Old Bands are Lying to You

At what point is a band no longer the band they say they are?

When AC/DC released their 2014 album Rock or Bust, they didn’t realize how prescient the album’s title would be. Rhythm guitarist Malcolm Young had to retire during the recording of the album because of dementia. Drummer Phil Rudd was then removed from the group after being arrested on charges of drug possession and attempting to procure a murder.

Despite the issues, AC/DC went on tour in support of the record. But their troubles weren’t over. In the middle of the tour, lead singer Brian Johnson was told by his doctor that he had to stop performing immediately or risk total hearing loss. In order to keep rocking, Guns n’ Roses lead singer Axl Rose filled in for the remaining dates.

It’s possible you bought tickets to these shows expecting to see one group of musicians and then ended up seeing a very different group. This raises an important question. If you went to one of the final dates of the tour, were you actually seeing AC/DC? To understand, we have to head back to the 1990s.

Ancient Greek Paradoxes & Classic Rock

Imagine there is a band called Lightforce that was started in 1990 by 4 people: Brenda, Billy, Bo, and Kevin. Lightforce had three hit albums throughout the decade before creative differences began to emerge. Between 1996 and 1997, Brenda, Billy, and Bo leave the band. Kevin replaces each member along the way and keeps Lifeforce alive. The band never releases another classic, but they still make good money on the road.

Then in 2010, Brenda, Billy, and Bo decide they are going to start making music again. Naturally, they want to call their band Lifeforce. They contend that since they have more of the original members that they should be able to use the name. But Kevin argues that he’s been playing with Brenda, Billy, and Bo’s replacements longer than he ever played with them. With the threat of a lawsuit, Brenda, Billy, and Bo choose a different name.

5 years later, Kevin dies. The remaining original members of Lifeforce decide that they can now use the name. Not so fast. The people who Kevin replaced them with still contend that they have been Lifeforce longer than the original members ever were. Who is the real Lifeforce?

This might sound like a farce, but stuff like this really happens.

• The glam metal band Ratt once had two competing versions of the band at the same time.

• The famed duo The Righteous Brothers has a Las Vegas residency despite only one of the brothers being alive.

• Lynyrd Skynyrd is still active despite every original member being dead.

• The band Chicago has undergone so many personnel and sound changes that you could spend hours trying to determine if the current Chicago is the same as the original Chicago and, if not, when Chicago stopped being Chicago.

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In short, defining the identity of a group is really complicated. Though I have presented some of the difficulties using rock bands, this conundrum goes back thousands of years. Let’s talk about some different ways to think about this issue. We’ll avoid philosophical lingo and return to our friends in AC/DC to do so.

1. A band is defined by its music: This line of thinking posits that the identity of a band is based on the essential properties that define its purpose and function. As long as those properties remain the same, then the band remains the same. So, if AC/DC’s purpose is to reliably recreate the songs on AC/DC’s studio albums, then it doesn’t matter who is playing the songs as long as they sound right.

2. A band is defined by temporal continuity: This line of thinking posits that a band is different at every moment in time. This means that AC/DC on June 4, 1987 is distinct from AC/DC on October 9, 2003 even if the band is composed of the same members. As long as we believe that the Axl Rose-fronted AC/DC is temporally continuous with the Brian Johnson-fronted AC/DC, then it is the same band.

3. A band is defined by its members: This line of thinking posits that the identity of a band is only the same if enough of its original members remain. So if AC/DC started playing only Shakira covers but their line-up remained the same, then we’d consider them the same band.

4. A band is defined by how its fans treat it: This line of thinking posits a band’s identity is not a matter of objective fact, but rather a matter of practical convention. In other words, if the band’s listeners think it’s the same despite its underlying members or music changing, then it is the same.

So what makes a band a band? I’m not ashamed to say that I don’t know. Any definition that I’ve come across seems to fall apart under an ounce of scrutiny. I’m okay with that, though. People have been arguing about the more general version of this question for a long time. Nevertheless, I think I have two principles to help alleviate the issues caused by this philosophical conundrum.

1. The music is more important than the musicians: If you enjoy the music, how you refer to those performing it doesn’t really matter.

2. Make sure you don’t get ripped off: This is best illustrated with an example. Don’t break the bank buying tickets to see the classic doo-wop group The Platters when none of the original members are alive and there have been at least 5 groups claiming to be the “real” Platters.

A New One
"Consequences" by Lovejoy
2023 - Indie Rock

2 months ago, I recommended “Since I Have a Lover” by 6lack. Part of the reason I was drawn to that song was because of its striking artwork. That’s the same reason I was drawn to the British quartet Lovejoy’s recent EP Wake Up & It’s Over. The cover depicts a derailed train simultaneously exploding and tumbling into a gorge. That image pairs perfectly with the refrain of “Consequences”, the delicious rocker halfway through the record: “What’s that? The consequences of my actions.”

An Old One
"Ride On" by AC/DC
1976 - Blues Rock

All of the earlier philosophizing aside, AC/DC is generally considered to have two eras: the Bon Scott era and the Brian Johnson era. Bon Scott was the lead singer when the band first hit it big. Brian Johnson took over after Bon Scott died suddenly in 1980. With Brian Johnson at the microphone, the band released their album Back in Black and became bigger than ever before.

Though both singers fit AC/DC’s non-stop-rock-n-roll aesthetic well, I prefer Bon Scott because I think he had more stylistic range. On “Ride On”, for example, you hear how his voice sits well within a slow, burning groove. While Brian Johnson sings on a ton of AC/DC classics, I don’t think he would have been able to handle a song like this.

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Do you like Tom Petty? I wrote about how “American Girl” is terrible as a closing song despite being a great song.

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Want to hear the music that I make? Check out my latest EP.