[x] Solo artists and their bands

I was surprised to read rule 4a granting exceptions to solo artist "bands" in rare cases, as I recall when that was not allowed (and I argued forcefully that we needed such a thing).

However, the rule is kinda vague: "if a band's history clearly indicates it to be the case". What do we mean be "clearly indicates"?

For example, I was going to put in a bunch of albums by Axel Rudi Pell, which is the band name as well as the lead guitarist name. Normally, then, this would be a solo artist.

However, Pell has had an extremely stable band lineup (see [en.wikipedia.org] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axel_Rudi_Pell ), with one lineup persisting for 15 years and 8 studio releases. I own a couple of these releases, and the other members are given full billing with Pell, in text credits, photos (individual and group), thank-you sections, etc. These aspects lean toward "band".

What's the heuristic I should use to make a distinction in this and similar cases?

I look at it like this: Would the other band members consider themselves to be in a band called "Axel Rudi Pell"? That goes a long way to determining band v. solo.

Right now the database has 3,721 traditional solo artist entries and 10 solo "band" entries. The complete list is at [www.bandtoband.com] http://www.bandtoband.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=6438

I looked around the band's website some. On the one hand, their front page has a picture of the whole band (not just Axel) and a section for "band info". But in the "Biography" section, we have this:

"... And so it doesn’t come as a surprise that his latest offering “Into The Storm” is also one of his best; after all, anniversaries are always special. Although this is the fifteenth studio album (featuring his own material) in Pell’s career to date, he didn’t approach it any different than its predecessors. ... ARP is on the next level now and it wouldn’t be a great surprise if he cracked the German Top 10 this time ..."

It's hard to read this and get any other impression than that Axel is a solo artist. If "Axel Rudi Pell" was a band first and a person second, most of the pronouns above would have been plural, not singular.

The other factor here is, as alluded to in my thread about large collabs, it seems like we should err on the side of fewer connections if things are truly unclear.

So I think I've convinced myself of the solo artistry in this case, and I have a slightly better idea how to approach it in the future. Thanks, guys.