Going Solo

I was reading an announcement of a solo box set for Tony Banks of Genesis and it got me thinking about artists who ran solo careers parallel to their "day job." ...You know, the good, the bad and the ugly.

Are there any favorites on the board - metal or otherwise - or musicians who went solo and did such a crap job of it that it made you question whether they were any good at all?

Personally, I loved the solo album Geoff Tate put out in the early '00s. It was different, offered something from him that was cool to listen to and completely different from his main gig. If I had a complaint about it, only the lack of vocal fireworks really jumps out. Sadly, he jumped the shark when he decided was going to be "not metal" by putting out a really crap metal solo album later on, but there was promise of something unique from him in that first album.

Contrast that with the latest from James LaBrie and you've got something else entirely. James has decided that growing a goatee made him a tough mother, so we have grunt vocals smeared all over that mess. Combined with the fact that his voice is either shot OR the producer had no idea how to capture it on tape, it's a pretty savage mess.

For a more long-running setup, how about Mike Patton? I'm a fan, but I'll be the first to admit I don't love everything he did (though he does get a gold star for releasing a Fantomas album - Delerium Cordia - I find physically uncomfortable to listen to).

This is completely off the top of my head. If I think more about it I could probably come up with more. Now just to clarify, is this for performers doing solo albums while they are still in their main band? If so, I'll have to take Peter Gabriel of this list because he had an excellent solo career BUT after he left Genesis.

Bad ones:?
Good ones:

Steve Hackett: Just made a really enjoyable Genesis-like album while he was in still in Genesis. and of course, after he left he put out some great albums.

James LaBrie's Mullmuzzler albums are the best thing that he has done with interesting outside writers(Trent Gardner).

Phil Collins: He could actually be in both lists, because he has songs that I dig(In The Air, I Missed Again, I Don't Care Anymore) and pure crap that makes me want to puke(Sussudio ).

Mike Rutherford: His first solo album, Smallcreep's Day, really good. The second one, Acting Very Strange, not so much.

Tony Banks: Really!? A box set of his solo material. Maybe two good solo albums Curious Feeling and Still. Everything else are movie soundtracks. Hard to judge those. I'll have to listen to The Fugitive again to judge that one.

Kerry Livgren: Seeds Of Change was an excellent album.

Jon Anderson: Olias is his masterpiece everything else is from good(Song Of Seven) to HORRIBLE(Deseo). Another who could be in both lists.

Rick Wakeman had some good solo albums while he was still in Yes.

Chris Squire: Fish Out Of Water is another great release.

Steve Howe: Both of his 70s solo albums while he was in Yes are very enjoyable.

Edgar Froese: Released some excellent solo albums to actually get more equipment for Tangerine Dream.


Damn, I listen to a lot of 70s Prog!

chewie wrote:

Damn, I listen to a lot of 70s Prog!

Did you ever hear After the Fire's indie debut (Seasons of Change)? They started as a prog group before going to new wave (they did the english cover of Falco's Der Komissar).

As for my picks:

Hitoki: He's the bassist of the japanese rock group Kuroyume. Technically talented, but terrible vocalist and a mediocre solo effort that never went anywhere.

Ryuichi Kawamura: Another J-Rock vocalist, this time the guy from Luna Sea. While much more pop oriented than LS's ethereal post-punk type music, his solo efforts are generally solid with works like The Voice being nothing short of amazing. Great singer and had good taste in terms of which songs he wanted to cover on The Voice as well as his sense of melody in his general pop albums.

Miwa Yoshida: Here I go again with J-music. This time it's the vocalist of Dreams Come True. While she never became really prolific as a solo artist, her first solo effort was still a competent homage to the jazz and soul genres.

Chris Mars: The drummer from the Replacements. Nothing like Westerburg's solo stuff, this guy was really quirky and kind of cynical in his lyrics. I believe Danny Elfman from Oingo Boingo worked on one of his albums which gave it a very Nightmare Before Christmas vibe. Unfortunately, he seems really bummed with the music industry and mostly gave up to focus on his work as a painter/illustrator.

Ian Eskelin: Lead singer of All Star United. I liked the first three ASU albums, but was not really big on his solo efforts, even the dance-oriented stuff he did before forming ASU. It just didn't have any of the charm or appeal of early ASU material.

Did anyone hear Stephen Pearcy (of Ratt)'s solo album(s)? I liked his side project Arcade but never heard the solo. Mother Blues was a good song IMHO.

I think that all of the solo stuff I heard from Midnight before he died, was putrid.

muckie wrote:

chewie wrote:

Damn, I listen to a lot of 70s Prog!

Did you ever hear After the Fire's indie debut (Seasons of Change)? They started as a prog group before going to new wave (they did the english cover of Falco's Der Komissar).

I've heard of it but still have not actually heard it.

I see that it's on Youtube. I'll check it out. Now that I see the cover, maybe I do have it digitally.

muckie wrote:

Chris Mars: The drummer from the Replacements. Nothing like Westerburg's solo stuff, this guy was really quirky and kind of cynical in his lyrics. I believe Danny Elfman from Oingo Boingo worked on one of his albums which gave it a very Nightmare Before Christmas vibe. Unfortunately, he seems really bummed with the music industry and mostly gave up to focus on his work as a painter/illustrator.

I have no background with The Replacements at all, but if Danny Elfman worked on this guy's album, I'd be curious to hear it. There's a part of me still hoping like mad he'd get back into a rock idiom, even if just for an album or two.

Elfman is a prime example of "everything the same as everything else" anymore, which is a shame because that used to be a fresh sound.

One guy who put out a great solo album while still in "his" band is Ian Anderson. Actually, two. "Walk Into Light" is a WEIRD damn album and doesn't sound like anything else he's ever done. Even the synth-heavy Jethro Tull albums don't sound quite like it, which lends some credibility to the "solo" aspect. Likewise, "The Secret Language of Birds" took all of the acoustic tracks he tended to leave out of albums by Jethro Tull from the 80s onward and went full bore into that territory from cover to cover. It's an amazing record. Apparently, he held back all that acoustic stuff because he felt bad about recording tracks all by himself that went on Tull albums and taking up record playtime with songs the band members wouldn't be paid for. Reasonably admirable, if accurate.

Divinities is another good Ian Anderson album, primarily orchestral (well, it's a synthesized orchestra, but tastefully done) which was recorded while he was still performing with Tull. I saw Jethro Tull shortly after Divinities was released and they played one of the tracks from the album live.

I want to say they did "In the Grip of Stronger Stuff" when I saw them in 2000.

And yes, I'll definitely give that one two thumbs up as well.

Honestly, I'm probably a bit biased as I have infinite time for Mr. Anderson. The worst thing I can say about any of his work is that it's "less good" than the competition.

Similarly, his "Rupi's Dance" album was like a poor man's Tull where SLoB was more something that was uniquely his, if that makes sense.

S.D. wrote:

Divinities is another good Ian Anderson album, primarily orchestral (well, it's a synthesized orchestra, but tastefully done) which was recorded while he was still performing with Tull.  I saw Jethro Tull shortly after Divinities was released and they played one of the tracks from the album live.  

I love Divinities!! I bought that and his first solo album Walk Into Light together, listened to both almost non-stop for months

Andrew Giddings, who was the Tull keyboardist for many a year and who co-wrote and did a lot of arranging work on Divinities has an album of his own out that checks a lot of the same boxes. Giddings obviously doesn't have the signature touchstones of Ian Anderson on his own and stylistically his album does some darting around, but you can TELL it's the same guy and hear his fingerprints all over Divinities after listening to him on his own.

Robert Plant has had a great run (IMHO)

I like a lot of Plant's work - particularly Pictures at Eleven, The Principle of Moments and Dreamland, but I also find he's kind of a bandwagon jumper.

Granted, I wasn't a music fan when most of these albums came out (cartoons were more my bag in the 80s), so I don't know what the vibe was when they were contemporary, but a lot of his 80s material seems like really feeble exercises in, "Oh, the 80s people are doing THIS with sampling, why don't I do it too?" It never felt natural for him to dabble in tech and the songs on albums like Now & Zen and the like feel pretty weak to me. I mean, people accuse bands of changing their style to match the mainstream, while Plant seemed to put writing on the backburner and pay way too much attention to production and presentation.

Thankfully, he seems to have MOSTLY gotten out of that, but his solo work seems overrated by people who think he was so forward thinking and the like - just the impression I've gotten. It never really seemed like deserved praise. In fact, in some ways, the smack talk he gave David Coverdale in the 90s really dims my view of him because at least Coverdale knew what he did and did it rather well. Plant seemed to not know who or what he was and it showed.

Again, all my HDO.

I think all the members of the Rolling Stones have released either solo albums or had side-projects going while still being Stones.

Mick's were mostly terrible adult contemporary mush, Charlie went the jazz route, Ronnie's were decent rock attempts and Bill Wyman put out an album that went largely ignored, like Bill himself. Keef's are really the only ones that had any major impact (sales and airplay) as far as I know.

Joe Perry's last 2 solo albums hold-up better than the last few Aerosmith albums.

I can see that perspective Runicen and regarding Coverdale, he followed the money and that was pretty much the point Plant was making regarding him. Plant really never had to do that after Zeppelin. Since 2000 or so Plant continues to pop up in places different than the one before. Priory of Brion, Strange Sensation, Allison Krauss, Band Of Joy, and Sensational Space Shifters. I respect Plant for remembering and honoring the past, yet not banking on it. But mostly for recognizing the limitations age and lifestyle can have on a singing voice and doing fun/different things within those limitations.

James B. wrote:

I can see that perspective Runicen and regarding Coverdale, he followed the money and that was pretty much the point Plant was making regarding him.  Plant really never had to do that after Zeppelin.  Since 2000 or so Plant continues to pop up in places different than the one before.  Priory of Brion, Strange Sensation, Allison Krauss, Band Of Joy, and Sensational Space Shifters. I respect Plant for remembering and honoring the past, yet not banking on it. But mostly for recognizing the limitations age and lifestyle can have on a singing voice and doing fun/different things within those limitations.  

I can definitely respect that viewpoint.

Having been more of a Coverdale fan than a Plant fan though, while I'm sure the Coverdale/Page setup wasn't exactly a vanity project financially, I've never understood the crap Coverdale got for "ripping off" Zeppelin or Plant. He never sounded like Plant, never made music like plant and aside from heavy guitars and screechy vocals (which also never sounded like Plant's screechy vocals), the comparisons to Led Zeppelin are superficial at best.

Maybe I'm just having sour grapes on his behalf.

Billy Idol has had a good run as a solo artist...
Joan Jett and Lita Ford have both done well and put out some fine albums...
Vince Neil has put out some good solo albums
Donnie Iris has put out some great solo stuff..
...........
Brett Michaels solo stuff is horrible in my opinion..
Jani Lane's solos stiff isnt to impressive either..
I dont care much for Michael Sweets solo stuff either..

Runicen wrote:

Having been more of a Coverdale fan than a Plant fan though, while I'm sure the Coverdale/Page setup wasn't exactly a vanity project financially, I've never understood the crap Coverdale got for "ripping off" Zeppelin or Plant.  He never sounded like Plant, never made music like plant and aside from heavy guitars and screechy vocals (which also never sounded like Plant's screechy vocals), the comparisons to Led Zeppelin are superficial at best.

Maybe I'm just having sour grapes on his behalf.  

Go back and watch the music video for In The Still Of The Night. The arrangement, the riffs, Coverdale's mannerisms...all very Zeppelin.

I'm not saying he ripped them off, but there's definitely a massive amount of influence there.

The influence and impact of Zeppelin in the late 60's/early 70's is going to have any singer from Britain in that era being compared to Plant. Be it founded or not. I prefer Chris Youlden, Steve Marriot, Stevie Winwood, Jack Bruce, Jeremy Spencer and David Byron to Plant for my British singers of that time frame.

S.D. wrote:

Go back and watch the music video for In The Still Of The Night.  The arrangement, the riffs, Coverdale's mannerisms...all very Zeppelin.  

I'm not saying he ripped them off, but there's definitely a massive amount of influence there.

It's easy to forget though that Plant was technically a contemporary of Coverdale's. Yeah, Zep started in the 60s and DC started with purple in '74 or thereabouts, but still, they were going concerns at the same time. If DC had started as a singer AFTER Zep had been and gone, I think the claim would hold more water that there was direct influence. DC had that swagger well prior to the 80s and if we want to look at the 80s stuff going on, I think he was looking more at what else was on MTV and in the charts than Zep, so at best it's a degrees of separation game.

This gets back to my gripe about any male singer who wears eyeliner and acts flamboyant on stage being called "the new Freddie Mercury." There's more to being Mr. Mercury than acting like a poof, I promise you.

Ignore Coverdale completely for a second...go listen to In The Still Of The Night...it's got Zeppelin ALL OVER IT. It should be painfully obvious to anyone even remotely familiar with Zeppelin.

...Actually, no it doesn't. Zeppelin wasn't 80s arena rock. It predated that sound and I get where songs like Kashmir would have fed in, but the sound, the length of the song, etc. It was all TOO bombastic, too slow and too damn crafted. Half of what Zeppelin put out sounded almost accidental by comparison and it was never that plodding (and I love the song, but it does DRAG a big).

Zeppelin was an earthier band - closer to a blues act with eastern influences. 80s Whitesnake was a different animal altogether and I'll stand by that.

I mean, if you want to follow the tenuous threads, that means that Zeppelin was totally just ripping off "Revolution" by The Beatles because both had loud guitars.

The comparison makes sense, but I think it's a mountain made from a mole hill. Bands like Magnum or Queen in the 70s had more in common with an arena rock sound than Zeppelin if you're judging by the music.

Quote :

Ignore Coverdale completely for a second...go listen to In The Still Of The Night...it's got Zeppelin ALL OVER IT. It should be painfully obvious to anyone even remotely familiar with Zeppelin.

What he sez. Latter-era Whitesnake is pretty much a mash up of Led Zeppelin bombast and Def Leppard slickness.

...mind you, I have bought two Whitesnake CDs in the past week, so obviously I am not saying that's a bad thing (tho S.D. might disagree with me).

It just seems a tenuous connection to me. They're definitely tilling similar fields, but it's not the SAME field is more my point.

Even 70s Whitesnake wasn't the same as Zeppelin other than the fact that they were blues-based bands with singers of impressive high range. That's really it. Zeppelin went for more of a hybrid musical style and the 'Snake was straight blues with some heavier components. It'd be like saying Muddy Waters and Eric Clapton were the same performance-wise because the're both blues.

If you allow that DC was trying to cop the Zeppelin thing, he was pretty bad at it in his own outfit, which is where the thing falls apart for me. If it was even his intention, the final product didn't really seem to show it.

Actually, if you want real proof of what I'm on about, listen to Coverdale try to sing Zeppelin stuff on the Coverdale/Page tour. Bootlegs of the Japanese leg are out there and... I love DC and he was in great voice, but he couldn't handle those melodies. Like I said, eastern influence and all that jive. It just wasn't in his vocabulary.

If you can't hear the Whole-Lotta-Rip-Off in the mid-section of In The Still Of The Night then I give up.