As promised the other day, a rant about people complaining about bands that lose members. SLAYER ISNT SLAYER WITHOUT DAVE AND JEFF!!! ARCH ENEMY ISNT ARCH ENEMY WITHOUT ANGELA GOSSOW!!! BLACK SABBATH ISNT BLACK SABBATH WITHOUT BILL WARD!!! That kinda stuff. I think its absolutely annoying. Losing a member or two of a bands lineup doesnt make the band nonexistent, nor does it obligate them to change their name. Ill discuss a few examples... (disclaimer - any opinions expressed in this article are those solely of the writer, you will not be judged for thinking differently even though you are likely wrong) Slayer - Yes, Dave and Jeff were original members, and contributed a lot to the band throughout its history, but to say that the current Slayer lineup isnt Slayer is stupid. I saw them live a few weeks ago. It sounded like Slayer to me. Tom was as powerful as ever on vox, Gary nailed Jeffs solos. Its still got Slayers intensity. But what of the musicians in Dave and Jeffs place? First of all, are we forgetting that Paul Bostaph was a member of Slayer for a whole decade? He contributed to 4 Slayer albums including the beloved God Hates Us All album. As for Gary, easily one of the best guitarists in all of thrash metal, an original to the scene with Exodus, very close with Slayer and a good friend to them, and handpicked by Jeff as his replacement. Definitely worthy of filling Jeffs shoes, and as I said, he gave Jeffs parts justice. Arch Enemy - The most laughable example. Arch Enemy is no longer Arch Enemy because Alissa White-Gluz replaced Angela Gossow? First of all, Angela wasnt the original singer. Ive never heard anyone say AE isnt AE without Johan Liiva. Secondly, to say Alissa is a disgrace to Angela is even more stupid. Angela handpicked Alissa as her successor, and Angela is still heavily involved behind the scenes with the band. Ive never been an Arch Enemy fan myself but Im a fan of Alissa, and I like the new tunes, and from what Ive seen from the live vids, the REAL fans are responding quite well to both the new tunes and the way Alissa handles the old stuff. Black Sabbath - Yes, itd be great if Black Sabbath had all 4 original members together again, especially for the new record. But Black Sabbath is still Black Sabbath. Black Sabbath went through slight style changes during their various lead singer changes (this applies to Van Halen as well), but it was still Black Sabbath. Now, for the current lineup, Im disappointed that, if Bill Ward couldnt be there, they didnt at least get Vinny Appice. That wouldve been the next best thing, and it wouldve been amazing, but instead they got the 30 something year old dude who was in Ozzys solo band for like 3 years beforehand lol. That aside, he is a fantastic drummer and gave the parts justice. The only thing I dont get is why they had a different drummer play on the album. But nonetheless, the drum parts on the album sounded superb, so no complaints from me. Suicide Silence - Yes, Mitch Lucker was the sole lyricist, but the music was an equal contribution of every member on their instruments, and Mitch wouldve wanted the band to continue on. Not to mention not only is Eddie Hermida the perfect choice to fill his shoes, but he was also a good friend to Mitch and an equally capable frontman and performer. Guns N Roses - This one is very tricky. Every part of my being hates what is now called GNR. Well, the band itself anyway. The musicians that arent Axl are all very talented performers, but in the end, its like 9 musicians covering songs performed by 4, and even the Chinese Democracy stuff, over the course of its 14 years of production there were like 20 different people that contributed to various tracks. But I mean, GNR was falling apart ever since the early 90s. IMO Axl shouldve just given up. Sure, the band signed the GNR name over to Axl at some point during their height of success, so Axl has every legal right to carry on, and maybe if they release a new album with the set lineup they have right now Id have some respect for it, but in the end, somehow Axl still manages to fill arenas with his pathetic performances. I just dont care, Ill take Slash w/Myles Kennedy performing GNR songs any day!!! Quiet Riot - Only including this cause its the only band Im aware of that has no original members left xD yet nobody complains about them. Ive seen vids of their recent performances tho, whoever has the mic right now does the songs justice, and 2 of the members still in the band have been there since Metal Health, when the band hit success, and I do love me some Quiet Riot, so I definitely support what the bands been doing the past few years since the passing of Kevin Dubrow. Anyway, just a few of my thoughts (Y)
Posted on: Tue, 27 May 2014 16:02:02 +0000
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