@russ69 - good one on Phil Collins. And fast too. Although, strictly speaking, all the others I mentioned were the “stars” of their bands, while Phil was just a sideman with Gabriel and Genesis.
Are solo efforts ever better?
I’m sure someone will think of something, but IMO, I can’t think of any artist that went solo and produced a significant amount of material that was “better” musically than what they did with their bands. Paul Simon did some decent stuff, but I don’t think it ever reached the artistic levels of what S&G did together. Sting, Fogarty, Bruce… I guess Diana Ross and Beyoncé were far more successful solo, but I think the Supremes and Destiny were more of window dressing for the star and less of a collective effort. Again, IMO. What do you think?
Showing 3 responses by chayro
@bdp24 - I think it’s another case of my not writing clearly enough in my OP. Obviously, there were many artists that broke away from bands and made it big. Hendrix was a backup guitarist for the Isley Bros as I recall. What I was thinking of were people who fronted monster bands already, that went solo. As I mentioned, Sting, Bruce, John Fogarty come to mind. Not really talking about sidemen that broke out like Frampton. But MJ killed it, of course. Speaking of Frampton, he has a solo acoustic double album out which is very good. Does the old hits, but just acoustic guitar and voice. Sometimes a bass in there as well. |