Fantasy band line-ups

[Melaszka]

If, in some wonderful parallel universe, you could form a band, including any musicians you liked (living or dead), who would you choose?

Vocals:
Guitar:
Bass:
Keyboards:
Drums:
Backing vocals:

[Hysteria]

Vocals: Matt Bellamy (Muse)
Guitar: Herman Li (DragonForce)
Bass: Rob Holliday (Marilyn Manson)
Keyboards: Vidam Pruzhanov (DragonForce)
Drums: Joey Jordison (Slipknot)
Backing vocals: Whiplasher Bernadotte (Deathstars- Swedish Goth-rock band)

That would make me soooooo happy

[vampiricduck]

Tough one Melaszka!!


Vocals: Jake Black (Alabama 3)
Guitar: Bruce Springsteen
Bass: Mike Mills (REM)
Keyboards: Yiruma
Drums: Phil Selway (Radiohead)
Backing vocals: Bob Dylan/ Caleb Followill (Kings of Leon)

I took time making that out. I picked my ultimate favourite sounds, but all ones I felt would blend together. If I could hear Selway and Springsteen play together-- I just think it would work very well, for some odd reason. They each have great merits in weird time signatures. And as for the vocals- Dylan and Black I have always wanted to hear together. Black is very deep, very smoky, but Dylan has a higher quality that I like to think would compliment it well. But in truth, Followill is my first choice. Him and Jake Black would probably be the coolest thing I could hear in my whole life. Yiruma is just outstanding and can add anything to any song- and Mike Mills has long been an exceptional bassist who I think would work well with Black and Springsteen in particular. This is all based around quite a slow song- not even a specific one, just in general. A song that sounds very Kings of Leon and likely one with roots in the Deep South, which would just be AMAZING.

[Saoirse]

Vocals: Bob Dylan
Guitar: Tom Morello (Rage Against the Machine/Audioslave)
Bass: Sting (The Police)
Keyboards:
Drums: Dave Grohl (Nirvana/ Foo Fighters)
Backing vocals: Sting, Morello, Grohl

I dont know if that how you spell grohl, it looks really weird for me, but yeah, Dylan one of my favourite vocalists, and guitarists, but i had to drop Morello in there cause he is my favourite guitarist. I was gonna put Timmy Commerford in bass but i would just be building rage with a few new members so it had to be sting, cause hes reggee/ funk style would really compliment morellos style playing, as well as the deep mesmerising tones of dylan. Dave grohl on drums to finish it up because he is an amazing drummer, and personally i find him better on drums than guitar or vocals, back in the Nirvana days... wow!! and i didnt have a keyboardist cause personally i dont think a keyboard would fit into this set up =]

[Melaszka]

I can't make my mind up. At the moment I'm provisionally choosing:

Vocals: Bjork
Guitar: Jimmy Page (ex-Led Zeppelin)
Keyboards: Tori Amos
Bass: Mick Karn (ex-Japan)
Drums: Hamid Mantu (Transglobal Underground)

As always on the Music threads, I feel I have to apologise for my middle-aged person's taste.

[vampiricduck]

Ooh, Bjork, Page and Amos!!! I can hear it in my head! Weird! Great choices!!

And Hysteria, same! Those are really good! To be honest, I like all the ones that have been posted here so far.. And neither do I think you can qualify for "middle aged" taste Melaszka! Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen? ! I think we all like some of the older, quality stuff.

[GirlOfMalFoi]

Vocals: John Lennon
Guitar: Synyster Gates [Avenged Sevenfold]
Bass: Flea [Red Hot Chili Peppers]
Keyboards: -
Drums: Tre Cool [Green Day]
Backing vocals: Billie Joe Armstrong [Green Day] or Joni Mitchell, because I think her voice would be really interesting with John's...but whether that would be a good or bad interesting, I'm not entirely sure. >.>

[KeepItDark]

Vocals: Phil Collins (Genesis)
Guitar: Steve Howe (Yes, Asia)
Bass: Jack Bruce (Cream)
Keyboards: Rick Wakeman (Yes) and Tony Banks (Genesis)
Drums: John Bonham (Led Zeppelin)
Backing vocals: Jon Anderson (Yes)

[mactheknife]

im guna start off by saying, this was a great idea for a thread


Vocals: Rob Thomas (matchbox-20)
Guitar: Tom Morello (ratm)
Bass: Matt Freeman (rancid)
Drums: Tre Cool (green day)
Backing vocals: The Beach Boys

[zoino223]

Vocals: Spencer Chamberlain (Underoath)
Guitar: Paul Waggoner (Between the Buried and Me)
Bass: Justin Chancelor (Tool)
Keyboards: Jordan Rudess (Dream Theater)
Drums: Blake Richardson (Between the Buried and Me)
Backing vocals: Jeremy McKinnon (A Day to Remember)

[PureBloodGirl]

Vocals: Matt Bellamy (Muse)
Guitar: Ben Moody (Evanescence)
Bass: Pat Seals (Flyleaf)
Keyboards: Chris Martin (Coldplay)
Drums: Zac Farro (Paramore)
Backing vocals: Chris Wolstenholme (Muse)

Yes, I did put two people from the same band in this, but I'm sorry, you cannot have Matt singing lead without Chris backing him up because they are awesome together.

All in all, this would be a very interesting band.

[Wab]

Depends on what I want to hear at the time although band put together for Roy Orbison's Black and White Night takes some beating. Roy was backed by Elvis's TCB band plus Bruce Springsteen, Tom Waits, Elvis Costello, Jackson Browne, J.D. Souther, Steven Soles, k.d. lang, Jennifer Warnes, and Bonnie Raitt.

More recently Elivis Costello teamed with John Mellencamp, Norah Jones, Kris Kristofferson and Roseanne Cash for some acoustic country.

[Melaszka]

Originally Posted by Wab

Depends on what I want to hear at the time although band put together for Roy Orbison's Black and White Night takes some beating. Roy was backed by Elvis's TCB band plus Bruce Springsteen, Tom Waits, Elvis Costello, Jackson Browne, J.D. Souther, Steven Soles, k.d. lang, Jennifer Warnes, and Bonnie Raitt.

More recently Elivis Costello teamed with John Mellencamp, Norah Jones, Kris Kristofferson and Roseanne Cash for some acoustic country.

Well, if we're onto real-life improbably excellent band line-ups, I think the personnel that Simon Emmerson assembled for the Imagined Village album and tour was pretty unbeatable: Billy Bragg, Eliza and Martin Carthy, Sheema Mukherjee of Transglobal Underground, Johnny Kalsi, Benjamin Zephaniah, Chris Wood, Sheila Chandra, Paul Weller, amongst others.

[SiriusBrown]

Vocals:Mick Jagger
Guitar:Jimi Hendrix
Bass:Jack White ( I know hes a guitar player, but he can do anything)
Keyboards:Jack White
Drums:Neal Peart
Backing vocals:Bob Dylan

[zelinskas]

Vocals: Dave King (Flogging Molly)
Guitar: Noodles Wassermen (Offspring)
Bass: Chris Ross (formerly of Wolfmother)
Drums: Patrick Carney (Black Keys)

[Melaszka]

Has anyone else ever had this weird experience, where an improbable fantasy combination you've been daydreaming about for years actually happens in RL? I found out yesterday that two musicians I like, but are completely different ages/genres etc, are actually working together on a new project.

[Hysteria]

Originally Posted by Melaszka

Has anyone else ever had this weird experience, where an improbable fantasy combination you've been daydreaming about for years actually happens in RL? I found out yesterday that two musicians I like, but are completely different ages/genres etc, are actually working together on a new project.

Yes! Three times:

Skold vs KMFDM (Tim Skold and Sascha Konietzko), Goon Moon (Jeordie White and Chris Goss- who have very, very different musical backgrounds but have done amazing things together) and A Perfect Circle (Josh Freese, Jeordie White, Maynard James Keenan, James Iha, Billy Howerdel ).


Although this is my updated dream band line-up:

Vocals- Maynard Keenan
Guitar/backing vocals- Trent Reznor
Guitar- John 5
Bass- Jeordie White
Keyboard- Matt Bellamy
Drums- Ginger Fish
Programming- Tim Skold

(some people might notice a pattern there )

[Melaszka]

Originally Posted by Hysteria

Yes! Three times:

Skold vs KMFDM (Tim Skold and Sascha Konietzko), Goon Moon (Jeordie White and Chris Goss- who have very, very different musical backgrounds but have done amazing things together) and A Perfect Circle (Josh Freese, Jeordie White, Maynard James Keenan, James Iha, Billy Howerdel ).

Wow. Do you, perchance, have the Inner Eye? Or, as one of my friends aid to me yesterday, "Do you think they've been looking at your MySpace page for ideas of who to work with?"

[Hysteria]

Originally Posted by Melaszka

Wow. Do you, perchance, have the Inner Eye? Or, as one of my friends aid to me yesterday, "Do you think they've been looking at your MySpace page for ideas of who to work with?"

I think it just speaks for the kind of music I like. Most of the music I listen to is industrial/EBM or alt rock/various forms of metal and in a lot of those kinds of bands you get collaborations and massive side projects. A Perfect Circle are a pretty typical super band (artists from various other bands coming together) while the other two I mentioned were side projects/people who had kind of done work together before.

I have a very clear idea of who I'd like in various existing bands I like too. Most have got it right but in a few instances where the band members kind of rotate semi-regularly, it coudld be better. For example, one of my favourite bands, Marilyn Manson, has gone through zillions of line-up changes and they're only one member short of my 'ideal' line-up

[Melaszka]

Originally Posted by Hysteria

I think it just speaks for the kind of music I like. Most of the music I listen to is industrial/EBM or alt rock/various forms of metal and in a lot of those kinds of bands you get collaborations and massive side projects.

Ah, I see.

What was weird about my guys is that they're completely different genres - Jim Moray (a fairly schmaltzy folk singer) and Tim Whelan and Hamid Mantu of Transglobal Underground (ethno techno).

Although it wasn't absolutely from nowhere, as Whelan did collaborate with Simon Emmerson (who produced Moray's first album) and Eliza Carthy (who really encouraged Moray early on in his career and has had him as her support act on numerous occasions) on a folk fusion project a couple of years ago (and, indeed, Whelan's TGU bandmate Sheema Mukherjee is still very heavily involved with that project) and on his last album Moray did start experimenting with radical genre-busting fusion (folk/hip hop, anyone? ). But I really liked the music of both of them long before I knew anything about that (in Whelan's case, for a very long time - over 20 years!) and have never confessed my fantasies of a Whelan/Moray collaboration to anyone before, because it sounded so mad.

I have a very clear idea of who I'd like in various existing bands I like too. Most have got it right but in a few instances where the band members kind of rotate semi-regularly, it coudld be better. For example, one of my favourite bands, Marilyn Manson, has gone through zillions of line-up changes and they're only one member short of my 'ideal' line-up

Yes, I do that, too (although obviously, in my case, not with Marilyn Manson) - it's great being an armchair producer, isn't it?