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The Band Minus the Face: Difference between revisions
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Many bands both avert this trope and play it straight; it isn't uncommon for a band to survive the departure of one key member only to later see their popularity fade after the loss of a different member.
In a related phenomenon, sometimes a famous singer's backing band takes a "vacation" from its leader, releasing its own original material while still under the singer's employ.
Compare and contrast the musical applications of [[Growing the Beard]].
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* After Jim Morrison died, the remaining [[The Doors|Doors]] recorded two more albums, ''Other Voices'' and ''Full Circle''. These albums have been largely forgotten and, unlike the rest of the band's often-reissued catalog, are available on CD only as European semi-bootlegs.
** Additionally, the Doors have recruited a number of vocalists for the occasional live performance. Eddie Vedder sang when the group was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and an appearance on VH-1 Storytellers included performances by a number of singers including Scott Stapp, Scott Weiland, and Ian Astbury, who accompanied the group on a world tour in 2003. After a lawsuit by John Densmore and the Morrison estate barred said touring group from using the Doors name, Ray Manzarek and Robbie Krieger have performed under the name Riders on the Storm.
* Another band that suffered following the departure of its lead singer was Big Brother and the Holding Company. After Janis Joplin left, the band recruited several new members (including two replacement vocalists) and released ''Be a Brother''. Few accepted the invitation, which may be why Big Brother's next album (and their last for 15 years) was titled ''How Hard It Is''.
* After Ian Hunter left [[Mott the Hoople]], the band shortened its name to Mott and continued with two more albums, ''Drive On'' (which was at least a decent seller, peaking at #35) and ''Shouting and Pointing'' (which didn't chart at all).
* By 1985, [[The Clash]] had lost two of its classic lineup, Mick Jones and Topper Headon. The two left behind, Joe Strummer and Paul Simonon, recruited some new musicians and recorded ''Cut the Crap''-- an [[Ironic Episode Title|ironic title]], considering that the album was rejected by most fans, most critics, and the band itself. With the exception of one well-regarded track, the single "This Is England", ''Cut the Crap'' has been purged from Clash history. Strummer himself said in a 1989 interview, "I often think of [the new members]. I hope it didn't mess up their lives too much".
* [[Talking Heads (band)|Talking Heads]] broke up because of tension between singer/guitarist David Byrne and the rest of the band. In 1996, the group (under the shortened name The Heads) recorded ''No Talking, Just Head'', an album on which Byrne was replaced by a new guitarist and a variety of guest singers, including [[Blondie (band)|Debbie Harry]], [[The Stooges|Iggy Pop]], Michael Hutchence, Andy Partridge and Johnette Napolitano (who sang lead on the accompanying tour). The album was not well received, and that was the end for any version of Talking Heads (except for a one-shot 2002 reunion gig celebrating the band's induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame).
* The [[Dead Kennedys]]' messy breakup resulted in the band continuing to tour without singer Jello Biafra, angering fans who feel that the new version of the DK's is betraying everything the original group stood for. (This may help explain why the new DK's have gone through no less than ''four'' singers.) Atypically for this trope, the post-Biafra [[Dead Kennedys]] haven't attempted any new material; all their releases since the split have been compilations or live albums dating from the Biafra era.
** Some fans warmed up to the Biafra-less DK after they learned how much money he stole from the rest of the band. Not cool (or punk), Jello.
** It isn't confirmed which story (the one that Ray and the gang tell, and the one Jello tells) is actually true. Due to his charisma and consistent views, Jello's side of it tends to be believed more often than not.
*** Jello has always denied knowingly doing anything wrong and disputed his former bandmates' account of the breakup. Those who want to learn more can go to [[Wikipedia]] ([[wikipedia:Jello Biafra#Lawsuit by former band members|Jello Biafra entry]], [[wikipedia:Dead Kennedys#1990s-2000s: Legal conflicts|Dead Kennedys entry]]). Please, no more [[Conversation in the Main Page]].
* Wall of Voodoo's vocalist, Stan Ridgway, and percussionist Joe Nanni, quit the band after backstage trouble at the 1983 US Festival. Undeterred, the remaining members, signed up a new vocalist in Andy Prieboy, and a drummer to put out two more albums, plus a live disc.
** To be fair, the band's second best selling single, "Far Side of Crazy" was sung by Prieboy. In Australia, where "Far Side of Crazy" outsold "Mexican Radio", Prieboy is regarded as the band's face and Ridgway is seen as [[The Pete Best]].
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** Stone Temple Pilots played it more straight, however. After Scott left and the band broke up, the other members formed Army of Anyone with the singer from Filter. Most STP fans don't know Army of Anyone exists, and if they do, they tend to deny it exists.
** GNR could also be seen as an inversion--all ''but'' Axl Rose left. The "new" GNR put out ''Chinese Democracy'' and many fans declared it [[Hype Backlash|a massive failure]], [[Fanon Discontinuity|pretending it was never made]].
** In yet another Stone Temple Pilots-related example, there was also Talk Show, a band the members formed with vocalist Dave Coutts in 1997, while Scott Weiland was struggling with drug addiction and working on his first solo album. As with Army Of Anyone, the one album they released didn't do very well commercially and isn't too well-known even among fans.
* Drowning Pool's singer died after the first album, and they've had a new singer for each of their three albums since..
* Adema had a singer that left after the second album; they're currently up to their fourth.
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* Most people agree that Don Caballero hasn't been the same since guitarist Ian Williams left. The bassist quit shortly after he did, leaving only drummer Damon Che left. Che tried to salvage the band, but the results were...[[Fanon Discontinuity|disappointing, to say the least.]]
* Steve Jones and Paul Cook, plus a couple of [[The Other Darrin|no-name fill-ins]], toured as [[Sex Pistols|The Sex Pistols]] several times in the 2000s, more than 20 years after singer John "Johnny Rotten" Lydon left to form [[Public Image Ltd]] and bassist Sid Vicious died of a drug overdose, and a couple years after a moderately successful 1996 reunion tour. Lydon would later come out of retirement to front the group in performances in 2007 and 2008, along with the band's original bassist Glen Matlock (who was kicked out and replaced by Vicious).
* From The Jam, consisting of bassist Bruce Foxton and drummer Rick Buckler ([[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|from The Jam]]) and a new singer/guitarist started touring in the mid-00s. Paul Weller, the original singer, guitarist, and main songwriter, still has a healthy solo career.
* The Irish group Them is best remembered for Van Morrison's 1964-66 stint as lead singer. However, after Morrison left for a successful solo career, various versions of Them continued recording and touring until 1971, with a reunion in 1979. While Them never regained their Morrison-era level of popularity, some fans hold their work without him in high regard.
* After Shannon Hoon's death, Blind Melon reformed with a vocalist who had a somewhat similar style and released one album under the name Unified Theory; years later they reformed again with a vocalist with a ''very'' similar singing style, this time touring and releasing an album under the Blind Melon name again. Both albums had relatively good reception from fans, but didn't attract much attention outside of the fan base.
* Country music band Shenandoah has gone through ''three more'' lead singers since Marty Raybon left in 1995. Brent Lamb until 2000, Brent Lamb ''and'' Curtis Wright for a while, just Wright until 2008, and Jimmy Yeary (who sounds exactly like Raybon) from 2008 onward.
* The Kentucky Headhunters lost brothers Ricky Lee Phelps (lead vocals) and Doug Phelps (bass guitar) before their third album, ''Rave On!!''. They were replaced by lead singer Mark Orr and bassist Anthony Kenney. Orr left after only one album, and Doug came back, taking over his brother's former role as lead singer. After Kenney left, Doug also became bassist again.
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** [[The Statler Brothers]] went through the same thing, replacing Lew Dewitt with Jimmy Fortune, even letting him sing lead on the first single that the group released after Dewitt's departure.
* After a cocaine indictment, lead singer Steven Page left [[Barenaked Ladies]]. He'd already released one solo album, but went off on his own solo career while the Ladies remained together. Their first non-Page album, ''All in Good Time'', was released in 2010, with Ed Robertson taking over lead vocal duties (he and Page had previously split lead vocals more or less down the middle). Kevin Hearn and Jim Creeggan sang lead on a few tracks each, an experiment that started with ''Barenaked Ladies Are Men'' in 2006, though Hearn first sang lead on a [[Hidden Track]] from ''Maroon'' called "Hidden Sun", and Creeggan had a few leads on ''Born on a Pirate Ship'' in the mid-nineties. Even Tyler Stewart's voice could be heard on "Four Seconds", so really, ''everyone'' in this band can sing.
* After their time with [[David Bowie]], the Spiders from Mars released their own album in 1976.
** Without Bowie ''and'' without [[The Lancer|guitarist]] [[Needs More Love|Mick Ronson.]] Which leaves just [[Those Two Guys]].
* When Lord Worm was fired from Cryptopsy, they continued with new vocalist Matt McGachy. Their one album so far since then, ''The Unspoken King'', has received... somewhat negative reviews.
** Lord Worm had actually left Cryptopsy once before, in 1997. They went through two lead singers, Mike DiSalvo and Martin Lacroix, before he returned in 2003.
** Note: when Lord Worm returned, they averted [[Canon Discontinuity]] despite the major differences between the singers' voices. Lord Worm still played songs written in his absence.
* [[The Band]] did a tour of tiny clubs and theatres in the early 90s without Robbie Robertson. It was a rather depressing affair.
* After frontman Jerry Garcia's death in 1995, the remaining members of [[The Grateful Dead]] have reunited a few times under the names, "The Other Ones" (a cheeky reference to the Grateful Dead song "That's It For The Other One") and simply, "The Dead." Many fans have taken to always putting quotation marks around "The Dead" when they refer to them to differentiate from the shorthand way of referring to the full band.
* After [[Meat Loaf]] attained popular success of ''Bat Out Of Hell'', songwriter-producer Jim Steinman wrote a followup album for the singer. When he proved unable to perform due to illness, Steinman brought Meat Loaf's band into the studio and sang the songs himself, releasing the album, ''Bad For Good'', under his own name. While critics generally deemed it mediocre and found Steinman's voice a poor substitute for Meat Loaf's, it achieved a Top 40 hit with "Rock and Roll Dreams Come Through". Meat Loaf would eventually record most of the songs on the album himself for various projects.
* [[Styx]] lost Dennis de Young, their vocalist and keyboardist/pianist whose singing had made the band. They've hardly done as successfully as de Young himself, who continues with his own band....still singing Styx songs just as well as he did before.
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* After [[Thin Lizzy]] broke up and Phil Lynott died, the band had a few reunion projects before reuniting on a permanent basis in 1996 with former guitarist John Sykes as the lead singer. They've only released a single live album since, so most people don't really care.
* After Michael Hutchence, the singer for INXS, tragically died in 1997, the group continued on with a new lead singer named Jon Stevens, who joined the group in 2002. Stevens then quit the group a year later to focus on a solo career, and the band eventually became involved with the ''Rock Star'' television series, where they crowned Canadian unknown J.D. Fortune as the new lead singer. Fortune released an album with the group (which received moderately good reviews), the band "fired" him via an informal handshake at a Hong Kong airport, and they are once again without a singer.
* Survivor, one of the most popular bands of the early 1980s, without singer Jimi Jamison.
* [[Alter Bridge]] is [[Creed]] without Scott Stapp. Alter Bridge is also significantly better-received, making Creed used by some as a textbook example of how a bad vocalist can drag down the work of good instrumentalists. Myles Kennedy, Alter Bridge's frontman, is now additionally lead vocalist for Slash's solo band, producing an interesting cross-pollination of minus-the-face groups.
* In 2009, Sublime started touring with new singer/guitarist Rome Ramirez replacing the late Brad Nowell. This didn't stick, as the Nowell family claims that Brad was the sole owner of the band name. The other two original members soon decided they didn't want to alienate Brad's widow, family and friends and changed the name of the project to Sublime with Rome, which was accepted by Brad's family. Prior to this there was Long Beach Dub All-Stars, who were ''also'' Sublime without Nowell.
* After Brian Setzer left The Stray Cats, the other two members, Jim Phantom and Lee Rocker, teamed up with former David Bowie guitarist Earl Slick to form a new group, Phantom, Rocker, and Slick. They released one album, which bombed miserably, and then quickly dissolved.
* After lead singer Allan Clarke left [[The Hollies]] in 1971, the band hired an unknown Swedish singer named Mikael Rikfors to replace him. Rikfors was solid in the studio, but live shows were another matter. Rikfors completely lacked Clarke's charisma on stage, and his sound was so different from Clarke's that when the band tried to play their old hits, the results sounded strange and awkward. The albums recorded with Rikfors are highly regarded, but were commercial failures that sounded nothing like the trademark Hollies sound. The band eventually reunited with Clarke, and Rikfors was let go.
* When [[The Who]] lost drummer Keith Moon after 1978's ''Who Are You'', the band replaced him with Kenney Jones. Everything went OK for a while, including a decently-received tour, until 11 fans were killed at a concert in Cincinnati a year later. The band then released two studio albums with Jones, ''Face Dances'' and ''It's Hard''. While the former had a bonafide hit in "You Better You Bet" and a charter in "Another Tricky Day", the latter was panned by just about everyone (though Rolling Stone infamously awarded it 5/5 stars). Though they've reunited since then (recently without deceased bassist John Entwistle) many times for tours and even a studio album ''Endless Wire'' which was warmly received, they've never REALLY been [[The Who]] since Keith passed away.
* Cannibal Corpse, to some extent. Although most fans view current vocalist George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher as a formidable replacement to original frontman Chris Barnes, some still insist that the band lost defining characteristics after Barnes' departure.
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* After [[Buddy Holly]] died, The Crickets continued with various other singers (one of whom, David Box, also died in a plane crash). They currently tour with Buddy's friend Sonny Curtis.
** The split actually came before Holly's death.
* When original singer Edwin left I Mother Earth, they managed to put out two more albums with Brian Byrne before imploding, though admittedly there were [[Executive Meddling|other factors]]. On the other hand, four studio albums is an impressive catalogue for an early 90s Canadian alt-rock band, since most were lucky to get to three.
* When they were dumped by their record label, October Project's Mary Fahl then struck out on a solo career, taking her signature contralto with her. October Project, meanwhile, attempted several times to carry on without her, first as November Project, then as October Project again. While Mary has been able to get a CD out in stores since then, as well as appear on a couple of movie soundtracks, the larger part of the group has had only a few limited-run releases.
* When Vancouver-based band Doug And The Slugs stopped recording studio albums, lead singer Doug Bennett toured for a good 12 years with a rotating group of backing musicians, [[In Name Only|still billing them as Doug And The Slugs]]. Following his death in 2004, the other original band members reunited with a new singer and are now touring as Doug And The Slugs despite not having Doug, making them now [[The Band Minus the Face]].
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** In [[Real Life]], the band has stated that if any member dies or retires, they will break up, averting this.
* Project 86's music video for "The Spy Hunter" ends with the rest of the band knocking singer Andrew Schwab unconscious, tying him up, and leaving him to get shot by a cannon. This is continued in the video for "My Will Be a Dead Man", where Schwab tracks down the rest of the band and finds that they've replaced him (with the lead singer from He Is Legend, no less).
* [[Iron Maiden]] was a decent metal band before [[Bruce Dickinson]], and released two albums during his seven-year absence from the band. But they are definitely a more successful entity with Dickinson up front.
* After the techno duo Blue Amazon split up, Lee Softley continued producing solo under that name.
* 2 Unlimited was reformed as a girl group after the original two members, Ray and Anita, parted ways. It didn't last long, as [[One-Book Author|they only produced one album]] before breaking up themselves.
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* [[Da Yoopers]] have continued nearly 20 years beyond the departure of longtime vocalist/guitarist Joe Potila. Since they're a [[No-Hit Wonder]], it's not as if their success has waned much.
* Indie pop girl group The Pipettes has seen many lineup changes: the band's most successful lineup of Rebecca "RiotBecki" Stephens, Rose Elinor Dougall and Gwenno Saunders is the second lineup. Saunders replaced Julia Laird-Clowes, who left to become the singer and keyboardist for the indie band The Indelicates. After the release of their popular 2006 debut ''We Are the Pipettes'', Stephens and Dougall left the band, with Dougall going onto a critically acclaimed solo career. Saunders and Monster Bobby (the group's co-creator and leader of their backing band) continued the group, recruiting replacements that ''also'' departed soon afterwards. The group's second album, ''Earth vs. Pipettes'' only features Saunders and her sister Ani in the lineup, and it tanked in both sales and critical reception.
* When [[Alice Cooper]] transitioned from being a band to being a solo act, the original members of the band other than Alice Cooper himself (along with an additional guitarist\vocalist and keyboardist) became Billion Dollar Babies. Their lone album, 1977's ''Battle Axe'', didn't do well critically or commercially, and now it's mostly known as a footnote to Alice Cooper's career.
* The [[Sex Pistols]] tried to continue when Johnny Rotten left, with the three remaining members and "Great Train Robber" Ronnie Biggs taking turns on lead vocals. It didn't go well.
* Once Gary Numan temporarily retired as a live act in 1981, his backing band went on as Dramatis. Their lone album, ''For Future Reference'', had keyboardist Chris Payne taking lead vocals, and mimicked Numan's science-fiction-themed [[Synth Pop]] to some extent. They did manage a top 40 hit in the UK with "Love Needs No Disguise", which featured Gary Numan himself on guest vocals. Otherwise, they're largely a footnote to Gary Numan's career, enough so that when their album finally saw release on CD in 2000, it was [[Covers Always Lie|repackaged]] as an album called ''The Dramatis Project'' by Tubeway Army Featuring Gary Numan.
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* [[The Moody Blues]] were originally a well-respected but but only moderately successful white R&B band. After lead singer Denny Laine left (along with bassist Clint Warwick), the band brought in Justin Hayward and John Lodge, switched its focus to symphonic rock, and became massively popular.
* After parting ways with lead singer David Ruffin in 1968, The Temptations kept on racking up hits well into the 70s while Ruffin's solo career floundered.
** Ruffin may have thought of himself as the face of the band, but The Temptations were established R&B stars before he joined the group, and remained so afterwards.
* Dave Bickler was the lead singer on Survivor's biggest hit, "Eye of the Tiger", but that was the only top ten hit for the band during Bickler's tenure. They had four top ten singles with Bickler's replacement, Jimi Jamison.
* Death metal pack leaders Cannibal Corpse ended up firing their original frontman, Chris Barnes, over attitude issues. What they didn't account for was that Chris Barnes was the most beloved death metal frontman outside of Chuck Schuldiner. Fortunately the guy they ended up getting, George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher, was not only a vastly superior vocalist, he pretty much converted any skeptics with [[Careful with That Axe|his first vocal section on his first album with the band]].
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* Tyondai Braxton, the singer and guitarist for math rock group Battles, left the band after the tour for their successful 2007 debut album ''Mirrored''. The band pressed on without replacing him and their sophomore effort, 2011's ''Gloss Drop'' was extremely well received. Instead of replacing him directly, the songs on ''Gloss Drop'' are either instrumental or feature guest vocalists.
* [[Alice in Chains]] reunited and began touring in 2005, three years after lead singer Layne Staley died and eventually selected William Duvall as his replacement. The band released an album, ''Black Gives Way to Blue'' which received good critical and fan reception, with most of the fandom that had been against Duvall changing their tune. It is really only a small [[Vocal Minority]] that still refuses to accept him.
* It happened very gradually, but The Dropkick Murphys are now better known with replacement vocalist Al Barr than they were with original frontman Mike McColgan. McColgan, who left The Dropkick Murphys after their first album to become a firefighter, later started Street Dogs, who have been successful in their own right, but aren't as well-known as his first band. Al Barr actually made a guest appearance on the first Street Dogs album ''Savin Hill'', trading verses with Mike McColgan on "Stand Up".
== "Vacations" ==
* Crazy Horse recorded several "solo" albums both during and after its tenure with [[
* Graham Parker's band, The Rumour, released three albums without Parker.
* In 1980, the Attractions ([[Elvis Costello]]'s then-band) released ''Mad About the Wrong Boy'', an LP on which they wrote and sang their own songs. Attractions keyboardist Steve Nieve has also done several albums on his own.
* Keyboardist Rick Wakeman took a vacation from [[Yes]] for the second time in 1979, and lead singer Jon Anderson followed suit. Their replacements were the new wave pop duo The Buggles: Geoff Downes and Trevor Horn. The resulting album, 1980's ''Drama'', was met with mixed reviews.
* Secret Chiefs 3 gradually turned from this variety of band minus the face project to [[I Am the Band]]: Their first two albums were Mr. Bungle being led by guitarist Trey Spruance rather than Mike Patton, but once Mr. Bungle broke up, they were largely Spruance and a rotating cast of collaborators (albeit with former Mr. Bungle members sometimes among them).
* Averted ''and'' played straight, so to speak, with Malice Mizer. The loss of their first vocalist, Tetsu, not only didn't end the band, but his replacement by [[Gackt]] drastically increased the band's popularity. The loss of Gackt on the other hand...
* Difficult as it is to imagine the Strawbs without Dave Cousins fronting them, he did take a break at the end of the '70s. Roy Hill took over as frontman, deploying his unique variety of [[Mind Screw|mind screwiness]] in the role, until Dave felt ready to return.
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* Dune singer Verena von Strenge took a vacation from the group between 1997 and 1999, during which time they used a vocalist named Vanessa.
* [[Fleetwood Mac]] has had 16 different members since Peter Green founded the band in 1967. The only original member is Mick Fleetwood. (The Mac, John McVie, didn't actually join the band for the first few weeks of its existence). Over the years, they have had: their main singer/songwriter/guitarist/founder, Peter Green, quit a tour halfway through due to LSD addiction; ANOTHER lead singer/guitarist, Jeremy Spencer, joined the Children of God partway through a tour and never finished it (they got Peter Green to come back); and a third guitarist/songwriter, Danny Kirwan, smashed his guitar before a performance and refused to ever appear in stage again.
* [[Alabama]] has pretty much been in semi-retirement since their last major single in 2002. Lead singer Randy Owen recorded one solo album in 2008, but not to distance himself from the band.
* Morbid Angel vocalist/bassist David Vincent left in 1996 and returned in 2004. The band recorded three albums with replacement Steve Tucker which had mixed-to-positive reviews. After 7 years, finally an album was recorded with Vincent. It was not received well at all.
* Big & Rich went on hiatus after their third album. Both members (Big Kenny and John Rich) recorded solo albums with each other's blessings, but have since officially started touring again as Big & Rich.
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