Bands that should have called it quits when their lead singer left

Started by hbelkins, February 05, 2019, 10:43:28 AM

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hbelkins

Quote from: SectorZ on February 05, 2019, 08:20:08 PM
Quote from: hbelkins on February 05, 2019, 10:43:28 AM
Black Sabbath. Dio was great, but Ozzy was unique.

Nothing about Ian Gillan, Tony Martin, or Glenn Hughes as well? Sabbath is one of my favorites and I honestly love all the eras.

Also, speaking of Ian Gillan, Deep Purple adding him was a massive upgrade, and lead to their run of great music.

Don't get me wrong, the two Dio-era Sabbath albums were pretty good. And I really liked the one album ("Born Again") that Gillan did with them.  But that was Ozzy's band. I thought it ironic that after Randy Rhoads got killed, Ozzy did a live album of solely Sabbath songs (Night Ranger's Brad Gillis on guitar) before Sabbath could get their live album with Dio on vocals released.

And speaking of Deep Purple, Coverdale-era Purple was different. I certainly didn't like those releases as much as the classic Mark II Purple albums. "Fireball" was just as good as "Machine Head."

Someone mentioned Genesis. I don't think they missed a beat when Collins took over vocals from Gabriel. Their voices sounded similar enough that Collins singing "I Know What I Like In Your Wardrobe" or "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway" was not really distinguishable from Gabriel.

And with Chicago/Cetera, Chicago has been focused more on touring than recording the last 25 years. And they built their reputation on musicianship as a group, rather than individual personalities. Cetera's abilities on bass are vastly unheralded. Listen to the bass lines on their first album if you don't believe me. His higher range was a good fit for the earlier ballads like "Just You 'n' Me" and "If You Leave Me Now" as well as some of the songs that pushed them back to the top in the mid-80s. It probably wouldn't have been possible for Cetera to maintain a solo career with Chicago's touring schedule.

"Van Hagar;" well, I liked Sammy as a solo artist and back to his Montrose days. Speaking of him, go pick up the "At Your Service" CD by Sammy Hagar & The Circle. They have a killer black guitarist I never heard of before named Vic Johnson, Michael Anthony on bass and Jason Bonham on drums. The album is a collection of live covers of Hagar classics, "Van Hagar" songs, Zeppelin tunes (paying homage to Bonham's dad) and even a version of "Rock Candy." Good stuff.


Government would be tolerable if not for politicians and bureaucrats.


golden eagle

I remember Foreigner having a different lead singer in the early 90s, but Lou Gramm rejoined later and even had a minor hit.

10,000 Maniacs should've given up after Natalie Merchant called it quits.


FightingIrish

Anyone ever hear the two Doors albums that were recorded as a trio after Jim Morrison died? I've heard them. Not very memorable.

FightingIrish

As far as a few other ones mentioned here...

1. Black Sabbath did record a couple really good albums with Dio.

2. Van Halen obviously held their own with Sammy Hagar.

3. The first three Genesis albums without Peter Gabriel were pretty good.

4. Steve Perry wasn't the original lead singer of Journey, but is the best known.

5. Chicago has always had several lead singers. Kath and Lamm handled the baritone vocal stuff, while Cetera had the higher-pitched material. But Kath died, and Lamm preferred to stay in the background, so it was all Cetera, until he left. Jason Scheff did a fairly decent job as his replacement, though.

6. Motley Crue recorded a really terrible album without Vince Neil. Then they brought him back. Thankfully.

dlsterner

Quote from: golden eagle on March 16, 2019, 06:49:55 PM
10,000 Maniacs should've given up after Natalie Merchant called it quits.

It's all opinion of course, but I thought 10,000 Maniacs did all right after moving Mary Ramsey to lead vocalist (she had been a backing vocalist, also playing viola).  Their cover of Roxy Music's "More Than This" seemed to receive a lot of airplay, as did the music video.  I have the first two post-Merchant albums, both are (IMHO) very listenable.

I'm not familiar with the Oskar Saville era that followed Mary Ramsey - although I believe Ramsey is back on lead vocals these days.

KeithE4Phx

Quote from: FightingIrish on March 16, 2019, 11:01:34 PM
Anyone ever hear the two Doors albums that were recorded as a trio after Jim Morrison died? I've heard them. Not very memorable.

Ray Manzarek had been the original vocalist for Rick and the Ravens, the band that became The Doors.  Robbie Krieger did some singing as well, most notably as the 2nd lead on Runnin' Blue, from the album The Soft Parade.  Both were competent, if not distinctive, lead vocalists.  But neither was Jim Morrison, which made them irrelevant as singers after Morrison's death. 

Despite his his fellow band members' talent, the reality was that Jim Morrison WAS The Doors, as far as their fans were concerned.  Manzarek, Krieger, and John Densmore should have taken the hint, and called it quits when Morrison died in 1971.
"Oh, so you hate your job? Well, why didn't you say so? There's a support group for that. It's called "EVERYBODY!" They meet at the bar." -- Drew Carey

bugo

Quote from: hbelkins on February 05, 2019, 10:43:28 AM
Iron Maiden. If anything, Bruce Dickinson was an upgrade over Paul Di'Anno.

It was for me. Di'Anno was very good, but Dickinson is a legend and one of the two finest heavy metal vocalists in history along with Rob Halford of Judas Priest. Speaking of Priest, I remember when they tried to replace Halford with the cheesy Ripper Owens. Those two albums were awful. Maiden's similar move to replace Dickinson with Blaze Bayley was more successful. Both vocalists have rejoined their main bands and all is right in the world. I've been fortunate enough to have seen Maiden twice and Priest once.

bugo

Quote from: abefroman329 on February 05, 2019, 12:47:27 PM
KISS should have called it quits the first time one of their members flipped out because someone was shining a laser pointer at the stage.
They should have called it a day when they realized that they can't write a good song to save their lives.

bugo

Quote from: hbelkins on February 06, 2019, 11:59:16 AM
Quote from: SectorZ on February 05, 2019, 08:20:08 PM
Quote from: hbelkins on February 05, 2019, 10:43:28 AM
Black Sabbath. Dio was great, but Ozzy was unique.

Nothing about Ian Gillan, Tony Martin, or Glenn Hughes as well? Sabbath is one of my favorites and I honestly love all the eras.

Also, speaking of Ian Gillan, Deep Purple adding him was a massive upgrade, and lead to their run of great music.

Don't get me wrong, the two Dio-era Sabbath albums were pretty good. And I really liked the one album ("Born Again") that Gillan did with them.  But that was Ozzy's band. I thought it ironic that after Randy Rhoads got killed, Ozzy did a live album of solely Sabbath songs (Night Ranger's Brad Gillis on guitar) before Sabbath could get their live album with Dio on vocals released.

And speaking of Deep Purple, Coverdale-era Purple was different. I certainly didn't like those releases as much as the classic Mark II Purple albums. "Fireball" was just as good as "Machine Head."

Someone mentioned Genesis. I don't think they missed a beat when Collins took over vocals from Gabriel. Their voices sounded similar enough that Collins singing "I Know What I Like In Your Wardrobe" or "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway" was not really distinguishable from Gabriel.

And with Chicago/Cetera, Chicago has been focused more on touring than recording the last 25 years. And they built their reputation on musicianship as a group, rather than individual personalities. Cetera's abilities on bass are vastly unheralded. Listen to the bass lines on their first album if you don't believe me. His higher range was a good fit for the earlier ballads like "Just You 'n' Me" and "If You Leave Me Now" as well as some of the songs that pushed them back to the top in the mid-80s. It probably wouldn't have been possible for Cetera to maintain a solo career with Chicago's touring schedule.

"Van Hagar;" well, I liked Sammy as a solo artist and back to his Montrose days. Speaking of him, go pick up the "At Your Service" CD by Sammy Hagar & The Circle. They have a killer black guitarist I never heard of before named Vic Johnson, Michael Anthony on bass and Jason Bonham on drums. The album is a collection of live covers of Hagar classics, "Van Hagar" songs, Zeppelin tunes (paying homage to Bonham's dad) and even a version of "Rock Candy." Good stuff.
Quote from: hbelkins on February 06, 2019, 11:59:16 AM
Don't get me wrong, the two Dio-era Sabbath albums were pretty good. And I really liked the one album ("Born Again") that Gillan did with them.  But that was Ozzy's band. I thought it ironic that after Randy Rhoads got killed, Ozzy did a live album of solely Sabbath songs (Night Ranger's Brad Gillis on guitar) before Sabbath could get their live album with Dio on vocals released.

There were 3 official Sabbath albums and one de facto Sabbath album with Dio singing. The first was 1980's Heaven and Hell, the second was 1981's Mob Rules. The third (and likely the one you forgot) was Dehumanizer which was released in 1992. The de facto Sabbath album was The Devil You Know which was released in 2009 which was confusingly credited to "Heaven And Hell" even though everybody and their dogs know it was the Dio era Sabbath. I assume changing the name was Sharon Osborne's idea, even though Sabbath was always Tony Iommi's band.

bugo


Avalanchez71

Quote from: abefroman329 on February 05, 2019, 03:27:42 PM
Quote from: kphoger on February 05, 2019, 03:02:54 PM
Quote from: abefroman329 on February 05, 2019, 12:46:42 PM

Quote from: Takumi on February 05, 2019, 12:42:10 PM
INXS should have stopped after Michael Hutchence died. Or maybe even before, but definitely after.

Oh yeah, completely forgot about their post-Hutchence career.

Similarly, Queen should never have reunited after Freddie Mercury died.

I didn't even realize INXS or Queen had continued on.  Wow, I can't even imagine those bands without their lead singers.
There was a pretty lengthy hiatus between the time their respective lead singers died and the time the reunited.  And I think INXS had some sort of reality show about searching for their new lead singer?
I actually opened up this thread as INXS just popped up on my playlist.

jp the roadgeek

Quote from: FightingIrish on March 16, 2019, 11:11:37 PM
2. Van Halen obviously held their own with Sammy Hagar.

Can't say the same about Gary Charone.  Things got so bad, Diamond Dave came back.

Small Faces also did pretty well when Steve Marriott left.  Just removed the "Small"  and added Jeff Beck Group lead singer Rod the Mod.
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abefroman329

Quote from: bugo on March 17, 2019, 06:03:22 PM
Quote from: abefroman329 on February 05, 2019, 12:47:27 PM
KISS should have called it quits the first time one of their members flipped out because someone was shining a laser pointer at the stage.
They should have called it a day when they realized that they can't write a good song to save their lives.
They have two or three good songs, but not nearly enough to justify their popularity.

roadman65

Quote from: jp the roadgeek on March 18, 2019, 02:37:43 AM
Quote from: FightingIrish on March 16, 2019, 11:11:37 PM
2. Van Halen obviously held their own with Sammy Hagar.

Can't say the same about Gary Charone.  Things got so bad, Diamond Dave came back.

Small Faces also did pretty well when Steve Marriott left.  Just removed the "Small"  and added Jeff Beck Group lead singer Rod the Mod.
The problem with VH is the drama that band had over the years.  It seems that Eddie was hard to get along with as first he got into it with Roth, then Hagar, and then Michael Anthony from what it seems.

Yes Cherone could not hold a candle to the original two.  Hagar, despite the fans giving him a bad rap did hold up for all the years he was with them though.

Bad Company did not have it good when Paul Rogers left, but I thought the album with Holy Water was not that bad.  38 Special also had a change in front man in 1990 as well that the original singer came back.

Oh then Boston, when Brad Delp was not on their fourth LP.  However, since he is no longer with us, that band has no choice but to have a new singer now.
Every day is a winding road, you just got to get used to it.

Sheryl Crowe

Rothman

Pfft.  David Lee Roth was just as much of an egomaniac, if not moreso, as the very short-lived reunion where he came back exemplified (the reunion ended shortly after its anmouncement, if memory serves, because DLR was such a jerk in making it all about him).
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position(s) of NYSDOT.

roadman65

Every day is a winding road, you just got to get used to it.

Sheryl Crowe

1995hoo

Quote from: roadman65 on March 19, 2019, 12:24:35 AM
....

Oh then Boston, when Brad Delp was not on their fourth LP.  However, since he is no longer with us, that band has no choice but to have a new singer now.


That whole thing was a strange situation. Delp wasn't on the record but did participate in the tour supporting that album (and the next tour after that) and he appeared on the fifth album, Corporate America, and the subsequent tour. It's been widely suggested that Delp and Tom Scholz had a falling-out in the late 1980s. Given Scholz's history of lawsuits and squabbles with so many people, I doubt it would surprise anyone to learn that's exactly what the situation was.
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Rothman

Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position(s) of NYSDOT.

dlsterner

Gwar was never the same after the untimely loss of lead singer Oderus Urungus (a.k.a. Dave Brockie).

roadman65

Is J Geils still around?  I know after Peter Wolfe left and Geils himself took the lead you never heard from them again.  Wolfe even made it big when he went solo with that Lights Out song as people considered him to be synonymous with the group that had many hits with him.
Every day is a winding road, you just got to get used to it.

Sheryl Crowe

kevinb1994

Quote from: roadman65 on March 28, 2019, 10:49:20 PM
Is J Geils still around?  I know after Peter Wolfe left and Geils himself took the lead you never heard from them again.  Wolfe even made it big when he went solo with that Lights Out song as people considered him to be synonymous with the group that had many hits with him.

No that's not true, it was Seth Justman the keyboardist who took over back in the 80s when Peter Wolf left. They were only able to make it for one more album that tanked ("You're Getting Even While I'm Getting Odd" ) before calling it quits before they got back together later on. J Geils himself sadly passed away a couple years ago.

KeithE4Phx

Quote from: roadman65 on March 28, 2019, 10:49:20 PM
Is J Geils still around?  I know after Peter Wolfe left and Geils himself took the lead you never heard from them again.  Wolfe even made it big when he went solo with that Lights Out song as people considered him to be synonymous with the group that had many hits with him.

Geils died a couple of years ago, on 4/11/2017 at age 71.
"Oh, so you hate your job? Well, why didn't you say so? There's a support group for that. It's called "EVERYBODY!" They meet at the bar." -- Drew Carey

kevinb1994

Quote from: KeithE4Phx on March 28, 2019, 10:53:50 PM
Quote from: roadman65 on March 28, 2019, 10:49:20 PM
Is J Geils still around?  I know after Peter Wolfe left and Geils himself took the lead you never heard from them again.  Wolfe even made it big when he went solo with that Lights Out song as people considered him to be synonymous with the group that had many hits with him.

Geils died a couple of years ago, on 4/11/2017 at age 71.

And it was not long after Chuck Berry had passed away at age 90, just a couple/few weeks prior in fact.

roadman65

Chicago should really call it quits without Bill Champlin.  I cannot picture the second era of the band without him.  Sure the first era did not have him, but that was when they were more rocking with  Robert Lamm more of a full time vocalist and the late Terry Kath who had a lot to contribute.

The band probably did well changing genre after Kath died as I do not know if they would have been the same as a typical rock band without Terry.  It was more like a new band came forth when they went easy listening and adult contemporary.  Some songs with Champlin in the mix like Hard Habit To Break ( singing co lead with Cetera) and having his voice come into Will You Still Love Me with Cetera's replacement Jason Scheff singing lead on that one, but Champlin singing some lines in the chorus were kind of rocking.  Even the ones with Bill as solo lead like Look Away and Your'e Not Alone had a new type of Chicago sound with his voice.

Nonetheless, I miss his powerful voice.
Every day is a winding road, you just got to get used to it.

Sheryl Crowe

KeithE4Phx

Quote from: kevinb1994 on March 28, 2019, 10:54:43 PM
Quote from: KeithE4Phx on March 28, 2019, 10:53:50 PM
Quote from: roadman65 on March 28, 2019, 10:49:20 PM
Is J Geils still around?  I know after Peter Wolfe left and Geils himself took the lead you never heard from them again.  Wolfe even made it big when he went solo with that Lights Out song as people considered him to be synonymous with the group that had many hits with him.

Geils died a couple of years ago, on 4/11/2017 at age 71.

And it was not long after Chuck Berry had passed away at age 90, just a couple/few weeks prior in fact.

Berry had died on March 18th of that year.
"Oh, so you hate your job? Well, why didn't you say so? There's a support group for that. It's called "EVERYBODY!" They meet at the bar." -- Drew Carey



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