current Opeth is heavier Porcupine Tree

early Opeth was prog-black metal

so the same reasoning applies

I'd say when it's down to one original member alongside a group of hired hands ca$hing in on the name. That's simply DISGRACEFUL ( :nono:...:rolleyes:), no matter how "important" that person is to a band's history.

The Velvet Underground
 

I like to believe The Velvet Underground wasn't VU after John Cale left (though I do enjoy their discography up to "Loaded.") However, they remained the title until "Squeeze" (1972) WHICH HAS NO ORIGINAL MEMBERS

Yes is currently touring without Jon Anderson and Chris Squire (RIP).

http://i.imgur.com/Rd8xu.gif

This is my reaction to the thought of going to a Yes show as well.

Yes have often been without Jon Anderson over the years and as long as Steve Howe is in the band they'll always feel like Yes.

Hallo Unknown Soldier - nice to catch up with you again!

I was curious about your remark; are you talking about touring because surely Jon Anderson is on all the major Yes albums?

When I listened to the Doors´Other Voices , with no Jim Morrison , I thought, "This isn't doing much for me; I´m just listening for old time´s sake" and I suspect my reaction to Yes without JA would be the same because his voice was such a key element of their sound.

Hi,

Yes I'm referring to touring as they've done a number of tours without him over the years.

Those Doors albums without Jim are pretty poor albums.

^ Yes, considering how great their combined playing can be on those classic albums, a lot of Manzarek´s and Krieger´s later/solo material is pretty run-of-the-mill.

On the thread topic: I read once that Soft Machine have a good claim to Most LineUp Changes Ever for a band; something like 13 different line ups, during which time all the original members were replaced. So in a way they come close to being what Roger Waters accused later Pink Floyd of being - a franchise.
For some reason, that doesn´t worry me much though. Perhaps because SM is not built around some dominant vocalist and has not been prey to such ego squabbles as Floyd. These days, I think of Soft Machine the way I think of that guitar consortium, G3; a shifting bunch of musicians who come with some guarantees about quality and style. Sorry, Roger, but a franchise is not always bad.

Embryo and Savoy Brown have Soft Machine beat by a mile when it comes to lineup changes. In Embryo's case, they claim to have had 400+ different members since the band's founding in 1969! :yikes:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savoy_Brown

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embryo_%28band%29