The Ultimate Band

If you could pull the strings and put together your own dream lineup, who’s making the cut and what are they playing?

For example, here’s my take:
Rhythm - John Frusciante
Lead - Buck Dharma (BOC)
Bass - that guy from Uriah Heep—can't recall his name and I'm not sure if he's even still with us, but the man is a legend
Drummer - Mike Portnoy🙂
Keys - Jon Lord
Vocals - Cedric from Mars Volta

I have zero clue how that would actually sound, but it’d definitely be worth a listen, regardless.

And yeah, deceased legends are fair game, obviously.

This is my absolute dream lineup! :

Drummer - Richard Christy (formerly of Death and Iced Earth)
Vocals - Matt Barlow (formerly of Iced Earth)
Rhythm guitar - Jon Schaffer (Iced Earth)
Bass - Steve Harris (Iron Maiden)
Lead guitar - André Olbrich (Blind Guardian)

And then there’s the best possible alternative:

Dream Theater

The name alone says it all 🙂...
p.s. I'm not even much of a Dream Theater fan...

My dream lineup? Hard to say... But check this out:

Vocals - Matt Barlow, the man himself
Rhythm guitar - Jon Schaffer (plus he handles lyrics alongside a thrash legend like James Hetfield), though if he started writing about the USA, he'd be in serious trouble
Bass - Steve Harris or Cliff Burton
Drums - Lars Ulrich (I'm talking actual drums here, not those trash cans they used in Angera)
Lead guitar - Kirk Hammett

That’s my ultimate band right there. As for the bass player... I guess I'll just host a séance and let Harris and Burton hash it out among the ghosts.

Drummer - John McEntire
Bass - David W. Simms
Guitar - Steve Albini
Guitar - David Grubbs
Vocals - David Yow

Vocals - Billie Holiday.
Piano - anyone, honestly—even my sister could play it with just a couple years of music school under her belt.
That’s about it.
Shit, I started writing this post just to be snarky, but now I’m actually getting goosebumps thinking about how she sings. It's otherworldly.

Guitar: Steve Vai
Guitar: Joe Satriani
Bass: John Myung
Drums: Mike Portnoy
Vocals: I'd go with a female vocalist, but I haven't made up my mind on who yet.

Those bands would be total disasters—just a bunch of big-shot egos clashing constantly.
Since Billie Holiday plus some random piano player doesn't really make a band, I guess I need a better plan. Still figuring out the rest, but for vocals: Tom Fogerty (at least that’s how I’m feeling lately). Now, someone else needs to fill in the instruments.

Drums - Mike Portnoy
Bass - Billy Sheehan
Guitar - Saul Cassidy would be a killer fit, maybe Tim MacAlpine
Vocals - Tim MacAlpine
Keyboards - also MacAlpine, just let the man earn a paycheck

Just because these guys are individually legendary doesn't mean this specific lineup wouldn't be a total train wreck.

redcrane28 said:I can't speak for everyone else, but as far as vocals go, I'm feeling like Tom Fogerty today. Honestly, someone else just throw in some instrumentalists for me...

You're thinking Tom Fogerty, Stu Cook, and Doug Clifford? 😁 Man, that's actually pretty close to a perfect lineup...

Jeffrey Green16 said:The bass player from Uriah Heep—can't remember his name or if he's even still around, but man, the guy was a legend.

If you’re talking about those early, classic Uriah Heep days, then you mean Gary Thain. Sadly, he passed away decades ago...

Nick Cave

Blixa Bargeld

Mick Harvey

Martin P. Casey

Conway Savage

😁

Mick Harris on drums...
Shane Embury on bass...
Bill Steer on guitar...
Tom Waits on vocals...

No Hammerhead—just M.I.A.

Pink Floyd & Elvis 👍

Drums - John Bonham
Guitar - Jimmy Page
Bass - John Paul Jones
Vocals - Robert Plant

🙏

That is quite simply the perfect band!!!

...hmm, there is something strangely familiar about this lineup, don't you think?🙂 🙂 🙂

that girl said:drums - John Bonham
guitar - Robert Plant
bass - John Paul Jones
vocals - Robert Plant

🙏

now that's a perfect band!!!

...hmm, sometimes this lineup sounds a little too familiar to me🙂 🙂 🙂

And what about Jimmy Page???
Chopped liver???

vocals - Ian Stuart (Skrewdriver), though really just that first album before things went off the rails into that weird Nazi country-rock territory
guitar - Mick Jones (The Clash)
bass - Matt Freeman (Rancid)
drums... honestly, I have no clue

radiohead

Jeffrey Green16 said:One might find themselves wondering what exactly constitutes the essence of Jimmy Page.
Chopped liver? One might wonder if we have reached such a state of intellectual stagnation that even the most basic inquiries are met with such dismissive absurdity.

Good grief, it appears I didn't actually bother to review what I had written before hitting send.

Correction: regarding the guitar—it was actually Jimmy Page. I was honestly just zoning out while typing and wasn't paying any real attention to what I was putting down. If it weren't for him, none of those guys would even exist!

My thanks to you, Jeffrey Green16.👋

velvetbadger82 said:Vocals - Ian Stuart (Skrewdriver), but only on that first record before all that Nazi country-rock nonsense kicked in.
Guitar - Mick Jones (The Clash)
Bass - Matt Freeman (Rancid)
Drums... honestly, no clue.

Just throw a Roland on the drums.
I hear they're decent enough.😁

Jeffrey Green16 said:What even is Jimmy Page???

A jerk?😁