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As for Sonic Youth, while I agree that there are some basic fundamental Therese that run through all of their official studio albums, I think they are without a doubt a prime example of a band that was always growing and changing, even if it wasn't necessarily always in a more "mature" direction.
I think their album discography only really makes sense if you break it into eras or periods.
S/t & confusion is sex/kill your idols (the no wave years)
Bad Moon Rising - Sister (the punk rock Pink Floyd years... not sure what else to call it.)
Daydream Nation & Goo (no real name for this either, but it's when everything gelled. These albums are quite different but have always sounded like two takes on the same sonic idea to me)
Dirty & EJST&NS (alt. rock forever! getting some MTV action, then losing it! Doing the grunge and anti-folk thing)
Washing Mashine & ATL (fuck everyone, let's be Sonic Youth again whatever that means... yay noise!)
NYC Ghosts & Flowers (let's make a beat poetry album about NYC that everyone hates until they love it)
Murray Street & Nurse (fuck it again, let's be Sonic Youth again, again, and play what comes naturally to us)
Rather Ripped & Eternal (let's try to be a pop/alt rock band again real quick then break up!)
I think every era really has its own vibe and feel and energy, and that's not even taking the SYRs or other non-album releases into consideration most of which marked pretty bold musical statements, and seemed to be made with the intention of defying definition.
Really there aren't many bands who cover the kind of ground SY did in their 3 decades of making music. They did art rock, hardcore, kind of invented post-hardcore... They played with electronic sounds and hip-hop, jazz and noise and neo-classical. They did a lot. And there was definitely maturation over the course of their career, but it may be hard to see because they ended with one of their least impressive albums.
But looking at the journey from s/t to Daydream Nation, for instance... that's pretty fucking unprecedented exponential growth with each release. They went from a sketch or outline to a fully realized oil on canvas masterpiece. And they deconstructed and rebuilt their sound two more times after that, with really incredible results.
I don't think Daydream Nation and the Eternal sound anything alike honestly.
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