The "face "of the band.

I'm talking about the vocalist of a band.
His/her voice is the "business card" of the band.
Scott Wenzel is the "voice" of Whitecross.
Michael sweet is the "voice"of Stryper.

It will change when a vocalist is leaving the band like Greg X. Volt did.
John Schlitt is the new vocalist of Petra.
Can you imagine what happened when the vocalist of Thorn Flesh took the place of Scott Wenzel?
I think I didn't like Whitecross anymore.

What do you think of the bands who have gotten an other vocalist?
Like Petra, the Newsboys?
Do you still like the band or you like the band with the old or new vocalist more.

I applauded White Heart when they changed singers to Rick Florian (way back in the mid-80's). Rick is a significantly better vocalist than their previous singer.

I never was a huge Petra fan and never even listened to any of their tunes until long after they got John Schlitt. As a matter of fact I haven't even heard much of their earlier material with Volz.

Barren Cross reportedly has a new singer, but I doubt anybody has heard any new BC with the new vocalist. I can think of several secular bands who did this, what are some of the Christian bands who have changed vocalists?

It really depends on the change. A band really has to write some awesome new material to really make the new vocalist shine. I think that both Petra and the Newsboys have done this well. I even think changing singers helped Decyfer Down. Sometimes, though, the singer is also the main writer that made that band and when he is gone the band suffers.

Ah ha I remember one!
Narnia, changed lead singers on their last album.
Sadly they quit after that, I thought the album was quite good (maybe not as good as their previous album) but I liked it more than much of the rest of their catalog.

Very good Staybrite.
I have one too.
Neon Cross.
In the first years P.K. Mitchell was guitarist/vocalist.
In 1984 David Reeves joined the band as vocalist.

rockerVu2 wrote:

Can you imagine what happened when the vocalist of Thorn Flesh took the place of Scott Wenzel?
I think I didn't like Whitecross anymore.

when did that happen?

XNilo, it never happened.
I only used this as an example to tell that Whitecross will have a complete other sound with the vocalist of Thorn Flesh as vocalist.
Scott still is the awesome vocalist of Whitecross.
I've seen them live in September.

X-Sinner got worse. I really like Rex Scott, but their first singer (whose name escapes me at this moment) was a better fit for their music.

Guardian got better when Jamie Rowe came on board in lieu of Paul Cawley. Paul was a decent singer; but Jamie is now a legend due to his pipes.

Saint bombed when they didn't have Josh on vocals. 'Nuff said.

Septer took a step back vocally on their second album. I think the singer on the first album was a good bit better.

Holy Soldier is a hard one to evaluate because they drastically changed styles at the same time they changed vocalist. I think Eric Wayne is a great singer - better than Steven Patrick actually. But I like the Patrick-fronted albums a bit better than Promise Man. I think the musical changes overshadow the change in vocalists here.

Follower of Jesus wrote:

X-Sinner got worse. I really like Rex Scott, but their first singer (whose name escapes me at this moment) was a better fit for their music.

I think I did like David Robbins just a little better than Rex, but not by much. I still really dig the Rex albums.

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Guardian got better when Jamie Rowe came on board in lieu of Paul Cawley. Paul was a decent singer; but Jamie is now a legend due to his pipes.

I completely agree with you on that one.

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Saint bombed when they didn't have Josh on vocals. 'Nuff said.

Again, I completely agree.

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Septer took a step back vocally on their second album. I think the singer on the first album was a good bit better.

I actually like the vocalist from the second album better, but I think the songwriting on the second album wasn't up the caliber of the first album.

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Holy Soldier is a hard one to evaluate because they drastically changed styles at the same time they changed vocalist. I think Eric Wayne is a great singer - better than Steven Patrick actually. But I like the Patrick-fronted albums a bit better than Promise Man. I think the musical changes overshadow the change in vocalists here.

I too like the Patrick albums better, but I think that is mostly because of the style. I have this sneaky feeling that if HS would have done a "Last Train" type album with Eric Wayne that I would have liked it even better than their stuff with Steven Patrick. When I listen to the live album they did with both singers I think Eric sounded much better with the band.

rockerVu2 wrote:

XNilo, it never happened.
I only used this as an example to tell that Whitecross will have a complete other sound with the vocalist of Thorn Flesh as vocalist.
Scott still is the awesome vocalist of Whitecross.
I've seen them live in September.

yea..I knew that.. It was my poor attempt at humor. lol :bball:

To me, some bands are like a great marriage. When a singer leaves the band, I bum out as if a good friend leaves their spouse.
I was very close to Newsboys back in the day and loved their original line-up. Even though there were some changes in the band, the "faces" of the band remained... then the main face left (he fell into the world of flesh, only to be sought out by God and brought back into the fold, thank you Jesus) - Now the 2nd face of Newsboys left, and one of my fav singers joined them... but as I've said in another thread, they ain't the newsboys anymore. I hafta accept them as another band altogether.
The same with Petra. I liked the Greg years WAY better than John, not to say I don't like Schlitt - but I hafta accept them as a different band... Greg was Petra to those who started with him. The Petra with John is just another band. Albeit a band I dont care for as much as Greg's Petra.

So, that's how I take these ever changing bands... by accepting that the original band is no more and the new singer reps a NEW band on the scene.

Personally, I've always loved the SOUND of Whitecross but never liked Scott's vox (blasphemy to some, I know, sorry)... I would've loved WC if they kept the vox "sound" from their first album (kinda sounds like Stephen Pearcy), or got a new singer altogether.
Same with Whiteheart, Ricke is an OK singer in an exceptional band, but I would've loved WH more if their guitarist Mark was the lead singer (he sung on quite a few songs and each one he sings gives me chills, I love his voice).

Here's my take on this = It would be like Michael W Smith left his band and Steve Green took his place.... and they still called the band "Michael W Smith".

It just doesn't work.

Guilty/Forgiven wrote:

Same with Whiteheart, Ricke is an OK singer in an exceptional band, but I would've loved WH more if their guitarist Mark was the lead singer (he sung on quite a few songs and each one he sings gives me chills, I love his voice).

Wow, really? I am 180 degrees the other way. I think Mark's vocals were okay only at times. Rick was a much better singer and was a perfect fit for their music.

Weird- diff tastes for diff people eh ?

I mean, there are actually people out there who think Bob Dylan can sing.

Follower of Jesus wrote:

Guilty/Forgiven wrote:

Same with Whiteheart, Ricke is an OK singer in an exceptional band, but I would've loved WH more if their guitarist Mark was the lead singer (he sung on quite a few songs and each one he sings gives me chills, I love his voice).

Wow, really? I am 180 degrees the other way. I think Mark's vocals were okay only at times. Rick was a much better singer and was a perfect fit for their music.

Shows you how much I pay attention. I have listened to White Heart for a few decades and I never knew the guitarist sang on any of the songs (actually I thought Bill Smiley sang a few)! I did know that Mark Gersmehl (keyboards) sang a couple of tracks (including the fantastic "The River Will Flow" from the Freedom album).

Are there 2 Marks ? I'm not totally up on the names - maybe he's the keyboardist not guitarist, but I seen him singing backup in the video "Unchain" - He sings Gabriela and Ricke backs him up. There's a few songs like that, where one backs the other... and I can't help but love his vox more than Ricke's... just me.

Mark Gersmehl, Bill Smiley, and Rick Florain are the three "anchor" members for the band, and have all been constant song-writers and performers since the early to mid 80's. Mark is usually build as keys & backing vocals, Bill guitars/keys, and backing vocals, and Rick as lead vocals.

I think they have had several bass, lead guitar, and drummers over the years. But I don't know if anyone else (other than Steve Green and Scott Douglas) have been credited with lead vocals.

This dude...

My first introduction to WhiteHeart was their Power House album.. So I only knew of Rick's voice before learning later that there had been a change.
So, I prefer RIck over the other guy, but again, that's how I came to know their sound first and that probabaly had an influence on my preference..

btw... Independence Day was the first song I ever heard by WH.. Loved it! Still do.

XNilo wrote:

btw... Independence Day was the first song I ever heard by WH.. Loved it! Still do.

Great album, and fantastic song.

Guilty/Forgiven wrote:

This dude...

I believe tha dude in the middle is Mark Gersmehl, Bill Smiley is definately the guy on the left, and the guy on the right is a dead ringer for Rick Florain.

Here is a picture of Gersmehl at a White Heart concert that looks to be taken around the same time as the photo above.

One face change that I think was great was removing Graham Bonnet and adding Rob Rock to Impelletteri. I did not really like Graham's voice. Rob is a phenominal singer. When Rob left and Graham came back, I had no interest in Impelletteri. When Graham left and Rob came back in, I was very excited. To me, Chris and Rob are Impelletteri just like Scott and Rex are Whitecross. The other players can change, but not these elements.

Good call, Graham is an excellent singer, but I much prefer Rob Rock in Impellitteri.

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... removing Graham Bonnet and adding Rob Rock to Impelletteri

Most definitely !