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Bands where the Lead Guitarist or a Guitarist was more important than the Lead Singer?


SunnyDRE

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Dave Mustaine with Metallica.

........he sucks so no.

But Marty friedman with Megadeth :thumbsup:

agreed, there's no Megadeth without Marty for me.

yeah he's the only reason why I listen to some songs by them beacause I can't stand Dave for so many reasons :P

He's good, but Peace Sells bitches! You guys are probably of that crowd that thinks they were actually a good band post-Rust in Peace anyways :rolleyes:

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The Who

I remember Pete saying John was more of a lead guitar player than he was. So I would say yes.

Can't believe I forgot about The Who. Definitely. Roger may have been the voice but it was Pete wrote all the material. In that regard, he's the most important member.

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Dave Mustaine with Metallica.

........he sucks so no.

But Marty friedman with Megadeth :thumbsup:

agreed, there's no Megadeth without Marty for me.

yeah he's the only reason why I listen to some songs by them beacause I can't stand Dave for so many reasons :P

He's good, but Peace Sells bitches! You guys are probably of that crowd that thinks they were actually a good band post-Rust in Peace anyways :rolleyes:

no I'm from the crowd that thinks that they never were a good band exept from a few song :D

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Interesting topic.

Some of those bands are just ones that had more than one singer. I'm not sure that should automatically place them on this list.

Somebody said Journey. All of their hits came with Steve Perry singing. The two singers since him were effective, but they didn't produce any hits. Journey tours and puts out albums purely on the strength of the songs created when Steve Perry was there. I'd also bet money that Perrry had more success post-Journey than Journey has.

Sort of the same thing with Van Halen. Obviously the band is named after the brothers.

But Sammy did most of the songwriting while he was in the band. And he had a pretty successful career when he wasn't in Van Halen. So it's not like VH just grabbed some unknown singer and then had number one albums with him. And the Cherone album was a flop. So that might indicate that the VH brothers actually need a high quality singer to be successful?

Motley Crue......maybe for a bit. In the early days, I believe that Sixx was the main catalyst for their success. But once his style of lyrics and song writing got out-dated, the band never really grew into anything else. And, IMO, the Corbani album was better than most of the Vince Neill albums.

Not trying to argue or anything. I just don't think that having more than one singer automatically should earn you inclusion on this list.

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Interesting topic.

Some of those bands are just ones that had more than one singer. I'm not sure that should automatically place them on this list.

Somebody said Journey. All of their hits came with Steve Perry singing. The two singers since him were effective, but they didn't produce any hits. Journey tours and puts out albums purely on the strength of the songs created when Steve Perry was there. I'd also bet money that Perrry had more success post-Journey than Journey has.

Sort of the same thing with Van Halen. Obviously the band is named after the brothers.

But Sammy did most of the songwriting while he was in the band. And he had a pretty successful career when he wasn't in Van Halen. So it's not like VH just grabbed some unknown singer and then had number one albums with him. And the Cherone album was a flop. So that might indicate that the VH brothers actually need a high quality singer to be successful?

Motley Crue......maybe for a bit. In the early days, I believe that Sixx was the main catalyst for their success. But once his style of lyrics and song writing got out-dated, the band never really grew into anything else. And, IMO, the Corbani album was better than most of the Vince Neill albums.

Not trying to argue or anything. I just don't think that having more than one singer automatically should earn you inclusion on this list.

It's not just the more than one singer thing, but sometimes that co-relates to the importance. You have a point with Cherone/Van Halen though. I do consider Cherone a great singer, but he wasn't the right fit and the songwriting was atrocious on that album which is the main reason it flopped, in my view anyways. On the other hand, Eddie's iconic playing is a big factor into the band's success so to me that makes if equally important if not more so than Dave or Sammy. They had hits with both singers, and the commonality there is Eddie.

With AC/DC, Brian was virtually unknown before he joined the band. Geordie was doing okay but was hardly a household name. Back in Black still had their signature sound because of Angus and Malcolm's riff writing. I'd say writing good riffs is the key to AC/DC's success with both singers, making Angus and Malcolm the most important people in the band. Also, Angus is pretty much the image of AC/DC. His gimmick with the school outfit and his antics on stage are always associated with the thought of AC/DC.

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Dave Mustaine with Metallica.

........he sucks so no.

But Marty friedman with Megadeth :thumbsup:

agreed, there's no Megadeth without Marty for me.

yeah he's the only reason why I listen to some songs by them beacause I can't stand Dave for so many reasons :P

He's good, but Peace Sells bitches! You guys are probably of that crowd that thinks they were actually a good band post-Rust in Peace anyways :rolleyes:

no I'm from the crowd that thinks that they never were a good band exept from a few song :D

Well I certainly didn't think they were a good enough band before Rust in Peace :shrugs:

except for a few songs.

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Ok, how about this one?

STP?

The Deleo's more important than Scott? I think you could really kinda make a case...Weren't the Deleo's the main songwriters and didn't they kinda lay out the direction of the band?

nikki sixx isn't a guitarist

but, yeah, he is motley's main songwriter

he doesn't play the bass?

Yes, he plays the bass. Mick Mars is the guitarist

Bass is a guitar. A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a musician who plays the guitar.

Sorry for not using the technical terms in the title of my thread, but I think everyone understood what I meant.

Edited by SunnyDRE
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AC/DC, Van Halen and Cream were the ones which immediately sprung to mind. I imagine for a lot of people in the case of Led Zeppelin it is true too.

Oasis?

And while not exactly what you are looking for as the singer was also the lead guitarist one could make a very strong argument (and in fact I think the other members would too) that the non-guitar playing rhythm guitarist of Manic Street Preachers was their most important member at the outset.

I can think of a few bands where I know people whose interest in the band has little to do with the lead singer and moreso if not the lead guitarist alone then the rhythm section at least - Chilis, Jane's Addiction, Stone Roses, Rage Against The Machine...

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Ones mentioned so far I agree with:

AC/DC

Black Sabbath (Every album is great in it's own respect with Tony being the only constant member, good enough for me)

Motley Crue (I've always said the day Mick is too weak to continue touring is the day I stop going to see Motley Crue, and I don't doubt they'd replace him if that were the case).

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Ok, how about this one?

STP?

Where the Deleo's more important than Scott? I think you could really kinda make a case...Weren't the Deleo's the main songwriters and didn't they kinda layout the direction of the band?

nikki sixx isn't a guitarist

but, yeah, he is motley's main songwriter

he doesn't play the bass?

Yes, he plays the bass. Mick Mars is the guitarist

Bass is a guitar. A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a musician who plays the guitar.

Sorry for not using the technical terms in the title of my thread, but I think everyone understood what I meant.

If Bass counts then Iron Maiden and Red Hot Chili Peppers should be on the list.

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Dave Mustaine with Metallica.

........he sucks so no.

But Marty friedman with Megadeth :thumbsup:

agreed, there's no Megadeth without Marty for me.

No, Kirk Hammet sucks. Dave = Megadeth. The first two albums are my favorite by them. Perhaps it's my jazz background. But it's no coincidence Chris Poland is the only guitarist ever invited back into the band. And Gar Samuelson >>>>>>>>>> Lars and any other Megadeth drummer. And fuck Slayer

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Dave Mustaine with Metallica.

........he sucks so no.

But Marty friedman with Megadeth :thumbsup:

agreed, there's no Megadeth without Marty for me.

No, Kirk Hammet sucks. Dave = Megadeth. The first two albums are my favorite by them. Perhaps it's my jazz background. But it's no coincidence Chris Poland is the only guitarist ever invited back into the band. And Gar Samuelson >>>>>>>>>> Lars and any other Megadeth drummer. And fuck Slayer

I know Kirk sucks (exept some few solos) but he doesn't suck as much as Dave who has never made one good solo ever.

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Rage Against the Machine is one that immediately popped in my head

I'm going to have to disagree. While I do think Morello is a guitar wiz, I don't think they get anywhere without Zack's lyrical style and stage presence. I think they both can claim a equal share in Rage's success.

I mean, hell, for awhile there...wasn't Zack's solo album the 3rd most anticipated album of all time behind CD and Detox...

Edited by SunnyDRE
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The Yardbirds

AC/DC

Van Halen

Pantera

Slayer

Coverdale/Page

Rainbow

That was the first band that came to mind. Phil is great but Dimebag is what elevated them. Phil's vocals seemed to get progressively worse in their later years but the guitar was always good. Slayer is kind of in the same boat. Tom is great but Hanneman/King is one of the top guitar duos ever. Not to mention those two write most of the lyrics as well.

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