joel wrote
mmm........ , my feelings exactly , about Deep Purple without Jon Lord........Don Airey is not Jon lord , neither is Steve Morse Ritchie Blackmore ( ? , big debate right there ! ) , but Deep Purple Is still Deep Purple ; and Uriah Heep is still Uriah Heep
It depends on where you think the essence of the band lies. Hensley was a huge part of the 70s Heep sound, I can't see how they can sound the same without him. Ditto Purple. I have no problem with the notion that Morse is a fine player, but Richie Blackmore he ain't. When key personnel like that change the band must change too. Different is not automatically "worse" but it is different.
Fairport Convention are still going after all these years, and with "founder" member Simon Nicol involved as well as Dave Pegg who has been with the band in it's various incarnations since 1970. But they are NOT the band that recorded
Unhalfbricking and
Liege and Lief other than in name.
Bands are entitled to update their sound, but that implies that they can't stay the same and maybe even that they shouldn't.
