Which new member had the bigger impact on the band they joined ?

[JinglesTheChristmasMouse]

Ronnie James Dio on Black Sabbath’s Heaven And Hell ?

Vinnie Vincent on KISS’ Lick It Up ?

[GoodJudge]

If you mean an already successful band replacing someone, Bruce in Maiden is hard to top in the metal world. If you mean pre-fame / pre-recordings there are probably hundreds of 'newcomers' who changed the band they joined - Cliff replacing Ron in Metallica is the first one that springs to mind.

[Love_Industry]

Neil Peart in Rush.

[kytepunches]

If i had to choose someone that had the biggest musical change to a band. I would have to go with Mick Taylor joining the Rolling Stones. They instantly became 1000x better players and writers.

[VinnieVincentsVag]

Rob Halford replacing Al Adkins in Priest

[HueyRamone]

Blayze in Iron Maiden.

Big, big impact. The wrong way, though!

[DangerZone]

To answer the question - probably Vinnie.

To go from unmasked/elder to creatures/lick it up was a bigger stylistic jump than Ozzy Sab to dio sab

[LAglamrocker]

Was anyone aware LA Guns even toured before Ace Von Johnson joined?

[Ziggy Sawdust]

Blayze in Iron Maiden.

Big, big impact. The wrong way, though!

Same deal with Janick Gers, he made them sound like an amateur bar level band.

[dmbrocker]

Neil Peart in Rush.

This is the correct answer.

/thread

[Bono Nettencourt]

If i had to choose someone that had the biggest musical change to a band. I would have to go with Mick Taylor joining the Rolling Stones. They instantly became 1000x better players and writers.

And then Woody put them right back where they were before, if not further behind.

[superglide88]

Onions in Stonebreed

[Psychobolia.com]

Varg Vikernes (Mayhem)

[Playboyliquor59]

Travis barker and Blink

[VanDokken]

Neil Peart in Rush.

This is the correct answer.

/thread

this is the correct reply to the correct answer
/thread thread

[Mister Freeze]

Eddie Vedder joining Mother Love Bone.

[JackieDaytona]

Are you all forgetting Stevie Rachelle replacing Jim Gillette in Tuff!?

[CrankerBait]

Neil Peart in Rush.

This is the correct answer.

/thread

this is the correct reply to the correct answer
/thread thread

That's probably the best answer. Here's a few more contenders: Bruce Dickinson joining Iron Maiden, David Gilmour joining Pink Floyd, Mick Taylor joining the Stones, and Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks joining Fleetwood Mac.

[ParaDime77]

I’ll die on the hill Rob Caggiano made Annthrax way better when he was a member of the band.

[aznsquirt]

Varg Vikernes (Mayhem)

In literal terms it's pretty hard to beat this answer, ahahah.

[Wild Obsession]

Was anyone aware LA Guns even toured before Ace Von Johnson joined?

I didn't know Ace's backing band even had a name?

[Turner Coates]

Rod Stewart in the Small Faces.

[Traxan]

Does Neil.Peart count?

In terms of metal, I would have to say that Tim Calvert made a huge impact on his bands. He joined Forbidden Evil, they dropped the Evil from their name and released "Twisted Into Form," a massive improvement over their debut album all attributable to him. He brought some serious musicianship and compositional skills to the band and was known for his diminished arpeggios.

After Forbidden broke up, he joined Nevermore and was key in the writing of "Dreaming Neon Black." Jeff Loomis hadn't quite come into his own yet, and Tim was older and more experienced, so he did the bulk of the songwriting and that album is unlike any album Nevermore ever did.

It's a sad ending though. He walked away from music in 2000 to become an airline pilot and was flying for SkyWest when he came down with ALS. He died in 2018. But his impact on Forbidden and Nevermore were undeniable

Off the top of my head, the only one else who comes to mind is Jason Bittner. Shadow's Fall were rather generic band prior to him joining but when he joined, they really turn it around to do something special.

[killeverything]

I’ll die on the hill Rob Caggiano made Annthrax way better when he was a member of the band.

I'll die on it with you!

[Love_Industry]

I have a few more:

Steve Perry in Journey
Steve Vai in Alcatrazz
Uli Jon Roth in Scorpions
John Kalodner in Whitesnake

[Love_Industry]

Rob Halford replacing Al Adkins in Priest

Speaking of Priest I'd argue that hiring Glenn Tipton had more impact than Halford replacing Atkins.
With Halford, they still mostly toured working men's clubs and whatever - save for a short tour of Norway etc - and played the same kind of bluesy 70s hard rock with one guitar.

Tipton wrote or co-wrote every song on Sad Wings of Destiny and the stylistic change from Rocka Rolla is obvious with heavier, more modern sounding songs and twin guitars. Rocka Rolla could be any third tier band from the era, SWOD is unmistakeably Priest.

[Tommy]

Joe Walsh in the Eagles?

[DrewPNuttz]

If there were a 2nd to Neil Peart, I would say Sammy joining Van Halen. Great songwriter, and a second guitar player to add another layer for production.

[TravisBicklesMohawk]

No one mentioned Phil Anselmo yet?????

[Grendel]

Joe Walsh - Eagles