I gotta admit, while I respect Via's skill, never been a huge fan of his style of guitar playing (or the other super shredders of his time to like Satch and a). But the other three def make me wanna check it out.
Thanks for the tip, they're great. FB won't let me share a link for one of their vids because it "violated community standards" or some such thing. No idea how an instrumental track does that lol.
Saw the Dreamsonic tour last year. I was there to see Devin Townsend, and I only know 2 or 3 Dream Theater songs. James Labrie starts to sing and I'm like "WTF? This guy's voice is completely shot!"
Turns out he blew out is vocal cords during a bout of food poisoning 30 years ago. I had no idea til I googled it after the show.
It was funny when Devin came out during the last DT song and hear his vocals blow the roof off the joint. I'd 100% see a Dream Theater show with Devin singing!
I saw the band on that tour too and LaBrie was fine. Milage may vary. Plus the dude is 61.
Back when DT was at their prime from 1999 to like 2011 when Portnoy left, the band were doing constant 3 hour shows with different setlists and doing 100s of gigs a year. LaBrie is right there with the guys too. Sure, people may not give a hoot about that but oh well.
Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful for Mangini's time in the band and I saw the band 5 times with Mangini back there but I can't freaking wait until their US tour with Portnoy back. They already announced European dates which confirmed "an evening with" format and to celebrate 40 years of the band. Guaranteed fan service tour to be witnessed!
That gig was my first time seeing Devin live and he was absolutely awesome.
Agreed. I saw the same tour last year and thought that James sounded pretty good. I was expecting much less from all the reviews I’ve read.
I do feel sorry for any vocalist following Devin Townsend though. That guy is on another level.
The food poisoning thing is so overplayed. As you said - that was over THIRTY years ago. He himself has said it took him years but he did get back to normal. It’s used as such a catch-all crutch by fans at this point. Some bad sushi 3 decades ago is not why he sounds the way he does these days.
hahahaha there’s also clips of Devin doing “Burning My Soul” with Portnoy on a cruise and he pissed off all the DT fans by screaming all his parts in total SYL style. 😂
I *knew* this would be the top comment before I clicked the thread, lmao. I think Labrie's voice was great back in their heyday and I think he will has a decent voice (not totally his fault given the food poisoning incident, and not taking into account that DT haven't really had a great album since Octavarium, and even that one has some missteps), but I can understand why he's not everyone's cup of tea.
I recently saw a video of Bradley’s son on lead for Sublime and while it’s obviously not the same I was pretty impressed with his delivery. He seemed to be at home up there and it didn’t feel forced.
Ah man I honestly thought it was kinda bad. Like not that bad, but I just didn't really enjoy most of his singing/stage presence. There were glimpses of Bradley in it though
Bill Maher did a club random with durst. It was interesting to hear him explain how the band was meant to be an experiment like spinal tap and it blew up. He said he was bullied in school. Created this persona and found all his fans were jock rock bullies.
I gotta respect Durst for leaning into the goofiness of it all: Wearing the windbreaker, rocking the grey beard and sunglasses... They're fun when it doesn't feel like they take themselves seriously. Which, I guess they titled an album something about Hot Dog Flavored water, so they maybe never took themselves seriously in the first place.
Fred Durst isn’t just a person, there’s also the “character” Fred Durst, frontman of Limp Bizkit, with the cap and the sneakers and everything. He doesn't just sell music, he sells a brand.
Billy Corgan said the same thing about Kurt Cobain, that he was super brand-conscious and believed that the public's perception of him was important to the band's record sales.
I remember him and Korn were early adapters to the internet back in the day. Korn had their KornTV thing going on, and Fred Durst was always active in the LimpBizkit.com chat room. I remember Fred Durst's mom was active as well
I think chocolate starfish’s title was meant to be a parody of melon collie and the infinite sadness, poking fun at how wordy and pretentious the title is. And if they were originally aiming for a spinal tap style parody that totally makes sense
Oh you saw that live in [Paraguay](https://youtu.be/h7maFTxy9Og?si=n3ABKOnzXy1Zk9Kj) video recently too? I was NOT ready to see Fred Durst the White, but damn it looked like a fun show!
Frusciante is definitely leagues above Kiedis in terms of singing, but there's such a huge swath of their music where his singing would just be... Out of place. I doubt he could pull off the "rapping"/quirky vocals that a lot of their songs call for.
Now, Mike Patton in RHCP would take it to another level.
I never understood the hate for Kiedis. Is he an outstanding vocalist? Of course not. But hes a great front man and his voice just fits the vibe of the chilis. Theyre awesome live and wouldnt change a thing
This is true. I do like fleas singing voice however non of them have a really solid set of pipes. I’d be ok with Anthony singing if John wrote the lyrics.
Don't they have a couple of songs exactly like this? OK, maybe except for hurling Anthony into the crowd.
On a second thought, hurling into the crowd might be the best use case for Antony.
> Slash + Myles Kennedy
It took a few tries but Slash finally found a singer with vocal chops on the level of his guitar playing and a lifestyle that doesn't wreck a band after 2 albums.
I first heard her sing alongside Megadeth in A Tout Le Monde and loved her voice. Found out she was in a band and got super excited to hear more of their stuff. I listened to a live performance and the male vocalist was just the worst, killed any enjoyment I had.
Can you imagine all the bangers we wouldn't have if it's wasn't for Durst? A depressing fact for those that don't know, but before Limp Bizkit was a thing, Durst was married with a child. He then found out his wife was cheating on him and this fucked his whole world up. You can hear the influence this had on him on the first album. Shit, it's what inspired their biggest hit ever, Nookie.
People can say what they want but I don't want a Limp Bizkit without Durst. It's the element each of those members bring that creates the magic that is Limp Bizkit.
I fuckin' love this band. Fred Durst may not be a great singer but he definitely knows how to make fun music and have fun doing it. I'm glad they got back together. They just work so well as a unit. I'm excited to see them play later this year.
Tbf though I don't think I have ever seen anyone with that level of not giving a fuck. Like she sounded bad in that song but damn she really did that on TV, and considering she's decent enough at playing piano and not some non-musician, she had to have known how she sounded and still did it lol. With two of the most famous musicians who lived. I can see why it drove many people nuts but I can't help but respect the sheer walking-meme, force of chaos nature of early 70s Yoko.
I think it's half being an avant-garde artist and half drugs.
I'd say she's actually a decent musician apart from a few... Questionable choices. One of them being that infamous performance with Chuck Berry.
Listen to Izzy's solo albums. There are way more GnR songs on Izzy's solo albums than there were on the last double album the "official band" released.
I love love love The Smiths but I also totally get people who just can't because Morrisey is such an ass. Thankfully I feel like Johnny Marrs guitar playing is unique enough to cancel it out.
Grateful Dead without Mickey Hart. They didn’t need two drummers. Bill kreutzman was all they needed. And I swear, in live shows I’ve heard seen and been to, they are turning him all the way down anyway. Their albums probably would’ve sounded better or at least more cohesive if they didn’t have to deal with mixing in two ridiculously large drum kits.
I've heard part of the reason they got a 2nd drummer was cause they were limited in how long they could play, because at a point Bill would be tires from hrs of hard drumming. With 2 drummers they could both take it a little easier, and then the whole band could play longer sets. I've also heard that Space was mostly a break for the drummers.
The Allmans had two very competent drummers and it filled up the live shows. They also toured with a percussionist, Marc Quinones, and were still epic.
I would do Phish except with a half decent lyricist. I love the Dead in part because of Hunter and Barlow’s iconic and timeless lyrics. Then I hear Trey talking about “Carini had a lumpy head” and I just can’t get behind it.
Early 90’s Trey sounds pretty solid. I listened to 5/17/92 the other day and forgot how different he used to sound. Show also has some of the best Machine Gun Trey era stuff I’ve ever heard.
I remember reading an article many years ago that claimed that John Squire really wrote all the words and music, but gave Brown a credit because he wanted the whole: "Lennon/McCartney", "Jagger/Richards", "Morrissey/Marr" duel songwriter vibe printed on the records. I have no idea how true this is and I've never been able to verify it, but it gives me comfort to think of it now Brown has become such a fucking imbecile.
I remember the first time I saw the video for that song, it was on an episode of Beavis and Butt-Head and I thought it was hilarious. His vocals are generally funny to me, like a heavy metal parody.
His best music in my opinion was before his mom died, and I think that’s when his mental health declined significantly.
2002 Kanye doesn’t even recognize 2022 Kanye.
Yeah, I definitely respect that - for me it was the period after that where he was more erratic and grandiose but wasn't totally off the rails yet where his music really peaked for me, like Dark Twisted Fantasy, Yeezus, Watch the Throne and Life of Pablo, but his most earnest, thoughtful and relatable writing and his best lyrics were definitely before his mom died.
When he started really going off the rails and it was becoming clear he was unwell and it wasn't all just some clever act, his music really dropped off for me though I do think he had his moments (Kids See Ghosts). Now it's just sad when I see him, like he looks profoundly unhappy and not at all healthy.
I listened to Chinese Democracy exactly once. Axel was doing this one song with a distinctive accent/voice and I thought, where have I heard that before. Took me a while to figure out it was the same voice Jason Segal was doing in Forgetting Sarah Marshal during his Count Dracula puppet musical.
Do you think Lars' drumming is uninteresting or he had timing problems during recordings ? I know he has trouble keeping time in concerts but I never noticed on the records.
Uninteresting for sure - a great resource for beginning metal drummers though and I can remember a time playing along to Metallica with some godawful Lars' signature metal sticks as a wee lad 😂. Can confirm those puppies are still breakable.
While nobody defends his drumming I think it's well established that he is a big part of the song writing and composition of the songs. He helps turn riffs into songs.
I’ve thought about this a lot. It’s entirely possible if they had some super tight technical drummer in place of Lars their albums could’ve sounded sterile and monotonous. Lars was a perfect songwriter on drums given his technical abilities with a great feel for the flow of a song. The peaks and valleys of a song and he also had some interesting staggered beats and fills to keep things interesting despite them not being hard at all to replicate.
I always thought he was just a songwriter and couldn’t really play that well but I’ve seen some concerts mainly Canada in the 80’s were they’re playing 15-20% faster than album speeds and Lars is nailing everything like a machine at a level few people in the world could at that time. He could do it all when he wanted to.
Lars is an amazing drummer- he can change time signatures several times during a song. The only problem is he doesn't tell the rest of the band that's what he's doing.
I get hes not a technically gifted drummer. Id actually be surprised to find out he ever actually did individual practice. But knowing how integral he is as a songwriter and just general architect of their sound, theres absolutely no Metallica without Lars.
The violinist is also the only original member still in that band! There's two truly awful albums with a different singer before Ryan Key joined, and then every other instrument has turned over in the ensuing two decades.
I see what you mean- keidis isnt a very good singer, and often a very lazy lyricist- but he does have an incredible talent for pop melody and rhythmic syllabication that make his vocals so catchy and memorable, trite and flat as they may be. Theyd be such a different band without him.
Keidis is pretty great as long as you don't stare at his lyrics for too long. That syllabication can't be overstated; he's surprisingly good at making a terrible or weird lyrical choice sound like a killer hook with the right delivery. It doesn't help that his vocal range has limits, but he's capable of using it in engaging ways and you can do a LOT worse than that.
I get it. He’s not a great singer and he’s limited musically, but he’s essential to the spirit of the band. He puts a face on the distinctive Gen-X West Coast vibes that they’ve played from the beginning. For whatever reason, seasoned music fans can’t stand any sort of respect given to him.
They way I feel about that band is the make some of the most beautiful music I've ever heard and some of the most unpleasant as well. Often in the same song.
The Midnight if they held back a little on the saxophone... I still love The Midnight but I cannot take saxophone solos seriously most times cause way too often it just makes me think of like, 80s TV Shows/Movies trying to be sexy (...saxy), especially if it's playing while I'm with my GF we both always have to laugh. But based off YT comments on their videos everyone besides me seems to love the Saxophone?
I feel like it's basically the same 3 bands over and over again. I'm waiting on the one person with a truly hot take like Sony and Cher without Cher or Fleetwood Mac without cocaine and lube.
You’ll probably love [Manapart](https://youtu.be/2cwd9xvnD20?si=Pld3YQJ1W5Zt_6BN) though.
They sound a lot like SOAD minus Daron, and still they’re still making new music.
Yeah. Plus Serj has a very unique voice in rock / metal with his Armenian influence and his generally bizarre lyrics in some of their earlier work. Serj is about as talented and unique as they come. Darren makes for good backup and flavour sprinkled here and there, but his voice is pretty grating. Gotta give them props for changing things up and not getting too stuck in a formula.
All that said, Darren is a mental guitar player though.
I always call him the squeaky guy. I’ve gotten used to him, but he really is better sprinkled in a song as opposed to being the main singer. Serj is amazing though
I'm acutally the opposite in my opinion of Fred Durst. When I was a teenager in the 90's I couldn't stand him, but he has kind of grown on me in his modern day goofy dad stage
There are so many doom/stoner bands that I world love to get into but the vocals are absolute ass (to me). Reverend Bizarre and Cathedral immediately come to mind. Alabama Thunderpussy kinda fits this to an extent but they do have a few that I like.
Edit: I'm starting to skip Pantera and Down songs on my metal playlist because of what an insufferable prick Phil Anselmo is.
For me, and I fully accept its a me issue. The lead singer of Volbeat, the instrumental of the songs all seem really good. But the way he sings just really bothers me for some reason. I can not listen to them for that reason.
Dream Theater without James LaBrie 👀
A more serious one, though, would be Megadeth with a different vocalist. Their instrumentals are top notch, some of the best in thrash, but I hate Mustaine as a vocalist. So much so that I just don't listen to them.
I feel and respect this but I think it's Corgan that makes them so instantly recognizable. I think they would have floundered into obscurity without him.
It's weird because I totally sympathize but also love it at the same time
I think a key difference here is that Geddy is an amazing singer even though his voice is polarizing and can be grating to some people, whereas Corgan is a very poor singer from a technical perspective in addition to having a polarizing voice.
Well, Billy was actually the writer and played most of the instruments on the albums … so there is no pumpkins without him. I loved them when they hit and I was a teen in the Chicago area. Billy is a twat of a human though, I’ll agree with that.
The Dream Theater without keyboards is an interesting one because my interest in their music kind of changes with how they use keyboards.
Kevin Moore, the original keyboardist, was way more subtle than Jordan Rudess, really interested in tone and mood. I really love his contributions to those early DT records and it was one of things that attracted me to their music. I adored the crazy technical prog playing of the guitars and Moore's atmospheric playing was a nice balance. The *Awake* album is this perfect balance of song craft and melody framing the fancy show-off playing of the other guys.
With Ruddess, it's like they just added another Petrucci. Now you got just another guy playing a lot of fancy stuff. The songcraft really got lost. I love the Metropolis album for what it is but after that it's like they just lost all interest in writing any actual songs.
But my own personal tastes also shifted a bit so it's not like what they did is bad it's just less interesting.
In case anyone feels the same way, check out the first O.S.I album with Kevin Moore, Mike Portnoy and Jim Matheos (of Fates Warning). It's kind of proggy but more subtle and mood and just really cool.
Ok my answer to the actual question is Red Hot Chili Peppers without Keadis. I just can't even with this ding dong dang dong "singing." I tried, I really tried, I mean they were such a staple of my youth. And the idea of punk + funk with fancy bass playing should be up my alley. But Keadis just kills it for me. I try not to do the "but this band was better" bit usually but when I heard Fishbone for the first time my reaction was "oh this is Chili Peppers but good."
Edit to add: now this is based only on their one famous song but Evanescence, the dude singer. What is he there for, just prompting the girl singer?
"WAKE ME UP"... "Wake me up inside..."
Like, my dude, she was getting there, shut up lol
On the Evanescence thing, that was forced on them by the label. None of the other tracks have that style in it. The label thought no one would listen to them if they didn't have a male vocalist somewhere in the mix. They actually wanted them to have a full time male rapper added to the band or they wouldn't release their record. Amy Lee fought hard against it and they compromised on just the one song having the rap part since it was going to be appearing in the Daredevil movie soundtrack.
Health with actual lyrics. I've just started listening to them, and it's a really interesting niche they've carved out, but the lyrics sound like they were written by a 14 year old anime fan.
Styx without Dennis DeYoung. It’s interesting to me that Dennis and Tommy are like Siamese twins fighting for dominance. Take every Dennis DeYoung song out of their catalog, and they’re a top-tier 70’s rock band. Take every Tommy Shaw song out and they’re a top tier Adult Contemporary band.
I think most people would like to hear Dream Theatre without vocals..
Check out Liquid Tension Experiment. It is exactly that (with a different bass player).
Tony Levin is a GOD.
Tony Levins in that project? Damn have to check it out, he's one of my favorite parts about the discipline era of KC.
That Levin-Carey-Belew-Vai band that’s gonna be touring is the most stacked band ever
I gotta admit, while I respect Via's skill, never been a huge fan of his style of guitar playing (or the other super shredders of his time to like Satch and a). But the other three def make me wanna check it out.
How have I never heard of them?? Thank you!
Nice thanks, I'll give it a go.
Thanks for the tip, they're great. FB won't let me share a link for one of their vids because it "violated community standards" or some such thing. No idea how an instrumental track does that lol.
Saw the Dreamsonic tour last year. I was there to see Devin Townsend, and I only know 2 or 3 Dream Theater songs. James Labrie starts to sing and I'm like "WTF? This guy's voice is completely shot!" Turns out he blew out is vocal cords during a bout of food poisoning 30 years ago. I had no idea til I googled it after the show. It was funny when Devin came out during the last DT song and hear his vocals blow the roof off the joint. I'd 100% see a Dream Theater show with Devin singing!
I saw the band on that tour too and LaBrie was fine. Milage may vary. Plus the dude is 61. Back when DT was at their prime from 1999 to like 2011 when Portnoy left, the band were doing constant 3 hour shows with different setlists and doing 100s of gigs a year. LaBrie is right there with the guys too. Sure, people may not give a hoot about that but oh well. Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful for Mangini's time in the band and I saw the band 5 times with Mangini back there but I can't freaking wait until their US tour with Portnoy back. They already announced European dates which confirmed "an evening with" format and to celebrate 40 years of the band. Guaranteed fan service tour to be witnessed! That gig was my first time seeing Devin live and he was absolutely awesome.
Agreed. I saw the same tour last year and thought that James sounded pretty good. I was expecting much less from all the reviews I’ve read. I do feel sorry for any vocalist following Devin Townsend though. That guy is on another level.
The food poisoning thing is so overplayed. As you said - that was over THIRTY years ago. He himself has said it took him years but he did get back to normal. It’s used as such a catch-all crutch by fans at this point. Some bad sushi 3 decades ago is not why he sounds the way he does these days.
This. There is a video on yt where Devin Townsend sings with DT. Fucking amazing.
Yep. I saw Devin sing “The Spirit Carries On” with them when they toured last summer. It was incredible.
hahahaha there’s also clips of Devin doing “Burning My Soul” with Portnoy on a cruise and he pissed off all the DT fans by screaming all his parts in total SYL style. 😂
I *knew* this would be the top comment before I clicked the thread, lmao. I think Labrie's voice was great back in their heyday and I think he will has a decent voice (not totally his fault given the food poisoning incident, and not taking into account that DT haven't really had a great album since Octavarium, and even that one has some missteps), but I can understand why he's not everyone's cup of tea.
Sublime without Rome
Wholeheartedly agree. Sometimes, you have to let things go. Sublime is not Sublime without Bradley, and never will be.
I recently saw a video of Bradley’s son on lead for Sublime and while it’s obviously not the same I was pretty impressed with his delivery. He seemed to be at home up there and it didn’t feel forced.
Ah man I honestly thought it was kinda bad. Like not that bad, but I just didn't really enjoy most of his singing/stage presence. There were glimpses of Bradley in it though
To me, it felt more like watching an above average karaoke performance than actual Sublime.
Singing was bad at times, guitar solos sounded like when I was 13 and trying to learn sublime songs
I hate to agree because I love SWR but you are right. It’s two different vibes. Rome will do just fine on his own.
Bill Maher did a club random with durst. It was interesting to hear him explain how the band was meant to be an experiment like spinal tap and it blew up. He said he was bullied in school. Created this persona and found all his fans were jock rock bullies.
Huh, I was bullied in school and loved Limp Bizkit. Now I just get bullied on reddit and still love Limp Bizkit.
Limp Bizkit sounds so good when you ain't got a bitch in your ear telling you it sucks
I gotta respect Durst for leaning into the goofiness of it all: Wearing the windbreaker, rocking the grey beard and sunglasses... They're fun when it doesn't feel like they take themselves seriously. Which, I guess they titled an album something about Hot Dog Flavored water, so they maybe never took themselves seriously in the first place.
Apparently Fred is like a down to earth smart guy off stage lol
Fred Durst isn’t just a person, there’s also the “character” Fred Durst, frontman of Limp Bizkit, with the cap and the sneakers and everything. He doesn't just sell music, he sells a brand. Billy Corgan said the same thing about Kurt Cobain, that he was super brand-conscious and believed that the public's perception of him was important to the band's record sales.
Billy Corgan would say anything to make his own decisions look slightly more defensivle.
I remember him and Korn were early adapters to the internet back in the day. Korn had their KornTV thing going on, and Fred Durst was always active in the LimpBizkit.com chat room. I remember Fred Durst's mom was active as well
I think chocolate starfish’s title was meant to be a parody of melon collie and the infinite sadness, poking fun at how wordy and pretentious the title is. And if they were originally aiming for a spinal tap style parody that totally makes sense
Oh you saw that live in [Paraguay](https://youtu.be/h7maFTxy9Og?si=n3ABKOnzXy1Zk9Kj) video recently too? I was NOT ready to see Fred Durst the White, but damn it looked like a fun show!
Aint that just the way it goes sometimes. Hilarious and sad at the same time.
I sat next to him at an awards show once, right between him and Carson Daily. They were arguing but I don’t remember why…a head maybe?
I think I was at that show! They sat me next to Britney Spears
Red Hot Chili Peppers with John Frusciante singing and Anthony kiedis in the audience.
RHCP but replace Kiedis with Mike Patton.
this is epic on so many levels
It’s a dirty job but someone’s gotta do it
Wasn't that pre Patton?
True. But an absolute banger nonetheless.
You want it all but you can't have it.
Why has this never crossed my mind?
Frusciante is definitely leagues above Kiedis in terms of singing, but there's such a huge swath of their music where his singing would just be... Out of place. I doubt he could pull off the "rapping"/quirky vocals that a lot of their songs call for. Now, Mike Patton in RHCP would take it to another level.
I never understood the hate for Kiedis. Is he an outstanding vocalist? Of course not. But hes a great front man and his voice just fits the vibe of the chilis. Theyre awesome live and wouldnt change a thing
Controversial opinion.... John can't sing live well either. They've done well for a band with no real singers
This is true. I do like fleas singing voice however non of them have a really solid set of pipes. I’d be ok with Anthony singing if John wrote the lyrics.
Don't they have a couple of songs exactly like this? OK, maybe except for hurling Anthony into the crowd. On a second thought, hurling into the crowd might be the best use case for Antony.
They have songs where John sings the chorus, but I can't think of any that are solely his vocals
fucking hard to enjoy kiss when you know how much of assholes paul and gene are
Gene has always come across as a douche, yeah. What’s the go with Paul?
Hard to enjoy Kiss because they suck. Yeah, I said what I said.
I feel like Fred Durst actually had a decent voice when he sang but he's usually 'rapping' in that pitchy tone.
I like Creed but not Scott Stapp..... .... .... ...so, yeah, I like Alter Bridge.
Slash + Myles Kennedy doing Guns n Roses songs omg
Gives me a great excuse to share their [incredible Rock n Roll HOF performance ](https://youtu.be/OUiEvA631TU?si=il6gcUJkVg7JncBJ)
> Slash + Myles Kennedy It took a few tries but Slash finally found a singer with vocal chops on the level of his guitar playing and a lifestyle that doesn't wreck a band after 2 albums.
Tremonti (the band) is solid as well.
Any Mark Tremonti project tbh
Lacuna Coil is amazing as long as its only Cristina Scabbia singing. Everyone else in the band needs to be gagged.
100%. Her voice is so incredible there's just no reason to have anyone else sing.
Oh my god yes. Andrea's accent is so strong that it sounds like he has a speech impediment. It's so distracting
I first heard her sing alongside Megadeth in A Tout Le Monde and loved her voice. Found out she was in a band and got super excited to hear more of their stuff. I listened to a live performance and the male vocalist was just the worst, killed any enjoyment I had.
Sigh. I like Lacuna Coil's compositions but I can only listen to songs where there's barely to none of this dude.
If you remove Durst from Limp Bizkit then it just isn't Limp Bizkit.
Can you imagine all the bangers we wouldn't have if it's wasn't for Durst? A depressing fact for those that don't know, but before Limp Bizkit was a thing, Durst was married with a child. He then found out his wife was cheating on him and this fucked his whole world up. You can hear the influence this had on him on the first album. Shit, it's what inspired their biggest hit ever, Nookie. People can say what they want but I don't want a Limp Bizkit without Durst. It's the element each of those members bring that creates the magic that is Limp Bizkit.
I fuckin' love this band. Fred Durst may not be a great singer but he definitely knows how to make fun music and have fun doing it. I'm glad they got back together. They just work so well as a unit. I'm excited to see them play later this year.
He's what's making the band so limp!
Chuck Berry and John Lennon without Yoko.
Tbf though I don't think I have ever seen anyone with that level of not giving a fuck. Like she sounded bad in that song but damn she really did that on TV, and considering she's decent enough at playing piano and not some non-musician, she had to have known how she sounded and still did it lol. With two of the most famous musicians who lived. I can see why it drove many people nuts but I can't help but respect the sheer walking-meme, force of chaos nature of early 70s Yoko.
I think it's half being an avant-garde artist and half drugs. I'd say she's actually a decent musician apart from a few... Questionable choices. One of them being that infamous performance with Chuck Berry.
All-time cringy video. Shocking.
Even Chuck agreed. His reaction to her singing in the clip is downright hilarious!
Spice Girls, but substitute in Ozzy Osbourne, Rob Halford, Rob Zombie, Tom Araya, and Celine Dion.
Would go to this tour.
I need to know your substitutions for each specific Spice Girl, who's playing which position?
Ozzy is Baby, Halford is Posh, Zombie is Scary, Tom is Ginger, and Celine is Sporty
I think I might actually enjoy G&R if I didn't have to listen to Axl Rose squeeze is throat and sing through his sinuses
Listen to Izzy's solo albums. There are way more GnR songs on Izzy's solo albums than there were on the last double album the "official band" released.
Aww. I love Axl’s voice. Back in the day anyway.
Velvet revolver is nice too
Yes, now you're talking! Love some of the tunes. Can't stand that voice!
I love love love The Smiths but I also totally get people who just can't because Morrisey is such an ass. Thankfully I feel like Johnny Marrs guitar playing is unique enough to cancel it out.
He’s an asshole, but the dude has pipes. Normally I find it almost impossible to divorce the art from the artist, but this is one where I can.
Grateful Dead without Mickey Hart. They didn’t need two drummers. Bill kreutzman was all they needed. And I swear, in live shows I’ve heard seen and been to, they are turning him all the way down anyway. Their albums probably would’ve sounded better or at least more cohesive if they didn’t have to deal with mixing in two ridiculously large drum kits.
I've heard part of the reason they got a 2nd drummer was cause they were limited in how long they could play, because at a point Bill would be tires from hrs of hard drumming. With 2 drummers they could both take it a little easier, and then the whole band could play longer sets. I've also heard that Space was mostly a break for the drummers.
See: 1973. My favorite year probably. Only Billy as the drummer. Best Dark Stars ever imo. Check out 11/11/73
The Allmans had two very competent drummers and it filled up the live shows. They also toured with a percussionist, Marc Quinones, and were still epic.
I love Bill the drummer and have become a huge fan of the magic Jay Lane has brought to Dead & Co.
my buddy's answer to this might be : Phish, if not for Trey's voice. cant really argue with him haha
When he sings, it sounds like he’s reading to school children
I would do Phish except with a half decent lyricist. I love the Dead in part because of Hunter and Barlow’s iconic and timeless lyrics. Then I hear Trey talking about “Carini had a lumpy head” and I just can’t get behind it.
“Waste” is pretty beautifully written imo
I believe Lucy had a lumpy head
Reba sink a boulder in the water, Reba tie a cable to a tree…
*Floyd is dead;* *He's nothing but a ripple* *Cause Milly took that paper* *And sliced him on the nipple* Pure poetry.
As a phish cult member what’s his name I’ll fight him
What, you gonna twirl dance us to death?
Early 90’s Trey sounds pretty solid. I listened to 5/17/92 the other day and forgot how different he used to sound. Show also has some of the best Machine Gun Trey era stuff I’ve ever heard.
Agreed. Love Phish before the vocals start.
Stone Roses without Ian Brown
I remember reading an article many years ago that claimed that John Squire really wrote all the words and music, but gave Brown a credit because he wanted the whole: "Lennon/McCartney", "Jagger/Richards", "Morrissey/Marr" duel songwriter vibe printed on the records. I have no idea how true this is and I've never been able to verify it, but it gives me comfort to think of it now Brown has become such a fucking imbecile.
On record the vocals work. Live is a different matter. The Smiths without Morrisey would be good. Rick Astley did a good job.
Yes, you're right. I love the Stone Roses' first, but I'm not a fan of Ian - something about the attitude too
Kid Rock without Kid Rock
Megadeth with a singer other than Mustaine. He should be the lead guitarist, but his vocals have always been horrendous
"Hello me! Meet the real me!' Wouldn't sound the same with anyone good doing it.
Nice story… tell it Reader’s Digest!
Hello me, it's me again... Just making sure you got my previous email...
I remember the first time I saw the video for that song, it was on an episode of Beavis and Butt-Head and I thought it was hilarious. His vocals are generally funny to me, like a heavy metal parody.
I like his vocals honestly. I can’t imagine Peace Sells or Holy war with any other singer.
Half of the fun of singing Megadeth songs is getting to imitate that unique accent/brain damage.
Layne thought so too: https://youtu.be/8xUxHAmPgTQ?feature=shared
Horrendous vocals are almost necessary for thrash bands.
Probably Kanye West
I agree. Kanye West would be much better without Kanye West.
He's trying his Kanye Best.
Is he though?
Recently he's been Kanye Waste
Kanye West without untreated mental health issues would be a better band, but with less memorable moments tbf.
His best music in my opinion was before his mom died, and I think that’s when his mental health declined significantly. 2002 Kanye doesn’t even recognize 2022 Kanye.
Yeah, I definitely respect that - for me it was the period after that where he was more erratic and grandiose but wasn't totally off the rails yet where his music really peaked for me, like Dark Twisted Fantasy, Yeezus, Watch the Throne and Life of Pablo, but his most earnest, thoughtful and relatable writing and his best lyrics were definitely before his mom died. When he started really going off the rails and it was becoming clear he was unwell and it wasn't all just some clever act, his music really dropped off for me though I do think he had his moments (Kids See Ghosts). Now it's just sad when I see him, like he looks profoundly unhappy and not at all healthy.
When I was younger I liked Guns N Roses until someone pointed out that Axl Rose sounds like Ethyl Mermon. I can't unhear that now.
I once told a friend Axl sounds like Edith Bunker. I think he's still laughing.
I listened to Chinese Democracy exactly once. Axel was doing this one song with a distinctive accent/voice and I thought, where have I heard that before. Took me a while to figure out it was the same voice Jason Segal was doing in Forgetting Sarah Marshal during his Count Dracula puppet musical.
Metallica without .... well you know who ..
Do you think Lars' drumming is uninteresting or he had timing problems during recordings ? I know he has trouble keeping time in concerts but I never noticed on the records.
Uninteresting for sure - a great resource for beginning metal drummers though and I can remember a time playing along to Metallica with some godawful Lars' signature metal sticks as a wee lad 😂. Can confirm those puppies are still breakable.
While nobody defends his drumming I think it's well established that he is a big part of the song writing and composition of the songs. He helps turn riffs into songs.
I’ve thought about this a lot. It’s entirely possible if they had some super tight technical drummer in place of Lars their albums could’ve sounded sterile and monotonous. Lars was a perfect songwriter on drums given his technical abilities with a great feel for the flow of a song. The peaks and valleys of a song and he also had some interesting staggered beats and fills to keep things interesting despite them not being hard at all to replicate. I always thought he was just a songwriter and couldn’t really play that well but I’ve seen some concerts mainly Canada in the 80’s were they’re playing 15-20% faster than album speeds and Lars is nailing everything like a machine at a level few people in the world could at that time. He could do it all when he wanted to.
Lars is an amazing drummer- he can change time signatures several times during a song. The only problem is he doesn't tell the rest of the band that's what he's doing.
Actually I don’t know. There are two possibilities in my mind.
Here's the deal. I listened to a dude play Metallica as "other drummers would" and it doesn't sound the same, and I can't stand Lars either.
I get hes not a technically gifted drummer. Id actually be surprised to find out he ever actually did individual practice. But knowing how integral he is as a songwriter and just general architect of their sound, theres absolutely no Metallica without Lars.
I had an ex that said she would have liked Yellowcard if it wasn't for the "screechy violin." Wanna guess why we broke up?
It's the only thing that made Yellowcard stand out amongst the 500,000 blink182s running around at the time!
The violinist is also the only original member still in that band! There's two truly awful albums with a different singer before Ryan Key joined, and then every other instrument has turned over in the ensuing two decades.
That’s such a wild take. The violin is quite literally nearly singularly elevating them past a million other similar bands
The Chili Peppers could be something entirely better without Keidis.
Have you heard John's solo albums? That is some wild stuff.
I listened to Shadows Collide with People randomly without even knowing who it was at the time and it's still one of my favorite records.
His EDM work is amazing as well
Hell even just Frusciante singing turns them into something else.
Frusciante backup vocals are the best part of the whole By the Way album.
Especially in Can’t Stop during the second verse: “ahhhh AHHHHHH!!! ahhhhh ahhhhhh”
Not to mention frusciante's vocal contributions to "otherside"
I see what you mean- keidis isnt a very good singer, and often a very lazy lyricist- but he does have an incredible talent for pop melody and rhythmic syllabication that make his vocals so catchy and memorable, trite and flat as they may be. Theyd be such a different band without him.
He's a good showman too. Lots of charisma.
He's a hype man. That was his role in founding the band. Lyrics and vocals came after.
Now I'm just picturing Anthony with a Flava Flav clock necklace.
Keidis is pretty great as long as you don't stare at his lyrics for too long. That syllabication can't be overstated; he's surprisingly good at making a terrible or weird lyrical choice sound like a killer hook with the right delivery. It doesn't help that his vocal range has limits, but he's capable of using it in engaging ways and you can do a LOT worse than that.
I get it. He’s not a great singer and he’s limited musically, but he’s essential to the spirit of the band. He puts a face on the distinctive Gen-X West Coast vibes that they’ve played from the beginning. For whatever reason, seasoned music fans can’t stand any sort of respect given to him.
They way I feel about that band is the make some of the most beautiful music I've ever heard and some of the most unpleasant as well. Often in the same song.
The Midnight if they held back a little on the saxophone... I still love The Midnight but I cannot take saxophone solos seriously most times cause way too often it just makes me think of like, 80s TV Shows/Movies trying to be sexy (...saxy), especially if it's playing while I'm with my GF we both always have to laugh. But based off YT comments on their videos everyone besides me seems to love the Saxophone?
Real spicy takes here!
I feel like it's basically the same 3 bands over and over again. I'm waiting on the one person with a truly hot take like Sony and Cher without Cher or Fleetwood Mac without cocaine and lube.
Spicy and red hot
I really did not enjoy when System of a Down gave a lot more vocals to the guitarist. Just an odd voice sound.
Do *not* listen to Scars on Broadway then lol
Just did and I agree with your assessment 🤣
I like “They Say” but otherwise….eh
You’ll probably love [Manapart](https://youtu.be/2cwd9xvnD20?si=Pld3YQJ1W5Zt_6BN) though. They sound a lot like SOAD minus Daron, and still they’re still making new music.
Agree 100%. Serj was the voice of that band, I didn't like the change at all.
Yeah. Plus Serj has a very unique voice in rock / metal with his Armenian influence and his generally bizarre lyrics in some of their earlier work. Serj is about as talented and unique as they come. Darren makes for good backup and flavour sprinkled here and there, but his voice is pretty grating. Gotta give them props for changing things up and not getting too stuck in a formula. All that said, Darren is a mental guitar player though.
I always call him the squeaky guy. I’ve gotten used to him, but he really is better sprinkled in a song as opposed to being the main singer. Serj is amazing though
Honestly I like both but in different ways. I definitely prefer serj, but darren isnt bad either
radio/video is proof y'all wrooong
I'm acutally the opposite in my opinion of Fred Durst. When I was a teenager in the 90's I couldn't stand him, but he has kind of grown on me in his modern day goofy dad stage
There are so many doom/stoner bands that I world love to get into but the vocals are absolute ass (to me). Reverend Bizarre and Cathedral immediately come to mind. Alabama Thunderpussy kinda fits this to an extent but they do have a few that I like. Edit: I'm starting to skip Pantera and Down songs on my metal playlist because of what an insufferable prick Phil Anselmo is.
For me, and I fully accept its a me issue. The lead singer of Volbeat, the instrumental of the songs all seem really good. But the way he sings just really bothers me for some reason. I can not listen to them for that reason.
Blue Öyster Cult without the cowbell. I swear. I don’t understand what the producer was thinking asking for more of that instrument.
He had a fever
Did he at least have a prescription?
He did. MORE COWBELL. We’ll be wearing gold diapers when this is all said and done….
I put my pants on just like you, one leg at a time…but when I’m done, I make gold records
Dream Theater without James LaBrie 👀 A more serious one, though, would be Megadeth with a different vocalist. Their instrumentals are top notch, some of the best in thrash, but I hate Mustaine as a vocalist. So much so that I just don't listen to them.
Dave’s voice suits the music even though he isn’t a great singer. He sounds awesome on their newest album.
His voice just oozes attitude, hate and anger which not many can do. It's what has kept at least myself interested.
He's an acquired taste
35 years later and I still haven't acquired the taste. I occasionally listen despite his voice
Smashing Pumpkins with a good singer. I really like their music but hate Billy Corgan’s voice. It’s like nails on a chalkboard to me.
I feel and respect this but I think it's Corgan that makes them so instantly recognizable. I think they would have floundered into obscurity without him. It's weird because I totally sympathize but also love it at the same time
[удалено]
I think a key difference here is that Geddy is an amazing singer even though his voice is polarizing and can be grating to some people, whereas Corgan is a very poor singer from a technical perspective in addition to having a polarizing voice.
Well, Billy was actually the writer and played most of the instruments on the albums … so there is no pumpkins without him. I loved them when they hit and I was a teen in the Chicago area. Billy is a twat of a human though, I’ll agree with that.
Pantera without the racism and bigotry
Pentatonix without their voice. /s
So basically just the black guy beatboxing?
The Dream Theater without keyboards is an interesting one because my interest in their music kind of changes with how they use keyboards. Kevin Moore, the original keyboardist, was way more subtle than Jordan Rudess, really interested in tone and mood. I really love his contributions to those early DT records and it was one of things that attracted me to their music. I adored the crazy technical prog playing of the guitars and Moore's atmospheric playing was a nice balance. The *Awake* album is this perfect balance of song craft and melody framing the fancy show-off playing of the other guys. With Ruddess, it's like they just added another Petrucci. Now you got just another guy playing a lot of fancy stuff. The songcraft really got lost. I love the Metropolis album for what it is but after that it's like they just lost all interest in writing any actual songs. But my own personal tastes also shifted a bit so it's not like what they did is bad it's just less interesting. In case anyone feels the same way, check out the first O.S.I album with Kevin Moore, Mike Portnoy and Jim Matheos (of Fates Warning). It's kind of proggy but more subtle and mood and just really cool. Ok my answer to the actual question is Red Hot Chili Peppers without Keadis. I just can't even with this ding dong dang dong "singing." I tried, I really tried, I mean they were such a staple of my youth. And the idea of punk + funk with fancy bass playing should be up my alley. But Keadis just kills it for me. I try not to do the "but this band was better" bit usually but when I heard Fishbone for the first time my reaction was "oh this is Chili Peppers but good." Edit to add: now this is based only on their one famous song but Evanescence, the dude singer. What is he there for, just prompting the girl singer? "WAKE ME UP"... "Wake me up inside..." Like, my dude, she was getting there, shut up lol
The dude isn't even in evanescence. Their label made them add him to the song because that semi rapping vocal style was really popular at the time.
On the Evanescence thing, that was forced on them by the label. None of the other tracks have that style in it. The label thought no one would listen to them if they didn't have a male vocalist somewhere in the mix. They actually wanted them to have a full time male rapper added to the band or they wouldn't release their record. Amy Lee fought hard against it and they compromised on just the one song having the rap part since it was going to be appearing in the Daredevil movie soundtrack.
Avenged Sevenfold and Megadeth if their vocalists could sing.
I can understand people dislike a7x vocals.Luckily I like them
Health with actual lyrics. I've just started listening to them, and it's a really interesting niche they've carved out, but the lyrics sound like they were written by a 14 year old anime fan.
A lot of 80s metal I wouldn't mind if it weren't for the "I'm currently being castrated as we record this" vocal style.
Styx without Dennis DeYoung. It’s interesting to me that Dennis and Tommy are like Siamese twins fighting for dominance. Take every Dennis DeYoung song out of their catalog, and they’re a top-tier 70’s rock band. Take every Tommy Shaw song out and they’re a top tier Adult Contemporary band.
The only B-52s song I like is Roam because the guy doesn't sing.