So this thread is about those band members who are complete control freaks...band members who are in the limelight more then other members, composing more passages, always noted for more ideas and concepts then other members, members who basically write all the music, stuff like that...I know a lot of them in the rock vien (Robert Fripp of King Crimson for example) but maybe you MSers could shed light on some of those metal figureheads who basically treat the other band members simply as hired guns...I'm not talking about solo artists, but actual bands where one band member is a complete control freak...that one band member that created the band from his own two hands and thus just thinks he can disband the band whenever he wants, owns the rights to the material and name, etc, etc...

For me the best example of that is a Colombian band called Kraken. The vocalist is the only one in the band that is followed by all the fans, he composes everything etc, and the rest just follows him as if they were nothing, not even the fans ask the other guys for autographs or photos, it´s Elkin who gets all the attention. And from my point of view, this in general sucks, because a band should be some sort of teamwork, I mean, everyone does something whether it´s playing bass, guitars, drums, or singing, and there shouldn´t be just one who gets all the attention.

Well, it's not really about that band member getting all the attention...the other members are very well noted for what they do and how they perform the leader's music, but there isn't any creative democracy which usually makes a band doomed from the start and the brunt of future consistant disbandment through their course of history...

What about Alexi Laiho and Children Of Bodom?

I remember reading articles about Kraken,are thier cds still available?
the Columbian band not the Canadian band who have a killer unreleased lp.

Dave Mustaine in Megadeth, Timo Tolkki in Stratovarius, Chuck Schuldiner in Death....

Bitch Boy, you brought up some really good ones that I forgot...

Gene Simmons? he pretty much controls Kiss.

I was gonna say Mustaine...Also, I'm guessing we don't include solo bands in this thread

How about Steven Wilson in Porcupine Tree? Or Mikael Akerfeldt in Opeth. Geoff Tate in Queensyrche. Hansi Kursch in Blind Guardian. Tobi Sammet in Edguy etc etc. There really are loads when you think about it.

black sabbath,bathory,burzum,rhapsody,judas priest and maiden(well,not quite,but still more attention to the singers),nightwish(before it was tarja,now it's tuomas) etc.

I don't think Iron Maiden should be mentioned in this thread, because as far as I know the band is not ruled by just one person. Sure it's Steve Harris who is the main composer, but the rest of the members also write a great deal of their material together. They do have one of the most famous vocalists, but Iron Maiden is certainly something more than just Bruce Dickinson and Steve Harris. As a team they are not as solid as something like Dream Theater is though.

It's a surprise to me that no one has yet mentioned Sonata Arctica. Only ONE of their original songs (My Selene) is written by some other than Tony Kakko, and they have released not less than four full length albums to date.

Written by Daru Jericho on 13.07.2006 at 12:35

I was gonna say Mustaine...Also, I'm guessing we don't include solo bands in this thread

How about Steven Wilson in Porcupine Tree? Or Mikael Akerfeldt in Opeth. Geoff Tate in Queensyrche. Hansi Kursch in Blind Guardian. Tobi Sammet in Edguy etc etc. There really are loads when you think about it.

I didn't think about Hansi, but you're right. Ah, maybe it's because one of the best singers I've ever heard.

Maybe none of the other members are that good at writing songs?

It's a good thread idea Horl. I don't think anyone's ever thought of it. I think it's bad when just one person rules a band. Often it can come about when a certain member is outstanding in a way, eg a female vocallist in an all otherwise male band. The attention can be drawn to that member. Other times, one member can be just overpowering. I don't like that much, it's the whole band that puts in the effort, and it's a shame when just one member gets all the credit. In ways I think it can be good that dominating members leave, such as with Nightwish

@cursed: Well one-man-bands generally are dominated by one person!

Written by Raiden on 13.07.2006 at 16:37

Maybe none of the other members are that good at writing songs?

It's a good thread idea Horl. I don't think anyone's ever thought of it. I think it's bad when just one person rules a band. Often it can come about when a certain member is outstanding in a way, eg a female vocallist in an all otherwise male band. The attention can be drawn to that member. Other times, one member can be just overpowering. I don't like that much, it's the whole band that puts in the effort, and it's a shame when just one member gets all the credit. In ways I think it can be good that dominating members leave, such as with Nightwish

@cursed: Well one-man-bands generally are dominated by one person!

wtf? am i the only one in this forum that sees "kap'n korrupt" instead of horlequism?
bathory even after when other band members joined in,quorthon was the main figure...
+i'll have to add rainbow(dio is the one in question),and as non-metal: aerosmith,queen,bon jovi,(although both of their guitarists are killers,still the singer gets tons of media,even if he's dead! )+ foo fighters,nirvana,him,the 69 eyes etc..

Written by Stigmatized on 13.07.2006 at 04:57

What about Alexi Laiho and Children Of Bodom?

No, I wouldn't say so. Laiho may be a conceited prick with an over-inflated ego, but Janne and Roope get equal lead/riff time respectively. He may be more prominent in the band and act like he's the only member, but Bodom have had a pretty stable line-up from Day 1-I don't think he rules it that way.

Jon Schaffer of Iced Earth would be a good example, but in a positive way. He's the only member still left from the beginning, but during the Barlow period him and Matt shared songwriting duties, and since Jon plays Rhythm, it's not as if he wants to be soloing all the time. He's replaced many members, but I don't think he's extremely egotistical, just a bit of a perfectionist. Oh, and since Jon Greely was kicked out for being an Anti-Semitic thieving druggie, I think we can justify that decision

I agree with the comment about Maiden-'Arry is the man in Maiden, but the others are equally as important. Priest is not about Halford, either-all the members make a contribution, although Ian Hill's bass compositions can vary between prominent and very simple.

Agree with Dave Mustaine, though. He runs that band.

And as for Nightwish, Tarja may have wanted to be the dominant member, but it's Tuomas who's the main songwriter. She wanted to rule the band, but he ran it. I think we have to differentiate between a member who 'runs' a band, making decisions on who to hire and fire, and one who 'rules' it; ejecting members solely on personal feelings.

Written by Valentin B on 13.07.2006 at 13:08

black sabbath,bathory,burzum,rhapsody,judas priest and maiden(well,not quite,but still more attention to the singers),nightwish(before it was tarja,now it's tuomas) etc.

Who is it for Black Sabbath? - Not Ozzy, because he wasn't even in the band for a long fucken time... If you're saying Iommi, I caould maybe see that, but, not really..

John Shaffer of Iced Earth is THE biggest control freak... It's his way or the highway, he is the only origional member... which brings me to my next point you know there is a control freak in a band when there are a lot of member changes (Iced Earth, Iron Maiden, Megadeth)

The thing with MEgadeth though is he was a big control freak up until Youthanasia, then he allowed everyone else to write music and made the band a democracy, and look what happened... the music suffered greatly...

Behemoth (Nergal), Soulfly (Max)

yeah i forgot to say max cavalera
btw i was refering to ozzy(but i thought this was a thread for the guys who are in a band,and that band gets called oftenly "the x band" x=band member,for being the best known of them all,not necesarily for writing all the lyrics and stuff.. :-/)

Written by Stigmatized on 13.07.2006 at 16:17

Written by Daru Jericho on 13.07.2006 at 12:35

I was gonna say Mustaine...Also, I'm guessing we don't include solo bands in this thread

How about Steven Wilson in Porcupine Tree? Or Mikael Akerfeldt in Opeth. Geoff Tate in Queensyrche. Hansi Kursch in Blind Guardian. Tobi Sammet in Edguy etc etc. There really are loads when you think about it.

I didn't think about Hansi, but you're right. Ah, maybe it's because one of the best singers I've ever heard.

Or my avatar

Written by jupitreas on 13.07.2006 at 21:10

Behemoth (Nergal)

I'm not so sure about this one. I mean, I know Nergal heads the band, but I believe Inferno is a big part of this band also. I don't think Behemoth would be what they are today if it wasn't for him, just like if it wasn't for Nergal. Kind of like Trey and Pete in Morbid Angel.

Two bands that come to mind though are Annihilator and Necrophagist. Jeff Waters in the former and Muhammed Suiçmez in the latter.

Ritchie Blackmore the ruler number one . He dominated Deep Purple twice and then Rainbow twice with such iron hand that nothing comes even close heheheeee my kind of guy

I found some prog ones

Daniel Gildenlow from Pain of Salvation...Stéphan Forté from Adagio...Devon Graves in Dead Soul Tribe...Ralph Hubert from Mekong Delta...

@cursed: you mentioned "Tarja, then Tuomas (Nightwish)". I think it was always Tuomas. Tarja was only the image and the diva. You also mentioned Burzum, which was actually a solo band. Black Sabbath also isn't a good example, if you're talking about Ozzy.

I forgot Ville Valo from HIM and Haavard Elefsen from Mortiis.

Written by Valentin B on 13.07.2006 at 19:18

Written by Raiden on 13.07.2006 at 16:37

Maybe none of the other members are that good at writing songs?

It's a good thread idea Horl. I don't think anyone's ever thought of it. I think it's bad when just one person rules a band. Often it can come about when a certain member is outstanding in a way, eg a female vocallist in an all otherwise male band. The attention can be drawn to that member. Other times, one member can be just overpowering. I don't like that much, it's the whole band that puts in the effort, and it's a shame when just one member gets all the credit. In ways I think it can be good that dominating members leave, such as with Nightwish

@cursed: Well one-man-bands generally are dominated by one person!

wtf? am i the only one in this forum that sees "kap'n korrupt" instead of horlequism?
bathory even after when other band members joined in,quorthon was the main figure...
+i'll have to add rainbow(dio is the one in question),and as non-metal: aerosmith,queen,bon jovi,(although both of their guitarists are killers,still the singer gets tons of media,even if he's dead! )+ foo fighters,nirvana,him,the 69 eyes etc..

Yeah, Bathory maybe, I was thinking more about Burzum

With Tarja, although she wasn't the main figure, she stood out like one, as she was a female and their vocallist. It wasn't one of those dominating examples, but people knew her as the main person.

Written by Stigmatized on 13.07.2006 at 04:57

What about Alexi Laiho and Children Of Bodom?

That was my first thought when I saw this thread sadly enough he's basically the whole band. When someone refers to Bodom being all amazing and talented, they probably mean Alexi

Not really that they "control" the band, just that the limelight is more on them:

Chuck Schuldiner from Death. All respects to the man, but its all you really hear about the band.

Alexi Laiho from Chilren of Bodom. Will the sudden influx of young teen CoB fans hes all i hear about now from the band. The spotlight is off the band and shines prodominatly on him.

Kerry King from Slayer. Im a massive Slayer fan and i see the band as an equal, but alot of people - and alot of people here on MS - see Kerry as the main ring leader. If you have a look, Jeff Hannemann writes half, if not more than Kerry and the solos are pretty evenly shared between the two guitarists. This is the one that I get more P.O with.

Theres a few more that i know but cant think of them now.

axl rose tries to be totaly in control of GNR.

@nick35: Well, he pretty much IS GNR now...although I thought there was talk about Axl and Slash reuniting...

Trey from Morbid angel, he is said to also be a really cocky person with a massive ego, and I think at one point david vincent caught trey with his girlfriend...

I think it's normal to a band member who is more influent than another ( guitarist most of the time ) and do all the composition. Sometimes that's because they are natural born leaders and the other members of the band like his/her ideas so they just follow him but it's not true that other members don't have a word on composition, I'm sure they say their word when they feel it's not right.