Singers who ruined great bands

Boromedic

Strange topic but under the weather lately and been catching up on the No Guitar Is Safe podcast. I've been a big fan of Third Eye Blind since I was younger, and especially Kevin Cadogans playing on the first 2 records. Listening to his podcast and seeing how Stephan Jenkins basically outmaneuvered the band on contracts and ownership stuff was a real eye opener. Felt bad for Kevin and the other guys who even now are dealing with legal action from the aforementioned singer, who is almost stopping them from playing stuff they co wrote and using their legacy. I wondered if it was all just one perspective so did some research and it appears pretty much true that Mr Jenkins isn't a nice guy. Such a shame as Kevin was a unique player and used alternate tunings really well, him and Jenkins together were pretty great songwriters. Love their debut especially.

This got me thinking on other singers who ruined decent bands due to ownership and profit demands. Admittedly my list is small but my brain is tired!! I came up with these:

GnR
The Black Crowes
The Rolling Stones (probably a lesser extent as they kept going but how many other stones albums have we missed due to Jaggers outside work)

Any others?!

Stevepage

James Labrie. I just think Dream Theater could have found a better singer.

Boromedic

Yeah, I suppose we could open it out into ruining bands for all reasons too. In that case I'll add Gary Cherone for his stint in Van Halen.... Hagar was a great replacement for DLR but Cherone... Flat as a fart

Neill

If we're talking generally about great bands that suffered because the leader/singer got too big for their boots how about:

Michael Jackson/the Jackson 5

Rod Stewart/The Faces

Diana Ross/The Supremes

Billy Idol/Generation X

Gwen Stefani/No Doubt

George Michael/Wham... (just kidding).

Boromedic

Oh aye, forgot about the Faces!

munckee

For different reasons I don't listen to Led Zep very much as I dont like Robert Plants voice much.

viz

Stevepage said:

James Labrie. I just think Dream Theater could have found a better singer.

I think his voice is amazing and unique

Boromedic

munckee said:

For different reasons I don't listen to Led Zep very much as I dont like Robert Plants voice much.

Wow!! This I'm surprised about, thought he was universally loved. Goes to show what they say about one mans fun is another mans whatever it is!

Boromedic

Sorry... One persons, got to be careful these days...

not_the_dj

The chilli peppers guy puts me off their stuff, just don't like his voice. 

Boromedic

He does have a bit of a marmite voice Kiedis like, got me thinking about Faith No More actually. Chuck Moseley died this week and they improved loads with Patton on vocals. Does make the biggest difference if you can't get on with a singer.

Neill

What about bands that did a lot better without their front man..?

Genesis

Joy Division

THE PIRATES!!!

Freebird

Sammy Hagar

Boromedic

Sammy was great!!

Moe_Zambeek

Boromedic said:

....got me thinking about Faith No More actually. Chuck Moseley died this week and they improved loads with Patton on vocals...

Agreed - but then they almost instantaneously got a lot worse when Big Jim left...

Boromedic

Noooooo! I can't agree there like, different but still great for me. Loved King For A Day, one of me fave FNM albums. 

Modulus_Amps

most amateur bands that don't make it big...... is due to the singer

Grunfeld

Modulus_Amps said:

most amateur bands that don't make it big...... is due to the singer

It seems plausible but how could we tell?

Fuengi

The dynamic between Marillion and Fish was / is a fascinating one.

Although their mainstream audience effectively died when he left, their subsequent ascent through crowd funding from a large group of dedicated fans was revolutionary.

They have been able to make pre-sold music on their own terms, from their own studio for 15+ years now, something I find particularly admirable as Steve Rothery's playing is the No1 reason I wanted to learn to play guitar. 

In recent years Fish and Marillion have put their previous differences aside and even worked together again live.

Seems their management and record company completely fucked them over which contributed to the split.

57Deluxe

Paul McCartney - everything he does now...

Kilgore

Thotch were never the same after Lindsey Simon replaced Brian Pern.