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A good example is Vancouver's 54-40, which plays the Max Bell Theatre in the Art Centre on Tuesday.
The band is 16 years old and its members are in their mid-30s.
Yet they still managed to surprise many of their longtime fans with their eighth and latest CD, Since When.
The loud electric guitars and strident rhythms of the group's best-known work have been replaced by piano, organ, gently strummed acoustic guitars, female backing vocals -- even a string section.
"Not to knock (54-40's previous album) Trusted By Millions, because I like that record, but just being on the road with it, I felt like: 'I don't want to do this. I want to do something else,' " says singer-guitarist Neil Osborne in a telephone interview.
"That was a very loud pop record and everybody was bashing away on the same chord.
"This one, we really wanted to create some space and create music that doesn't feed on Nirvana's leftovers, like so many other bands do."
To accomplish their goal, 54-40 changed their standard operating procedure.
They didn't record any demo tapes; instead, they set up shop at Yalewood Sound, a cozy little studio in downtown Vancouver, where they rehearsed the songs and eventually recorded the album.
"The studio was done a la '70s. Everything was wood and cedar. It was a Fleetwood Mac kind of thing," Osborne recalls.
"We didn't even have the songs that developed. We had the basic chords; the melodies. So we had infinite options to build from there. It was like: 'Now, let's put in some strings.' "
Because of this willingness to experiment with different sounds, Osborne says 54-40 remains the best vehicle for his songs.
He has never considered recording a solo album "because my identity and the band's identity are one and the same. I just like what they bring to the songs."
For example, the new CD's title track.
"I came in and it was a more Bo Diddley, Train in Vain kind of thing.
"It just wasn't happening.
"Then, all of a sudden, Phil (Comparelli, 54-40's guitarist-keyboardist) came up with the piano riff and we built around that riff instead. It became a hit song out of that."
At this point in 54-40's career, Osborne says "there's nothing that we would be afraid to explore. That's good and bad.
"Anybody who wanted another Trusted by Millions will be clearly disappointed.
"But anybody who's looking for something different will be quite interested."