I agree, considering that Orr sang Just What I Needed, Drive, Let’s Go, Moving In Stereo, Candy-O,* Bye Bye Love* and more.
The The is pretty much just Matt Johnson.
Bennett most certainly helped YHF become the great album that it is, but when Tweedy was sick of him he booted him from the band (as he had with other members before that).
The current incarnation is a lot more stable, but Jeff still writes all of the songs and tightly controls the band. He’s said in interviews that the band could still handle losing any of the members, except bassist John Stirratt (I think it’s in the Ashes of American Flags concert doc). If John ever left, the band would cease to be, but regardless of that fact, that’s more about friendship and less about who’s controlling the output of the band. And honestly, if Jeff wanted to keep Wilco going w/o John - he would and could.
Two “Soul” bands:
Soul Asylum is Dave Pirner and company.
Collective Soul is basically Ed Roland and his brother and some guys.
I was never a big fan of either band, but I liked “Shine” and I caught a Collective Soul concert on the TeeVee somewhere along the line and what struck me was how the show started: three guys on stage doing several bars of instrumental music followed by Ed Roland strolling onto stage, smiling and waving and bowing like he was Elvis in Hawaii. I kind of actively hated them after that.
Boston = Tom Scholz
NOW it does, but for decades, it was Scholtz and the late Brad Delp.
I agree that without Brad’s voice, Boston would not be Boston, but Tom was clearly the originator, master and controller.
I’m not familiar with the arc of their career, but when I saw them supporting the Rev a few years ago I got the distinct impression that Johnny Hickman wasn’t easily replaceable.
I suppose it’s fair to say that, in the Kinks, everyone except Ray and Dave was replaceable; and I get the impression that some of the friction between the Davies brothers arose from Dave’s perception and resentment of Ray treating the band as his own personal project.
Being familiar with NIN = Trent Reznor, I was surprised to find out that Marilyn Manson did not start out as “Marilyn & whoever” but was a real band with some core members. But then over the years people have come in and out, so I guess really now it’s “Marilyn & his guys.” In fact, here’s a chart.
I would say Guns’n’Roses doesn’t count. Slash was at least as irreplaceable as Axl Rose. Probably more so after Axl OD’d and srcrewed up his voice.
The Stooges were always Iggy Pop and a few other guys.
Barre yes, but Barlow was a member for only nine years out of a 40-something year band history and is not on the band’s most famous album, Aqualung. (Although I personally agree that the years he was with the band were their peak.) In fact, Barlow’s presence was a symptom of Ian Anderson’s complete dominance of Jethro Tull, as his hire completed Anderson’s tactic of replacing the other original band members with his old cronies from the John Evan Band.
The Waterboys
That just hurts. Why the hate for the Asheton brothers! They were definitely involved in forming the Stooges sound.
Yeah, that’s all true. There’s no doubt that it’s Tweedy’s band now. But even A Ghost is Born and Sky Blue Sky had at least had a few songs with co-credits. Not so much with the last two albums.
Of course, I would argue that the quality of the band’s output has fallen along with that trend, but obviously YMMV.
A Perfect Circle
I agree with you up until The Whole Love, which is a freaking phenomenal album and right up there with YHF and AGiB.
That’s a fair question. I thought they’d both left the band at some point, but I was wrong. The Stooges have kept up touring since Ron’s death, but Scott was their only drummer up until last year.
I withdraw the Stooges with apologies to the Ashetons. :smack:
I haven’t even listened to the Whole Love, since I hated the two previous albums so badly. But I’ve also always liked Summerteeth more than YHF, so take from that what you will.
For fans who like the pre-YHF output, check out Jay Bennett’s collaboration with Edward Burch, The Palace at 4am. It’s a phenomenal album that contains several songs that would easily be worthy of inclusion on a Wilco album.