Theseus the Musician
Long time reader and part time televangelist, Pilot, and I have discussed band members previously. One thing was always, what is the original lineup. For instance, Lamb of God had many members, but when they finally settled on the name, they didn't change anyone until very recently. So, did they all count as original members? Or the case of Clutch who is all original members but had a keyboardist join for a couple albums and then leave. They didn't replace him. Or the case of Opeth where no members are original, but all albums were written primarily by Mikael Akerfeldt. The guy who came up with the name quit when he joined though.
These are all Ship of Theseus type things though. Mainly, where do you draw a line. In the end it's each persons opinion and really doesn't matter. But, I'm currently listening to an album Between the Buried and Me put out in 2006 which is just a bunch of covers. Van Halen, Soundgarden, Queen, Pink Floyd, Pantera, etc. It got me thinking of Pantera, which has been touring since Vinnie Pauls death. It's no secret that the Abbott brothers hated Phil Anselmo so it seems a little sketchy to me. Dimebag was also the major draw for the band. At what point do we say it isn't Pantera touring.
Sublime is a another case where, last I checked, no members of the original band were playing anymore. That's choice is not Sublime.
It's also different when you think artistically vs. legally. In the case of the previously mentioned Between the Buried and Me, one of their guitarists was kicked out after 18 years with the band when he was charged with sexual assault. The charges were eventually dropped and he sued the band but it was recently announced that they came to a compromise and he is no longer a part of the legal band. Legality is king.
And I'm still waiting for my money for that one Metallica riff I wrote. Sure, they wrote it first but whatever. They have lots of money.
Not really anything for a discussion or comments here. My brain was just wandering and this is what came out.
Comments
It's not like Radiohead or Rage Against the Machine where the lineup never changed, but if you take a snapshot of the start and a snapshot of the end, it doesn't look like it's changed much. Aside from the fact that Bill Ward doesn't look nearly as good with his shirt off anymore.