Greatest American Rock Band

[bayonetbrant]

So the local sports show on the radio here went off on a two-hour tangent last night talking about greatest American rock bands.  (They ruled out Bruce's E Street Band, calling them a 'backing band' even tho Bruce himself doesn't call them one.)

This all started with Bomani Jones asking his Twitter audience about it, and they just picked up the discussion.
The point they were trying to make was that most of the "The Greatest" bands - bands, not artists - were not American: The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath were all British, where in the US we've had a huge string of major solo artists like Elvis, Bruce, Billy Joel, etc.

The US discussion, to me, is really down to 2 bands: The Eagles and Kiss, though the guys on the radio also threw the Beach Boys into the discussion.

Other bands mentioned on the air were:
Pearl Jam
The Ramones
Talking Heads (tho how you include Talking Heads and not Blondie is beyond me)
Metallica
The Band (who actually has a handful of Canadians)
Green Day
Counting Crows
Black Keys
Wilco
Bon Jovi
Dave Matthews Band (which seemed to me to be very similar to Bruce)

Bands no one mentioned on the air:
Van Halen
Creedence Clearwater Revival
Lynyrd Skynyrd
Journey
Styx
REO Speedwagon
Hootie and the Blowfish (when your debut album is the 3rd-best-selling album of all time, you get to be in the discussion)

all of which really start to stretch the definitions of "greatest" and all of which really start to suffer when compared to either The Eagles or Kiss


So what say y'all?

[Staggerwing]

Is this 'Greatest' attribute based on best music, most chart success, or greatest influence on music that followed?
Here's a few of the top of my head:

REM

Doors

Velvet Underground

(More later... )

[OJsDad]

Aerosmith

Chicago

[GDS_Starfury]

ELO. 

[bayonetbrant]

Aerosmith, the doors and REM were all mentioned also

[bayonetbrant]

ELO and Velvet Underground were not

[Staggerwing]

Cheap Trick

Fleetwood Mac

Grateful Dead

Allman Brothers

[MetalDog]

I'm down with the Allmans.  Invented a whole subgenre to themselves, Southern Rock.

ELO, other than being a personal favorite, was led by the incomparable Jeff Lynne.  I contend, that next to Lennon and McCartney, there is no finer writer of pop songs than Lynne.

I really dislike The Eagles.  You can't dismiss their string of hits and popular songs, or the fact that they threw three successful solo artists (Don Henley, Glenn Frey and Joe Walsh) into the mainstream.  Though, I fear for my sanity the next time I hear Hotel California.  GOD I hate that song!

For shear volume at a high rate of success, you can't beat Credence Clearwater Revival.  Go back and look at their dominance of the pop charts.  And there isn't a song of theirs that you don't a) instantly recognize and b) have to admit, that at some point in your life, you really dug that song.

And Dave Mathews is South African.

[Staggerwing]

Actually, Dave Matthews is an American. He was born in S.A. but moved here as a young child and his band was formed in the USA. IIRC, he is a Virginian.

[bayonetbrant]

The Grateful Dead were mentioned on air too. Again tho, where do they measure up to Kiss or The Eagles?

Someone also brought up ZZ Top but thankfully it was quickly dismissed

[Staggerwing]

The Grateful Dead were mentioned on air too. Again tho, where do they measure up to Kiss or The Eagles?

Someone also brought up ZZ Top but thankfully it was quickly dismissed

How are we measuring? if it's on musical talent then there will be too many opinions to count.

[TacticalWargames]

Hmmm..tough one. I love Garcia in Anthem of the Sun album mode but not in his country mode. Janis Joplin is near the top. The difficulty is some of my fav Amercian rock albums aren't by "Well Known" groups, like 13th Floor Elevators, Chicos Magnetic Band, Fifty Foot Hose, Cold Sun, Vanilla Fudge, Quick Silver Messenger Service and Golden Dawn. They have all made albums that for me beat any big ROCK SUPERSTAR band. So I couldn't say who is the greatest. If I had to go for one that I love and is well known I'd go for Janis Joplin she really rocked it.

[bayonetbrant]

they were fairly vague on the radio, but I think the intent was to try to measure a combination of longevity quality and influence.

ironically, they held up a bunch of English archetypes from several decades ago, but then dismissed many of the US suggestions such as Counting Crows, with the statement of "have you heard anything from them lately?" I am pretty sure I have not heard anything from led zeppelin or the beatles lately either.

[TacticalWargames]

You say The Beach Boys where mentioned. I really wouldn't say they where a rock band in the Rock sense of the word though I suppose it would be cataloged uder rock. Pet Sounds is a seminal album and up there in my fav albums released ever.

I'm definitely not a fan of The Eagles, safe middle of the road rock never really did it for me. I'd rather go for Crosby, Stills and Nash. I'd mentioned Jefferson Airplane After Bathing at Baxters and some other Grace Slick pre Jefferson songs..though Jefferson Starship would stop me from voting for them. How certain amazing ground breaking bands in sixties turned out utter tripe in the seventies and eighties I've no idea..maybe it was all a horrible comedown.

I think I'd go for a American and British amalgamation and say Jimi Hendrix and the Experience.

[Gusington]

The Doors. Their music holds up today. God knows what they would have come up with had Jim Morrison lived. And their music was really of its own place and time as well. As well as other places and times. Pass the acid dude.

Counting Crows??? Vomit. 'Mr. Jones' should disqualify them immediately.

Doesn't Fleetwood Mac include some Brits? Like Mick Fleetwood himself?