groups who were the best after their founding members had left!

Aha! (Not A-ha)

oh stop it, you guys know good and damn well if someone starts talking about "the early years" they mean peter green era.

but lol yes, tusk is my favorite of their early years.

Weird that Annie Haslam was not in the band originally.

Also weird that Miles Copeland was involved.

yeah I think for this to count the member in question has to have at least contributed to their sound in some way. like I could name a bunch of prog bands that "upgraded" at a certain position but it's generally not someone who was driving their sound. imo Barry Andrews *should* count here because even if he wasn't a "founding member" he does appear on all their early recordings as XTC and even if he didn't write many songs his style really did influence the type of music they wrote. like that's why they got better, nothing from D&W on would really be compatible with him.

I'd also suggest Brian Eno & Roxy Music...I like the Eno records but they got better once he was gone

Weird that Annie Haslam was not in the band originally.

the early years of that band are so strange. they actually started as a Yardbirds spinoff. Keith Reif's sister Jane handled the vocals.

OK, Barry Andrews counts but Klaus Dinger still doesn't.

Tangerine Dream got better after Conrad Schnitzler and Klaus Schulze left - as did Conrad Schnitzler and Klaus Schulze.

I'd suggest Malcolm Mooney but idk if his departure/replacement is what actually made the band better. can't imagine them doing some of the Tago Mago stuff with him though

Agree with Roxy; many of the suggestions made so far are early members with strong aesthetic ideas that needed their own groups or solo projects to flower (Eno, Devoto, Neu!, Schnitzler and Schulze).

J Geils Band got better after J Geils left

the early years of that band are so strange. they actually started as a Yardbirds spinoff. Keith Reif's sister Jane handled the vocals.

Which brings us back to the whole question posed by the ship of Theseus . . .

xpost I don't think he left he just got lost

I don't necessarily agree but I think a lot of ppl would say Black Flag wrt Keith Morris vs Rollins

oh dang - Rush of course!

Rush purportedly told Rutsey that it's not "Working, Man"

Rush, in 2022 when Lifeson finally replaced Geddy with Maiah Wynne.

I'd suggest Malcolm Mooney but idk if his departure/replacement is what actually made the band better. can't imagine them doing some of the Tago Mago stuff with him though

I don't think they got better anyway, they just changed into something different, though I suppose that's true of a few of the other examples itt. According to Can themselves, Mooney was very important in the direction of the early band.

Opeth have no original members:

Opeth was formed as a death metal band in 1989 in Stockholm, Sweden, by lead vocalist David Isberg. In 1990, Isberg asked Mikael Åkerfeldt to join Opeth as a bassist. When Åkerfeldt showed up to practice on the day after Isberg invited him, it became clear that Isberg had not told the band members, including the band's current bassist, that Åkerfeldt would be joining the band. An ensuing argument led to all members but Isberg and Åkerfeldt leaving to form a new project. Isberg and Åkerfeldt recruited drummer Anders Nordin, bassist Nick Döring, and guitarist Andreas Dimeo. Unsatisfied with Opeth's slow progress, Döring and Dimeo left the band after their first performance, and were replaced by guitarist Kim Pettersson and bassist Johan De Farfalla. After the next show, De Farfalla left Opeth to spend time with his girlfriend in Germany, and was initially replaced by Mattias Ander, before Åkerfeldt's friend Peter Lindgren took on the role of bassist. Rhythm guitarist Kim Pettersson left following the band's next performance, and Lindgren switched to guitar, with the role of bassist falling to Stefan Guteklint. The following year, David Isberg left the band citing "creative differences".

Genesis did get better after Gabriel left, but then they got worse again after 'Duke', so both viewpoints are correct.

ABACAB is a solid record . . . although my opinion may be heavily influenced by nostalgia, it was the soundtrack of my middle high school years.

the beatles

they were better after paul died tbh

lol

pink floyd were best after syd barrett left

arguably! they certainly were best after bob klose left, tho

Tim Dog became a better rapper after he died

can't imagine them doing some of the Tago Mago stuff with him though

in a way you're right, because mooney's words and voice still command more focus and occupy a more central space in the music than damo's. on the other hand, mooney really instigated that push towards abstraction and away from the center that damo later fulfills as the vocalist.

i agree with Tom D anyhow. i wouldn't say they got better or worse.

Damos pure chaos energy caused them to get faster/funkier didn’t it? Also not sure how he would handle something like Future Days. Would be cool to hear him doing Moonshake but Bel Air?? Christ

black flag was best with henry rollins and i like keith morris best with the circle jerks