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Successful bands' member replacements


scottcald

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With the news of Tipton being replaced in Priest, I thought I'd start this thread.  I don't think I'd go to see a Priest without Tipton and Downing.  Yes, others can play the guitar parts, but they're not the band to me.  With us all getting older, we'll be seeing this more and more. 

There have been successful and unsuccessful band member replacements.  Some bands seem to be able to go on without any original members.  This all got me thinking and I'm interested in others' opinions.  Is there a point at which you'd stop listening to or stop going to see a band when one, two or all members are replaced?  I've seen some say Skynyrd was over after the plane crash, and others have gone to see AC/DC with Axl and Stevie and said it was a good show.  

It seems that more and more, the general public doesn't care who is in the band.   What's everyone's tipping point for this if there is one?  How many members could be missing from a band before you wouldn't see them?  

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25 minutes ago, DBraz said:

Bruce Dickinson made a fine career with Iron Maiden.

For me I am not bothered too much as long as the replacement does not stand out as a poor substitute and obvious "second best".  

 

I get that.  But, does that include any member of the band?  Harris in Maiden or Angus in AC/DC if someone can pull off what they're doing live?

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The Sons Of The Pioneers started in 1933.  Within four years one member left, and 16 years later the other two founding members left.  The group continues today, but no one was born at the time the group started.  Yes, I would still like to see them again. 

Foreigner is about to become The Sons Of The Pioneers if Mick Jones stops getting on the tour bus. 

38 Special is down to one member from the heyday, Don Barnes.  He left for a few years at the end of the 80's.  Now he serves the purpose of providing the original voice, but his voice has changed a little.  He used to belt out the songs.  Now he is a little more controlled as he sings.  When Barnes goes it will be interesting to see if 38 Special still books shows.  The show today is really the Don Barnes show. 

I worked a stage where The Stamps were booked.  J.D. Sumner had died within the year, and the group was fulfilling show dates booked before his death.  After those dates were played the group was supposed to end.  The gospel group had a history beginning in 1920.  By 1998 none of the original members were left, and the group's popularity had its peaks like when they worked with Elvis Presley.  I think someone got permission to use the name and book more shows.  In this group's case one has to assess if the members or the message is more important.

KISS is an odd situation.  Eric Singer joined when Eric Carr could no longer perform.  Bringing him back in Peter Criss' makeup only gets justified in that the "makeup show" was booked for Australian dates the band had to fulfill.  That started it.  As much as I love the old KISS, knowing Eric Singer and Tommy Thayer are going to actually show up and play their parts correctly is a big plus.  Gene and Paul still make it a KISS show. 

AXL/DC was a strange experience.  The show was good because it had an AC/DC stage with a band made up of people who had been in the band over the years.  Stevie Young really did nail Malcolm Young's parts.  As much as Axl Rose did a good job of respecting the music, it would be nice to let that tour be a one-off.  If Angus can get Brian Johnson to work in the studio they can call it AC/DC.  If not, Angus needs to finally graduate out of the school boy uniform and leave the band in his past. 

I do have to wonder what Judas Priest's upcoming shows will be like.  Staying positive about the situation helps.  The new album has Glenn Tipton writing and playing songs, so he is not truly gone yet. 

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If Rob Halford decided to stay home to tend his daisy garden and collect & cash big fat checks, Judas Priest might have to fold up the tent.  Rob IS Judas Priest.  However the Eagles are going back on tour with only one original Eagle, Don Henley. But his voice has always been the identity of that band.  you can't hear Hotel CA or Desperado without his voice.  Even the songs that Frey handled lead vocal, like Take It Easy could easily be covered by  Henley.  most of their vocals had lots of harmony soa single voice gets lost are.  The only one that could not be done with somebodies elses voice, Take it to the Limit simply couldn't be done without Meisner, IMHO.

48 minutes ago, scottcald said:

I get that.  But, does that include any member of the band?  Harris in Maiden or Angus in AC/DC if someone can pull off what they're doing live?

seems like there's always a studio musician somewhere who can pull off the guitar solo or drum parts exactly as the original.  6 strings and a 25½" scale are the same.  But vocals are different, the instrument is different, like a finger print. Sinuses, vocal chords, throat, everything that comes out of their mouth is different cuz the instrument is different. But a talented studio musician, given the same rig as the orig can pull it off just like the orig. again IMHO.

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Axl does a decent job but I think Marc Storace if krokus would have done a great job.   He can still sing saw a live video of them recently and was suprised how good they sounded when you removed the foolishness of their mid late 80’s look.       

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"I worked a stage where The Stamps were booked.  J.D. Sumner had died within the year, and the group was fulfilling show dates booked before his death.  After those dates were played the group was supposed to end.  The gospel group had a history beginning in 1920.  By 1998 none of the original members were left, and the group's popularity had its peaks like when they worked with Elvis Presley.  I think someone got permission to use the name and book more shows.  In this group's case one has to assess if the members or the message is more important."

J.D. was unreal. Saw the Stamps at an Elvis show in the early 70s. The sound system was like  something I had never seen before. When J.D. hit a low note (way beyond where EP could go), the whole Coliseum shook.

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1 hour ago, scottcald said:

I get that.  But, does that include any member of the band?  Harris in Maiden or Angus in AC/DC if someone can pull off what they're doing live?

I would say Maiden without Dickinson, Harris or Murray now would be too much for me to handle but I stand by what I said.  As long as a replacement doesn't feel like a poor substitute  I have no problem.

I think that a lot of it has to do with the time served by members and ultimately how influential they were.

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If Steve Harris dies, so does Iron Maiden.  If Dave Murray dies, there are still two guitar players who can play the early music.  If Bruce leaves it will be Steve Harris' call on whether or not to continue. 

Speculation on the Iron Maiden message board is usually about whether or not Nicko McBrain will be dropping out because of his age.  He is only 65!  Charlie Watts is still going at 76. 

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HELL: Both Andy Sneap (guitars) and Dave Bower (vocals) perfectly replace David Halliday. They are solid as... well... hell!

AC/DC: I don’t buy the Axl + whoever-replaces-Malcom version. That’s just too much. However, I do prefer Brian Johnson to Bon Scott, as I knew the band with the former, so I never cared that much about Bon.

Accept: Mark Tornillo replaces Udo perfectly. I even prefer Tornillo’s voice. The rest of the band also suffered from replacements here and there, but as far as Wolf Hoffmann remains, I’m fine with that.

Adam Lambert + Queen: Or Queen + AL. Yeah, it’s not Queen, I know. They also do know. I liked them live anyway. And a lot. Twice!

Scorpions: Uli Jon Roth marked an era, but Matthias Jabs rules on his own. I like both versions of the band. Both are very different, but I enjoy both the same, each one for what each one is.

I can go on, but need to drive now. Later! :)

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2 minutes ago, Steve Haynie said:

AC/DC changed too much at once.  If the changes had been drawn out over ten years it would have been easier to accept.

It all depends on who’s replaced and by whom. Malcolm was a precise riffing machine, but he rarely went under the spotlight —if ever. That’s probably less hard to replace than the man who was their frontman from 1980 to 2016. In addition, they do this by bringing in someone as controversial as... Axl Rose. I personally don’t dig it, because for me AC/DC was an institution and now it’s starting to look like a caricature to me —but well, I might be closed-minded too. Ha!

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Deep Purple: Steve Morse replaced Ritchie Fucking Blackmore and it did fucking work!!!! ...or didn’t it? Well, well... of course they’re no longer in their prime, so no more big hits such as “Smoke On the Water” and “Burn”, but I’d take Morse’s Purple to anything Blackmore would do live nowadays —anytime!

Metallica: They kicked out Mustaine and got Kirk Hammet, who isn’t Marty Friedman but did fit the bill perfectly... and then they went BIG. BTW, Metallica are far from being my preferred band, but to them what belongs to them.

Rush: Neil Peart replaced... err... who remembers the name of their first drummer? ‘Cause I won’t Google it now. In any case, it did work!

Genesis: Peter Gabriel gone, Phil Collins took over and it was a successful move, at least commercially —so successful Mr. Collins went solo eventually, and we all know what happened next. BTW, now prog purists can beat me, but I strongly prefer quality pop lovemaking to prog intellectual masturbation. Sorry guys! :) 

Need to drive again. CU later!

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11 minutes ago, zorrow said:

Rush: Neil Peart replaced... err... who remembers the name of their first drummer? ‘Cause I won’t Google it now. In any case, it did work!

The original drummer was John Rutsey.  Things worked out well for Rush despite such a drastic change in the band lineup. 

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Jethro Tull:

Glen Cornick replaced by Jeffery Hammond replaced by John Glascock replaced by Dave Pegg replaced by Jonathon Noyce replaced by Dave Goodier

Clive Bunker replaced by Barrie Barlow replaced by Mark Craney replaced by Doane Perry replaced by Scott Hammond

John Evan augmented by Dave Palmer both replaced by Eddie Jobson replaced by Peter Vetesse replaced by Maartin Alcock replaced by Andy Giddings replaced by John O'Hara

Mick Abrams replaced by Martin Barre replaced by Florian Ophale

 

One might argue that until about 2012, all the these replacements were either "transparent" or (in the the case of Barre for Abrams), an improvement.  I think though the loss of Barre in 2012 (and IA's faltering vocal abilities) have left whatever is today called "Jethro Tull" a rather unsatisfying melange of musical talent.   

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The Eagles money grab pisses me off.  Glenn Frey was the Heart and soul of that band and was equally as irreplaceable as Henley....you lose either and you don’t have the Eagles....

It’s like losing Mick or Keith.....

Vince Gill????  Glenn Frey was the reason Felder couldn’t return....it would have been better with Felder, but not enough..... they should have simply added the Frey boy and Gill and changed their name to something else. They could have still played Eagles/Walsh songs.

Rant over.

And Ac/DC....? Angus should just go solo and play heavy blues & blues/rock.. He would kill it and with the band he put together, would rejuvenate the genre. 

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