What happens when one member of a band becomes too "theatrical?"

[Dr. Strange]

This post was spawned by a comment from Amerigo Vespucci about how some members of Styx felt about the Kilroy was Here album. It seems that Dennis DeYoung was trying to push Styx in a more theatrical direction. This ultimately led to the breakup of the band. In a similar vein, Genesis split ways with Peter Gabriel, who was hoping for an increasingly theatrical show. Although Genesis didn't break up, they went from being a mediocre band to still being a mediocre band, but then Gabriel had a fairly successful solo career in much the same way that the members of Styx didn't.

What other bands have experienced this problem?

[LynneSin]

1. Genesis went totally downhill after Gabriel left

I heard for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction they aren't even having Gabriel there nor will they showcase on any of the amazing music they created back then.

[Steerpike]

2. Performers split their shows

between technique, theatrics and character. with these aspects of the group sometimes taking the lead and other times overlapping. to me styx was a good band with two or three great songs. So in the end the "show" was going to HAVE to be the main part of the performance. on the other hand you have groups like pink floyd who had overwhelming theatrics that sometimes verwhelmed the musicianship...but in the end it will be their (Pink Floyds) music that is valued the most.
of course most groups achieve a sort of balance...like creedance in their heyday where the theatrics (or performance) is a natural outgrowth of their music.

[Dr. Strange]

3. Ooh, that's another interesting aspect.

KISS was pretty much all about the theatrics, and of course since they all knew that going in, there wasn't much friction. (At least not based on that.) But consequently, I don't think KISS has much of a musical library to fall back on. ELO was into the theatrics too. The Cars, on the other hand, didn't give a lick about their live performances; they were all about the music.

Of course, not one of the bands listed above are still together.

[Steerpike]

4. Good Point

KISS had no depth in their catalog...but, they did have one great album! ELO did split but the members did continue on with their music in decidedly les thatrical venues. I like a couple of cars songs, but, personally I don't think the music has aged well. They really have that 80's synthesized sound that almost sounds primitave now...which at the time sounded so "cutting edge".