Changing their style isn't at all the same as selling out. I have total faith that if Goldfinger wanted to sell it, they'd do it well enough to be famous instead of completely obscure. If you pay attention to the changes in band members, it pretty closely mirrors the change in style. On the self-titled and on Hangups, there was a strong sense of ska because of Charlie Paulson (guitar) and Simon Williams (bass.) Simon was replaced by Kelly - who barely writes - in time for Stomping Ground, where the ska is significantly lessened. By the time Open Your Eyes was recorded, Charlie was gone too, leaving all the writing to John, who, it seems, has not a drop of ska left in him. Moreover, the band's biggest succes came from "Superman" being on the Tony Hawk soundtrack, and that's about as ska as they've ever sounded. If they wanted to sell out to the people who were giving them the most money, they would have gone lighter and more ska, not heavier and punkier. Besides, who tries to win fans by putting out an album full of hardcore, almost accusational animal rights accusation?
Changing their style isn't at all the same as selling out. I have total faith that if Goldfinger wanted to sell it, they'd do it well enough to be famous instead of completely obscure. If you pay attention to the changes in band members, it pretty closely mirrors the change in style. On the self-titled and on Hangups, there was a strong sense of ska because of Charlie Paulson (guitar) and Simon Williams (bass.) Simon was replaced by Kelly - who barely writes - in time for Stomping Ground, where the ska is significantly lessened. By the time Open Your Eyes was recorded, Charlie was gone too, leaving all the writing to John, who, it seems, has not a drop of ska left in him. Moreover, the band's biggest succes came from "Superman" being on the Tony Hawk soundtrack, and that's about as ska as they've ever sounded. If they wanted to sell out to the people who were giving them the most money, they would have gone lighter and more ska, not heavier and punkier. Besides, who tries to win fans by putting out an album full of hardcore, almost accusational animal rights accusation?