Stop complaining about "original" members.

    This is not an article telling you that you shouldn't complain that a formerly great band isn't a shadow of its former self, or even that a band has too many nobodies fans don't care about. This is an article telling you that you're doing it wrong.

    With a lot of older bands, very rarely is it the case that the x number of people that formed the group in 1885 stay together to the end.  When one of those members is replaced, the term "scab" or "scab member" is frequently thrown at the band.  This is a term that, in my opinion, the meme "you keep using that word, it doesn't mean what you think it means" comes into play.  Scab should only be used when the band dresses up the new member to look like the old member to fool stupid, filthy casuals into thinking the old member is still there so they'll buy tickets. And filthy casual fans are stupid.  They are the dumbest, laziest pieces of shit to walk the earth.  Yet somehow they're the reason that bands play larger places than clubs long past their prime.  They're also the reason that Eddie Trunk wants to shoot himself when someone calls in asking "whatever happened to (insert band here)?"

    The most infamous example being Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons dressing Tommy Thayer in Ace Frehley's makeup to make those filthy casuals think Ace is still in the band (they also dressed Eric Singer in Peter's makeup, but nobody gives a fuck about Peter past 1977).  And yeah, they would always say it's Tommy, but you know there's at least 2000 retards who think it's still him cos of the spaceman makeup.  If that didn't matter they wouldn't have used it or the catman makeup.  

    To a lesser extent, Judas Priest sort of did the same thing with Richie Faulkner, making him play flying V's so he'd resemble KK to drunk, burnt-out chuds. Don't get me wrong, I think Faulkner has busted his ass, proved his worth and earned his spot in Priest folklore (deep down I think we all know he wrote 80-90% of Firepower and Invincible Shield), but come on, Richie resembling KK absolutely played a role in his hiring.

    Now usually the bands try to defend themselves with the hollow "bands operate without original members all the time, the Rolling Stones don't have all original members, etc."  While there's an unfortunate argument that all that matters in a band is the singer and the guitar player,*  I don't think that means the original singer and guitar player.  There's plenty of instances where the star of a band isn't the original member and never was.  Matter of fact, if decision maker of said band were to fire that star and replace them with the original singer/guitar player, that band would be knocked down to clubs faster than you can say Blaze Bayley.  These instances would include, but are not limited to: Iron Maiden's Steve Harris firing Bruce Dickinson and replacing him with original vocalist Paul Day, Pantera's (ugh) Rex Brown firing Phil Anselmo and replacing him with Terry Glaze, and outside of the metal realm, Journey firing Arnel Pineda and replacing him with original vocalist Gregg Rolie.

    Note that last one, Gregg Rolie is not who you think of as the vocalist for Journey, it's Steve Perry.  Yet Journey made three major label albums with Rolie, all of which went nowhere.  It wasn't until Perry shows up that Journey becomes the classic rock icons we know them as today.  Of course, he left after awhile but that's not the point.  The point is Perry was made Journey stars. Now you're thinking, "well, duh, Steve Perry is one of the greatest vocalists of all time, of course they didn't become big until he showed up." I don't fully agree with that either.  Increase in talent certainly helps, but talent alone doesn't sell a record.  Never has, never will.  But Steve Perry showing up just happens to coincide with the writers of the band (along with Perry of course) figuring out how to write hit songs.  Now I'm sure hearing a talent on a hit song certainly can help make it more appealing, but there's plenty of hit songs with a minimal talent at best and everyone still loves those songs.

    Hits are what sell records.  Hits, and the musicians who write and/or perform them. The hits that give people (particularly women) fond memories of their formative years, and want to revisit them again and again no matter how pathetic they may look in certain cases.  Hit members are who matter.  Now, hits are somewhat subjective, particularly in heavy metal, so I'll simply broaden the definition to "classic" members. The classic members are what matter to the people that fill arenas and stadiums.  

    There can also be instances where whatever talent said classic member has has long since evaporated, yet if the decision maker fires that member, they might as well say goodbye to their fanbase, because with said member, the fans go with them.  The most infamous example of this, Vincent Neil Wharton, a.k.a. Vince Neil of Motley Crue.  Vince Neil being a now-terrible live singer has long since been a meme.  He is quite possibly the worst singer to be a critical live draw in music history. Yet bassist Nikki Sixx knows he's stuck with him for as long as he wants to be in the high-level spotlight because he is what is needed to trigger nostalgia in sociopath grandparents, even if said nostalgia certainly ain't what it used to be.

    An example of a classic member not being a singer or guitar player is Dream Theater drummer Mike Portnoy. While Dream Theater never suffered a drop in audience attendance, quite a few fans griped that it wasn't the same without Portnoy.  Seldomly, the drummer is a band's stronger, if not strongest personality, and if they leave, the band's popularity could in fact, suffer.  Tommy Lee of the aforementioned Motley Crüe was another example.  After Vince Neil left, Crüe was relegated to a theater act.  Then Neil returned, released the Generation Swine album, which tanked, and then Tommy Lee left to form rap metal project Methods of Mayhem.  You would think that wouldn't effect a band's concert draw status, except it did, relegating the band back to theaters again.  Even female drummer (this was still a novelty at the time) Samantha Maloney, a minor star from her time in Hole couldn't keep the band in Madison Square Garden.  After a few years, the band reunited with Tommy Lee and they were back to the A-leagues again. As a final example of the drummer occasionally mattering, John Bonham's death also effectively ended Led Zeppelin, but that has more to do with singer Robert Plant not wanting to continue without Bonham.  Ditto Rush with Neil Peart (R.I.P.), Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson.

    To circle back to Judas Priest, let's look at the band's current lineup: Rob Halford on vocals, Ian Hill on bass, Scott Travis on drums, Ritchie Faulkner on guitars, and depending on whether or not their touring or recording, Andy Sneap or Glenn Tipton on guitars, respectively.  Glenn Tipton of course, being the band's longtime leader and chief songwriter, announced he had Parkinson's disease a few years back, and thus was no longer able to perform live.  He retired himself from the road and now only serves as a songwriter/studio performer (as well as a late 70 year old man with Parkinson's can anyway).  

    The band's classic lineup, was Rob Halford on vocals, Ian Hill on bass, Glenn Tipton and KK Downing on guitars, and a whole bunch of drummers throughout their salad days. Rob and Ian are of course still here, and Scott Travis has served as Judas Priest's drummer longer than every other drummer combined, plus he is on Painkiller, one of the band's most celebrated albums.  But yes, both classic Priest guitarists are gone.  Glenn retired for reasons earlier stated, and KK left in frustration after the disappointing reception of the band's concept album Nostradamus, as well as thinking Glenn's old age and drinking was ruining the band's live performances, when it was in fact his Parkinsons.  Oops.  KK has made quite the spectacle of himself trying to get back in, and with the formation of his own band, KK's Priest (hate that name?  So does everyone else) it seems he will never return to the band he helped form.

    Certain people have accused Priest of operating with no more original members.  This is just not true.  Ian Hill was a childhood friend of KK and formed a band called Freight with KK along with drummer John Ellis.  Singer Al Atkins joined Freight, but it was suggested that they take his old band's name, Judas Priest, and call it their own.  Al Atkins leaves due to the band not being successful, and is replaced by Rob Halford.

    Even if Ian Hill wasn't an original member, the fact of the matter is that the lineup of Downing/Halford/Hill/Tipton wrote and recorded every seminal album Judas Priest ever made**. Sad Wings Of Destiny, British Steel, Screaming For Vengeance, Defenders Of the Faith, Painkiller, and others were forged by that foursome, plus whichever drummer at the time made possible.  Therefore those are the musicians that matter to the masses. Not Al Atkins, John Ellis, John Perry, John Partridge, Jon Doe or anyone else.

    Fans do miss Glenn and/or KK on stage with Judas Priest, and the band have suffered a loss in power ranking for it. Their latest album, the great Invincible Shield is the band's lowest Billboard charting album since the Tim Owens era (Rob Halford's replacement when he left in 1991). Nonetheless, Rob Halford and Ian Hill's presence justify the band continuing to operate at an arena level to promoters and fans.

    However, the most absurd situation involving so-called classic members has got to be 80's pop metal act Quiet Riot. Their original lineup was Kevin Dubrow on vocals, Kelly Garni on bass, Drew Forsyth on drums, and Randy Rhoads on guitar.  Yes, THAT Randy Rhoads.  This lineup recorded two albums together, which flopped.  And if they weren't even good enough for Quiet Riot to latch onto the Ozzy Osbourne coattails with, you know they must be lame. Quiet Riot's most well known record is Metal Health from 1983. Depending on how much of an elitist prick you are, this may or may not be the first true heavy metal album to go #1 on the Billboard charts. It would also gone on to be certified six times platinum in the United States. That's more than any record by Slayer, Megadeth, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Ozzy Osbourne, and any record Metallica made after 1991, along with Kill Em All.

    Needless to say, Metal Health was quite popular, however the lineup above is not the lineup that wrote and recorded it.  That lineup was Frankie Banali on drums, Carlos Cavazo on guitar, Rudy Sarzo on bass and the aforementioned Kevin Dubrow on vocals.  They rose, fall and reunited like so many bands.  In 2007, only two Metal Health members were remaining, Dubrow and Banali.  The significance of this year is that it would be the year Kevin Dubrow would die of a drug overdose.  With only Banalie remaining, neither Cavazo and Sarzo willing to rejoin, surely that would be the end of Quiet Riot, right?  Wrong.  Banali chose to carry on the band, where they remained low- level but I suppose sustainable until his death in 2020 from pancreatic cancer.  Now we close the book on Quiet Riot, right? WRONG AGAIN!  Quiet Riot is still active today, with no original members, but Metal Health bassist Rudy Sarzo returns to be the anchor that justifies their continued existence. I guess this proves all one needs to tour toilets are one member, no matter how insignificant, from the smash hit album people remember. Time will tell whether or not Sarzo drops dead and Cavazo steps into restart the 80's metal act that refuses to die.

    In current year, bands are unfortunately not bands anymore.  They're touring brands. At what level they tour at is ultimately a throw of the dice.  The God forsaken Pantera "reunion" is playing large arenas the classic lineup never even got to play, such as Wembley Arena and Madison Square Garden, on the strength of a bassist who was there day one, and a singer who wasn't. (If you need a reason to hate racism and white supremacy, there you go.)  

    But it has nothing to do with original, day-one-in-a-parent's-garage members. They don't mean dick.  The members that play on the songs people know do.  The classic members.  So stop complaining about original members, and complain autistically about those instead.

*Martin Popoff made an argument that it's actually the lyricist that's the most important, then the singer, then the guitar player, which I think makes sense, it's just 9 times out of 10 the lyricist is the singer.

**History will prove whether or not Firepower and Invincible Shield will be seen as seminal to this current generation of young metalheads, but as of this writing, the albums mentioned above and a few others (Stained Class to name one) are what heavy metal history deems as important.