Solo Artists/Projects

[Masali]

As I hold "The WIll to Death" CD by John Frusciante I was like "I love Red Hot Chili Peppers, but will I like John's solo work?" the answer is Hell yes. It's AMAZING. His singing is so raw and just sounds so...I don't know, sincere? This, however, is a complete contrast to "The Nightwatchman" AKA Tom Morello, guitarist of Audioslave and Rage Against the machine. It's folk guitar work from a hardcore visionary guitarist and it's just...well, not my cup of tea.

So are there times where your favorite artists who've played in a band you LOVE go out and do some solo work and it's just terrible? Or the opposite (like Mr. Frusciante) and it rocks the friggen house?

[Gjallarhorn]

It's happened many times to me, a lot recently. Take for example, Gwen Stefani. I love No Doubt, and have since I was a kid, and I heard about her solo project...then I actually heard it, and I can honestly say I can't stand it. the same applies to Fergie, as I am a fan of the Peas, and Rob Thomas, as I am a fan of Matchbox20.
The only solo project I have liked was Mike Shinoda's Fort Minor, thought he wasn't solo, per se. The only song I didn't like out of that was "Where'd You Go", just because it was so repetitive...the sound was great though. Oh, and Hyde of L'Arc~En~Ciel. I don't like Larku, with the exception of "Driver's High", but I've always liked Hyde's solo work.

[Tsuna Kadiri]

Scott Weiland from Stone Temple Pilots did a solo album called 12 Bar Blues some time ago. I love STP to death, but I didn't like the stuff on his solo album. And I'm not that big a fan of Velvet Revolver, either (but the DeLeo brothers and Army of Anyone is fantastic ;D). I think Velvet Revolver tries too hard.
And speaking of Army of Anyone, that's a side project of Richard Patrick's from Filter, too.

And I guess if you consider Strapping Young Lad as the base of Devin Townsend's work, his solo career/projects with The Devin Townsend Band is out of this world. Accelerated Evolution is one of the best things I've heard in a long time. I have yet to take the time and really feel out his other work like Synchestra and Physicist and Ocean Machine (there's still more, I know), but so far I'm super impressed. Devin Townsend is amazing. And at first I thought he was just a really funny looking guy with a skullet.

I'm sure there are more that aren't coming to mind right now. Though another I thought of off the top of my head is Chris Cornell's Euphoria Morning (which I'm not a big fan of him anyways, for me he's really only worth his time in Soundgarden).

[Fiery]

Hm. I'm going to make a brief list.

I like both Genesis and Phil Collins' solo work.
I love Sixpence None The Richer, but can't stand Leigh Nash's solo work.
I really like Daughter Darling, but hate Natalie Walker's solo album.
I like Clannad's stuff better than Enya's solo work.
I'm fond of both Rhapsody and Luca Turilli's solo stuff.

Uh, I like Conjure one, Rhys Fulber's solo project, but it sounds hollow, and you can tell it's only got one half of Delerium's traits. Delerium is much better.

If I think of more, I'll post more. Good thread, Phil. =)

[MomijiTMO]

Hmm....

Well Dan Swano (a god) has his own band but has played in countless bands (most notable : Edge Of Sanity, Nightingale, Altar, Bloodbath, Katatonia, Diabolical Masquerade, Godsend, Incision, Infest Dead, Pan.Thy.Monium and Therion). I totally love his solo project Dan Swano:Moontower

Varg Vikernes from Mayhem has his own solo project known as Burzum. Burzum rules.

I can't think of any other good solo projects at the moment

[Fiery]

There really is something I should note, here. Perhaps it doesn't happen all the time, but it's the most typical response people seem to have when confronted with a solo project.

The thing is, a lot of people seem to feel discouraged by solo projects by artists who've left their respective bands because, frankly, it just doesn't sound the same. The more attatched a listener is to a certain band, the harder it is for said listener to accept, or even to appreciate any sort of deviation in style, mood, or even genre of music. Perhaps this is a superficial, silly example of humankind's aversion to change. However, I'm not a psychologist nor am I master of the collective human brain, so I'm going to hold off on making such an assumption.

However, think about it. Your favorite band's style is not your favorite because it's constantly changing. You probably like it for its consistancy. Not that the band's sound won't develop, grow, and mature as their career progresses - not that the style won't mutate to some degree, but for the most part, those things are marked as part of the general process, and are appreciated.

There is a certain familiarity in the sound, a certain comfort in the sound, and a certain trait to the sound that you've grown to consider partly your own - the way you interpret and react to it - that most solo projects just cannot successfully replicate.

P.S. - This factor does not detract from the solo artist's overall talents. It just helps to explain the decrease in the "diehard" population of the fanbase.

[Gandizzl]

Well, both Dan Swanö and Devin Townsend (I never thought I would see the day you actually liked this man, Tsuna XD) are already mentioned. They have great solo projects. Although I prefer Townsend's SYL project.

Peter Tägtgren's (of Hypocrisy and Bloodbath) solo project called Pain"great. Industrial metal that really has a spark.

Galder of Dimmu Borgir's solo project named Old Man's Child is one of the greatest black metal bands that are.

Mattias "IA" Eklundh from Freak Kitchen has quite the interesting solo project under the name of Freak Guitar. A lot of unique and interesting guitar playing.

Ihsahn of the Norwegian black metal band; Emperor (which is horrible that you didn't mention, MomijiTMO XP) has a great solo album where he experiments with a mix of prog and black metal.

And of course there is King Diamond of Mercyful Fate. I'm not sure if you can call the King Diamond band a solo project, but it's under his name so...
Anyway, really great horror metal.

And we have Russell Allen of Symphony X who released the album "Atomic Soul" which I did not care for at all. And I would say the same about James LaBrie's, of Dream Theater, solo albums.

But the most horrifying solo project ever is done by one of my favorite singers; Mike Patton. His "Adult Themes For Voice" and "Pranzo Oltranzista" are prob some of the most useless stuff ever made.

[MomijiTMO]

Old Man's Child started off as a solo project but keeps on changing.

OMG how did I forget "The Adversary" SHAME SHAME SHAME yeah Ihsahn's solo project sounds like "IX Equilibrium" and "Prometheus" Emperor era.

[Gandizzl]

Actually it has been a solo project since 1997 (The Pagan Prosperity).
Galder does all the musical arangements, instruments and lyrics except for a few exceptions.
But live he has/used to have (not sure if they play live anymore) with him a lot of session musicians.

[MomijiTMO]

I beg to differ

If you have a look at the booklets (or go to the Metal Archives or similar sites), you will see that Galder did not record all of the instruments (ie. drums, some guitar work) on any of the albums. I guess he can't play the drums but only on "Vermin" and "Ill-natured Spiritual Invasion" did he do everything and enlisted a session drummer. The other 4 albums were recorded as a band and the Galder did not see them as session members.

So currently Old Man's Child is a solo project, but as the past events have shown us, this is most likely to change.

[Gandizzl]

Aaah, I see.
I speak wikipedia knowledge (do only own the Vermin and Sons of Satan Gather For Attack albums as cd's.)
So guess you're right.

A solo project that seems interesting is The Prize Fighter Inferno which is Claudio Sanchez (vocalist in Coheed And Cambria).
Only heard a few songs and they were quite good.

[Scarlet Wings]

Luca Turilli from Rhapsody did has an amazing solo project. Very Epic. I actually like it more than Rhapsody too.
Derek Sherinian, formerly from Dream Theater, is doing pretty good with his solo projects too...