Hypothetical band reunion lineups you'd like to see (642 views)

[Henny Macc]

Here's a thread to fantasize about lineups of bands that you'd plausibly see like to play together again, assuming they were one day able to work out whatever issues originally drove them apart from one another and decided to give it another chance.

The only rules of this are:

1. Everyone you list has to have been a member of that band at some point (not necessarily at the same time as one another though)
2. Everyone has to still be alive - people can work out their issues with one another, but there's no way to bring people back from the dead
3. No listing anyone who is no longer capable of playing their instrument/performing the parts they played with that band (just to keep this a bit more grounded in hypothetical reality)

Other than that, go off!

Here are a few of mine:

Judas Priest - AKA what should've happened when Glenn Tipton had to retire from touring in 2018

• Rob Halford - vocals
• K.K. Downing - guitar
• Richie Faulkner - guitar
• Ian Hill - bass
• Scott Travis - drums

Black Sabbath - AKA the lineup I wish they had used for the The End tour

• Ozzy Osbourne - vocals
• Tony Iommi - guitar
• Geezer Butler - bass
• Vinny Appice - drums. Considering how integral he was to Dio era Sabbath, it would've been cool to see him play with Ozzy, especially since Bill Ward can't really play his parts anymore. Tommy Clufetos is a good drummer, but I would've rather seen him stay with Ozzy's solo band and have an actual former member of Sabbath reprise their role.

For the purposes of The End tour, I also wish they had used Geoff Nicholls instead of Adam Wakeman for keyboards, but considering that he died in 2017 there's obviously no hope of a reunion with him now.

Van Halen

• David Lee Roth - lead vocals (though I'd be happy to see Sammy Hagar back with the band too, for that matter)
  
• Wolfgang Van Halen - guitar, backing vocals
  
• Michael Anthony - bass, backing vocals
  
• Alex Van Halen - drums
  

Dream Theater

• James LaBrie - lead vocals (I guess)
  
• John Petrucci - guitar, backing vocals
  
• John Myung - bass
  
• Jordan Rudess - keyboards (though honestly I'd be happy to see Kevin Moore or Derek Sherinian play with them again)
  
• Mike Portnoy - drums, backing vocals

I'll rattle off some more of these as I go along, but that seems like a good start for now.

[Gilad]

I'd love it if RHCP rehired Josh Klinghoffer. I don't understand why Frusciante returning meant having to kick him out. Both guitarist are very gifted and have history working together. I'm sure they could come up with some amazing music, and most fans would have been totally fine with the band becoming a 5-piece.

[clem]

I'd like to see Jeff Loomis with Megadeth, for an album at least. I'm surprised that this hasn't happened already, since it's been speculated about quite a bit, and Jeff did audition at least once iirc. His soloing would fit well with their sound.

[Henny Macc]

Jan 5, 2022 11:47:23 GMT clem said:

I'd like to see Jeff Loomis with Megadeth, for an album at least. I'm surprised that this hasn't happened already, since it's been speculated about quite a bit, and Jeff did audition at least once iirc. His soloing would fit well with their sound.

I think the Megadeth lineup that I'd like to see at this point would be:

• Dave Mustaine - lead vocals, guitar
  
• Marty Friedman - guitar
  
• David Ellefson - bass, backing vocals
  
• Jimmy DeGrasso or Shawn Drover - drums
  

While we're at it, lemme also have a go at Angra:

• Edu Falaschi - lead vocals
  
• Rafael Bittencourt - guitar, vocals
  
• Kiko Loureiro - guitar
  
• Felipe Andreoli - bass
  
• Aquiles Priester - drums

It would also be cool to see Luís Mariutti back as their bassist and/or Ricardo Confessori as their drummer, but that would also probably mean that Shaman would have to break up, so let's go with this.

[fallenalien]

I think Van Halen without Eddie could never work. Would be like Nirvana without Kurt Cobian, imo.

I'd like to see a reunion of the mid 70's Fleetwood Mac lineup.

[clem]

Bring Dennis Stratton back to Iron Maiden, because three guitarists simply isn't enough
It would be cool to see one last Maiden show with Paul Di'Anno too. There had been talk of it pre-covid, when Paul was planning on a bit of a grand finale before retiring. But I guess covid had other plans.

[Henny Macc]

Jan 6, 2022 18:28:03 GMT fallenalien said:

I think Van Halen without Eddie could never work. Would be like Nirvana without Kurt Cobian, imo.

That's fair - I admittedly can't see them moving on and doing another album or anything without Eddie. But it would be cool if they got together with a lineup like I described and did a farewell show or something.

It's really a shame that they weren't able to get an actual reunion of the original lineup before Eddie's death, though. I really would've loved to hear DLR and Michael Anthony play together alongside the Van Halen brothers again after all these years - especially since their last reunion in 1996 was so short-lived.

Jan 6, 2022 19:23:25 GMT clem said:

Bring Dennis Stratton back to Iron Maiden, because three guitarists simply isn't enough
It would be cool to see one last Maiden show with Paul Di'Anno too. There had been talk of it pre-covid, when Paul was planning on a bit of a grand finale before retiring. But I guess covid had other plans.

I didn't even realize he had retired! But honestly I'm not terribly sorry to not see him play with them again - I've read some pretty horrendous things about him as a person, and I'd rather not see a band that I admire as much as Maiden go back to associating with someone like that, even if he's an important part of their history. In that regard I'd sooner want to see Blaze sing with them again than Di'Anno, honestly.

[clem]

Jan 7, 2022 8:01:41 GMT Henny Macc said:

I didn't even realize he had retired! But honestly I'm not terribly sorry to not see him play with them again - I've read some pretty horrendous things about him as a person, and I'd rather not see a band that I admire as much as Maiden go back to associating with someone like that, even if he's an important part of their history. In that regard I'd sooner want to see Blaze sing with them again than Di'Anno, honestly.

I know he was a cocaine addict, and got in trouble for fighting a fair bit, and carrying a knife at least once. Then there was his benefit fraud scandal, which he went to prison for. But is he irredeemable? I always thought of him as more reckless than genuinely evil.

[Henny Macc]

www.loudersound.com/features/archive-paul-di-anno-on-iron-maiden-drug-abuse-and-his-violent-past

SPOILER: Click to show

{Probably a trigger warning for those that need one; sexual abuse}Presumably you treat girlfriends and wives rather differently than you treated those random girls on the road?

“Yeah, slightly. You couldn’t take those girls back to meet your mum. We met some right fucking slags on the road, but they were only doing what they wanted to do, and if they were happy to be with us, who am I to say ‘No’?”

You once put a gun inside one of these girls: exactly how terrified was she?

“That’s what I asked at the time (laughs). She was one of those stupid women you meet in America who’s like ‘I can do this and that’ and she wouldn’t shut up. I got the idea from an old drummer in a previous band, who met these couple of girls while we were recording in Wales. He took one girl into his bedroom and she kept saying ‘Fuck me and hurt me’. So he took the phone off the wall and hit her over the head with it and said ‘Well that’s fucked you and it hurt didn’t it’. This girl in America kept saying ‘Really fuck me’ so I just couldn’t resist it. I put the gun inside her and said ‘How’s that one bitch?’ That shut her up.”

[clem]

Ok that's pretty scary if it's a true story

[Henny Macc]

Jan 5, 2022 6:21:32 GMT Henny Macc said:

Dream Theater

• James LaBrie - lead vocals (I guess)
  
• John Petrucci - guitar, backing vocals
  
• John Myung - bass
  
• Jordan Rudess - keyboards (though honestly I'd be happy to see Kevin Moore or Derek Sherinian play with them again)
  
• Mike Portnoy - drums, backing vocals

Oh hey, would ya look at that - this one actually came true

Jan 6, 2022 3:55:04 GMT Henny Macc said:

While we're at it, lemme also have a go at Angra:

• Edu Falaschi - lead vocals
  
• Rafael Bittencourt - guitar, vocals
  
• Kiko Loureiro - guitar
  
• Felipe Andreoli - bass
  
• Aquiles Priester - drums

It would also be cool to see Luís Mariutti back as their bassist and/or Ricardo Confessori as their drummer, but that would also probably mean that Shaman would have to break up, so let's go with this.

Also whoops, Shaman ended up breaking up the year after I made this thread, so I guess having Confessori and Mariutti back is more of fair game now 

Here are a few others for me:

Mr. Big

• Richie Kotzen - lead vocals, additional guitar
• Paul Gilbert - lead guitar, backing vocals
• Billy Sheehan - bass, backing vocals
• Nick D'Virgilio - drums, backing vocals (though I would also accept seeing Matt Starr back with the band as well)

As much as I love Eric Martin, he literally can not sing his own material with this band anymore, and he's unfortunately becoming painfully aware of it on the band's current tour - seeing how he had to call in Michele Luppi to serve as an additional touring vocalist to help cover for his shortcomings. And while I'm sure Luppi's doing a fine job, I really wish they could've gotten Kotzen to take over on vocals for him, seeing how that's someone who has much more history and legacy with the band.

W.A.S.P.

• Blackie Lawless - lead vocals, rhythm guitar
• Chris Holmes - lead guitar, backing vocals
• Johnny Rod - bass, backing vocals
• Steve Riley or Stet Howland - drums

As far as I'm aware the main thing stopping this one from happening is Blackie and Holmes' longstanding feud about songwriting credits, and Holmes has said that he would be open to a reunion if Blackie ever gave him the credit he's due. I don't know why the other guys are no longer with the band, but they're definitely the most iconic surviving members for those roles that I can think of in that band's very extensive list of personnel.

Deep Purple

• Glenn Hughes - lead vocals
• Ritchie Blackmore - guitar
• Roger Glover - bass
• Don Airey - keyboards
• Ian Paice - drums

This one is OBVIOUSLY a pipe dream that's never going to happen, but a man can dream. I know the main reason why Blackmore didn't continue with the band past the early 90s was because he and Ian Gillan absolutely could not get along...but let's face it, from a musical perspective, Ritchie was the more valuable member to lose. Gillan's voice has not held up for a LONG time now, and frankly nowadays he's kinda pathetic to listen to. Meanwhile, Glenn Hughes is still absolutely killing it vocally and regularly tours performing Deep Purple material with his solo band, so...I'd much rather hear him fronting the band if that could ever be an option again. And theoretically, if Gillan were out of the picture, maybe we could get Blackmore back too? Though obviously they would have to nix the vast majority of the Steve Morse era material from their catalogue, because I highly doubt he'd be able to play most of those guitar parts. Nonetheless, a lineup like this would probably make me more excited for Deep Purple than the actual band has in a long time now...

Bon Jovi

• Richie Sambora - lead vocals, lead guitar
• Jon Bon Jovi - rhythm guitar, as little backing vocals as possible
• Hugh McDonald - bass, backing vocals
• David Bryan - keyboards, backing vocals
• Tico Torres - drums

For god's sake, PLEASE give us Sambora back and let him take over on lead vocals, and spare us from the trainwreck that has become Jon's voice lol

Mötley Crüe
[the band stays broken up instead of reuniting]