The Beach Boys needed all three Wilson brothers, and the Bee Gees needed all three Gibb brothers.
I don’t know how the Google ads came up with “Iron Butterfly Ringtone,” but I’ll just chip in that any Iron Butterfly lineup without Doug Ingle is bogus.
It’s bogus with him too.
Wasn’t this a KiTH skit?
OTOH, whatever group Chris Cornell is in is Soundgarden. Soundgarden was Soundgarden and Audio Slave is also Soundgarden. Hell, even Temple of the Dog was Soundgarden.
That’s always been my opinion.
And I’d rather see the Eagles without Joe Walsh than without Don Felder.
Yeah!! Not only that, Alex Lifeson’s solo CD isn’t even remotely Rush.
And I’ll bet Neil Peart’s novels aren’t very Rush, either. 
I thought Temple of the Dog was Pearl Jam? (Of course, I only listen to that one song…)
You couldn’t have The Guess Who without Burton Cummings.
The Eagles don’t exist without Don Henley and Glenn Frey. Joe Walsh is almost indepensible. Don Felder, not so much. As he found out when he demanded equal billing and pay before the last tour. See ya, Don.
Wilco doesn’t exist without Jeff Tweedy. The rest are all expendible.
The White Stripes can’t exist without Meg. Because then it would be a Jack White solo act. (-:
As a non-fan of the Eagles, I’m puzzled that Walsh is considered so important to the band. They did go through half their career (not counting the endless reunion tours), including about half a dozen major hit singles, before he even joined. (Is he on “Already Gone”? That’s one of the few Eagles songs I even vaguely like.)
Some would say it was no longer Genesis when Peter Gabriel left. It was a successful 80’s pop band, but not Genesis in anything but name.
Pink Floyd lost both leads and yet was still Pink Floyd for Momentary & Division Bell.
Yes only needs Jon Anderson and Chris Squire. All other parts are interchangeable. Drama was not a commercial or artistic success. (Squire used the Buggles for Og’s Sake).
The Who to me are Pete Townsend and Roger Daltrey despite the greatness of Moon and yet Zeppelin could not be Zeppelin without Bonham. (Though I would accept Jason as a viable pinch hitter)
Deep Purple hasn’t really been Deep Purple for so long, I don’t remember what was the real Deep Purple anymore.
Jim
Joe Walsh didn’t join the Eagles until they released Hotel California, which was their most successful album. But it was basically the tail-end of their career (until they re-united in 1990). Before Walsh came along, they were already one of the biggest acts of the 1970’s, and had a number of monster hits.
The biggest selling album of all time is The Eagles Greatest Hits, and Walsh isn’t on it. Every song on it was released before he joined the band.
Nonetheless, he became a signature part of their sound from that point forward. He’s the lead singer on a number of hit songs they had from Hotel California and The Long Run, and a lot of people think he made the band much better and gave it not only a harder edge but a sense of humor, which had been sorely lacking.
He’s also their best guitarist (although Don Felder is no slouch), and in fact is considered to be one of the better rock guitarists around.
The Eagles actually lost a member that most people would have said was indispensible - Randy Meisner. Meisner was the writer or co-writer of a number of their hits, and sang lead vocal on at least one of their major singles (“Take it to the Limit” is Randy Meisner). But such was the depth of talent in the band that his departure was hardly noticed.
Assuming the Cure is still around (I remember reading that the last album they put out was supposed to be their final, but we all know how reliable that is), Robert Smith is the only essential member. Everyone else came and went over the years.
I’d actually argue that Hackett leaving was what signeled Genesis’s change from Genesis to successful 80’s pop band. If you look at a timeline, after Gabriel leaves, Genesis puts out Trick of the Tail, and Wind & Wuthering, which were both very Genesissy albums. Only after Hackett leaves do they start putting out albums like Duke and abacab.
I think **Spinal Tap **proved that drummers are pretty much expendable.
That is fair. Probably more accurate. Genesis was basically a progressive rock band and with the two big departures became a pop rock band.
Blasphemer! Witch! Well, Les Claypool is bassist & lead singer for Primus and he’s irreplacable, more for the bass than the singing. Nobody plays bass like Les Claypool.
Off the top of my head I don’t think The Red Hot Chili Peppers, No Doubt, the Barenaked Ladies or Soul Coughing would be the same with different bassists, especially the last. The latter two are upright bassists. Also John Paul Jones was a huge part of the Led Zeppelin sound. Victor Wooten of the Flecktones if you include jazz.
Rod Torfleson’s Armada featuring Herman Menderchuck.
In general, loss of these members is potentially lethal:
The Writers/Arrangers: The people who write and arrange the music. they are frequently the lead/key vocals and guitarists. Fleetwood Mac Examples: Peter Green, Lindsey Buckingham, Stevie Nicks, Christine Perfect McVie.
Lead/Key Vocalists: These people drive the sound of the band, and are usually the most visually available members of the band.
Lead Gutiarists: In the modern US/UK model of pop/rock, the central instrument is the guitar, be it lead, rythym, base. Lead guitarists are frequently key vocalists. and proficient guitarists have distinct playing styles. Rythym and Base guitarists are more disposable than lead.
In general, rythym/percussion sections and backing vocalists are somewhat more disposable. But not always.
Omigod! Blaspheme much? Soundgarden = awesome, Audioslave = incredibly boring and one-dimensional.
Thank you.
The E Street Band could not exist without Clarence Clemmons.
Who are you calling wrong, bub? Didn’t you see the footnote in my post? :dubious:
Correct, Squire is on every album of the band legally called YES, and for most of the 80s he was the one with the legal rights to the name (though the name is jointly owned now).
And I agree that Drama was definitely a better album than ABWH, so maybe the band can do better without Anderson than without Squire. Actually I wish they would try that again now, as it is reputedly only Anderson who is holding the band back from recording and touring again. Where is Trevor Horn when you need him! 