Slow ride, take it easy.

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.