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Needs Help: Face Of The Band

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    Original post 

OP credits go to Adept

Problem: Despite the Face Of The Band supposedly being about the most prominent/visible/recognizable member of a band, a lot of on-page examples list more than one name, with some entries even listing the one member who is not prominent because apparently everyone else are the "Faces" of the band.

There are also ZCE issues with almost all the examples, and the wick check shows that the majority of the wicks simply mention the "Face"'s names without giving any explanation about how or why they're more recognizable than the others. This makes me think that this page as-is is way too subjective, even for a YMMV.

Proposed Solution: Turn into Trivia and require more objective evidence that the member are designated as the band's front-man (e.g. they're more prominently featured in album covers, photoshoot and other promotional materials, is the band's spokesperson in interviews, etc.). Also remove non-band examples.

Wick check:

Wick checks for Face Of The Band.

Results

    open/close all folders 
    One face with some context 
  1. Music Albums Artists F To M: "The band is good, but they'd be nothing without Alex Harvey"
  2. Versus: The Throbbing Masses ascend to this, with their new hit single "Scooby-Doo", and Josh dramatically leaving the band due to Creative Differences (despite Tyler protesting that they can't be the Throbbing Masses without "the throbbingest of the masses").
  3. Panic! at the Disco: People usually think of Brendon, the lead singer, before Ryan Ross, the main songwriter during the A Fever You Can't Sweat Out and Pretty. Odd. eras.
  4. The Vines: Craig Nicholls, who writes nearly all the songs and has been the only original member for many years.
  5. Wonder Girls: Sohee was by far the most well known member back when she was in the group.
  6. Canadian History: Gord Downie founds the rock band The Tragically Hip
  7. SKYND: Skynd is always front and centre, to the point that quite a few people don't even realise that it even is a band.
  8. Nijisanji EN: Luxiem: Vox is presented as the Face Of The Band and is always at the center of Luxiem.
  9. D: Asagi, to the point where people forget that there are four other members.
  10. Lovejoy: Given his popularity in the Minecraft community and the fact that he was releasing music long before the band was formed, it's unsurprising that people consider Wilbur Soot this.
  11. Anohni and the Johnsons: Anohni, though very much with the whole ego aspect.
  12. The Wanted: Nathan. Ask anyone who doesn't actually follow the band to name a member and it will be him. Him dating the much more popular Ariana Grande only made him even more of a face.
  13. Men at Work: Colin Hay, who wrote most of the lyrics, sang most of the songs and over-acted in most of the clips.
    Multiple "faces" 
  1. Iron Maiden: Either Eddie, Bruce Dickinson or Steve Harris.
  2. Kataklysm: Maurizio Iacono. Sylvain Houde as well, even though he's been out of the band for almost 20 years.
  3. Sunscreem: Although Lucia Holm is the main singer and Face Of The Band, Paul Carnell gets a few moments in the spotlight
  4. The Sisters of Mercy: To the public at large, Andrew is the only member of the band besides Doktor Avalanche anyone can ever remember without consulting the Wikipedia article, unless you happen to be a fan of The Mission.
  5. Good Charlotte: Benji & Joel were treated as such by the press when the band first achieved mainstream success.
  6. Switchfoot: Jon and Tim are both really popular.
  7. Blood on the Dance Floor: Dahvie is the most notable member, though these days for all the wrong reasons. Within the LGBT community, however, Jayy is more recognized.
  8. Status Quo: It's no secret that Francis Rossi and Rick Parfitt are Status Quo to most people.
  9. Morbid Angel: Trey Azagthoth or David Vincent. Pete Sandoval to a lesser extent. Entry isn't even sure who the Face really is.
    Aversions 
  1. Sub-Radio: Averted. Their music videos make sure to feature every member, and they have multiple camera for their live streams so that everybody gets moments in the limelight.
  2. The String Cheese Incident: Averted. They refer to themselves in interviews as a "democratic ensemble", and everyone who's not a drummer gets a few of their songs into each setlist.
    Not a band 
  1. Crocodile Hunter: Some people accused Terri of pushing Bindi too hard into being the face of Australia Zoo.
  2. Video Games: when picking up an SMG, he might say "This is just like Counter-Strike!"; and he has a Heavy bobble head on his desk
  3. Troper Entries A-D: A fat, bald, Eastern European soldier with a large appetite and a deep voice that is seen by the audience as the Face Of The Band. Heavy or Mârlanu
  4. BEMANI: Yoshitaka Nishimura, otherwise known as DJ YOSHITAKA, become the face of the franchise in The New '10s, serving as the head producer for beatmania IIDX, Popn Music, REFLEC BEAT, SOUND VOLTEX, and BeatStream. On top of that, he's known for a number of "boss" songs, most notably "FLOWER", a song that has been crossed over into nearly every active BEMANI series. It is often joked that he practically runs the entire BEMANI franchise now.
  5. Pokémon: The Series: Most people who don't play Pokémon still know what a Pikachu is. Likewise, most parents automatically equate Pokémon to Ash and Pikachu.
  6. Canon Immigrant: The character became so popular that he's been added to the eight reindeer from "A Visit From St. Nicholas"/"'Twas The Night Before Christmas" and has become the Face Of The Band in the public consciousness.
    ZCE 
  1. Mystery Jets: Blaine Harrison
  2. The Fall: Pothole to Mark E. Smith.
  3. Vacanta Mare: Mugur Mihăescu
  4. Godflesh: Justin Broadrick
  5. ReVamp: Floor Jansen
  6. Pretenders: Chrissie Hynde.
  7. Sneaker Pimps: Kelli, until the band replaced her with Chris. Nobody seems to remember Liam Howe, even though he founded the band with Chris.
  8. Virtual Celebrity: The face of the Genki Rockets is the fictional character Lumi
  9. One-Steve Limit: Pothole to Kevin Rowland
  10. Three Days Grace: Pothole to Adam Gontier.
  11. Suicidal Tendencies: Mike Muir definitely.
  12. Streetlight Manifesto: Toh Kay
  13. Pearl Jam: Eddie Vedder, to the point where "Weird Al" Yankovic made a song about him.
  14. Camel: Pothole to Andrew Latimer
  15. Dire Straits: Mark Knopfler
  16. Jimmy Eat World: Egocentric Team Naming: Averted, even if lead singer Jim Adkins serves as the Face Of The Band.
  17. Black Flag: Henry Rollins, despite Greg Ginn being the band's headmaster.
    Unclear 
  1. Combat Clothing: the symbol of the gang as a mask with the American flag
  2. Heart (Band): Ann and Nancy Wilson, who have also remained the only constant members of the band's ever-changing lineups.
  3. The Show Must Go Wrong: Also, the Face Of The Band has suffered a fugue state, and isn't singing the words that he probably should be singing within the context of the show/album.
  4. Friendship Is Magic: Background Ponies: Being the most popular pony within her band, many fans think of her as this. Not sure if this is talking about an in-universe Face Of The Band or if it's a "Not a Band"-type example
  5. Easter Egg: This is evidently a rather morbid reference to the Werner Herzog film Stroszek, which earned notoriety for being the last film Face Of The Band Ian Curtis watched before ending his life.
  6. The Masked Singer
    • Bands tend to be represented by the most recognizable members of them, such as Crocodile being Nick Carter, the most recognizable member of Backstreet Boys. The Russian Dolls avert this, since they’re an entire band instead of one member.
    • Inverted and addressed directly by the Butterfly, who acknowledged her history of working with giants. Michelle Williams is talented in her own right, but was easily overshadowed by Kelly Rowland and especially Beyoncé.
    Unsortable 
  1. Lead Bassist: The Face Of The Band: This bass player is well known for non-musical reasons...

Edited by Berrenta on Jul 28th 2023 at 9:31:22 AM

AudioSpeaks2 He/Him (Greenhorn) Relationship Status: Oh my word! I'm gay!
igordebraga from Brazil Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: Owner of a lonely heart
#52: Jul 29th 2023 at 11:54:16 PM

Maybe I should ask in the image suggestion board, but is the old page picture of Delain a good fit for Stuck in Their Shadow? It's after all one person in color, the others in shadow, which could illustrate the concept. Then again, the band is not among the examples and such, better just focus on cleaning up all the green links.

AudioSpeaks2 He/Him (Greenhorn) Relationship Status: Oh my word! I'm gay!
He/Him
#53: Jul 31st 2023 at 4:37:45 PM

You know, I Am the Band is on Tropes Needing TRS, so I'd be a little weary of adding more examples to it.

Art Museum Curator and frequent helper of the Web Original deprecation project
Adept (Holding A Herring) Relationship Status: Having tea with Cthulhu
#54: Aug 1st 2023 at 4:33:17 AM

Do we have a trope for when a Revolving Door Band has one member who never left?

AudioSpeaks2 He/Him (Greenhorn) Relationship Status: Oh my word! I'm gay!
He/Him
#55: Aug 1st 2023 at 5:29:18 AM

[up]I think that's either I Am the Band or Artist and the Band

See way number 2 on I Am the Band for clarification.

Art Museum Curator and frequent helper of the Web Original deprecation project
GastonRabbit Sounds good on paper (he/him) from Robinson, Illinois, USA (General of TV Troops) Relationship Status: I'm just a poor boy, nobody loves me
Sounds good on paper (he/him)
#56: Aug 8th 2023 at 4:57:03 AM

We're below 600 wicks. I've been working on Talking To Himself off and on lately, but after that project is done, I might switch to this if it isn't finished by then.

Patiently awaiting the release of Paper Luigi and the Marvelous Compass.
AudioSpeaks2 He/Him (Greenhorn) Relationship Status: Oh my word! I'm gay!
Adept (Holding A Herring) Relationship Status: Having tea with Cthulhu
#58: Aug 14th 2023 at 5:21:02 AM

Just the YMMV pages remaining.

AudioSpeaks2 He/Him (Greenhorn) Relationship Status: Oh my word! I'm gay!
He/Him
#59: Aug 14th 2023 at 5:23:28 AM

I'm gonna start at the bottom wicks and work my way to the top.

Edited by AudioSpeaks2 on Aug 14th 2023 at 8:23:37 PM

Art Museum Curator and frequent helper of the Web Original deprecation project
Berrenta How sweet it is from Texas Since: Apr, 2015 Relationship Status: Can't buy me love
How sweet it is
#60: Aug 14th 2023 at 7:31:25 AM

We're done, so time to close.

she/her | TRS needs your help! | Contributor of Trope Report
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Trope Repair Shop: Face of the Band
23rd Jul '23 5:45:01 AM

Crown Description:

  • Despite the Face Of The Band supposedly being about the most prominent/visible/recognizable member of a band, a lot of on-page examples list more than one name, with some entries even listing the one member who is not prominent because apparently everyone else are the "Faces" of the band.
  • There are also ZCE issues with almost all the examples, and the wick check shows that the majority of the wicks simply mention the "Face"'s names without giving any explanation about how or why they're more recognizable than the others.
  • In addition, despite the definition being exclusively about musical groups, a lot of misuse interprets "band" more loosely to refer to other groups.
  • Due to current examples being in poor shape due to inconsistent usage along with outright misuse, cutting was suggested. Note that cutting does not preclude taking related concepts to the Trope Idea Salvage Yard or the Trope Launch Pad afterward.

Total posts: 60
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