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

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