Judas Priest

I don't know how much Glen is part of the glue in Judas Priest - there's some members that bands just can't continue without and usually not just because of their musical output ...I've got the feeling Priest really loves playing with Faulkner, whose to say they don't wanna find a new guitarist to complement him? I find it unbelievable myself too though - it would be very wrong :)
 
Band still has two original members left even without Tipton. Ian Hill may not be a famous name but he's been there forever. I think they can still call it Priest as long as they have more than one founder in the band.

If it ever gets down to Halford taking a band on the road without any other original members and calling it Judas Priest, then we'll be right to complain.
 
Minor correction: Halford was no founder (joined in 1973), nor was Glenn (joined in 1974). Still both are there since the debut album of course!

Depending on how you look at this history, we could even argue that K.K. Downing and Ian Hill were no founders either. The 2nd incarnation of Judas Priest can be seen as a continuation of the 1st, since it happened only 6 months after the 1st called it quits. After a break, they kept the name name and the singer (rehearsed at the singer's mother-in-law's house and played gigs with him from day one)! When Maiden took lenghty breaks between November 1977 and April 1978 and even an 8(!) month break between April and December 1978, they didn't found the band again either. In other words: Dave Murray is no founder, so K.K. Downing and Ian Hill aren't founders.
 
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As I wrote in the concert thread, I saw Priest on Friday. Was pretty impressed with Rob's singing. Not a huge fan of his vocals on record, but they really sounded huge live. No trace of aging or not being able to hit the notes there, as far as I could tell from my casual knowledge of their catalogue. I already knew Richie had been allowed to take the center stage, which was obviously badly needed - he acted more like a frontman than Rob during the songs, interacting with the audience at every possibility. Meanwhile Rob started singing backstage... An odd move I've never seen before! (Was just like - will he come up through the floor? Rappel down from the roof? No, he just walks in like nothing happened mid-verse!)

SinisterMinisterX said:
If it ever gets down to Halford taking a band on the road without any other original members and calling it Judas Priest, then we'll be right to complain.
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It'll be interesting to see how the industry handles the end of the big bands. It's not like in the 70's, 80's, or even the 90's when there were new ones ready to take over. They are arguably run as companies with a lot of employees around them, but it surpasses even the film industry in the importance of the people involved - Star Wars continues without Lucas, eventually without any of the original actors. Will we see a gradual change in the acceptance of other people continuing on the legacy of the great heavy metal bands too? Even in literature, you see other authors continuing the works of famous writers. Stieg Larsson's Milennium series is probably the most important and current example - the new book sells like crazy, even though Larsson himself has been dead for over a decade. (That industry is the epitome of people cults.)

Anything that aims to have any sort of longevity eventually has to deal with the question.
 
There's an interesting precedent with Jefferson Airplane -> Jefferson Starship -> Starship. In the second transformation, they specifically dropped the "Jefferson" because they were down to only one original member (Grace Slick). Starship is still active today, even without Grace Slick.
 
Maturin said:
It'll be interesting to see how the industry handles the end of the big bands. It's not like in the 70's, 80's, or even the 90's when there were new ones ready to take over. They are arguably run as companies with a lot of employees around them, but it surpasses even the film industry in the importance of the people involved - Star Wars continues without Lucas, eventually without any of the original actors. Will we see a gradual change in the acceptance of other people continuing on the legacy of the great heavy metal bands too? Even in literature, you see other authors continuing the works of famous writers. Stieg Larsson's Milennium series is probably the most important and current example - the new book sells like crazy, even though Larsson himself has been dead for over a decade. (That industry is the epitome of people cults.)

Anything that aims to have any sort of longevity eventually has to deal with the question.
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KISS is way ahead of you. Basically saying they are a brand more than a band and as such can keep going with new members ad infinitum.
 
Maturin said:
I already knew Richie had been allowed to take the center stage, which was obviously badly needed - he acted more like a frontman than Rob during the songs, interacting with the audience at every possibility. Meanwhile Rob started singing backstage... An odd move I've never seen before! (Was just like - will he come up through the floor? Rappel down from the roof? No, he just walks in like nothing happened mid-verse!)
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Although this may seem as something they did to compensate for Halford's age, it's not the case. I can recommend you to watch some old Priest live videos from the 80's. It's never been different. Halford isn't Bruce, he never ran around or did much of a physical show. The connection to the crowd was always done by the two guitarists, and they've always been on centre stage, with Halford more in the background. I think @Yax once pointed out conclusively that Halford's way of singing requires a more calm, introverted stage presence for him to hit all the high notes.
 
I think Halford was/is a more of a swagger around on stage, foot on the monitor kind of guy. And then of course participating in the head banging sections with the guitarists ;)He definitely had crowd control but not in the way we're used to seeing it with Bruce no.....
 
Perun said:
Although this may seem as something they did to compensate for Halford's age, it's not the case. I can recommend you to watch some old Priest live videos from the 80's. It's never been different. Halford isn't Bruce, he never ran around or did much of a physical show. The connection to the crowd was always done by the two guitarists, and they've always been on centre stage, with Halford more in the background. I think @Yax once pointed out conclusively that Halford's way of singing requires a more calm, introverted stage presence for him to hit all the high notes.
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Totally get that (I have seen some older live recordings). Just commented on that I though it was odd that the audience wasn't even able to see him during parts of the show. Whether something has changed or not, it is an odd dynamic.

SixesAlltheway said:
KISS is way ahead of you. Basically saying they are a brand more than a band and as such can keep going with new members ad infinitum.
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My thoughts are more about the fan reaction than the members own opinions. We have already seen countless of "original members" (often one of them, preferrably the keyboardplayer or bassist who only the most obsessed fans ever learned the name of) causing backlash by touring under their old band's name with no-name musicians filling in.
 
@Maturin Yes, in that way bands are a brand...Stone Temple Pilots continued without Scott Weiland and now that he's dead they'll probably still continue without him...Skid Row continued without Sebastian Bach, Axl continued Guns N' Roses by himself...etc and etc. People want to go and have a musical experience I'm not sure they always care about who is providing it.
 
Maturin said:
It'll be interesting to see how the industry handles the end of the big bands. It's not like in the 70's, 80's, or even the 90's when there were new ones ready to take over. They are arguably run as companies with a lot of employees around them, but it surpasses even the film industry in the importance of the people involved - Star Wars continues without Lucas, eventually without any of the original actors. Will we see a gradual change in the acceptance of other people continuing on the legacy of the great heavy metal bands too?
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It will be interesting, indeed, to see how many bands/groups make that final step. There are certainly plenty of bands down to one or two central figures with the other members being of no importance e.g. Guns or even Megadeth.
 
SinisterMinisterX said:
They say that, but if Kiss ever continues without both Stanley and Simmons, this longtime Kiss fan would call it a farce.
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Not big on Kiss history but wasn't every Kiss fan outraged when replacements for Ace and Criss were found? That feeling only lasts a little while...

Also, wouldn't be surprised if Gene Simmons had "Find my replacement!" written down in his last will :p
 
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