Analyzing Bands Before and After a Hiatus

[justabaldguy]

I've been thinking a lot about Portnoy's desire to have DT take a hiatus. I've been thinking about some bands I follow who have taken a hiatus, and what the end results have been. Let's look at some examples and compare notes and thoughts.

And since I feel I should say it, this is NOT an an attack on Portnoy OR a defense of Portnoy. This is simply looking at some bands and talking about how a hiatus impacted them (if at all). I'm just thinking with our wide range of interests we could have some good discussions here.

The first one is Weezer. In 1997 after Pinkerton they took a hiatus for what ended up being almost 3 years. Rivers went back to school and the other members experimented with side projects. The resulting change in sound and the actual band lineup is a bit different, though not too drastic. They moved 180 degrees away from Pinkerton and back towards their debut album Weezer (aka Weezer "Blue"). In this instance, I'd say the hiatus was fine.

What do y'all think? What other good examples do you have?

[justabaldguy]

No takers yet? :-(

[vivace]

well i kind of made some comments about pink floyd in the picture thread of all places lol

[virtueorvice]

Hello,

Oh man, i was reading this post and thought that, "i don't know any other band in detail to cite here." Then, i realized, "Anyway, people are free to choose and go on their own way."

When we look at it with this view that whatever happens to the band and the band members, and whichever path they choose to go, it's according to their own personalities and their dreams and demands. When close companions and friends divide themselves and change their paths, they always have something to say and someone who hears them.

Haha, i brought up philosophy rather than a 'good example' ! LOL! Sorry.

Anyway, wanted to share this. :-)

[unalaguna]

The best example I can think of where a major change shakes things up for the better is probably Marillion. Back in 1989 or something, their original singer Fish quit the band and was replaced by this guy called Steve.

There's no denying Fish was a good singer and lyricist, although he lost points in my books for basically sounding like an angry, Scottish version of Peter Gabriel a lot of the time. But Steve was/is unique, a genuinely and exceptionally talented singer/lyricist. There's a lot of debate amongst Marillion fans as to which singer is better, but Steve wrote lyrics about more diverse subjects and contributed musical ideas (Fish couldn't/can't play anything besides sing).

Here's the biggest "Fish-era" song: www.youtube.com/watch?v=dphpDdfZUGw&ob=av2e

Here's the biggest "Steve-era" song: www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeoxxpVUQgs

I think it's a huge testament to the talent of a band when they can still churn out incredible music twenty-five years after they started.

[postymcposterton]

I wish the other guys in DT would have allowed for a hiatus. I think DT without Portnoy is more severe than DT without KevMo (though, personally, Kev was/is the best keys player in DT ever).

~Dan