, an exercise in misguided ambition that makes no sense outside of pure theory.

#3: Lil Wayne

To this day, its hard to know exactly what Dwayne Lil Wayne Carter was thinking when it came to his notorious 2010 album Rebirth. Hot off the heels of his critically acclaimed, Grammy winning, and best selling 2008 record Tha Carter III, Wayne announced in 2009 that he was leaving hip hop behind. After a series of delays, Rebirth finally dropped in February of 2010 and it was met with an icy reception. It appeared that Waynes vision of rock n roll was drenched with Auto-Tune and borrowed more from Blink-182 than Led Zeppelin. Altogether, Rebirth was largely described by critics as the worst album of 2010, and Wayne abandoned his rock star dreams.

#2: Miley Cyrus

Maybe this is a bit of a cheat. After all, Cyrus definitely shed her teenybopper image with the boundary-pushing 2013 album Bangerz. However, it wouldnt exactly be accurate to say that her transformation was widely accepted by audiences. Seeking a change from her lead role on Disneys Hannah Montana, Cyrus drastically overcorrected, embracing a more mature, more adult image without giving fans time to adjust to the changes she was making. Her performance at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards has since become the stuff of pop culture legend and not in a good way. It should be noted, though, that in the years since, Cyrus has pulled off a career comeback with aplomb, and her recent records more than reflect that.

#1: Garth Brooks

Yeah, maybe you saw this one coming. But how could we not? Possibly the most famous and most intensive case of a musician attempting a total reinvention, Brooks bizarre transformation into the fictional Chris Gaines will be studied for generations. Country singer Brooks developed the Gaines alter ego as both a marketing stunt and as a way to explore new sounds, donning goth-inspired wigs and makeup in the process. Brooks sole album as Gaines, fittingly entitled Garth Brooks in...the Life of Chris Gaines, failed to perform and has since mostly been forgotten outside of its novelty.

Which musical reinvention on our list had you cringing the hardest? Are there any we missed? Be sure to let us know in the comments below!