Judas Priest

:funnypost: @LooseCannon

A real life example of something like that happening might be KISS. They've already gone out saying that their personas... The Starchild, The Demon, The Catman, The Spaceman are characters and therefore they can actually be "played by anybody" and that KISS as a thing/business/show is bigger/more important than the members in the band.
 
SixesAlltheway said:
A real life example of something like that happening might be KISS.
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Yeah, but KISS is garbage and we all know they'd be doing it for the money. If Iron Maiden's current band membership retired/forcibly retired and then decided they wanted to lead another generation forward (for the record, I do not believe this would ever happen) as managers and possibly songwriters/session musicians only, would the fans reject or accept that?
 
LooseCannon said:
I've actually been thinking about this for a long while. Could a band replace all of it's classic members (not just original members) and still be considered the same band, if they were working with the blessing of the original crew? If so, does it need to be done sequentially rather than completely? Judas Priest seems interested in going this route to a certain extent, but let's extrapolate for a band we know better.

In 2019, Nicko McBrain retires due to age and arthritis. Although Steve Harris has said that they'd stop if Nicko retires, he instead decides to hire another drummer. In 2020, the band releases a new album, On The Edge of Forever, with new drummer Rufus Taylor (formerly of The Darkness). This begins a quick pattern of retirements, with Adrian Smith retiring after the 2020 leg and Dave Murray having a stroke from smiling too much in 2021 during the second leg of the On The Tour of Forever, which suddenly has new meaning. Adrian is temporarily replaced by Vivian Campbell for the rest of the first leg, but George Harris joins as his full-time replacement in the winter break. Replacing Dave becomes much more difficult, however, when during the auditions Rod Smallwood passes away peacefully in his sleep (Bruce Dickinson quips, "It's the only time he did anything without grumbling."). Fans are already complaining, but Steve decides to go forward and announces a huge double-first - Voyager's Simone Dow will be Dave's replacement. "Australia's basically like England, but with more criminals," said retired member Nicko McBrain. "And they have proper football there sometimes."

But the worst is yet to come. In 2024 Steve Harris is forced to announce his retirement due to longstanding back issues; Bruce Dickinson has a second, and far more serious, bout with cancer shortly thereafter, leaving Janick Gers as the only long-standing band member. Surprisingly, Steve moves into Rod's place as manager and decides that he can continue to run Iron Maiden as manager (possibly the only actual role he might consider taking) and announces a search for a new bassist and singer. Now people are screaming, but some are actually quite happy.

Is this still Iron Maiden, if the original members are behind it?
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Yes, but we will have to call them Iron Theseus.
 
@LooseCannon Hm, I don't think we should underestimate the power of the Maiden brand...With the Eddie character they already have the image that makes it possible for them to do such a thing without relying on "the faces" of new members for example. Steve's kids and Bruce's kids could also step into the band and lead it forward....:p I think if it would happen it would totally alienate the older fans but perhaps the new constellation would appeal to a younger/new generation of fans that would still be drawn in through the image and the history of the Maiden franchise and for whom the new lineup will become Maiden for their generation :D And NO I don't think this would ever happen either... but fun to speculate :p
 
I would be ok with them replacing Nicko. I would also be ok if either Adrian or Janick stepped down (one of the two but not both). But if they were to do that, I’d want them to call it quits after finishing one last album and tour. No need to drag it out the way Priest has. I hope alternative routes are being planned, such as becoming a studio only band or doing residencies in a single venue rather than the full scale tour. The fact that they can still handle grueling world tours tells me they have enough juice in them to slow things down gradually rather than stopping altogether.

KISS is a unique case because of the costumes. Priest still has Halford who is the iconic member. Maiden could probably make it work with just Steve and Bruce, which is essentially what Priest is looking like right now. As long as Eddie is there and they play The Trooper I can’t imagine the general public caring about who is in the band.
 
Mosh said:
As long as Eddie is there and they play The Trooper I can’t imagine the general public caring about who is in the band.
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I agree with this statement. And I would be interested to see what a dedicated younger group of members could put out under the guidance of an older Steve. But it could go like complete shit, too, so who knows on that aspect. It makes me think about how the franchise effect has hit most other areas of our pop culture - movies, video games, books - serialization is so important and brand management. Why not do bands the same way?
 
LooseCannon said:
Why not do bands the same way?
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I think that’s pretty much going to be the new standard. Lots of bands are going out there with one (sometimes less) original members. Best example is actually Yes, Chris Squire was the last original member and they’re still continuing without him.

It’s probably more that a lot of artists didn’t realize they can get away with it, plus the idea of pop/rock bands lasting four decades or more is a recent phenomenon so there hasn’t been a need for it to be addressed yet. As it becomes increasingly obvious that you can franchise bands more of them will.
 
Blackfoot is a good example of why bands should not replace ALL members .... even with Ricky Medlocke making a guest appearance, it just is NOT Blackfoot .... for me at least.



The original Blackfoot ... Wow!! :)
 
I think Priest is a bit more of a special situation. Halford has always been, from my understanding, the sole iconic character in Priest. Sure, KK and Glenn wrote a lot of the songs and carried the musical sound, but Halford was always the focus. Maiden has three focuses: Bruce, Steve, and Eddie (and honestly Bruce might be the least iconic of the three - even Eddie plays bass sometimes).

Mosh said:
I would be ok with them replacing Nicko. I would also be ok if either Adrian or Janick stepped down (one of the two but not both)./QUOTE]
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As much as I love Nicko, I completely agree. Regarding guitars...I could see Davey stepping down before either Adrian or certainly Janick (who continues to push the envelope in terms of songwriting and performance). Same could be said of Adrian for the most part re: songwriting and enjoying the creative process. Davey, IMO, has gotten a little too comfortable.
 
LooseCannon said:
I've actually been thinking about this for a long while. Could a band replace all of it's classic members (not just original members) and still be considered the same band, if they were working with the blessing of the original crew? If so, does it need to be done sequentially rather than completely? Judas Priest seems interested in going this route to a certain extent, but let's extrapolate for a band we know better.

In 2019, Nicko McBrain retires due to age and arthritis. Although Steve Harris has said that they'd stop if Nicko retires, he instead decides to hire another drummer. In 2020, the band releases a new album, On The Edge of Forever, with new drummer Rufus Taylor (formerly of The Darkness). This begins a quick pattern of retirements, with Adrian Smith retiring after the 2020 leg and Dave Murray having a stroke from smiling too much in 2021 during the second leg of the On The Tour of Forever, which suddenly has new meaning. Adrian is temporarily replaced by Vivian Campbell for the rest of the first leg, but George Harris joins as his full-time replacement in the winter break. Replacing Dave becomes much more difficult, however, when during the auditions Rod Smallwood passes away peacefully in his sleep (Bruce Dickinson quips, "It's the only time he did anything without grumbling."). Fans are already complaining, but Steve decides to go forward and announces a huge double-first - Voyager's Simone Dow will be Dave's replacement. "Australia's basically like England, but with more criminals," said retired member Nicko McBrain. "And they have proper football there sometimes."

But the worst is yet to come. In 2024 Steve Harris is forced to announce his retirement due to longstanding back issues; Bruce Dickinson has a second, and far more serious, bout with cancer shortly thereafter, leaving Janick Gers as the only long-standing band member. Surprisingly, Steve moves into Rod's place as manager and decides that he can continue to run Iron Maiden as manager (possibly the only actual role he might consider taking) and announces a search for a new bassist and singer. Now people are screaming, but some are actually quite happy.

Is this still Iron Maiden, if the original members are behind it?
Click to expand...
Morbid tales.
 
Realistically I could see Dave stepping down before anyone else but it wouldn’t seem right to continue without him. And I say that even though he is my least favorite of the three guitarists.
 
LooseCannon said:
would the fans reject or accept that?
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Here's a guess: some would reject it, disgustedly, and some would embrace it and argue that's the real Maiden, and who needs those old farts anyway.
Funny you came up with this nightmare on Valentine's Day, of all.
 
It's an interesting question to ask actually. Can a band essentially become a franchise? That's maybe not the best word, but football teams change their squads on a constant basis and people still go to see them. Barcelona don't have any of the players in their first team from 20 years ago but the club still has the same ethos and fanbase. I think a band who had more frequent member changes than Iron Maiden have could potentially pull off something long-lasting as long as there's some continuity between generations. Musicals and Operas change their casts and some authors continue the work of a deceased author to finish the story. It could work with a band but they would become a tribute act. The ultimate cabaret act actually. Forostar would hate it.
 
The sports teams analogy is good because I think that’s how it would be sold. But it also depends on the bands. I can’t really imagine Metallica without James, Lars, and (to a slightly lesser degree) Kirk but at the same time it would be perfect for them from a marketing angle. A “faceless” band like Pink Floyd on the other hand could absolutely get away with it.
 
Of course a band is a franchise. Whether it works or not depends on your personal take on the music.
It stops being Iron Maiden when it stops moving you like Iron Maiden, whether it has six classic members or none.
 
Mosh said:
A “faceless” band like Pink Floyd on the other hand could absolutely get away with it.
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Peeps who wear masks are the obvious ones to look at. Ghost are basically doing this right now, are they not? Slipknot could do it & nobody would notice. Buckethead is sometimes Paul Gilbert so he's already doing it. And apart from Axl, GNR pretty much did do this for a while with hired hands (although nobody apart from Bucket wore a mask) before the reunion.
 
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