Weakest Link!

You are underestimating his sprawling sense of professionalism and top notch musicianship and overvaluing the two guys who were no more than one dimensional bluesy cock-rockers. John Paul Jones has more talent than Plant and Page put together. The guy is a very well rounded musician, and he finally got to prove it on In Through The Out Door. His ability to branch out into many different styles allowed the Bonham to finally show what he really had in his arsenal...unfortunately, the great Bonzo was not given the chance to grow as a drummer such as he was destined to if he only had straightened up and got his personal shit together.
John Paul Jones was the strongest link in Led Zepplin.

? I admit I'm curious about the justification here!

here's the toughie: Fleetwood Mac. You can't say Christine because the new album misses her presence. And though Lindsey's the most annoying element now, it's hard to call him the weakest. Stevie might be loopy but she's the best songwriter in the group now. And whose gonna rip on that rhythm section. I can't do it.

Depeche Mode: Andrew Fletcher (too easy perhaps)

Far too easy.

Yeah, I'm with Ned. The obvious answer is Peter Murphy!

Actually I can't choose any of them! This is one reason why I don't think I'll have any choices of my own here...

But John Doe had all of X's sex appeal! I see what you mean about Stipe and Yorke, especially Yorke, but at the same time I find that the best bits of Radiohead and REM - the rare moments when they don't piss me off - are entirely due to the vocals.

If you are referring to Darryl Jones, then you are sorely mistaken. He is the only true musician in the bunch and he is the glue that holds those relics together like they never had been held before.

I know you like Sting and all and therefore credit Jones's earlier work with the guy etc., but still, this is a ridiculous insult to Charlie Watts in particular.

roight, befoah Jones joined up we was howible!

wu tang - masta killa (u-god 2nd weakest)

I always assumed that SY spent two albums shaking off the influence of their older drummers (EVOL and Sister) and then embarked on a career of Shelley-compatible crap.

"I'm a poem say-er"

His early work with Sting does factor in, as well as his earlier work with Miles Davis and then later with the awesome singer/songwriter Joan Armatrading. But the real reason that he is not deserving of a "weakest link" is that he proved on Stripped and later on No Security that his presence has taken these dinosaurs of rock to levels of tightness that they never achieved in their "glory days".
And as capable as I have heard Charlie Watts sound with his Big Band, I can only say that he has sounded as ragged and under-rehearsed as the rest of the Stones on the many too many live performances I have heard from them. I just don't get how anybody can appreciate and subsequently praise such mediocrity.

Sure, Alex is a great drummer and all...but those high register backing vocals (the ones which actually make Van Halen sound like Van Halen) are all Anthony's doing.

EATB: ian mccullough

MBV: Deb Googe...

But would someone venture their 'pinions on who's the least reliable in
Piano Circus?
The King's Singers?

So wrong that it renders every opinion you've ever expressed, or ever will express MOOT!

Each are essential to the overaul sound. There aren't enough Beastie Boys for one to be a "weakest link". Kate Shellenbach (sp?) then.

Wwwwhhhhaaaaaaaatttt?!?!?!?

But Youth can play bass better than Paul Raven in his sleep!

[old Joke fans vs. new Joke fans - fite!]

Terry Chimes > Nick Sheppard, Vince White, Pete Howard....

[sorry Alex, I didn't mean to pick on you; I assume - like any good Clash fan - you've simply erased "Cut The Crap!" from your memory!]

WRONG WRONG! WRONG

You're right...I totally block Cut the Crap. You're completely corect.

OK, granted Raven > Youth V.2.0 ('94-); but gimme Youth V.1.0. ('78-'82) over Raven every time! "Hairy Hippy" he may be, but in his prime he could smoke enough dope to tranquilise a small herd of elephants, stagger on stage, and still blow leave most of his contemporaries waaaaay behind!

(I mean.... just look at his solo stuff - he must have been the weakest link, mustn't he?!)

Sham 69 - Jimmy Pursey

For Guided by Voices I have to say Nate Farley. Their shows have steadily declined since he joined the band and they went from a cooler full of beer to a cooler full of beer + a fifth of Jack.

Tough Call:
Yo La Tengo - Georgia (eh - it's a toss-up.. There's absolutely no deadwood in that band.)
Pere Ubu - The EML guy. Couldn't do without him/them, but Ravenstein/Feldman/Wheeler - didn't notice much difference when they changed.
Minutemen - Reluctantly, Hurley - who's totally unrecognized as a drummerfucker..Just a notch below Keith Moon.

Japan:  Rob Dean
Yes, another cheap shot, mainly because he left the band years before the band disbanded and because he didn't participate in the Rain Tree Crow "reunion", nor is he a prime player in any big post-Japan projects. (Witness David Sylvian's solo career and the whole JBK/Medium Productions series of projects.) I do really like him, though, and certainly think he was an integral member of the band.

Hm. That's it, I think.

nuh-uh. it's Colm, definitely

there is no weak link in the "classic" fleetwood mac lineup, but if someone had to go it would be Christine

"Obviously you never heard of his next band, Tank."

Oh yes I did - obviously you never met the little aresehole!

hahhahahahahaha. I would've said the construction worker, myself.

can't believe they're bringing this fucking show back