Bands that change singers: for better or worse?

[hbelkins]

Lots have bands have changed lead singers over the years. Sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worst. Sometimes a singer that was great in one band bombs in another one.

Deep Purple: Ian Gillan was the best of all of them. He's come and gone so many times, I have no clue who fronts them now.

Iron Maiden: Paul Di'Anno was good, but the human air raid siren (Bruce Dickenson) took them to another level.

Van Halen: Probably the most-discussed of all of them. I preferred Roth. I liked Hagar's solo work and his work in Montrose, but he just didn't do it for me in Van Halen. And Cherone just didn't cut it at all.

Foreigner: Kelly Hansen was good in Hurricane but meh in Foreigner.

Black Sabbath: Ozzy FTW. Dio was great in Rainbow and as a solo performer. And Gillan turned in a decent effort with them. I don't even know who the lead singer is now.

Rainbow: Not sure the singer made much difference. Dio was good, so was Graham Bonnett for his one album, Joe Lynn Turner was good as well.

Molly Hatchet: Jimmy Farrar was no Danny Joe Brown.

Chicago: Bill Champlin's voice was like the proverbial fingernails on a chalkboard to me. They've never been able to duplicate Terry Kath's voice. Closest thing I've heard is the trumpet player, Lee Loughnane, who sang "Song of the Evergreens" on their seventh album and for years I thought it was Kath. Jason Scheff was a suitable replacement for Peter Cetera.

Judas Priest: Rob Halford made that band.

AC/DC: I still prefer Bon Scott over Brian Johnson.

Bad Company: Paul Rodgers was the man. The late 80s incarnation of the group was OK, but not quite the same.

Queen: The aforementioned Rodgers performed with them for awhile. They seem to have settled on Adam Lambert now. But Freddie Mercury was unique.

Sensing a pattern here? For the most part, I prefer the original singers (Purple and Maiden being notable exceptions.)

[Rothman]

Those bands are older than dirt.

[kphoger]

What about the various iterations of 10,000 Maniacs?

[Max Rockatansky]

I didn't even know Queen was still active after Freddie Mercury died. 

[hotdogPi]

What about the various iterations of 10,000 Maniacs?

Without ever having heard the band name before, I thought this was an online group of 10,000 people (or at least over 100) whose members obviously keep changing because people can easily join and leave without it affecting the band at all.

[kphoger]

What about the various iterations of 10,000 Maniacs?

Without ever having heard the band name before, I thought this was an online group of 10,000 people (or at least over 100) whose members obviously keep changing because people can easily join and leave without it affecting the band at all.

What!  How could you not have heard of them, when they're on hobsini2's playlist?   

[1995hoo]

Boston. No other vocalist they've had can compare to Brad Delp.

[Takumi]

Agree with HB on Van Halen. For me, the Roth era had a sense of humor that Van Hagar didn't.

INXS. Nobody could fill Michael Hutchence's shoes.

Genesis. I prefer Phil.

Not sure if Joy Division/New Order counts since they changed the band's name after Ian Curtis' suicide.

[Mapmikey]

What about the various iterations of 10,000 Maniacs?

Without ever having heard the band name before, I thought this was an online group of 10,000 people (or at least over 100) whose members obviously keep changing because people can easily join and leave without it affecting the band at all.

You're thinking of Menudo

[jp the roadgeek]

How about Todd Rundgren when he headlined with members of The Cars billed as The New Cars in comparison to Orr and Ocasek?

Journey: Neil Schon vs Steve Perry vs whoever they've had since then (give me Perry)

Yes: Jon Anderson vs Trevor Horn vs Jon Davison (nobody compares to Anderson)

[andrepoiy]

What a band that changed all of its personnel except for the vocalist?
(Guns N' Roses).

I think that their 2008 album (where all the personnel changes took place) called Chinese Democracy, is the best album.

[jp the roadgeek]

What a band that changed all of its personnel except for the vocalist?
(Guns N' Roses).

I think that their 2008 album (where all the personnel changes took place) called Chinese Democracy, is the best album.

And then you have the rotating chair that was the keyboardist position for the Grateful Dead: Ron "Pigpen" McKernan, Tom Constanten, Keith Godchaux, Brent Mydland, Vince Welnick, and part-timers Bruce Hornsby and Ned Lagin.  So many different styles to choose from.  Pigpen hard blues, Godchaux classical/jazz, Mydland more straight up rock, Welnick more new wave from his stint with The Tubes.  All had a unique sound. However, the seat had a curse on it, as all the full timers except Constanten (who was only with the band for a year and is still with us) succumbed to an early death. 

[GCrites]

Everyone should at least give Tony Martin-fronted Black Sabbath a chance. No, Geezer wasn't writing the songs so the mind-expanding stuff isn't there but man did he have a set of pipes. I suggest starting with the Headless Cross album. On a technical basis he was the best for sure. Or watch a live show. I still like the Ozzy stuff the best with Dio number two but each Mk. of Black Sabbath has its charms even if the Tony Martin-era songs are the least memorable.

[GCrites]

Those bands are older than dirt.

'Cause in bands that started after about 1995 if the singer left the band the band quit or became irrelevant. Members either start a supergroup or make it a different project. One exception is maybe Blink 182. You don't have the "singer for hire" economy of Hagar, Joe Lynn Turner, Dio, and Glenn Hughes. Big acts are so poppy and singer-oriented today (or a tight-knit group of people that go back to like, 5th grade, family members even) that bringing in an outside singer messes up the whole thing. And if singer-for-hire does happen they're 20-30 years younger than the rest of the band. Like how Diamond Head is Brian Tatler and a bunch of 35-year-olds.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

Yes: Jon Anderson vs Trevor Horn vs Jon Davison (nobody compares to Anderson)

Benoit David also had a cup of coffee with the band as the second Jon replacement, performing lead on 2011's Fly From Here. He was probably my favorite of the three Anderson replacements, and by all accounts was just as unceremoniously ditched like Anderson was after his own long term illness.

[STLmapboy]

What about the various iterations of 10,000 Maniacs?

Without ever having heard the band name before, I thought this was an online group of 10,000 people (or at least over 100) whose members obviously keep changing because people can easily join and leave without it affecting the band at all.

What!  How could you not have heard of them, when they're on hobsini2's playlist?   

"List every song you know off the top of your head."

[dlsterner]

What about the various iterations of 10,000 Maniacs?

A band that I have always liked!  I was concerned when Natalie Merchant announced that she was leaving, but they seemed to do all right when going with Mary Ramsey.  It probably helped that Mary didn't come from outside, but was "promoted" from within, from strings & backing vocals to lead vocal, so there was some continuity there.

I have albums (does anybody use that term anymore) from both the Merchant and the Ramsey eras, and both sound pleasing to me.  I think (personally) I would give the slight edge to Natalie.

Oskar Saville also had a turn as lead vocalist, although I'm not familiar with her work with the band.

[texaskdog]

What about the various iterations of 10,000 Maniacs?

Without ever having heard the band name before, I thought this was an online group of 10,000 people (or at least over 100) whose members obviously keep changing because people can easily join and leave without it affecting the band at all.

Natalie Merchant was my least favorite member of the band.  Didn't care for her solo stuff at all.  Their early stuff was great but suffered without John Lombardo.

[texaskdog]

Yes: Jon Anderson vs Trevor Horn vs Jon Davison (nobody compares to Anderson)

Benoit David also had a cup of coffee with the band as the second Jon replacement, performing lead on 2011’s Fly From Here. He was probably my favorite of the three Anderson replacements, and by all accounts was just as unceremoniously ditched like Anderson was after his own long term illness.

I actually liked Trevor Horn.  They just didn't give him a chance.  funny how they split up and over time the band evolved 100% back into the Drama band (Howe, White, Squire, Downes, and then Trevor Horn did return trip)

[texaskdog]

What a band that changed all of its personnel except for the vocalist?
(Guns N' Roses).

I think that their 2008 album (where all the personnel changes took place) called Chinese Democracy, is the best album.

And then you have the rotating chair that was the keyboardist position for the Grateful Dead: Ron "Pigpen" McKernan, Tom Constanten, Keith Godchaux, Brent Mydland, Vince Welnick, and part-timers Bruce Hornsby and Ned Lagin.  So many different styles to choose from.  Pigpen hard blues, Godchaux classical/jazz, Mydland more straight up rock, Welnick more new wave from his stint with The Tubes.  All had a unique sound. However, the seat had a curse on it, as all the full timers except Constanten (who was only with the band for a year and is still with us) succumbed to an early death. 

where did the Spinal Tap drummer idea come from?  So many bands seem to have that rotating position they can't keep filled.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

Chester Bennington fronted both Linkin Park and Stone Temple Pilots for a time after Scott Weiland was kicked out of STP. Eventually it got to be too much and he left STP, I'm not sure if Chester did an album with them or not. Of course, both of those guys are tragically gone now.

[SectorZ]

Everyone should at least give Tony Martin-fronted Black Sabbath a chance. No, Geezer wasn't writing the songs so the mind-expanding stuff isn't there but man did he have a set of pipes. I suggest starting with the Headless Cross album. On a technical basis he was the best for sure. Or watch a live show. I still like the Ozzy stuff the best with Dio number two but each Mk. of Black Sabbath has its charms even if the Tony Martin-era songs are the least memorable.

Agreed. The Tony Martin era is still outstanding. It's a different type of Black Sabbath, but they probably would have sounded much different if Ozzy was with them in the late 80's, early 90's as well.

[Takumi]

Remember when Axl Rose was the lead singer for AC/DC for about a month?

[hbelkins]

I'd forgotten Genesis. The style of music changed, but I always thought Peter Gabriel and Phil Collins weren't all that different vocally. It wasn't the drastic change that you got when Hagar replaced Roth in Van Halen.

Here's another one I forgot. Rush. 1970s Geddy Lee vs. 2000s Geddy Lee.  The way "2112" was tuned down as early as the "Different Stages" live set showed just how much his voice had changed. Somewhere on YouTube there's a clip of various live versions of "Tom Sawyer" that purports to demonstrate his vocal changes, but to me it's not that noticeable on that song.

I'm amazed at how little Paul Stanley's range has deteriorated. He doesn't sound a great deal different now than he did when Kiss was filling arenas.

where did the Spinal Tap drummer idea come from?  So many bands seem to have that rotating position they can't keep filled.

I think that "spontaneously combusting drummer" thing was just supposed to be a joke within the joke.

[andrepoiy]

Remember when Axl Rose was the lead singer for AC/DC for about a month?

That was great, although he wasn't an official member