How much does a change in a band's guitarist affect the music - Guns N' Roses, Aerosmith, Bon Jovi, RHCP
Automatic translation. Russian original
How much does a change in a band's guitarist affect the music - Guns N' Roses, Aerosmith, Bon Jovi, RHCP
Many of my friends, subscribers, and I listen to rock and metal and play it. I prefer the Rock of the 70s-80s. I have begun to consciously re-listen to the albums of my favorite bands, such as Guns N' Roses, Aerosmith, Bon Jovi, and RHCP, and I am drawn to the old albums just as much as I "don't vibe with" the albums from a specific period of the band. I decided to reflect on this and get to the root of the problem. Don't tell me that "you grew up on those albums" or something similar; yes, of course, the first albums are generally always the most top-tier and energetic, but there are also good albums that I hadn't heard before and I like them from the first listen now. So what exactly is the problem?
As it turned out, all the albums that didn't vibe with me didn't vibe with other listeners of this or that band either; these albums didn't sell millions of copies, etc. Basically, bottom-tier albums. I will speak using examples.
As cool as the Aerosmith albums of the 70s were - the debut, Get Your Wings, Toys in The Attic, Rocks, Draw The Line - the albums of the early 80s were just as terrible - Rock In A Hard Place, Done With Mirrors. After researching the question "why" - Joe Perry left the band during this period, returned at the end and nailed Permanent Vacation and immediately Pump and Get A Grip - which are among the best albums ever and among my absolute favorites and, actually, the best-selling.
Moving on... Bon Jovi - everything is fine until 2009 - everything is in style, it's clear that the first albums are already classics, such as the debut, New Jersey, Slippery When Wet, the comeback with the mind-blowing Crush in the 2000s, Have A Nice Day, and even the newer Lost Highway and The Circle - are very worthy. After '13, What About Now, Burning Bridges, This House Is Not For Sale... well, it's a disaster. WHY was this even recorded? We go to Wikipedia - in 2013, their Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora left. I have nothing against Phil X - he is a cool guitarist and a spirited guy, but apparently, he is no songwriter.
Guns N' Roses - my favorite band, I cannot objectively evaluate the albums, I love them all, but we all know the multi-platinum status of Appetite For Destruction and Use Your Illusion, which do not compare with "Chinese Democracy" - that is already a completely different band, having nothing in common with the old GNR. Again, the departure of Slash and, in principle, everyone except the vocalist and keyboardist.
With the Red Hot Chili Peppers, everything is complicated with a capital C! Every time John Frusciante joined the collective - RHCP created a MASTERPIECE. Let's start with the first album with him, as the first RHCP albums don't vibe with me personally at all, with the exception of individual songs that can be counted on one hand! Mother's Milk and the breakthrough in funk mixed with rock. Blood Sugar Sex Magic with the hits Suck My Kiss, Give It Away, Under The Bridge, Breaking The Girl - just tore up the charts. Immediately after it, John leaves and RHCP records the shit-album One Hot Minute with Navarro, with the exception of a couple of tracks, the album is about nothing! John Frusciante returns and... Californication - this album is in my top 10, just from beginning to end! I even went to the trouble of finding its first edition on vinyl, it's something else! Almost immediately after it, By The Way - bombastic, the same in the top from beginning to end, the whole album. Next, Stadium Arcadium with immortal hits Snow, Dani California. In 2010, John's departure again, the faceless albums I'm With You and The Getaway.
I could continue the same way with Pink Floyd and many other bands. Constant changes of guitarists are generally not for the better, gentlemen, cherish your guitarists if they write good music! On the other hand, if Frusciante hadn't returned, there wouldn't have been such emotions and we wouldn't have heard such gorgeous albums as Californication. By the way, John returned to RHCP again this year, do you think it will be a bomb again? Write what other bands you know with similar failures in their work due to a change of guitarist?
