Who makes the band what it is?

[SO]

I do agree with you for the most part, I just thought a couple of the examples you gave were a bit shaky.

I always thought of AC/DC more as Angus Young's band than Bon Scott's or Brian Johnson's.

Rush - and trust me I'm one of the biggest Rush geeks in the world - would not be the same without any of the 3 members. You're absolutely right, Rush wouldn't be Rush without Geddy, but they wouldn't be Rush without Alex or Neil either. Can you imagine a Rush show without a 5 minute Peart drum solo?

Maiden - I think Dickinson completes the band, and elevates them from "just really good" to "legendary", but at the same time they've had some success without him.

And the Chili Peppers, I'd still say that Flea is just as important, if not more so, than Kiedis.

Overall though, yeah it is the singer, probably 90% of the time. Imagine: Queensryche without Geoff Tate, Queen without Freddie, Megadeth without Mustaine, Aerosmith without Tyler, Type O without Pete Steel, Motorhead without Lemmy, etc etc...

I think I had a point somewhere in there, but it's late as hell so I apologize if this was all incorehent.