10 Famous Bands With Rotating Lineups

Up to this point, most people at least have a passing understanding on what an actual rock band is. For all of the people that come and go, there's at least a set lineup to these acts that tends to consist of guitar, bass, drums, and vocals most of the time, with added session musicians coming in to fill out everything else. In the golden age of rock and roll though, Steely Dan took everything you expected and basically threw it out the window.

Out of all the great musicians that have come and gone throughout each record, it's almost cheating to even call Steely Dan a band in the true sense. While the main members include Walter Becker and Donald Fagen, their roles have primarily been served as studio labrats, taking the building blocks of the songs they liked and getting just the right musician to perform on them. Going through their discography, you can find a whole host of different musicians coming in and out of the control room, from Larry Carlton laying down the solos of Kid Charlemagne or Steve Gadd teaching a clinic on drum solos on Aja.

There are even a few choice moments on their records where Donald and Walter take a back seat, like Babylon Sisters, which barely features them playing on the track in any capacity. That's because this isn't really the kind of democracy you would see in a band. Given all of the people that have come and gone, Steely Dan feels more like a state of mind than an actual band.