John Corabi recorded ONE album with Motley Crue...name your LEAST FAVORITE lead vocalist replacement

[Miles Archer]

[jmowreader]

1. Anyone who sang in Queen after Freddie Mercury died

Second place: Sammy Hagar for David Lee Roth.

[nomorenomore08]

16. The first one I wholeheartedly agree with. I mean, *Paul Rodgers*? WTF?

The second one was pretty bad but I wouldn't call it "worst."

[shenmue]

2. Blaze Bayley

Made a couple of Iron Maiden records while Bruce Dickinson was off doing solo stuff. I still can't make it all the way through the Bayley records.

[LeftOfSelf-Centered]

3. Sammy Hagar replacing David Lee Roth

immediately came to mind. I just couldn't listen to VH after the change, something about Sammy's voice just grates on me.

Incidentally I thought replacing Vince Neil with John Corabi was quite an upgrade. When Neil tries to sing high he sometimes comes off sounding like an angry chipmunk (see the high bits in the verses of "Shout At The Devil&quot .

[lame54]

5. OU821 is a great album

[Callmecrazy]

7. I thought it was OU812?

[lame54]

9. That's a good album 2...

[nomorenomore08]

17. To me the Van Hagar albums range from "meh" ('F.U.C.K.') to pretty good ('5150').

Not a stitch on what they did with DLR, but not the worst band ever either.

[lame54]

31. Definitely a different direction for them...

but that can be healthy for a band

DLR Halen did have more rockin' party songs but they are also responsible for Jump

[Iggo]

32. Jump came from EVH's hardon for the keyboards.

"Eddie plays keyboards!"

Should read, "Eddie sucks at keyboards!"

[nomorenomore08]

40. Exactly. Not Dave's fault in the slightest.

Like others on the thread, I'm more inclined to blame Eddie than Sammy for their later direction.

[Miles Archer]

51. I've read articles describing how Dave railed on Eddie for that

"You're a GUITAR hero, NO ONE wants to hear you play synths"...

Eddie pretty much bottomed out with the keyboards on THIS song (featuring HIS vocals):

[Miles Archer]

13. Part of the problem with Van Hagar...

...was that Sammy showed up at a time where Eddie's fascination with keyboards and ballads had grown to such proportions that the hard rock songs often seemed like they were throwing the fans a bone. Out of ALL of teh Van Hagar albums, I like about ONE album's worth of material.

I thought Montrose KILLED, I think Chickenfoot is a GREAT band, and I like about 25% of Sammy's solo output. He just had WAY too much crap in the post-Montrose days..."Cruisin & Boozin," "It's The Pits," just really weak stuff. And I don't blame him for Van Hagar, I blame Eddie, because Eddie and Alex have ALWAYS called the shots, no matter WHO was holding the microphone.

[fishwax]

14. good point about the timing

*nods head*

[Throd]

15. Van Hagar simply didn't rock in a way that appealed to young males.

Trust me, I was there. It was limp and we all disdained it. In it's prime, Van Halen totally kicked ass. Then they split with Diamond Dave and recorded albums that the accounting department would listen to on the way to Starbuck's for their 10am frappaccino fix.

[nomorenomore08]

18. Imagine them doing "Everybody Wants Some!" with Sammy. Unfathomable, right? n/t

[Miles Archer]

45. I worked in a warehouse when the first Van Halen album came out...

...and my department was made up exclusively of young rock & roll loving males who were enjoying the fact that disco was taking its last gasp.

We had several crappy transistor radios propped up around the department. We split our time between the San Jose rock stations KOME and KSJO. I very clearly remember "Eruption / You Really Got Me" coming out of those speakers.

And you're right, Van Hagar wasn't that band, and we responded accordingly. I didn't want to hear some half-baked crap about some kinda alien pulling the string when love comes walking in. I wanted to hear about Dave reaching down between his legs and easing the seat back.

[LeftOfSelf-Centered]

39. I was a Roth fan first.

I was too young when Roth was actually in Van Halen, so I was late to the party. Actually, I was a fan of Roth's first; I liked his solo stuff with Steve Vai, so I then decided to check out what else he had done and subsequently became a Roth-era Van Halen fan. But I never even felt compelled to check out what VH were like after Roth, it's like the band ended for me after "1984".

Then my guitar teacher lent me his copy of VH's "Live Without a Net" Video and my main impressions were: (1) They (obviously) hardly played any of the (Roth-era) songs that I knew and loved, (2) I didn't like any of the new songs, (3) I really couldn't stand Hagar's voice.

Re. Chickenfoot: I'd be curious to hear how Satriani adapts to a band context, but I can't bring myself to having to hear Sammy sing... But I'm happy to see that Michael Anthony landed on his feet, he get screwed over bad by VH.

[flvegan]

21. You went to Van Halen and Hagar over Van Halen and Cherone?

[nomorenomore08]

25. Excellent point. I forgot that one - probably would've been my pick otherwise.

'VHIII' could've been a halfway decent record, potentially - at least not any worse than the last two so-so Hagar albums - but Gary C.'s voice renders it nearly unlistenable. To this day I've never sat through the whole thing.

[LeftOfSelf-Centered]

38. Since I didn't like Hagar...

Last edited Thu Jul 3, 2014, 03:07 PM - Edit history (1)

I had written off Van Halen already, so the fact that they brought in Cherone barely even registered with me.

Gary Cherone was the third best singer in Extreme (and the weakest link in the band by far), so hearing him with Van Halen wasn't exactly high on my priorities list!

[Miles Archer]

46. Cherone was the "Bobby Ewing isn't dead, he's in the shower and it was all a dream" VH frontman

I mean, what the hell...after he left the band they put out a "best of" album called "Best of BOTH Worlds?" Three singers? BOTH worlds?

[Tommy_Carcetti]

34. But it was Roth who gave us "Jump".

And dear lord is that an obnoxious synth-rock mess of a song.

[SwankyXomb]

35. The problem with "Jump"

is that it's an up-tempo synth-rock song with pseudo-Morrissey lyrics. I've always preferred the Aztec Camera cover

[Tommy_Carcetti]

36. You're right.

That is a lot better.

[LeftOfSelf-Centered]

37. "Jump" doesn't bother me.

It's badly overplayed, but, other than that, to me it's inoffensive. And 1984 also has "Panama" and one of my favourite VH songs, "Drop Dead Legs" on it.

Also, you can't lay the blame for "Jump" at Roth's feet considering he didn't write the music. Removing Roth would only have changed the lyrics, not the general sound of the song (see also "Why Can't This Be Love", "Dreams",...) Eddie wanted to play keyboards, it was Roth who was reluctant to go along with it.

[Tom Ripley]

4. Noel Burke replacing Ian McCulloch in Echo and the Bunnymen

[LynneSin]

6. Lead singers are tough to replace because so many times that Singer defines the band

Sure Jimmy Page could put an album out using Plant-Wannabe David Coverdale but in the end Coverdale never had that charisma that Robert Plant brought to the stage.

And I know for some of these aging bands hoping to make a few more dollars out of their name, the show must go on. So if the lead singer isn't available or can't tour then what better way to solve the issue than to do a Judas Priest - find a lead singer from a tribuate band that does your music and have them replace the lead singer. Sure it was good when Yes needed a fill-in for Jon Anderson after Anderson had life threatening illness. But what sucked was that Anderson recovered, his voice was amazing as ever but Yes stuck with the tribute band singer.

So to be honest I have no viable answer for this question. Other members can be replaced for the better but the lead singer will always be tough shoes to fill.

[nomorenomore08]

19. Ripper Owens is actually my pick for worst replacement. I don't know how he wound up in a tribute

band to begin with because he never sounded anything at all like Halford.

Coverdale? OMFG he's the real-life David St. Hubbins! Seriously!

And what Yes did to Anderson was historically fucked up. So cruel to turn their backs on him after 40+ years.

[Iggo]

8. Definitely Sammy Hagar for DLR.

Tim "Ripper" Owens for Rob Halford wasn't my favorite, either, but at least Timmy killed it live.

Hiring Sammy Hagar ruined Van Halen AND Sammy Hagar.

[OriginalGeek]

11. Totally agree

I liked Hagar solo. Hated Van Hagar.
Never listened to more than half of a Ripper/JP song.
Not even that much of a Blayze Baily Iron Maiden song.


But, to me, the most egregious frontman replacement error is whatever that shit is now touring as the Dead Kennedys. It should be against the law to call them DK without Jello. And I don't mean civil lawsuity law - I mean charge them with a felony. Hell, at LEAST disturbing the peace!

[GOLGO 13]

29. Eddie asked Patty Smyth to replace Dave...

But she turned him down. Can you imagine what could have been? VH fronted by a real singer?

[Iggo]

30. I remember that. They also had that guy from Extreme for a minute.

And to be fair, Sammy is a real singer (see Montrose), just not for Van Halen.

[Throd]

10. Bruce Dickinson

[OriginalGeek]

12. Paul Di'Anno agress with you.

[Populist_Prole]

49. Whaaaaaaaaaat!!!!????

Really though this is a case of apples vs oranges. D'Anno era Iron Maiden seemed to have a more raw, almost punk-ish sound. And I loved it and still do. I couldn't picture or imagine Bruce doing vocals in 'Killers' or the orginal debut album.

Dickenson era Iron Maiden sounds more NWOBHM. His voice and range were/are the perfect match.

[nomorenomore08]

20. Owens for Halford (Judas Priest). Horrible voice, horrible material - just *unlistenable*. n/t

[Arcanetrance]

22. I think if they took and recorded under a different name juggulator could have been forgiven

But the ripper albums seemed to have no soul or identity

[Iggo]

33. Judas Priest is my favorite band, and I can't name one song from the Ripper era.

[Arcanetrance]

23. Whoever is replacing Barlow in iced earth now

[nomorenomore08]

24. Haven't heard a note of the "new improved" Iced Earth. And frankly I don't want to.

If I want to hear IE I'll just go back to 'Burnt Offerings' or 'Something Wicked.'

P.S. Haven't seen you around in a while. Glad you're back.

[Arcanetrance]

27. Thanks been busy with moving and setting up my new life

Haven't had as much time as I'd like to be online

[Iggo]

41. Wasn't Ripper with Iced Earth for a cup of coffee?

Between Barlow stints?

[Arcanetrance]

42. Yeah he did two albums of very inconsistent songs

[valerief]

26. Didn't Slim Whitman sing with Motley Crue at one point?

#t=37

[KurtNYC]

28. Yoko Ono replacing Paul, George and Ringo

[Miles Archer]

47. DUzy

[Algernon Moncrieff]

43. Shaun Murphy fronting Little Feat (nm)

[Miles Archer]

48. That REALLY didn't work out for me.

Craig Fuller, I think, was an attempt to stick as close to Little Feat as possible without bringing in an iconic / eccentric front man...you do NOT "replace" Lowell.

Shaun, as Fulller's replacement, NEVER felt right. As each new CD came out I scoured through the tracks to cherry-pick songs where she DIDN'T handle the lead vocals.

[Algernon Moncrieff]

50. I saw Feat at the old Sunrise Musical Theater circa 2003

Basically, we all waited for her to be done singing the "new stuff" and let the rest of the band do the songs we wanted to hear.

She's got a great voice, and has done some stellar side work. She's just wrong as lead for Little Feat.

Re: Fuller. They had some decent hits with Fuller, but I basically agree - he was designed to keep the vessel between the navigational markers. - nothing more.

[Initech]

44. Dave Navarro replacing John Frusciante

Although how do you top an album as iconic as Blood Sugar Sex Magik?