Who's the hardest member of a band to replace?

[RUSHHEAD666]

There is also something to be said for the person who is the primary songwriter for the band. Say Jimmy Page left Zeppelin after their third or fourth album. How do they replace him and his songwriting abilities? They would have been a completely different band without him.

 

Led Zeppelin was also a supergroup. When a band reaches that level, the departure of one member usually (but not always) ends the band.

 

The Who wasn't the same without Keith Moon.

RUSH would have disbanded immediately.

Black Sabbath lost their identity and mystique after Ozzy left.

 

Totally.

 

Although I did love it when Simon Phillips was in The Who. Live only. Too bad Simon didn't record a record with The Who. But I'm a biased drummer.

[Entre_Perpetuo]

It depends on the band.

 

It depends on the band. Maiden without Harris? How did AC/DC do when they replaced their singer?

 

Of course this. Yes, main songwriter is another obvious choice, but the poll choices are for instruments, not songwriters. In a lot of cases, a band's main songwriter is also their best instrumentalist, but not always.

 

Triumph without Rik Emmet's guitar and voice? Iron Maiden without Steve Harris' bass? Deep Purple without Jon Lord's keys? Van Halen without Eddie? (And you could argue Michael Anthony for his voice, too.) Metallica without James Hetfield? Kansas is a subpar version of itself without Steve Walsh and Kerry Livgren. Aerosmith without Steven Tyler? Different bands have different instruments that are too important to replace.

 

Some bands can plug and play an instrument and still be true to themselves. Yes had done it for decades with Chris Squire being the one constant -- and I thought he was the one irreplaceable piece until I saw Geddy sitting in for him.

 

To be fair though, if your bassist is so iconic and talented that the most reasonable replacement is both massively influenced by him and one of rock's most iconic and talented bassists in his own right, that's pretty close to irreplaceable status.

[Entre_Perpetuo]

I'm working on compiling a list of the number of instances each instrumentalist/singer has been replaced between as many major rock bands as I have patience to compile. So far there haven't been a lot of rhythm guitarists to speak of in the bands I've looked at, but lead singers have been replaced half as often as any of the other four instruments (also I started with Yes, and the number of keyboardist replacements was just towering over the other instruments for the next many bands I ent through). I'll post the results here when I feel like I've compiled enough bands.

[RUSHHEAD666]

It depends on the band.

 

It depends on the band. Maiden without Harris? How did AC/DC do when they replaced their singer?

 

Of course this. Yes, main songwriter is another obvious choice, but the poll choices are for instruments, not songwriters. In a lot of cases, a band's main songwriter is also their best instrumentalist, but not always.

 

Triumph without Rik Emmet's guitar and voice? Iron Maiden without Steve Harris' bass? Deep Purple without Jon Lord's keys? Van Halen without Eddie? (And you could argue Michael Anthony for his voice, too.) Metallica without James Hetfield? Kansas is a subpar version of itself without Steve Walsh and Kerry Livgren. Aerosmith without Steven Tyler? Different bands have different instruments that are too important to replace.

 

Some bands can plug and play an instrument and still be true to themselves. Yes had done it for decades with Chris Squire being the one constant -- and I thought he was the one irreplaceable piece until I saw Geddy sitting in for him.

 

To be fair though, if your bassist is so iconic and talented that the most reasonable replacement is both massively influenced by him and one of rock's most iconic and talented bassists in his own right, that's pretty close to irreplaceable status.

 

Funny.

 

The Who could NEVER replace OX.

 

How could Weather Report ever replace Jaco?

 

 

How could Miles Davis ever replace Tony Williams?

 

It's ENDLESS!!!!!!!

 

 

How could GREEN JELLO replace Danny Carey? LOL!!!!!!!!

[Nova Carmina]

Like others said, it depends on the kind of music they play (think of the iterations of Dio, Whitesnake, Jethro Tull) because some players could be replaced and you'd literally never know it, but the guys up front -- usually the singer and guitarists -- are the most visible and "associate-able" with the band.

 

I went with lead singer (although counter-examples abound; we await Entre's list), lead guitarist (given signature styles, etc.), and then drummer because for so many interesting bands, the drummer has a lot of work to do to hold it all together; if your drummer is just a metronome, that guy could easily be replaced.

 

I want to add bassist because I'm biased in that direction, but -- if it's not Yes or Rush or Cream, etc. -- the bassist probably isn't doing the most. Unless it's Steve Harris, as has been noted -- that guy is his own category.

 

It probably also depends on when it happens in the band's trajectory. If it's Deep Purple, that band changed so often, from so early on, that the fans were more or less prepped for it. If it's a peak change, like AC/DC, that's harder. If it's on the downward slope, maybe that's a sign of the end (Ray Wilson?).

[grep]

It depends on the band. Maiden without Harris? How did AC/DC do when they replaced their singer?

 

ACDC did pretty good. Brian Johnson was successful. When they brought in Axyl, it worked. surprisingly.

[Rick N. Backer]

It depends on the band. Maiden without Harris? How did AC/DC do when they replaced their singer?

 

ACDC did pretty good. Brian Johnson was successful. When they brought in Axyl, it worked. surprisingly.

 

Their success with Johnson was exponential and immediate.

[chemistry1973]

I’ll tell you who.

 

 

The one with the ambition and drive to be successful. f**k talent.

[pjbear05]

It depends on the band.

 

It depends on the band. Maiden without Harris? How did AC/DC do when they replaced their singer?

 

Of course this. Yes, main songwriter is another obvious choice, but the poll choices are for instruments, not songwriters. In a lot of cases, a band's main songwriter is also their best instrumentalist, but not always.

 

Triumph without Rik Emmet's guitar and voice? Iron Maiden without Steve Harris' bass? Deep Purple without Jon Lord's keys? Van Halen without Eddie? (And you could argue Michael Anthony for his voice, too.) Metallica without James Hetfield? Kansas is a subpar version of itself without Steve Walsh and Kerry Livgren. Aerosmith without Steven Tyler? Different bands have different instruments that are too important to replace.

 

Some bands can plug and play an instrument and still be true to themselves. Yes had done it for decades with Chris Squire being the one constant -- and I thought he was the one irreplaceable piece until I saw Geddy sitting in for him.

 

To be fair though, if your bassist is so iconic and talented that the most reasonable replacement is both massively influenced by him and one of rock's most iconic and talented bassists in his own right, that's pretty close to irreplaceable status.

 

Funny.

 

The Who could NEVER replace OX.

 

How could Weather Report ever replace Jaco?

 

 

How could Miles Davis ever replace Tony Williams?

 

It's ENDLESS!!!!!!!

 

 

How could GREEN JELLO replace Danny Carey? LOL!!!!!!!!

You want lol, how can any band replace Anthony Jackson?

[TheAccountant]

I went for:

 

1. Lead Singer

2. Lead Guitarist

3. Drummer

 

#1 was easy. I could have flip -flopped #2's & 3 however.

 

That being said, it really depends on the particulars of the band.

[cygnify]

Singer/drummer/lead guitar

 

It's totally dependent on who has a musical voice within a band. Alot of bands that I like (as a drummer) feature drummer's with a musical voice in the band; that's why I put them second. Neil Peart, Bill Bruford, Gavin Harrison, etc. Typically, yeah, the singer is most immediate and a literal voice. That said, another band I like, Opeth, replaced drummer and a shared-lead guitarist successfully - it's not that they didn't have a voice in the band - but the overall vision was Michael Akerfeldt.

 

On the other hand, you could have an egomaniac guitarist that tries unsuccessfully to replace everyone around him and ends up fronting a tribute band - like Journey. (who today announced their new drummer replacement for the fired Steve Smith... to play with their tribute band vocalist and tribute band bassist. I doubt they will make any new musical statement, so, yeah. Tribute band.) I'll cut EVH some slack because of his health concerns, but he almost ended up there as well.

[blueschica]

Not what you are going for, but Neil Peart . :(

[Super25Smasher]

The primary songwriter(s), and in some cases, the lead singer. Occasionally the lead guitarist

[goose]

I’ll tell you who.

 

 

The one with the ambition and drive to be successful. f**k talent.

:goodone:

 

That certainly matters.

[stoopid]

Some bass for your face.

[Syrinx]

Has to be the drummer - most important part of any band!

[Segue Myles]

Has to be the drummer - most important part of any band!

 

I actually agree, to some extent. One of the reasons I've fallen out of love with Metallica in recent years is Lars. Honestly? He's dreadful.

 

Many of my favourite bands have fantastic drummers, an element I really seem to gravitate towards: Mastodon, Trivium, Dream Theater, Nightwish, Rush, Yes, Alter Bridge...

 

I don't listen to bands solely for the drumming, some of my favourite bands have average at best drummers, but it really adds the my enjoyment of the drumming is fantastic. Like I said, once I noticed how limited Lars is, Metallica lost a lot of my enthusiasm.

 

I agree with Treeduck, in many ways, when it comes to Metallica.

[tangy]

Usually the one that quits the band to embark on a career as a solo artist....... :smoke:

 

I am pretty sensitive to any changes to a band i like. usually its the end for me.

 

voted singer, guitarist, drummer.

[Texas King]

1. Singer

 

Imagine Rush without Geddy Lee's vocals. That would not be real Rush.

[Segue Myles]

1. Singer

 

Imagine Rush without Geddy Lee's vocals. That would not be real Rush.

 

Rush aren't the be all and end all.

[Three Eyes]

On average, who do you think is the hardest band member to replace? the 2nd hardest? the 3rd? And why?

 

Well if it's a punk band, all the members are pretty much interchangeable so if the guitar player and the drummer decide trade instruments it's unlikely there would be a discernible difference in the band's overall performance quality. But more to your question, if the drummer of the punk band can't make a gig some night and the other band members are wondering what the f they're going to do, they could always have his aunt Lois fill-in and it should work out great. She might have to work on her punk face though which is the hardest part. They'd just need to give her a mirror and some photos of Sid Vicious and she'll be making constipation faces in no time. So yeah, the drummer is the easiest to get rid of.

 

But seriously, the one who is putting butts in seats is likely the toughest to replace. The star. But the star may or may not be the creative force, the architect of the sound, the main songwriter, what have you. In the case of Iron Maiden, Dickinson puts butts in the seats but Harris is arguably the musical brains behind the whole thing. So it's a tough call in a situation like that. For Rush it wouldn't have been possible, imo. They really were three unique, equal and indispensable parts of a whole.