Although not all of their
music has turned out to be hits, there is definitely something to say for
Aerosmith, U2 and ZZ Top still having all of their original members. But
can you name all of the members of either band?
To
add another band to the mix, while I can name all of the members of Pearl Jam,
I have struggled to differentiate between songs from either of Eddie
Vedder’s solo albums (“Into the Wild” or “Ukulele Songs”), and Pearl Jam’s
extensive catalog of songs.
Unlike when I hear a Green River or Brad song (both bands featuring
Stone Gossard on guitar), I am not thinking to myself that it sounds like a
Pearl Jam song. The same can be said for Bruce Springsteen’s 1992 albums,
“Human Touch” and “Lucky Town” which featured session musicians* – most notably
former American Idol judge Randy Jackson on bass and
not all of the members of the famed E Street Band (Roy Bittan & Patti
Scialfa being the exceptions).
So for the listener, where
does the line between a solo song and a band song start and stop? I was
recently faced with that question upon hearing Craig Finn’s (of The Hold
Steady) new single, “Maggie I've Been Searching For Our Son” for the first
time. I immediately got excited for a new record by The Hold Steady. However that was not the case – it was
just the unique vocal styling of Mr. Finn on his second solo record. I do
not want to make it seem that I only like the bands and would not encourage a
front person to branch out and do solo work or a side project (potential
opportunity to question Ringo Starr’s solo albums), but there is something to
say for having a recognizable voice.
For example, when you hear
Peter Gabriel singing, do you think Genesis
or one of his 13 solo/soundtrack albums? Do the other band members feel
slighted? Or is it a situation in which Eddie Van Halen knows the fans
are coming to see him and not Gary Cherone? I previously have discussed
how the whole of the band is these days more interesting than the sum of its
parts, but I also believe that there is a certain amount of weight that fans
need to put on the vocals. In fact, some bands, instead of breaking up,
have found ways to continue making music. There is Journey, who replaced
Steve Perry in 1998 and again in 2007 or Rage Against the Machine who reinvented
themselves as Audioslave.
Good news is that Rage
Against the Machine has reformed since Audioslave’s break-up. Bad news is
that although there are bands out there who are specifically playing the music
of its original members, unless the singer nails it, there most likely will not
be too many future gigs. As Kirk from the Mark Wahlberg film, “Rock Star”
stated,
“I understand you want to do ‘your own thing’, and I admire it in some small
way, but if you want to stay with Steel Dragon, you're going to have to
reconcile with yourself to do the "Steel Dragon" thing", and the
"Steel Dragon" thing" is A.C. and I write the songs, and you
sing the songs we write, are we clear?”
I wonder if Foghat’s drummer
Roger Earl, the only musician to have performed with the band throughout all of
its 20 various incarnations is thinking the same thing.
Thank you for reading.
