Bands that hold back a better Musician

[Hyfi]

Have you ever liked a band only because of one of the musicians? Ever noticed a musician that would be far better off with different supporting players?

Two groups come to mind quickly for me.

First, although I have tried several times to get into the Chili Peppers, the majority of their songs sound the same. However, Flea whatever his real name is is a really good bassist. I know RHCP has a large following and everyone but me likes them, but I feel Flea could do much better for himself.

Second band that comes to mind is Indigenous. Mato Nanji is an excellent Guitar player but the rest of Indigenous is family and frankly suck. They hold him back big time. I have seen Indigenous on several occasions and enjoy the heck out of Matos guitar work but the bassist just plays the same three notes all night long while the drummer can just keep a simple beat.

What other Bands-Musicians can you think of in this same situation?

[Slosh]

I don't know. Don't ya think this kinda proves the point that being a skilled song-writer is much more important than being a skilled musician?

A well-played shitty song is still a shitty song.

[dingus]

or are the RHCP's so bad that they only make Flea seem good? actually, i dont think the Peppers are a real good example of this, more than any other, U2 and Edge come to mind.

bands that hold back a better musician? i think Matt Cameron with Pearl Jam is pretty accurate. also Jerry Mercer was worlds better than the rest of April Wine.

[Spancticles]

journey - neil schon

[bobsticks]

journey - neil schon

[Spancticles]

that one sucked
but his work with santana
was great
and electric world and i on u
were pretty darn good

[Finch Platte]

How about musicians that hold back a band, like maybe James LaCheese & DREAM THEATER???

Someone kill him before I do.

fp

[MindGoneHaywire]

If I knew more about Dream Theater I'd probably opine that he's performing a public service.

As for Journey...one could say Schon held them back until he agreed to go mersh by bringing in Steve Perry. That said, I'm not sure if I know less than I care about Journey, but I don't think it would accurate to suggest that they held him back. He had a small fan base he could've played to, but from what I've read his choice was to not be satisfied with whatever success he'd attained.

I'm with Slosh in that I don't agree with the premise in general, but I think Zappa would be an interesting figure to discuss in this context. And you could make a case that his career path ended up being based on a decision more or less opposite to the one Schon made.

[Hyfi]

I'm going to add John Entwistle and The Who. Someone recently posted a Youtube Vid on another board in a Bass player post. Entwistle was a pretty good bassist for rock music back when 3 notes to match 3 chords was the norm. John played a bit of Lead Bass but was heavily overshadowed by Townsends monkey arm swinging, Daltrys screaming and hollering, and Moons endless drum solo.

You never heard much talk about Entwhistle at all as if he didn't exist, just the other three.