The album is characterised by its usage of keyboards, loops, samples, programmed dance beats and experiments in drum and bass, though also incorporates Moore's bluesy guitar solos.
[2] Although he helped revive the popularity of blues, he abruptly changed direction for Dark Days in Paradise (1997),[3] an experimental pop album[4] which featured influences of Britpop and electronic music.
[8] During one session, the neck pickup on Moore's Fiesta Red Fender Stratocaster broke, requiring his guitar tech Graham Lilley to send it to Seymour Duncan for repair.
[4] The music features loops,[6] samples,[6] dance beats,[10] programmed rhythms,[11] and inimitable melodies,[10] and works in elements of rock, soul, funk, country,[12] and drum and bass.
[14] In an interview for Friday Rock Show, the musician considered his change in direction be "no big deal", adding: "I always do what I feel like and there's enough people out there making the same record over and over again.
[3] The guitarist's cover of Hendrix's "Fire" is fast-paced; he credited the original version as a predecessor to the album's style, saying: "It's got a jungley rhythm, and when he made Electric Ladyland, he had a house beat, flashing lights–a rave!
"[21] In their review of A Different Beat, AllMusic commended Moore's "courage to leap into the relative unknown", deeming it completely unlike his prior work and speculating whether the change in direction was fuelled by "the new-found freedom" he felt after leaving Virgin, alongside his "obvious affinity with outfits along the lines of Apollo 440 and Fatboy Slim".
"[10] Andrew Hirst, Huddersfield Daily Examiner noted Moore's stylistic expansion into drum and bass and hip hop, writing: "From mean and moody blues-wailing through soul, rock and funk to rootsy country, every track turns out to be a different beat."
[12] Burton Mail largely credited King's programming and keyboards for helping Moore update his sound, and praised the latter for making "a considerable effort to provide his fans with a degree of variety,"[14] while Birmingham Evening Mail deemed the album to be "an eye-opener" and praised Moore "for recognising the current music trends and attempting to adapt his hard rockin' blues to them.
[6] More recently, Colin Larkin of The Encyclopedia of Popular Music noted the employment of "dance rhythms over regular rock structures" and praised Moore's guitar playing for being "as sharp and fluid as ever", but criticised the lyrics for descending into cliché.
[17] MusicOMH writer Ben Hogwood wrote that despite the album's experiments in drum and bass, it was "not doomed to complete failure, thanks to the guitarist's uncommon ability to play himself out of trouble".
[24] In his review for Classic Rock, Hugh Fielder considers A Different Beat a continuation of the detour Moore began with Dark Days in Paradise, "setting his bluesy guitar against an electronica backing and sampled vocals."