Voyager wrote:MartyMoffatt wrote:Not sure I entirely agree with this. AC/DC did it (Brian Johnson replacing Bon Scott). Iron Maiden did it (Bruce Dickinson replacing Paul Di'Anno). Deep Purple did it (David Coverdale replacing Ian Gillan). Black Sabbath did it (Ronnie James Dio replacing Ozzy). Rainbow did it (Graham Bonnet replacing RJD). There are at least a dozen other bands I could mention who have gone on to achieve at least the same level of success with a replacement singer, so it is possible.
Very good points Marty! There have obviously been bands who have made a successful transition from one lead singer to another. When I say successful, I mean bands like Van Halen, Deep Purple, AC/DC, and Black Sabbath who went from one record-selling singer to another record-selling singer. The bands who weren't selling albums before the switch don't really count (i.e. Journey before Steve Perry).
There have also been major bands who tried unsuccessfully to replace their singers.
Yes are a good example. Jon Anderson - like Perry in Journey- was central to the Yes sound. When they hired Trevor Horn in 1980 it was a disaster.
Judas Priest hired a tribute singer to replace Halford...and the band went downhill fast.
Both bands recognised their mistake and the original singers returned.
As for Deep Purple...they changed direction after Gillan left and Coverdale brought his own distinctive sound to the band. Same with Dio when he replaced Ozzy.
Plus - both replacements - Dio and Coverdale - are world-class singers.
So I'm not at all sure we can draw any parallels between the Perry/Augeri transition and the Gillan/Coverdale and Ozzy/Dio ones.
I'd say that Yes and Judas Priest are the bands whose experiences of replacing a singer most resemble Journey's.