Heavy Metal Conjecture

the sentinel wrote:

What if... Eddie Vanhalen never played the synthesizer on 1984?

- Did Eddie make it acceptable for big name rock stars to play keyboards?
-

Nahhh, that would have been Jimmy Page on In Through the Out Door.

Good point, Ult.

The world would be a much better place if Pearl jam and Nirvana never got signed.....Kurt Cobain was a little pusy, the only good thing he ever did for anybody was help promote Daniel Johnston by wearing a "Hi how are you" t-shirt everywhere.

ultmetal wrote:

Phoenix Reign Drummer wrote:

I don't think Flotsam would have been any different if Jason was still in the band. They are a great band but they just dont have that "IT" factor. They dont have a catchy name, a mascot or anything that someone can just look at and say thats Flotsam.

Jason was the band's main songwriter before leaving, so he had a major hand in how the band sounded on the first two albums. If he would have remained in the band, of course things could have been different.

As for the "catchy name" and "mascot", well, Aerosmith are one of the most popular hard rock bands in the world. They never had a catchy name or mascot. Anthrax never had a mascot and hardly had an image any different than Flots, unless you count the silly Bermudas shorts things they wore in the mid-80's.

Anthrax had Not Man and Aerosmiths name was unique and they had the music to back them up as well. Same thing with Anthrax The music was there and so was their attitude. Both bands also have very identifiable logos. Flotsam is just there. There was (is) no flashyness about them.

ANTHRAX has extensive touring too. Did FLOTS tour much outside of the western U.S.?

the sentinel wrote:

I honestly don't know enough about F&J to offer much insight (I only have 2 albums by them in my collection), but I do know that when different people come and go like in any profession, things are subject to change. Great conjecture, Spec. It got me thinking:

What if... Rick Allen didn't lose an arm?
What if... Eddie Vanhalen never played the synthesizer on 1984?
What if... DLR never left Vanhalen?
What if... Paul Di Anno stayed with Maiden?
What if... Pearl Jam and Nirvana never got signed?
What if... St. Anger was a commercial and critical success?
What if... Bon Jovi and Poison never made it as big as they did?



- Would DL still sound like they did on the first 3 albums?
- Did Eddie make it acceptable for big name rock stars to play keyboards?
- Is this why they changed?
- There might not have ever been a Beast or Piece album.
- Good time Rock and Roll might have lived on another decade.
- People would be saying that Metallica "returned to thier roots"
- Glam metal might not be term at all.

I am not particularly angered over any of these things nor am I looking to start arguments. Just some stuff that goes through my mind when I can't sleep or am driving home from work late at night. Peace.

I think Def Leppard would still be doing what they are doing now despite Rick Allen loosing his arm. The thing that killed that band was when Steve Clark died.

But what if Rick Allen was able to have one of Steve Clark's arms sewn onto his body?

Temple of Blood wrote:

ANTHRAX has extensive touring too. Did FLOTS tour much outside of the western U.S.?

Also how many videos has flotsam made?

Maybe they shouldve learned a thing or two from this Flotsam Jetsam band from australia

spectrefate wrote:

But what if Rick Allen was able to have one of Steve Clark's arms sewn onto his body?

Hed be one kick ass grummer (a guitar drummer)

Oh wait, this thread is titled "Heavy Metal Conjecture". We can't talk about Def Leppard. :eyesore:

Temple of Blood wrote:

Did FLOTS tour much outside of the western U.S.?

I saw Flots in New York City back in the early 90s (opening for Mercyful Fate) and if memory serves, they played other gigs in this area pretty regularly back then. When they were dropped by MCA and therefore lost their major label backing/tour support, of course, they probably scaled back their traveling somewhat.

It was over by the early 90s. I'm talking about striking back when the iron was hot .... mid to late 80s.

And also ... good point about the videos. They had one for "Saturday's Alright for Fighting" which is the worst song (and a terrible video) off of arguably their best album. Talk about a wasted opportunity.

If a band like COC or Danzig would've been the ones to record Load/Reload would they be considered great albums?

I keep seeing "what if Cliff never died" type question. ANYONe caliming to know what Cliff was about should know that he was the most musically opened minded member of Metallica. When Lars and James were still playing their NWOBHM singles, Cliff was out there listening to jazz and reggae. I don't think Cliff would be one to turn away from a different sound.

akeldama wrote:

If a band like COC or Danzig would've been the ones to record Load/Reload would they be considered great albums?

Doubt it, but maybe since neither of those bands have really done anything decent in a while

akeldama wrote:

If a band like COC or Danzig would've been the ones to record Load/Reload would they be considered great albums?

I've always thought that if a new, unknown band had released either one of those albums at the time, they'd be pretty good, if not great. They just weren't up to my Metallica-standards and don't fit in with their earlier material.

I doubt that Flotsam would've made it into the Big 5 if there was, I would place Testament above both Flotsam and Exodus, so go down from there.

Another one I always think of is if Les Claypool won the tryout for replacing Cliff instead of Jason, would metallica become all funk metal like Primus or CLCPFFFB?

Probably not because when has there been a bassist that wasnt the frontman determining a bands sound? Eh, still cool to think about.

Stender wrote:

Another one I always think of is if Les Claypool won the tryout for replacing Cliff instead of Jason, would metallica become all funk metal like Primus or CLCPFFFB?

That thought scares me because then there would be no Primus, who are probably my favorite band.

I'm insisting that Gene Simmons created black metal unintentionally. What with the early bands and the practice of face painting with black and white colors and some spitting fire, I have to say that Mr. Simmons has a huge influence on the movement. I don't understand why he threatened legal action against King Diamond for his makeup yet untold Norweigians were ripping off his entire act in the early 90's.

King Diamond actually had some popularity. Who wants to sue some unknown satanists?

spectrefate wrote:

I'm insisting that Gene Simmons created black metal unintentionally. What with the early bands and the practice of face painting with black and white colors and some spitting fire, I have to say that Mr. Simmons has a huge influence on the movement. I don't understand why he threatened legal action against King Diamond for his makeup yet untold Norweigians were ripping off his entire act in the early 90's.

Yea I never got that either. his make up looked nothing like genes at all. I like his make up now though so whatever.

Flotsam should rank a lot higher than they are percieved. Too bad they had no real promotion behind them in the early days. IMO they are one of the best thrash bands ever along with Testament and Overkill.