They Broke Away From the Band?!?!

[Razor]

There are always those moments in a band's history during which members break off to do solo stuff. Sometimes it's permanent, sometimes it's more just to do something they wanted to do on the side. This thread is to showcase your favorite cases of a singer breaking away from the band, and consequently your least favorite cases.

Serj Tankian's Solo Effort
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My favorite solo artist ever. He kicked major ass in System of a Down, and then they took a break from the band to pursue other avenues of awesomeness. Serj decided to put an entire album in which he wrote lyrics, sang vocals, and played all the instruments. This is nothing short of a great album from the man, and it's a sad day when I realize that many are short of the genius that is Serj Tankian.​

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This is just an extra video of Serj playing with a motherfucking symphony. It is the most amazing thing I have ever heard. Honestly. This man, whose work is already awesome, put to a symphony? One of my favorite forms of music? Beethoven was great, Serj put to symphony is just plain incredible.


Fort Minor
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I like Linkin Park. I can give them a listen. They're not my favorite, but I'm not about to claim superiority over someone who likes them. However, Mike Shinoda's solo departure was largely shit.​

The song I enclosed was the only good song, honestly. There was one other:

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Where'd You Go? was the hard-hitting song of the album, and Shinoda pulled it off with the help of Brook. Then again, I'm a sucker for the mushy songs. Though you can pick up the whiny bitch vibe when Shinoda starts to threaten that he won't be home when the person comes back. What a bitch, right?​

All in all, Shinoda could have largely done without this solo departure. Is it really that hard to give Shinoda some higher profile rapping spots in the Linkin Park songs? Chester isn't the only person who can piece lyrics together.

No matter. What is your favorite example of solo work? Your least favorite? Stake your claim.

 

[Blade]

It seems the better the band is, the worse the solo efforts will be of a particular member of that band.
I mean, so many huge rockstars have tried to do their solo work, cause they think it'll sell based on their name value alone. But people then realise it's crap and simply don't buy it.
Billy Corgan tried to make a solo album. It was an electronic mess. It just sounded so cold and alienating. It's like he was trying to escape everything that made him a member of the Smashing Pumpkins. Which is made even more ironic considering he announced the Pumpkins reunion the day the solo album came out. This isn't a case of Corgan needing the rest of the band like most solo failures. Corgan was just out of ideas and up his own ass.
Another solo album that was just horrible was Graham Coxon. This guy was legendary in the 90's. In Europe he was anyway. Blur had created some of the greatest songs of all time... The Universal, Song 2....
Graham Coxon made his solo album and it was just packed with British Indie cliches. That coupled with his horrible voice and lyrics just made his album difficult to listen to. Coxon needs Albarn. Simple as that.

But every so often, there's a solo album that's almost as good as the band's work. I've heard Jervis Cocker's album was superb. But the album I have in mind when I say that is Thom Yorke's The Eraser.
Yes, Yorke works best with Greenwood. But he's also great on his own. The Eraser was interesting, clever and fresh sounding. And it was better than any Radiohead electronica album, which I found very surprising. But Harrowdown Hill is better than anything of Kid A or Amnesiac.

[YOUTUBE]M8ybWaIvmaM[/YOUTUBE]

 

[RVDgurl]

My musical tastes usually resides somewhere in the category of metal. However, the first 2 artists that come to my mind for this topic are anything but metal. Two of my favorite non-rock artists both started out in a group then went on to be one of the biggest stars of their respective genres.


Michael Jackson - The Jackson 5 were cool, but nothing compares to Michael Jackson's solo career. His recent passing reminded us all what a huge star he was at the pinnacle of his career. If anyone lived through the Thriller days, you all know what I mean. Damn it- I owned a sparkly white glove, a Thriller jacket, MJ slippers and an MJ microphone. "The King of Pop" was not just a clever nickname, kids.

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2Pac - Anyone remember "The Humpty Dance" by Digital Underground? Yep, watch the video and you will see a young 2Pac dancing around and singing background. Now there is very little hip hop I care to listen to, but I will listen to any 2Pac album from front to back any day of the week. The man was more than a rap artist; he was a poet. An amazing artist who is still relevant today.

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[My$terio_Fan]

Well of course Ms. Beyonce Knowles, use to be the lead singer of one of the biggest selling female groups of all time "Destiny's Child". Although I loved Destiny's Child with a passion and it is what started my love for Beyonce, her solo stuff is better. Beyonce was always the star of Destiny's Child so it was fitting for her to go solo and become a huge star.

[YOUTUBE]VbGV2_8Yqg4[/YOUTUBE]

While every Beyonce song is amazing, this is her new single "Sweet Dreams" and it just proves why Michelle & Kelly never became anything after Destiny;s Child broke up. And that's because they aren't stars like Beyonce.

The worse "solo" from group star would be Nicole Sherzinger of the Pussycat Dolls. Although Nicole is obviously the star of the *****es, and is the lead vocalist, her solo "attempt" was awful. All of her solo singles flopped, and her album was never released. I blame it on weak material but whatever it was, it stunk.

[YOUTUBE]wr4W5J7nkNE[/YOUTUBE]

Stick with the dolls honey, or get better material.