What Could've Beens and other theories

Since the What Could Have Been page is reserved for scenarios with strong implication/likelihood, use this thread to predict events that are significantly more of a stretch.

• I'll start by posting this interesting article I once read.
• I imagine that if Dave Mustaine hadn't gotten himself kicked out, if Cliff Burton had lived and John Bush had joined as their vocalist, Metallica would be worthy of being called the greatest metal band of all time (unlike now where such a statement would more likely start an argument).
• If Corey Taylor had stayed in Stone Sour with Slipknot keeping their original vocalist, they'd be far less popular but more respected in underground circles (and they'd likely have fewer members). Stone Sour would become a softer version of the Slipknot we know today, with some Stone Sour hits mixed in.

More will probably come to me later.

edited 17th May '11 10:42:50 PM by Alucard

Here's a hypothesis:

Had Ian Curtis been unsuccessful in his second major suicide attempt, Joy Division probably would have cancelled their American upcoming tour and possibly even dissolved, temporarily, eventually reforming with Curtis on the sidelines, ultimately becoming something not unlike... New Order.

I'll hide your name inside a word and paint your eyes with false perception.

Had Brian Wilson not gone crazy, The Beach Boys would have been right up there with The Beatles and The Rolling Stones and we would have been spared the Mike Love run of milking the name and continuing with few or no living members.

Also, Smile would have been out on time and Summer of Love would have never happened.

More Buscemi at http://forum.reelsociety.com/

If Queen hadn't cancelled their TV appearance with Bill Grundy, which resulted in the Sex Pistols showing up instead, punk might not have become mainstream in Britain.

Nah, it probably would have. I don't know.

...and had Subway Sect not been shortchanged by their manager...

I'll hide your name inside a word and paint your eyes with false perception.

What if Steve Clark had overcome his alcohol problems and remained in Def Leppard after Hysteria? I imagine Adrenalize would have been the same; it was mostly recorded when Vivian Campbell joined anyway. Would Slang have come out? How great was his influence on their sound?

Another one; what if Bob Rock had stayed with Motley Crue instead of producing Metallica during the 1990s?

Oh, I don't imagine Ian Curtis would have been sidelined that long. I remember reading in Rip It Up that Bono burst in Tony Wilson's office crying when he heard about Curtis' death saying that all he wanted to do was to keep "his voice alive". Would he have roped him into U2?

Also, there is an alternative universe where Mark E. Smith is on the same public pedestal as Bob Dylan and the Smiths were formed in 1962. The spats between Morrissey and Lennon would have been glorious to behold. Obligatory Lennon would have been backing the B 52s as well.

The Smiths forming in 1962? I know small kids can have some pretty powerful lungs, but I don't think four year old Morissey could write, let alone write lyrics.

edited 18th May '11 1:07:07 PM by DarkDecapodian

Aww, did I hurt your widdle fee-fees?

I don't know. Fast Five was written by a five year old.

More Buscemi at http://forum.reelsociety.com/

Doh! I meant, you know all the requisite backdating and such. THEY ARE ALL TWENTY in the 1962. Just push everything back.

How about a Rolling Stones where Keith died of an overdose in 1969 instead of Brian Jones drowning? Would they take him back?

It isn't The Stones without Keith. They probably would have folded by 1972.

More Buscemi at http://forum.reelsociety.com/

I read an interview with Claus Larsen once where he was said:

That would be something else

The 5 geek social fallacies. Know them well.

I read an Alternate Universe Fic describing how, if Smile had been completed in time, a Battle of the Bands situation would've happened between The Beatles and The Beach Boys, with combative television appearances, joint record store displays by Capitol Records, and "Hey Jude" and "Do It Again" fighting for the #1 spot in the summer of '68.

Tell me that doesn't sound awesome.

Personally, I imagine that, if Smile had been completed on time, Brian Wilson and Van Dyke Parks would've become a full-time songwriting outfit, possibly splitting from The Beach Boys, whose music becomes as important a part of the American musical landscape as George and Ira Gershwin. There are moments on Smile that I could imagine Mozart or Stravinski writing, so I imagine a logical progression from that happening had Brian stayed healthy.

edited 18th May '11 7:27:38 PM by DonZabu

"Wax on, wax off..." "But Mr. Miyagi, I don't see how this is helping me do Karate..." "Pubic hair is weakness, Daniel-san!"

Meh, sales races are never as awesome as advertised.

You can't even write racist abuse in excrement on somebody's car without the politically correct brigade jumping down your throat!

.___.

I spread my wings and I learn how to fly....

One-album wonders that I can't help but wonder about their career in that alternate universe where they didn't break up:

• Runforyerlife
• Chasing Furies

Eh, probably would have been hit by the Sophomore Slump anyway.

On a similar note, what would have happened if these guys kept their original lineup rather than bleeding members?

• The Deluxtone Rockets
• Havalina Rail Co
• Showbread (artificially treating their label debut album as their original lineup)

I didn't write any of that.

Led Zeppelin: John Bonham doesn't die. They continue releasing albums of increasingly mediocre quality but remain a very popular live act, until Robert Plant gets tired of singing Stairway to Heaven and quits.

Rush: John Rutsey (original drummer) doesn't quit and Neil Peart never joins. They release a few albums of so-so hard rock and nobody gives a shit anymore. Jeez, that one is depressing.

Metallica: Cliff Burton doesn't die. They start getting lame anyway, disproving the "Cliff would've kept them cool" theory.

no one will notice that I changed this

Neil Peart would become the 1970's answer to Gene Krupa.

Had Jeff Buckley not drowned, his second album would have been finished and hailed a masterpiece. Buckley becomes the modern-day Bob Dylan and ushers in a new era of music that wouldn't be taken over by the Lady Gagas and Katy Perrys of the world.

edited 18th May '11 9:34:56 PM by Buscemi

More Buscemi at http://forum.reelsociety.com/

My pet theory is that by the fifth album. Metallica would have been a purely prog-metal band who exclusively wrote Filk songs about the Cthulhu Mythos. I don't know whether that'd be a good or bad thing.

edited 18th May '11 9:42:33 PM by DarkDecapodian

Aww, did I hurt your widdle fee-fees?

Had Katy Perry stayed as a Christian Rock musician, she would have been mildly successful at best (popular in the Christian circles, but having few crossover hits with secular circles). After failing to get her, studio executives decide to go with another artist to build a fake, edgy and sexual image around: Lady Gaga, who uses the name Steffi Angel.

More Buscemi at http://forum.reelsociety.com/

Pink Floyd pack it in after the Syd Barrett era - Piper At The Gates Of Dawn has a cult following among fans of 60's psychedelia (on the level of someone like Moby Grape or 13th Floor Elevators) but they're otherwise completely unknown. David Gilmour would mostly be known for contributing to various other bands, but still have solo albums, Roger Waters would be strictly a solo artist, if he still got to develop his songwriting at all. If not, I guess he's just "the bassist who wrote the Album Filler track on Piper At The Gates Of Dawn". Classic rock radio would have to find another band to fill the 25% of airtime that isn't taken up by Led Zeppelin and The Doors, and I think to maintain the balance it'd have to be someone else associated with prog rock: maybe the dorm rooms of stoners everywhere would have posters of Tarkus or Fragile instead of Dark Side Of The Moon (I was going to bring up Jethro Tull too, but Aqualung wouldn't really work in blacklight).

edited 19th May '11 12:30:40 AM by MikeK

Earth is the only planet inhabitable by Nicolas Cage.

I wonder if Fear Factory would've had less industrial elements if they released the Colin Richardson engineered Demanufacture.

Freddie Mercury does not contract AIDS, and he doesn't die in 1991. Consequently, Queen are able to tour in support of The Miracle, which sees them performing their first shows in America since 1982 and leads to a significant resurgence in their popularity there. Innuendo is still recorded, although it's sombre themes may be absent. The band continue until about 2006, when Freddie turns sixty and decides to retire from singing to focus on songwriting and production, as he suggested he might do in a 1984 interview.

We Will Rock You is still made, with new songs composed by the band.

Funny, that's actually brought up in Crüe's article. Personally, I see hair metal suffering a slightly slower death with Metallica not becoming the super stars they did after the Black Album.

Quick question, all: Bon Scott lives. Go.

AC/DC are shag rock no matter with what vocalist. Wouldn't have changed anything about them.

Demanufacture is not all that industrial to begin with. What I've read about the Richardson mix sounds like it, though.

Thom Yorke died in a car accident in 1988? and there's no Radiohead.

edited 19th May '11 5:17:50 AM by Litis