All lists like this are purely subjective. Even then, it’s difficult to choose and almost discriminate against fine musicians. But I’m not just choosing the individuals, I’m trying to find a balance for the band. So some of the choices are made on that basis, not because the individual is better than the other candidates, but because I believe him to be better for this band.
The candidates are as follows:-
Vocalist
1) Peter Gabriel (Genesis; Solo) Positives: Charismatic; Writer; Intense; good sound. Negatives: A good actor rather than singer, limited range.
2) David Coverdale (Deep Purple; Whitesnake) Positives: Powerful; melodic; good sound. Negatives: Lacks some depth of expression; can be superficial and unaware of colour.
3) Paul Rogers (Free; Bad Company; Queen) Positives: Great blues singer; good musical understanding. Negatives: Rather limited in focus and range of expression; poor writer.
4) Freddie Mercury (Queen) Positives: Charismatic; Powerful; Melodic; Writer; excellent voice; brilliant crowd control. Negatives: Inclined to camp and overstatement; too smooth; too fascinated by styles of the past to write well.
My Choice: Peter Gabriel. Although relatively-poor as a singer next to the others, his sense of drama and colour and mood would, in my opinion, give a sharper focus, direction, and would be an excellent spokesman for the music the band tried to portray.
Guitarist
1) Robert Fripp (King Crimson) Positives: Outstanding musician; intricate and intelligent; musically very articulate. Negatives: Inclined towards the esoteric; shunning powerplay; a danger of disappearing up his own passages.
2) Brian May (Queen) Positives: Virtuoso technique; brilliant use of tone and sound; lovely construction of segments. Negatives: Inclined towards set play rather than improvisation; rather formulaic in approach.
3) Lindsey Buckingham (Fleetwood Mac)Positives: Capable of almost any style and technique; writer; vocalist. Negatives: Inclined to want to do things his way without band input. An eccentricity that seeks the superficial at times; an obstinacy that can bring negative input to the band.
4) Steve Howe (Yes) Positives: Excellent technique; complete command of the instrument; virtuoso passages of play. Negatives: A detachment from the music at times; a tendency to play for complexity rather than feeling; an alarming unawareness at times.
My Choice: Lindsey Buckingham. His all-round ability and technical excellence swung my vote ahead of the others, who are all marvellous in their sphere. But Lindsey would, to me, provide a springboard for almost anything the band cared to do.
Bassist
1) Greg Lake (King Crimson; ELP) Positives: A solid band force; Writer; vocalist. Negatives: Superficiality; disinterest in anything but his own contribution.
2) Jack Bruce (Cream) Positives: The greatest modern-era bass player; confident, solid; Writer; vocalist. Negatives: A rather sloppy sound at times, unchanging, one kind of approach.
3) John McVie (Fleetwood Mac)Positives: The most melodic and inventive of players; thoughtful, tuneful. Negatives: Not the greatest technician by any means.
4) Chris Squires (Yes) Positives: A solid force and grounding; plays like a lead guitar. Negatives: Plays like a lead guitar; not always sympathetic to the needs of the band; the treble sound he uses, though individual, can sometimes fail to give enough bottom to the band.
My Choice: John McVie. Though perhaps the weakest of the four technically, John has a range of melodic structures that are compositions in themselves, and this would bring something different to the table, especially suited to this band.
Drummer
1) Carl Palmer (ELP) Positives: Powerful; the full range of technique; showman. Negatives: Some mid-range playing missing; something of an exhibition drum clinic drummer; would he notice if the rest of the band left the stage?
2) Michael Giles (King Crimson)Positives: Cunning; expressive; subtle; dynamic. Negatives: Not a powerhouse; a particular kind of drummer.
3) Roger Taylor (Queen) Positives: Solid and dependable; Writer; musical; extremely capable. Negatives: Perhaps not always inventive enough; lacks blues; leans towards pop before prog.
4) Bill Bruford (Yes) Positives: Has the full range of technique and capability; unusually subtle for a powerful drummer. Negatives: Guilty of detachment from the music; at times a pure drum clinic drummer, part of the drummer’s union rather than the musician’s.
My Choice: Roger Taylor. Roger’s all round capability and reliability decided this vote. It was a close call for me between Roger and Michael Giles. Michael only lost out because he was almost too suited to the melodic and dramatic feel given by Peter and John. I felt that adding Michael would have made the band too one-dimensional, whereas Roger can give those melodies and colour some certainty.
Keyboardist
1) Rick Wright (Pink Floyd) Positives: A remarkable pedigree and range of sounds; a good band player. Negatives: Not a virtuoso or even first division in technique.
2) Keith Emerson (The Nice; ELP) Positives: First-class technique; greatest showman; interested and very capable in new sounds. Negatives: Inclined to bombast and jamming; better at set pieces than improvisation.
3) Billy Ritchie (Clouds) Positives: The most dynamic; carries a band on his own; Writer; vocalist. Negatives: somewhat power mad ,inclined to try and be the band; not a great soloist; not at all adapted to synths or adept at using them.
4) Rick Wakeman (Yes) Positives: The best technique of any famous modern player; the best range of sounds and alternative keyboards. Negatives: Inclined to use the band as a doodling pad; uses one hand rather too often.
My Choice: Rick Wakeman. No real agonies here at all. It has to be Rick because of his authority over many keyboards and sounds, allied to his virtuoso technique. We don’t need a showman like Emerson (who would be second choice, also an excellent technician) or a one-man-band like Ritchie (with a sound and power that would knock walls down – we’re planning to be more subtle and interesting than that). We don’t need Rick (Wright) to supply the colour on his own either. Hopefully the band as a whole will do that.
Other
1) Ian McDonald – Sax/flute/vibraphone/keyboards/guitar (King Crimson) No other comparative choices available; Ian adds a special extra texture.
THE BAND
PETER GABRIEL (vocals)
LINDSEY BUCKINGHAM (guitar)
JOHN McVIE (bass)
ROGER TAYLOR (drums)
RICK WAKEMAN (keyboards)
IAN McDONALD (sax/flute/vibraphone/keyboards/guitar)
X (the missing 7th member)
I’ll leave you to guess what kind of music this band would produce (while I think about it myself!).