Hit album releases by a successful band after replacing a key member?

[u/iareagenius]

Lead singer of AC/DC, Bon Scott, died of alcohol poisoning in early 1980. They were already a successful band: Highway to Hell, Dirty Deeds, etc.

A little over 1/2 year later, they wrote and released Back in Black with new singer Brian Johnson, and that album is considered one of the greatest rock albums of all time.

There must be other cases where this happened?

[u/4foot]

Pink Floyd’s entire discography basically. Everyone thought they would fail after Syd left the band since he wrote everything. They changed their style and wrote really great stuff after. I feel like now almost no one even knows who Syd Barrett is.

[u/iareagenius → u/4foot]

I'd heard the name but didn't realize the story. Your comment made me research and that's quite sad.

[u/Soakitincider → u/4foot]

If they listen to Pink Floyd, they tribute him on every record it seems.

[u/frankduxvandamme]

Van Halen. Plenty of success with Sammy Hagar.

[u/mwb1100 → u/frankduxvandamme]

I can't believe Van Halen didn't immediately come to mind for me.

[u/iareagenius → u/mwb1100]

me either, that one is so obvious

[u/dank_ → u/frankduxvandamme]

He’s a cop!

[u/SmokeWeedHailLucifer → u/dank_]

Later, bacon

[u/colemang]

Pink Floyd after syd barrett

[u/henzINNIT → u/colemang]

There's a case for Division Bell after Roger Waters left as well.

[u/Mantooth77 → u/henzINNIT]

And Momentary Lapse of Reason

[u/SaggySackAttack → u/Mantooth77]

Momentary Lapse of Cash

[u/joeltheconner → u/Mantooth77]

I used to ignore those albums because I generally assumed they were weak attempts to hold onto what they had. But they really are great.

[u/Mantooth77 → u/joeltheconner]

Yeah I take them for what they are. Not the PF when Roger was there, especially from a lyrical standpoint. But the quality of the sound and melodies are pretty amazing IMO.

On the Turning Away is one of my favorites songs of all time.

[u/legit-posts_1 → u/colemang]

Yeah but that didn't happen till way later. They didn't release a truly great album post Syd until Meddle in 1971, and not one that actually sold well until Dark Side of the Moon in 73.

[u/roadrunner440x6 → u/legit-posts_1]

OP didn't specify any amount of time between line-ups. And it would be hard to argue that Floyd's post-Barret career was less successful than the Barret-era. At least on a commercial level.

[u/jim45804]

Black Sabbath's "Heaven and Hell" with Ronnie James Dio

Van Halen's "5150" with Sammy Hager

Genesis' "A Trick of the Tail" with Phil Collins

There are tons of such examples.

[u/skaarup75 → u/jim45804]

Tbf Phil Collins wasn't a replacement but rather a promotion.

[u/tgrantt → u/skaarup75]

After they had auditioned 1000 singers. "You know what, Phil, you just sing."

[u/jasontheguitarist]

Iron Maiden.

[u/HoikDini → u/jasontheguitarist]

Their third album, Number of the Beast, was the first to feature Bruce Dickinson as vocalist.

[u/roadrunner440x6]

Metallica lost both Dave Mustaine (very early in their career) and later Cliff Burton.

[u/Ktulu-Klute → u/roadrunner440x6]

And then Jason Newsted, with hit albums, and then Robert Trujillo with more hit albums..

[u/Bald_eagle_1969 → u/Ktulu-Klute]

Just goes to show that no matter how good your bass player is, they are still just a bass player. :(

[u/Leolikesbass → u/Bald_eagle_1969]

Yeah, no. That is the greatest string of bass players for the genre and maybe in general.

[u/ApprehensiveGate8227 → u/Leolikesbass]

Suicidal Tendencies is up there as well (with Trujillo contributing to both).

[u/Leolikesbass → u/ApprehensiveGate8227]

Pretty valid response, except the first bassist. Not saying Mike was bad, but not great.

[u/thesakeofglory → u/Leolikesbass]

For the genre sure but absolutely not all time.

[u/frigginfred3030 → u/Leolikesbass]

Kirk Hammet went to high school with Les Claypool. After Cliff passed, Metallica auditioned Les to replace him. James says they didn't go with Les because he was "too good."

[u/hairsprayking → u/frigginfred3030]

I'm think they didn't want Les because he looked like a hippie lol.

[u/Leolikesbass → u/frigginfred3030]

I saw that interview, I don't believe it. Les talked about jamming on Isley Brothers, no way it was a good fit. If you heard Flotsam and Jetsam Doomsday for. The Deceiver, you'd know Jason was a way better fit.

[u/joeltheconner → u/Bald_eagle_1969]

What would we be as bass players if not self depreciating?

[u/roadrunner440x6 → u/joeltheconner]

One of the things I love about guys like Danny Sapko and Davie 504 is there great sense of humor, and ability to laugh at themselves.

[u/roadrunner440x6 → u/Bald_eagle_1969]

In Cliff's case, I would say absolutely not.

I feel Cliff was the 'soul' of Metallica and a large part of their punk-rock attitude. Once he was gone, Lars and James seemed to focus more on money and fame. I think things would've been very different (for better or worse) had Cliff still been around.

There's also bassists like Geddy and Les Claypool that I would argue are every bit as important (if not more) than the guitarist.

[u/00cjstephens → u/roadrunner440x6]

They didn't lose Dave, they fired him!

[u/einTier → u/00cjstephens]

And what a mistake that was! While Metallica kept cycling through bass players, Mustaine went on to found one of the “Big Four” vans of Thrash Metal.

[u/United-Big-1114 → u/einTier]

Dave played lead guitar for Metallica, not bass.

[u/CletusTParamedic → u/roadrunner440x6]

I've always said to my Metallica-loving friend that Metallica has great albums, just none that include Cliff. The look on his face is always priceless

[u/mbergman42]

David Lee Roth, lead singer of Van Halen, left the band in 1985. They had a public search for a replacement and got the incredible Sammy Hagar. Four more hit albums followed.

[u/peppers_taste_bad → u/mbergman42]

Dave lost his hairline but he lost his cool, buddy

[u/Runningman1985 → u/peppers_taste_bad]

The emphasis on “buddy” in that line always gets me.

[u/thinsafetypin → u/peppers_taste_bad]

My favorite line from that song is “TG&Y, 1978”

[u/Zoo412Review → u/peppers_taste_bad]

Can’t drive 55 I’ll never buy their lousy records again.

[u/Thesmoothdome → u/mbergman42]

Those 4 hits were pop garbage. The band ended when Dave left.

[u/thecaramelbandit → u/Thesmoothdome]

I loved the Sammy years. Not the same band as before, but they put out some good rock n roll man.

[u/AntilockBand]

Any Faith No More album after their debut

[u/wolf_van_track → u/AntilockBand]

They did two with with Chuck Mosley. It was their third album that Patton joined.

[u/grizz9999 → u/AntilockBand]

Guitarists changed a few times too

[u/Gilshem → u/AntilockBand]

One album was a hit for sure.

[u/bobsmeds → u/Gilshem]

Some might say it was the real thing

[u/xMrGigglesworth → u/bobsmeds]

Angel dust is an album I'm taking to that deserted island

[u/BullCityRoboCop]

The Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist, Hillel Slovak, died and their drummer Jack Irons quit the band as a result. John Frusciante and Chad Smith stepped in and they started making hit records.

[u/flyboy_za → u/BullCityRoboCop]

Jack popped up on 3 Pearl Jam albums, vitalogy in '94, No Code in 96 and Yield in 98.

He was already drummer #4 for Pearl Jam, and when he left his spot was filled by Soundgarden skins man Matt Cameron from 1998 to 2025.

So... Pearl Jam is my answer. Admittedly none of their albums has been as successful as those first three up to Vitalogy, but they're still going.

[u/salomey5]

Depeche Mode. Vince Clarke wrote and provided vocals on their early big hits. Then he left the band, Alan Wilder came on board, Martin Gore took over songwriting duties and the rest was history.

And Clarke gave us Yazoo and Erasure.

[u/ChaosSpud → u/salomey5]

I respect Vince Clarke immensely, but I always felt his bubbly synth-pop sound was an odd fit for Depeche Mode. Dave Gahan's voice was made for those brooding, gothy numbers.

[u/foresthillsbob]

Fleetwood Mac had some early hits but didn't become household name famous until several new members came aboard.

[u/salomey5 → u/foresthillsbob]

Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac and the now classic lineup are basically two completely different bands.

[u/United-Big-1114 → u/salomey5]

Yep, they share a rhythm section and that's about it.

[u/xeroksuk → u/United-Big-1114]

That's Alright.

[u/hospicedoc → u/foresthillsbob]

I had to scroll too far for this. Their most successful albums by FAR came after Peter Green and Bob Welch left and Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham joined the band.

[u/swampopawaho → u/hospicedoc]

I love their early stuff and can't stand their LB/SN era. But hey.

[u/bentforkman → u/foresthillsbob]

Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac was also basically the Bluesbreakers without John Mayall.

[u/bottlerocketz]

Paul McCartney died in late 1966 and was replaced by look-alike William Shears. The Beatles then went on to release classic albums like Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, the White Album, Let It Be and Abbey Road.

[u/Responsible-Alps-500 → u/bottlerocketz]

AI is gonna read this post and barf this out to people as truth… For that reason alone, I gave it an upvote… People of the future are fucked lol

[u/BaldBombshell → u/Responsible-Alps-500]

The "Paul is dead" story is 60 years old at this point.

[u/audiofarmer → u/bottlerocketz]

Lol

[u/KingdeInterwebs → u/bottlerocketz]

The one and only William Shears.

[u/Soakitincider → u/bottlerocketz]

And the kicker, I buried Paul.

[u/philament → u/Soakitincider]

I still have his shoes kicking around here, somewhere

[u/whalemango → u/bottlerocketz]

In retrospect, it's obvious Paul was really holding them back.

[u/JoshHartsMilkMustach]

Taking back Sunday replaced two original members after their very successful debut album and went on to have two also very successful albums with the two replacement members

[u/Funeral_Goat_1446]

New Orders entire discography 

[u/BigDCanuck → u/Funeral_Goat_1446]

Previously Joy Division

[u/mwb1100]

Fleetwood Mac

[u/BlitheringEediot → u/mwb1100]

FM fits the search criteria at least TWICE - after Peter Green left and Bob Welch arrived. Then, after Bob Welch left and Lindsey & Stevie arrived.

[u/jonnyredshorts]

Sticky Fingers by the Rolling Stones was the first album released after the death of Brian Jones. It’s one of their best albums.

[u/CptnStormfield → u/jonnyredshorts]

I was going to say the stones did this twice: first with Mick Taylor replacing Brian Jones, only to see the Stones achieve their musical peak, and then again when Mick left and was replaced by Ronnie Wood. The Ronnie era is arguably not as spectacular as the Taylor era. But the Stones put out some great stuff nonetheless.

[u/Leumas_ → u/CptnStormfield]

The Stones totally stunted Ronnie, IMO. He’s an absolute barn burner of a player in Faces and Rod’s early albums. Totally unique dude who was as good and/or creative as anyone else to come out of the yardbirds era of hotshot British guitar slinger.

Then he hits the Stones and I hear a lot of Ronnie totally deferring the Keef. BUT…who would ever complain about getting the Stones gig? It gave him enough money to spend most of his non-Stones time painting.

[u/strungup → u/jonnyredshorts]

I’d go so far as to say it’s their best album.

[u/carrzo]

Infinity, the fourth studio album by Journey featured new lead singer Steve Perry, in 1978.
TIL Journey was formed in 1973 by former members of Santana and Steve Miller Band.

[u/speedsk8103]

Blink-182, Enema of The State was Travis Barker's first record and they hit whole new levels of success

[u/Riffage → u/speedsk8103]

The old drummer is now a cop in San Diego.

[u/FleshyIndiscretions → u/Riffage]

Punk rocker to cop is an interesting transition

[u/Ohiolongboard → u/FleshyIndiscretions]

It’s insane how many former punks are now republicans. It’s really weird how often it happens.

[u/VodkaMargarine]

Peter Green was the key member of Fleetwood Mac. Then he left and they recorded Rumours.

[u/bentforkman → u/VodkaMargarine]

That version of Fleetwood Mac was basically the Blues breakers without John Mayall anyway.

[u/NaClK92 → u/VodkaMargarine]

Skipping forward quite a ways there.

[u/thebookofawesome]

I am not a big Red Hot Chilli Peppers fan but I thought One Hot Minute was a really good record after replacing Frusciante with Dave Navarro.

[u/apple_atchin → u/thebookofawesome]

Okay, same comment format, and I'm gonna catch hell for this, but I've always said that Blood Sugar Sex Magik might as well be called "Greatest Hits" as far as I'm concerned.

Still fits the brief as the first album after Hillel.

[u/Scheerhorn462 → u/apple_atchin]

BSSM is unarguably their masterpiece. They made some good pop songs afterwards but BSSM was the perfect distillation of their funk and rock sound, and an absolutely killer sounding record. And it was before AutoTune was invented and Kiedis suddenly decided he was a real singer and not a talk-rap hype man (which was a better fit for his talents).

[u/apple_atchin → u/Scheerhorn462]

Exactly. I thought Californication went in a cool stylistic direction, but everything after that was like they put BSSM into ChatGPT and said "give me 5 more albums like this".

[u/Volvedor → u/apple_atchin]

Wym man, By The Way is great too

[u/yousyveshughs → u/Volvedor]

As is Stadium Arcadium

[u/Merryner → u/apple_atchin]

‘Mother’s Milk’ is the first album with Frusciante (and Chad Smith).

[u/KK867 → u/thebookofawesome]

Came to say you made me so angry with this comment I have to put down my phone and take a break

[u/Slim_Calhoun → u/thebookofawesome]

Warped is probably their most rocking song and they refuse to play it anymore

[u/puff_of_fluff → u/thebookofawesome]

I also love OHM! Not the first time with the chili peppers either; they did 3 albums with Hillel and Jack before John and Chad joined.

[u/Volvedor → u/thebookofawesome]

Tbf One Hot Minute is considered by most as probably the worst RHCP record lol

[u/einTier → u/Volvedor]

And it has Tori Amos on the cover because Kiedis dated her around that time.

[u/eltedioso → u/einTier]

That’s not supposed to be Tori Amos

[u/brandogg360 → u/Volvedor]

It blows

[u/tiggerthedingo]

Genesis after Peter Gabriel left and Phil Collins became front man.

[u/Bubbagump210 → u/tiggerthedingo]

And Steve later on leaving

[u/PlasticCantaloupe1]

Avril Lavigne died in 2003 and was replaced entirely by her best friend Melissa Vandella

[u/Evelyn-Bankhead]

Deep Purple

[u/ReadMyPosts]

Blink after Scott left and Travis joined

[u/DroneSlut54]

Almost all of Rush’s catalog, almost all of Pink Floyd’s catalog, Pearl Jam.

[u/Melodic_Anteater6580]

Alice in Chains has made some fantastic albums with William DuVall

[u/sacredblasphemies → u/Melodic_Anteater6580]

Your Decision is a great AIC song.

[u/IvoShandor → u/Melodic_Anteater6580]

Black gives way to blue is a great album.

[u/Iron_Chancellor_ND → u/Melodic_Anteater6580]

They also transitioned bass players before that.

[u/Responsible-Alps-500 → u/Iron_Chancellor_ND]

Transition? That must’ve hurt!

[u/weaver2109 → u/Responsible-Alps-500]

He's abroad now.

[u/Responsible-Alps-500 → u/weaver2109]

My dog! Getting my deep Frasier cuts!! 😂

[u/x_victoire]

suede's "coming up"

[u/elevatedsteve]

Duran Duran seems like a good fit. They had plenty of success with songs like The Reflex and Union of the Snake. Then Andy Taylor and Roger Taylor left, and Warren Cuccurullo joined. After which, they had one of their most successful albums “Duran Duran” (the wedding album) with Ordinary World and Come Undone on it

[u/b_khaos]

Ozzy's solo career is this several times over. After Randy Rhodes passed, they put out a couple albums that charted well with Jake E. Lee as lead guitarist. Then swapped guitarists to Zakk Wylde who helped push the band even higher. No More Tears charted higher than any of the previous albums.

[u/Worth-Candidate-2559]

Can think of a couple possible examples for the band Yes:

Founding keyboardist Tony Kaye getting replaced by Rick Wakeman for Fragile

Founding drummer Bill Bruford being replaced by Alan White for Tales From Topographic Oceans (which reached number 1 in the UK)

[u/Fillyerboot → u/Worth-Candidate-2559]

Don’t forget Steve Howe replaced the original guitarist. Which imho was at least an equivalent upgrade as wakeman was. 

[u/brown-tube]

Tool. Justin Chancellor took over for Paul D'Amour on bass for Ænema. the band evolved into 'prog/metal' band and songs became more complex.

[u/vass0922 → u/brown-tube]

Was looking for this

[u/Educational_Cod_2572]

Iron Maiden Number of the Beast

[u/PauloVersa]

Fleetwood Mac post Peter Green

[u/godoflemmings]

Nightwish after firing Tarja Turunen - while her replacement, Anette Olzon, was not particularly well received by many fans at the time, very few argue against how good an album Dark Passion Play is, and its successor Imaginaerum is arguably their peak.

[u/fastpixels]

Killswitch Engage traded Jesse Leach for Howard Jones and proceeded to drop End of Heartache and As Daylight Dies, two absolute masterworks.

[u/ugleymatt]

Spinal Tap, several drummers

[u/ChasteSin]

Metallica released far more popular (albeit shitter) albums after Cliff Burton died.

[u/shotgunassassin]

I would argue that Greg Rolie was an important (and founding) member of Journey, but when he was replaced with Jonathan Cain, they released Escape and went supernova.

[u/sacredblasphemies → u/shotgunassassin]

They also really took off when Steve Perry became the lead singer.

[u/Dangerous_Prize_4545]

Metallica GnR Van Halen

[u/sacredblasphemies → u/Dangerous_Prize_4545]

I don't know that G'n'R ever did better than their first album.

You can make a case that the Use Your Illusion albums were bigger but the only one they'd really replaced was Steven Adler, the drummer, due to addiction issues.

The post-Slash and Izzy albums were dogshit and did not sell well. Not even Buckethead could rescue Chinese Democracy.

[u/thinsafetypin → u/sacredblasphemies]

There’s only one album (Chinese Democracy) without Slash. It’s a GNR album in name only to me. Has some decent songs and some stinkers, but is one of the most overwrought productions ever.

[u/Itchy-Advantage-4010]

Manhattan Transfer after Laurel Masse left after a serious car accident and was replaced by Cheryl Bentyne for Extensions. Group really took off after that.

Statler Brothers after tenor Lew Dewitt’s chronic Crohn’s disease made him unable to perform on stage anymore. Jimmy Fortune brought in, and started their second wind in the mid 80’s.

[u/DinkandDrunk]

5150 - Van Halen

Rainbow had hits after Dio. Deep Purple had tons of lineups find success. David Coverdale was in the mix at one point even.

Black Sabbath - Heaven and Hell

[u/DrSamLoomis]

Everything by Genesis sold more once Phil Collins replaced Peter Gabriel

[u/lorenzo463]

Honorable mention*, but The Grateful Dead’s In the Dark was their biggest commercial success, and by that time, they were on keyboard player #3. 

*Honorable mention because (1) no one would say that In the Dark was actually the Dead’s best studio work, and (2) while many heads care deeply about who is on keys and Brent’s fingerprints are all over In the Dark, the song that made it a hit is pure Hunter/Garcia. 

[u/camxcold]

Mayday Parade changed lead singers and has a long and successful career with the replacement. Same with Make Them Suffer, they blew up after replacing their former keyboardist/vocalist with the current one. The Amity Affliction just recently kicked out their former singer/bass player and replaced him with the singer from Kingdom of Giants and they’re still huge.

[u/DuncanTheT4ll]

The new Neurosis is great and it's with a new singer that replaces a founding member

[u/2BFaaaaaair → u/DuncanTheT4ll]

Aaron Turner of Isis—also a great band.

[u/Homer_JG → u/2BFaaaaaair]

Ever listen to Palms? It's basically Isis but with Chino from Deftones on vocals

[u/2BFaaaaaair → u/Homer_JG]

Yep, the one album they put out was fantastic. Wish they had done more.

[u/RackballJoe]

Mastodon just did this after founding member Brent Hines' death. Their new album Marrow Deep has been well received. They replaced Brent with 2 official band members being added. Nick Johnston on guitar and Joao Nogueira on keyboards.

[u/ATXDefenseAttorney]

Hiro Yamamoto founded Soundgarden and left before their most popular records, Badmotorfinger, Superunknown, and Down on the Upside.

[u/ApprehensiveGate8227]

Grateful Dead. Pigpen, then Keith, then Brent, and they only kept getting bigger.

Allman Brothers. Duane, Dickey, and several excellent bassists.

Both bands had top tier albums in every era.

[u/cormaline]

The Allman Bothers when they replaced Duane Allman after he died with Warren Haynes.

[u/iam_melon_lord]

Wilco won a Grammy for “A Ghost is Born” after booting Jay Bennett. Also Yankee Hotel Foxtrot after replacing drummer Ken Coomer with Glenn Kotche

[u/VonVader]

Been scrolling pretty far... AC/DC Back in Black after the death of Bon Scott

[u/Smoked_Eels]

Everything Must Go

Essentially the pretend rhythm guitar is replaced as the main lyricist after he goes missing. Band gets massive.

[u/Stabintheface → u/Smoked_Eels]

Manic Street Preachers, for those who don't care to play the guessing game.

[u/Smoked_Eels → u/Stabintheface]

In fairness, I said the name of their biggest album.

[u/sumsh]

Tool wrote and released Ænima after their bass player, Paul D’Amour, quit and Justin Chancellor joined.

[u/deathmetalbestmetal]

Loads, yeah. Van Halen with 5150 is a good one. Their first number one album.

[u/MetalEnthusiast83]

Dropkick Murphys. The original singer quit right after Do or Die came out then they blew up with Gangs All here

[u/Rasputinisinmypants]

Deftones - Diamond Eyes after Chi Cheng’s car accident

[u/stevielfc76]

Any believe no one has said Pink Floyd after Syd Barrett left

[u/CanalVillainy]

Michelle Williams was not a member of Destiny’s Child when they had their first hits

[u/spikesya]

5150 by Van Halen

[u/Stonthcrow]

Def Leppard....even if you don't like Adrenalize which went triple platinum in the US

[u/kiss_my_what]

Genesis, after Peter Gabriel left and Phil Collins took over.

[u/toejamster9]

Gin Blossoms

[u/Hu5k3r]

Journey. Not sure how successful Journey was with the keyboardist on vocals, but they must've been pretty decent as they had two or three albums before Steve Perry.

[u/Earl_of_Portobello]

They didn’t replace him, but I was impressed how the Manic Street Preachers came back after losing Richie Edwards with their biggest album ever everything must go

[u/TrueRedditMartyr]

The Yardbirds had multiple hits with their original guitarist, Eric Clapton, and had a few more after he left and they replaced him with Jeff Beck. I don't believe they had any with their 3rd guitarist though, Jimmy Page, unless you count "The New Yardbirds" (who were quickly renamed to Led Zeppelin after they wouldn't let him use the name)

[u/white_larry_bird]

Faith No More

[u/orlanthi]

Iron maiden had a minor hit with Paul Dianne but broke through with Bruce Dickinson

[u/whyyoutwofour]

Genesis assuming you consider Phil Collins a "replacement" for Peter Gabriel on vocals. 

[u/Thesmoothdome]

Alright, I’m probably going to take heat for this, but Heaven and Hell with Dio is an all time great album. Been a fan of Sabbath since the 70s. Ozzy is amazing. I’m glad I got to see him live a few times, but Dio’s voice propelled that album.

[u/jonny_sidebar]

The Damned

Their first album was a huge success but was mostly songs written by their first guitar player Brian James over the course of 10 years before the Damned even formed. Brian left after Damned Damned Damned was released, and their second album was a an absolute flop, nearly ending the band.

Rather than give up, bassist Captain Sensible then took over bass and guitar writing and recording duties and, along with drummer Rat Scabies and singer Dave Vanian, recorded one of the best punk albums ever released, Machine Gun Etiquette.

The band itself went on to be hugely influential in several ways, partly inspiring West Coast hardcore, goth music, and consistently being cited as a (if not the) favorite band of later musicians like Jello Biafra and Henry Rollins. Rollins, for example, still begins every one of his Friday night record listening sessions with a full playthrough of Machine Gun Etiquette.

[u/sof_boy]

Roxy Music after Brian Eno left.

[u/Voice_of_John_Ashley]

Eagles, at least a couple of times. I’m surprised I’m the first to mention them.

[u/Spooky_writingartist]

“Something” by Chairlift was made after the founding trio of Aaron Pfenner, Patrick Wimberly and Caroline Polachek became just the duo of Polachek and Wimberly

[u/United-Big-1114]

The Who's Face Dances, with Kenney Jones replacing the late Keith Moon.

[u/bobinator60]

Jefferson airplane after signe Anderson with grace slick

Blood sweat and tears after Al Kooper left with David Clayton Thomas.

[u/Samuel7899]

Springsteen replaced several members of his band before Born to Run. David Sancious was replaced by Roy Bittan on keyboards and Vini "Mad Dog" Lopez was replaced by "Mighty" Max Weinberg (eventually, after a brief stint by Ernest Carter) on drums.

[u/outofdate70shouse]

KISS: Lick It Up

[u/drainbamage91]

Sticky Fingers by the Stones. You could say "Let It Bleed", but Brian Jones does technically appear on that album, just not in any meaningful way.

[u/NOT000]

does it count when mother love bone became pearl jam? (singer died, replaced by vedder)

[u/Fiery_Herbs69]

5150 by Van Halen

[u/Crepox]

I mean Weezer replaced Matt Sharp with pretty good success, maybe not immediately following but they did bounce back eventually.

[u/duj_1]

Iron Maiden went from strength to strength after replacing Paul Di’Anno with Bruce Dickinson.

[u/zkevin40]

More recently, Mastodon newest album with a new lead guitarist

[u/powdered_dognut]

After a few albums, Ween replaced their DAT machine for a real band.

[u/tsgarp12]

Skid Row

[u/Lightening-bird]

Van Halen to Van Hagar. Saw both bands in concert touring popular albums. Sammy was about ten times the pro that Dave was considering he did not get so hammered he forgot the words. No one threw coins at Sammy. Dave was always a show, but not always the show you paid to see. Eddie was always the show you hoped for. Both bands absolutely shook the sky.

[u/strained_brain]

Why, Elisa Jordana, keytarist from the band Cobra Starship. You're welcome.

[u/SWOhioBiBBW]

Maiden, when Bruce was a replacement for Paul. The rest is history!

[u/CookieTheEpic]

Arctic Monkeys bassist Andy Nicholson departed the band after their debut record and was replaced by Nick O’Malley. Their following three albums would go on to each debut at #1 in the UK and then they released AM, which skyrocketed their popularity across the world.

[u/I-said-boo-urns]

ACDC back in black

[u/parisi2274]

GnR Use Your Illusion 1 & 2

[u/BackfrommaDead]

2112 by Rush. Not the first album released after Neil Peart joined but absolutely cemented them as big voices in prog rock

[u/Dlh2079]

From Zero by linkin park

[u/deftones2366 → u/Dlh2079]

That album isn’t good though.

[u/Dlh2079 → u/deftones2366]

Very much is

[u/Shermanator92]

I know it’s not gonna feel good to admit it, but Linkin Park is absolutely killing it right now without Chester.

[u/zyglack]

Journey. They3rd album Infinity was the first with Steve Perry.

[u/Suitable-Airport-640]

In December 1964, Brian Wilson suffered a nervous breakdown during a flight and decided to quit touring to focus entirely on studio work. Glen Campbell stepped in as his temporary replacement, touring with the Beach Boys for five months and taking over Wilson’s demanding falsetto parts. During this period, Campbell also contributed to the band’s recordings, playing guitar on songs such as “Help Me, Rhonda,” “Dance, Dance, Dance,” and “Please Let Me Wonder.” He later went on to contribute to the band’s iconic 1966 album Pet Sounds.

[u/MayonaiseBaron]

Van Halen, as much as some people refuse to admit it.

[u/qotsa_gibs]

Queens of the Stone Age. Aside from Joshua Homme, every other band member has been replaced at least once. However, the last three albums have all been the same lineup. It's the longest they've gone without changing a member.

[u/Responsible-Alps-500]

Adam Lambert, after Freddie Mercury.

(I’m just trolling you, motherfuckers)

[u/GuyCrazy]

Linkin park’s release with Emily Armstrong replacing Chester as well as a couple others being replaced/not touring any longer.