How many bands have reunited with the original members and how was the comeback received? *

Camper Van Beethoven’s reunion has gone better than anyone could have dreamed with three decent albums to boot

 

ELP took 12 years off, with a couple of close reunions just prior to the reformation (ELPowell in '86 & Emerson, Berry & Palmer, aka '3', in '88).

How was it received? Depends on who you ask, I guess. I was thrilled, critics...not so much.

I remember wondering how Lake's voice changed so much in the span of just 5 years.

 

This may be a stretch because many would see him as a part time member, but Deja' Vu was such s strong album and was a different edgy sound than CSN. I love the CSN output but Neil always put the in a different orbit.

 

The original Poco reunited for the Legacy album. The album spawned two top 40 singles ("Call It Love" and "Nothing To Hide").
The line-up:
Rusty Young
Jim Messina
Richie Furay
Randy Meisner
George Grantham



George really didn't do much drumming on the album, and the album seemed to be one of those where the suits had most control. And the band fell apart during the tour, with Furay often at odds with the other members over song content that he found offensive. (He even insisted Messina change the 'offensive' lyrics to "Your Mama Don't Dance". When Messina sang the original lyrics at a show, Furay reportedly flew off the handle.) And there were issues over the video for the hit, "Call It Love". Furay was out by the second leg of the tour, replaced by Jack Sundred. Young, Messina, Meisner, and Grantham planned to continue, but apparently could not get a record deal. And, despite the album having two hits and going gold, Young has stated they made no money from the record.
(I particularly liked Randy's harmony vocal with Rusty's lead on "Call It Love", though Rusty did not sing in the early days.)

 

Wishbone Ash. Their big reunion in 1988 was a must for me. Had seen the band at least 60 times by then and couldn’t wait for the Hammersmith Odeon gig. It was the biggest show of the tour ( and the first). Couldn’t believe that Ted Turner failed to turn up for the first half of the show. So fed up l actually didn’t see my hero’s again for another 10 years as a result. Reason for non-appearance was that because of visa problems Ted didn’t have enough time to rehearse for the first and second shows of the tour. How sometimes hero’s let you down!

 

The 'Brutal Youth' album (1994) is credited to EC. The original bassist, Bruce Thomas, plays on only five tracks, with Nick Lowe or EC himself playing bass on the remainder of the tracks.

The 'All This Useless Beauty' album (1996) is credited to EC and the Attractions (Bruce Thomas included) - although Roy Baddington on double bass is credited on two tracks.

This was the last recording Bruce Thomas appeared on with Costello. Costello toured with the Attractions in '1994, '95 and '96. I'm guessing the relationship between Bruce and EC was not good on those tours. Before the end of the '96 tour, EC announced when the tour ended he wouldn't be playing with the Attractions any more. Starting with the 'When I Was Cruel' album (2002; credited to EC), Costello re-named his backing band 'The Imposters', which were Steve Neive and Pete Thomas of the Attractions, with Davey Faragher as the new bassist replacing Bruce Thomas. I think Bruce is a better bassist than Faragher and possessed a better feel for Costello songs and records. And even though the enmity between Bruce and EC was mutual (much more so on EC's part, though), I don't think Bruce Thomas ever did less than his best professionally for EC. While Thomas appeared on stage when EC and the Attractions were inducted into the RnR HoF, Bruce was not part of EC 's band when they performed that night.

 

The Comsat Angels reformed 14 years after splitting for a hometown reunion gig in 2009 with the original line-up. It was very well-received by a crowd that had come from all over the world! Four subsequent gigs were played over 2009/10 with Terry Todd on bass in place of Kevin Bacon. No new releases came of it.

 

Not the original lineup, the longest lasting lineup, or the most successful one.

 

I believe the OP is looking for a reunion with the original line-up, not with just one or two original members.

 

Five pages and no mention of the Sex Pistols??!!??? ALL original members reunited in '96 and then again about 10 years later. First reunion got great reviews in the underground punk zines, but naysayers were calling it a "cash grab", which the band had no problem saying they were doing it to get their due payday.

I saw them a couple times on the latter reunions and loved it.

 

Duran Duran’s original line-up reunited in 2001 and recorded the album Astronaut which landed in the top 20 of the U.S. album charts. They also had a successful sold-out tour. Their lead guitarist Andy Taylor left after a few years so that line-up didn’t last that long, however.

 

Richie sure had a plug up his ass.

 

Steely Dan got back together in 1993 to tour in support of Fagen's Kamakiriad album, but I don't think it was well recieved. Then came Two Against Nature and a Grammy for Album of the Year.

 

I hadn’t heard that about the record but Randy did say they made no money from the tour, mainly due to their management booking them overseas at army bases during the Gulf War. Attendance was low and they were stuck with a lot of merchandise.

 

Yeah, @Oatsdad already corrected me on that. I can’t go back and edit my post with a correction.

 

So what exactly is the issue here? Bruce is a fine player and the Attractions are a great band and EC is lucky to have worked with them.

 

I don't know if anyone already brought it up, but the KISS reunion in the 90s was extremely successful.

 

I do not know which Members were missing(if any) from the 'All You Need is Now' Album from 2010, but that is a Really Good Album, and also 'Paper Gods' was almost as good of an Album(and more Current that fits in with Pop Music in General when it was released). Really A Strong Late Career of Quality Music for Duran Duran. Hope they have one more Good Album left in them.

 

The Jazztet reformed after a 20 year hiatus, but while many early members played in the later editions it was never exactly the same lineup The Jazztet - Wikipedia My memory is that both eras were generally positively received, it was never a big deal.

 

Black Sabbath had a few notable reunions. Not really sure what people think of them now. The "Mob Rules" lineup reunited in 1992 and recorded "Dehumanizer" along with a tour. I believe Bill Ward was initially supposed to be involved but he backed out before they recorded anything. The album doesn't seem well-received, but I think the overall reunion was. Then the original lineup reunited in 1997. I'm pretty sure that was overwhelmingly positive. However, Bill Ward was in bad health during that time, so he rejoined the band some time after the rest had already reunited, and he was only able to tour for a very brief time after rejoining before health issues sidelined him again. The original four then tried to record a new album, but it was scrapped as Ozzy went off to record another solo album.
In 2006, the Mob Rules lineup then reunited yet again to record three new songs for a compilation. They were pleased with the reception enough to do a full tour, but used the name "Heaven and Hell" since the Ozzy-fronted Sabbath technically still existed at this time. I don't think the tour was quite as big as any Ozzy-fronted Sabbath tour, but it seemed well-received by those who saw it. They also made a studio album under the Heaven and Hell banner. It seems to be at least somewhat well-received, but personally I'm not a fan of it.

 

The Feelies.

 

Andy Taylor is the only one missing from the original line-up.

 

Over the years they just got on each other nerves. The breaking point was Bruce Thomas' unflattering depiction of the un-named yet obviously recognizible EC in his book 'The Big Wheel'. Costello never got over it and has despised Thomas ever since. The 'reunion' (circa '94-'96) with Bruce returning to record with Costello was done at the request of Mitchel Froom (Costello's post Nick Lowe sometimes producer). Apparently, Froom saw the situation as pretty petty and hoped the two could set the bad feelings behind them. No such luck.

 

Bill Ward has been saying he’s in bad health since forever.

 

Someone brought them up in post 47, with about five other bands including KISS.

I can’t believe no one’s brought up Pixies yet. Well-received live shows for a bunch of years until Kim Deal got bored and left to go do The Breeders again. Then Pixies made a lousy record with a new bassist. Still touring.