Let's be positive, shall we?
Got to say, the stuff Slash has done with Myles Kennedy has been rather excellent.
The Chris Cornell Bond theme was also good.
Also, Peter Gabriel. I do like a bit of early Genesis, and his solo work always piqued my interest.
Ian Brown
Morrissey
Robert Plant
Nick Cave
Peter Tosh
Brian Eno. What? Too obvious?
Peter Gabriel is completely unsurprising as he was the genius behind Genesis who just became a dull pop group after he left.
Björk, Paul Simon, Wacko Jacko
Crikey,
Richard Thompson for the win.
Or, Jack Bruce
Robin Williamson
Richard Thompson for the win.
+1
Zappa.
Eno and Lou Reed for me.
Slash with Myles Kennedy excellent but not solo? Maybe I misinterpreted the title?
Go along with it though. Slash with Velvet Revolver, seen live many times, excellent as always.
I would put up Noel Gallagher as a solo performer. Have an acoustic bootleg and it is tremendous.
Chris Cornell with Audioslave, simply awesome. 'I am the Highway' played every time I pick up the acoustic.
Robbie Williams.
Zappa.
Well yes but Zappa WAS every band he was in. Or are you talking about his classical compositions?
Thom Yorke?
Fat Boy Slim.
Agree with most of the above but:
Paul Weller. And more than once.
Lionel Richie
er, aren't we forgetting a certain John Lennon?
McCartney also (if we consider 'Wings' as largely his project)
Ah Wings, the band The Beatles could have been.
Van Morrison, formerly of Them.
Sandy Denny
Bert Jansch
The beatles experimented with drugs till the found the exact quantities that made them think their wives were talented
stolen from Frankie Boyle
Gerry Rafferty.
😯Robert Plant
I doubt he thinks that tbh
Guilty pleasure. Gwen Stefani (that won't be the right spelling).
Van Morrison +1
This guy, epic band member, solo God.
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Bob Mould. End of.
John Lydon with PIL after shedding the Pistols.
Van Morrison +1
😯 Thought I'd been on my own with that, he's definitely an acquired taste!
er, aren't we forgetting a certain John Lennon?
Sorry, but no matter how much I want to like Lennon's work, I find him boring and rather self indulgent.
I have most of the Beatles recordings, but nothing of Lennon's, a couple of McCartney's, nothing of Harrison's, but most of an albums worth of Ringos stuff, he just writes great pop songs, without trying to stick some message into them.
Aimee Mann has done some superb stuff since she left 'Til Tuesday, one album led directly to a major movie while she was writing and recording it, the film producer involved being a friend of hers. The album - Bachelor No2, the film - Magnolia.
Eddi Reader has also recorded a load of beautiful albums since leaving Fairground Attraction, not a duff one among them.
Gary Moore
Gary Moore
+1
Simple. He was in the Stooges.
Neil Finn - Split Enz were not bad, Crowded House awesome and some of his solo stuff afterwards was still pretty good
Miles Davis was way better after leaving Charlie Parkers group 😉
Gary Moore
Good call.
Another Irishman for the win though - Rory Gallagher.
Ben Folds another one
Ian Brown
Richard Ashcroft
Paul Wellar
Honorary mention to Noel Gallagher
Define [i]BEST[/i] in strictly musical terms.
Rory Gallagher.
+1
oh and this will probably be mildly controversial but The Raconteurs were better than The White Stripes
and although they are going off the boil now, Dave Grohl has done pretty well over the course of a career, first Nirvana, then Foo Fighters did a fair few albums that were damn fine and QotSA and Them Crooked Vultures and all the other bits and pieces
[i]oh and this will probably be mildly controversial but The Raconteurs were better than The White Stripes[/i]
Bloody hilarious, not controversial 😆
Roger waters
Goo Fighters last album was one of their best. Hardly solo though is he, and solo is the question the OP posed. Not to nit-pick but jeez
Neil Young.
Mala
Mark Lanegan formerly of Screaming Trees. Van Morrison. Chris Cornell's last album. Some of Mike Patton's stuff. Brant Bjork from Kyuss and Fu Manchu. Glen Hansard from the Frames.
Frank Black
Dallas Green
Annie Lennox
Damon Albarn.
Ozzy Osbourne
Think that fits the initial brief of this thread
Michael Jackson.
The Chris Cornell Bond theme was also good.
As I have blocked that particular song from my memory, I imagine we'll have to agree to disagree. 😉
(Have to confess, never really rated Cornell as a vocalist. Soundgarden remains his best project in my eyes)
Bob Mould. End of.
Controversial, but not necessarily wrong.
Justin Timberlake. Ah - hang on - you said 'musician' didn't you. So, in that case - Brian Harvey.
Goo Fighters last album was one of their best. Hardly solo though is he, and solo is the question the OP posed. Not to nit-pick but jeez
Except the first FF album was pretty much Grohl on his own playing all the instruments. He formed a band around it to tour the record.
OK - since then you can't say it's just him, but I imagine he's the driving force behind most of the songs (good or bad).
3 classic albums with his band. 21 solo albums. Numerous classics. Far more influential than any of the others mentioned in this thread. Released a great album in his late 60s, this year.
You can go on listing minions, but there is only one answer 8)
Tom Petty?
Yawn! 🙂
I've already mentioned him - Brian Harvey.
🙄
He does look bloody awful for nearly 70 though.
He does look bloody awful for nearly 70 though
You'd look bloody awful if you'd driven your car over your own head.
j dilla - was damn good with slum village - better solo
John Lennon?
Mel C
Justin Hawkins?
Oh, hang on..
Wrong thread.
I'm not sure you'd call 10,000 Maniacs a great band, but my vote goes to Natalie Merchant.
I think you're one of 10 people to have heard her solo stuff Watty. 8 of the others being journalists 😉
You'd look bloody awful if you'd driven your car over your own head.
😆 Fair point!
Frank Turner? Although I do like Million Dead too, TBF.
I give up. Bunch a doughnuts.
I give up. Bunch a doughnuts.
😆
It's obvious you mean Tom Jones. Or maybe Eric Clapton.
This has become a 'name a band member who's done some solo stuff' thread.
Bill Callahan, for what I think the OP was asking. (Slash, seriously?)
Clapton? Although I'd persoanlly classify as equally good rather than better.
[i]This has become a 'name a band member who's done some solo stuff' thread.[/i]
Indeed. Or "who became part of another average group"
Agree on Thom Yorke, quite like Radiohead, but The Eraser is a great album.
Frank Turner is a good shout too, great solo, and Million Dead were great too.
Bit left field, but Skrillex is decent too, as were From First To Last - if you like that kind of thing. Complete change of direction too. Bit like Frank Turner.
Thom Yorke again here.
Van Morrison ?
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I'll go with Frank Turner too, especially with his solo stuff being so different to Million Dead. (and his solo version of Smiling at Strangers on Trains is soooo fine) He's a whiny cockbag but he does good stuff.
I'd say David Byrne deserves a mention , loved his stuff with talking heads but the range of what he has done since is spectacular
Agree on Byrne deserving a mention . I worship the ground he walks on when it comes to talking heads .. but I don't think he made better stuff solo
Been listening to Zack de la Rocha's post RATM stuff. It's understandably angry and - erm - interesting, but arguably not as good (and certainly not as ground-breaking) as RATM.
Not good if you have a headache either.
Jack White
Richard Hawley