Wednesday, July 06, 2005

The Replacements

No, this isn't about the band (although they are a favorite.) I've had a project in my mind for the last month or so that I've been brainstorming. Many bands will replace their lead singer after some time. It may be because they went solo, died, couldn't hit the notes anymore or had too much attitude. The past is full of many of those stories. I've been working on a list of the top 10 bands that have replaced their lead singer and bettered their career or at least achieved the same level of success. I have my list that I'll present you with later but I'd like to see who you can come up with that I might have bypassed.

The criteria: The band had to record at least one album with the previous singer before the next one came in. The success of the band after the new singer joined is very important.

Good luck!

12 comments:

Fred said...

I can only think of Van Halen and maybe Average White Band?

I'm looking forward to seeing this list.

RT said...

Pink Floyd. Roger Waters and David Gilmour both rock! To this day, I still can't decide who I love more, lol.

Lily said...

AC/DC & Rainbow are two that pop right into my head.

Lily said...

Genesis

Unknown said...

Van Halen and Chicago jump into my mind.

LoraLoo said...

Everyone already got my guesses... so I'm officially stumped. Looking forward to seeing your list!

RT said...

Genesis! Lily, you rock! I can't believe I mentioned Pink Floyd and not Peter Gabriel and Phil Collins (two other favorites)... I'm such a loser. :o)

Fiona said...

I say Split Enz.

Leads: Tim Finn, then his brother, Neil.

The Enz had some pretty strong hits both before and after Neil started as lead singer so it's hard to say whether the success rate was equalled or better after the lead change, however, Neil made quite a few changes within the group and the direction of their music changed alot after Neil arrived, so, I think that the Tim and Neil "eras" of The Enz are deserving of comparison.

Martin said...

Ok, here is my list (more than 10 because I haven't ranked them):

- Fleetwood Mac
- Genesis
- AC/DC
- Van Halen
- Chicago
- Doobie Brothers
- Black Sabbath
- Rainbow
- Iron Maiden
- Pink Floyd
- Ultravox
- Faith No More
- Anthrax

I can't believe that I forgot Rainbow in my original list. Joe Lynn Turner deserves a swing at me if he can. Split Enz almost made it but seeing that Neil took over all the lead vocals on their final album, See Ya Round, which didn't keep with the same level of success... I had to hold them off. Love the band but the album was very disjointed (every band member wrote a song for the album) and lacked a hit single.

You guys did a great job. B) It definitely helped me sort through a few that I might not have.

Lily said...

Thanks RT. =)

Martin, Rainbows 'straight between the eyes' was one of the albums that I listened to over and over again when I was a teen.

Teri said...

10,000 Maniacs. What about Journey?

Martin said...

10,000 Maniacs had a good album with their new singer (I was waiting to hear more from the group after their first with her.) But, their cover of Roxy Music's "More Than This" only garnered modest airplay. Can't really say that bettered or maintained their success.

Journey is interesting. They had no vocalist for the first few albums pre-Steve Perry. Post-Perry, Steve Augeri has sounded very good but hasn't scored a hit single with the band yet.