Top 5 greatest American bands of all time

[PorkPieHat]

I think if you're defining 'great' by 'lasted a long time, put out a lot of good songs, maybe were at least a little influential', then the list is:

Beach Boys
Bruce & E Street Band
Allman Brothers
Aerosmith
Eagles

If Quality > Quantity then maybe one of these below replaces Aerosmith:

G 'n' R
Skynyrd
CCR

If it's one of those 'weird and only critics and cult followers and guys who suck off the critics' lists, then:

Velvet Underground
Nirvana
Pixies
Doors
etc

AFA my personal opinion, I'd have GnR far above Aerosmith, and both the Doors and Nirvana would be relegated to the scrap heap. The only thing influenced by the Doors music was Jose Feliciano, and Nirvana ushered in the grunge era, only to have it last all of 5 years and be replaced by Britney Spears.

Of course, if this were a top 10 list then I'd likely have Boston, Bon Jovi, and Weezer in it, but I am starting to lean towards teh ghey in my old age.

[Quanah Parker]

Outkast
Buddy Holly
The Stooges
Parliament/Funkadelic
Sly and the Family Stone

[TalkingDonkey]

Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers
Pearl Jam
The Allman Brothers Band
The Eagles
ZZ Top

[Cumulonimbus]

Pearl Jam and Sublime haven't been getting much love here. : ( Neither has Bad Religion, but that's understandable, I guess.

But, here's mine:

CCR
The Eagles
Metallica
Sublime
Pearl Jam

[pokerbobo]

Tool
REM
Metallica
Soundgarden
Janes Addiction

Subtract the last 3-4 Albums from REM & Metallica...and this is a nice collection of work.

[RunDownHouse]

[ QUOTE ]
It's Stipe, and I can name three great bands saying that:

Radiohead
The Decemberists
Elf Power

Thom Yorke will tell you he owes everything to Stipe and REM -- both musically and psychologically.

[/ QUOTE ]

Like I said, I don't know if they're a big influence, but I really doubt citing bands like Decemberists and Elfs is helping your case. I had to look up both of them to even know who they are, and Decemberists didn't release their first album until 2002. Let's hold off on annointing them as The Next Great Thing.

Also, both of those band's bios on artistdirect.com mention Neutral Milk Hotel, as did you. 99.9% of the world has never heard a single thing by them, and in a "Greatest Bands Ever" discussion, popularity is definitely a top criteria. We know you love indie, ok? No need to list hopeless suggestions just to remind us.

[Mondogarage]

[ QUOTE ]
All,
Whenever GNR (Axl) decides to drop Chinese Democracy on us all, they will be listed a lot more.

I've already heard several of the songs and some of them are mind-blowingly good. T.W.A.T (There Was a Time), and Madagascar are outstanding. Catcher in the Rye, The Blues, Better, and IRS are also very strong songs.

If GNR is top 6 or 7 on anyone's list, I suggest you guys go to YouTube and listen to "Madagascar Studio" and "There was a time". This album (Chinese Democracy) will make 3 landmark albums for the band, each with a totally different taste, and each years apart.

It's scary that Axl supposedly has another 20 songs developed that won't make C.D. Maybe those will come out in 30 years? [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]

If and when Chinese Democracy ever comes out (and I won't believe it will come out until the day comes when it has come out), if it is not the greastest creation in music since the invention of the electric guitar, it will be laughable why it had to be held back for so many years.

My prediction: 50 minutes of "meh", not bad, hardly earthshattering or groundbreaking, and a big WTF to why it should have taking 15 years to put it out. I'm sure it will be a fine rock album, but anything short of the next Sgt Pepper's will be disappointment.

[private joker]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
It's Stipe, and I can name three great bands saying that:

Radiohead
The Decemberists
Elf Power

Thom Yorke will tell you he owes everything to Stipe and REM -- both musically and psychologically.

[/ QUOTE ]

Like I said, I don't know if they're a big influence, but I really doubt citing bands like Decemberists and Elfs is helping your case. I had to look up both of them to even know who they are, and Decemberists didn't release their first album until 2002. Let's hold off on annointing them as The Next Great Thing.

Also, both of those band's bios on artistdirect.com mention Neutral Milk Hotel, as did you. 99.9% of the world has never heard a single thing by them, and in a "Greatest Bands Ever" discussion, popularity is definitely a top criteria. We know you love indie, ok? No need to list hopeless suggestions just to remind us.

[/ QUOTE ]

Why is popularity a top criteria for greatness? A CLOCKWORK ORANGE made 26 million dollars total domestic. Even in 1972 that wasn't much (THE GODFATHER made 134 that same year). And THE THIN RED LINE and REQUIEM FOR A DREAM, arguably the two greatest American movies of the last 10 years, made about 40 mil combined.

I'm not saying popularity shouldn't ever be considered, but calling it a "top" criteria is retarded.

Also, nice job ignoring Radiohead in your post. Thom Yorke has, time and time again, cited Stipe and R.E.M. as not only a huge influence but also a model of how to be a rock star.

[RunDownHouse]

Of course I ignored Radiohead. They really can't do any wrong in my eyes. So they fully support your case for REM being one of the biggest musical influences America has ever spawned. But I'd love to hear more bands of that caliber that were deeply inspired by REM.

The top criterions in this discussion, for me, are quality, popularity, and influence. Stuff like longevity and variety are secondary considerations. Popularity is so important, in my opinion, because that means the band touched every area: influence (both inside music and everywhere else), album sales, longevity, etc.

[Mondogarage]

If we're truly trying to find the "five greatest American bands of all time" (frankly, a pointless exercise), it helps to have a rational set of criteria.

1. The band should have some longevity -- a career of 3-4 albums shouldn't be allowed to cut it (sorry, G'n'R, Doors, Television, and even Pixies fans), because far too many bands have pulled that off. Flaming out after a couple of great records doesn't make you the greatest *band* (sorry, Nirvana).

2. The corollary to that is, longevity itself shouldn't be overrated (sorry, Aerosmith). A handful of good albums, coupled with a ton of mediocre ones, does not make you great.

3. "Greatest" should not necessarily equate to "most influential on future bands" (sorry, V.U. and Big Star), because we're not measuring how they affected future music, but rather the output of the band itself.

4. "Band" means band, not solo artist. Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band would fit. Just because the band is named after the frontman doesn't make it a solo act. Those cats played together for years and years. Tom Petty would work, as well. James Taylor would not. Jewel would not, and etc.

With that said, I think the following is a representative Top 5 list (and for what it's worth, there's two bands on my list whom I can't stand, and another I can barely tolerate). In no particular order:

The Beach Boys
R.E.M.
The Eagles
Sonic Youth
Metallica

My own personal five all timers would disregard a couple of those more objective criteria and look like this:

Pixies
R.E.M.
The Woggles
The Go-Go's
Dressy Bessy (gotta give Denver some luv)

But then, that's just personal taste, and most of my favorite bands are, ironically, from Canada or the UK.