greatest rock band ever?

[Damien Howard]

I give my vote to the short lived Guns N Roses with the long lived Aerosmith a close second

[Sania Marsh]

Scorpions

[Max Habibi]

Tough call: Ministry or Rage Against The Machine.

[Rick Portugal]

The Eagles.

[James Swan]

Nirvana

[Bear Bibeault]

Fleetwood Mac

[Gnitnew Neorej]

Sonic Youth
runner up: Dinosaur Jr.

[Stan James]

Queen, but I was a music major and value songs with more than three chords. Just the right mix of not-too-serious classical references and good gutsy R&R.

[Bert Bates]

Beatles - hands down

my favorite...

The Grateful Dead

[Varun Khanna]

{Pink Floyd, Metallica}

[Ko Ko Naing]

Originally posted by Rick Portugal:
The Eagles.

The Eagles is not a rock band...

I do vote for Megadeth for metal and Bon Jovi for pop-rock....

[Joyce Lee]

Abba

[Helen Thomas]

As Stan said, Queen - the greatest and long living.

[Svend Rost]

Dizzy Mizz Lizzy!

It's a danish band, so you guys have most
likely never heard of them.. to bad, because they
rock.

[Ernest Friedman-Hill]

You're all kidding, right? Forgot those smilies?

Led Zep. C'mon. Seriously.

[Helen Thomas]

Beatles, Status Quo or Rolling Stones.

Property market indicator

Beatles (Bank of England interest rates 'beatle' up gradually over the next 3-12 months);
Status Quo (things remain the same and Bank of England rates remain unchanged, at or around 4% in the medium term) and;
Rolling Stones (this scenario is potentially the biggest handful, and puts Bank of England rates at 6% within a year - basically causing property prices to crash).

[Bob Reardon]

U2

[sunitha reghu]

abba ,boneyM & pink floyd

by the rivers of babylon from abba is my fav.

[Shashank Tanksali]

BoneyM

My Favourites
Sunny
Rasputin
She's crazy like a fool
Ma Baker

[sunitha reghu]

Is Ma Baker starts like this
Mabaker had four sons....something like that.

mamma mabaker....
:roll:

[Frank Silbermann]

Originally posted by Bert Bates:
Beatles - hands down

Obviously, the question meant "greatest rock band aside from the Beatles." Otherwise, it would have been a silly question. The Beatles are the originals; all other groups that sing, play guitars, and have long hair are merely substitutes.

[Ranga Sreenivasan]

Originally posted by Bert Bates:
Beatles - hands down

Of course ... no contest here...

Next on my list is GNR
{
... and Scorpions
... and Genesis
... and Def Leapord
... and Queen
}

[Axel Janssen]

I re-discovered "Blue Oyster Cult" last weekend.
Its great music.

[Jason Menard]

Why are we even having this conversation? I thought it was commonly accepted that the greatest rock band of all time was Spinal Tap. Aside from having the greatest album cover of all time, Smell the Glove remains musically unparalleled to this day. Break Like the Wind was a fine followup, and of course there is no other band that can hold a candle to their live performances.

[Jason Menard]

Originally posted by Axel Janssen:
I re-discovered "Blue Oyster Cult" last weekend.
Its great music.

I got a fever! And the only prescription.. is more cowbell!

[Gregg Bolinger]

Originally posted by Frank Silbermann:


Obviously, the question meant "greatest rock band aside from the Beatles." Otherwise, it would have been a silly question. The Beatles are the originals; all other groups that sing, play guitars, and have long hair are merely substitutes.

Being first doesn't equal being the best. The Beatles are so overrated and popular only because, yeah, they were the first ones and open some doors.

BTW - Greatest Rock Band Ever? is a vague question.

Kiss puts on a hell of show but technically and musically, they suck
Nirvana was a movement - but again, nothing special musically. They weren't that talanted of musicians. Kurt should have just written poetry.
2-Pac - Possibly a lyrical genious in his own right, but it's rap.
Beatles were first, but compared to all that's out today, nothing special now.
Rolling Stones - Seriously, Rolling Stones? Mick can't sing a note in tune. He just talk sings.

Bands that I might consider in the running would be:

Queen - Freddy was extremely talanted and wrote some darn good songs
Rush - How much more music could 3 guys produce? They are amazing. Neal Peart is the man on drums
Smashing Pumpkins - Don't laugh. Billy corgan has written some of the most beautiful love songs that were just never played on the radio. Truly a band before their time. Too bad they came out at the same time as Nirvana and the whole Grunge thing. I think they were lost in the mix.

But again, it's too vague a question I think.

[fred rosenberger]

Does this have to include the bands entire career, or can we limit it to certain periods?

Genesis, in their day, was better than anything else (i'm talking from about '70 - '74). They rapidly declined after that.

I agree that Rush has to be one of the most talented trios around. Anytime you have one guy simultaneously a) hammering on his bass with his left hand, b) playing keboards with his right hand, c) playing foot pedals with one foot, and d) singing... even if you don't like the music, that takes some serious talent.

[Frank Silbermann]

Originally posted by Gregg Bolinger:


Being first doesn't equal being the best. The Beatles are so overrated and popular only because, yeah, they were the first ones and open some doors.

Well, I'll be the first to admit that the Beatle's singing voices were amateurish at best. But rock bands aren't judged on musicianship, nor is rock music judged on its musicality. (If it were, it would be rejected immediately and replaced by the musical style of 19th century romanticism.)

No, rock bands are judged on kewlness -- by the degree of mania they and their promoters stir up in the fans.

[Roger Graff]

SPINAL TAP (b/c their amps go to 11!)

http://members.aol.com/chiprowe/gotoeleven.wav

[JulianInactive KennedyInactive]

Queen, U2 and Def Leppard, but not necessarily in that order.

The Beatles were a pop group.

Jules

[Jeff Langr]

Originally posted by Gregg Bolinger:
Being first doesn't equal being the best. The Beatles are so overrated and popular only because, yeah, they were the first ones and open some doors.

Or because they wrote good, memorable songs that are still listenable today.

Greatest rock & roll band: the Ramones

-j-

[Michael Ernest]

I don't think you can really call the Beatles the greatest band ever anymore. When some group actually surpasses the Beatles, it will reset the standard for greatness itself.

You can go back through Beatle albums again and again the way you might go through a favorite novel written 150 years ago; they hold up. Sure, some elements are dated; no art completely transcends its own time. But I bet you can play Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da right now and everyone in the room will move to it, or fight moving to it. Simple song, or so it seems.

The Beatles were one of several groups in the 60s who borrowed motifs well outside the rock n' roll genre. If you've ever heard French cabaret singing, listen to Michelle. Those boys weren't just fooling around; they took phrases and melodies that had been in the air for decades, and gave many of them a completely new form. The Mamas and the Papas did a similar thing, taking old burlesque, vaudeville, and minstrel tunes, overdubbing them, and doing the unthinkable at the time -- slowing them down (thinking of their Spanish Harlem and I Call Your Name as I'm writing this.) If You Can Believe Your Eyes and Ears was for my money the most aptly-named album of its time.

The Rolling Stones, now that is unwavering rock and roll, and for that reason, they simply don't compare to the Beatles as a band. You can listen to any new recording they've done since 1980 all you want, and it's just the Stones admirably covering some rock subgenre, and it's fun -- for a while. Start Me Up is a classic example: so clearly full of commercial value that Microsoft used it to death.
[ August 31, 2004: Message edited by: Michael Ernest ]

[Max Habibi]

The Replacements come to mind. Anyone ever hear nightclub jitters?

M

[Thomas Paul]

The Who.

[Max Habibi]

who?

[Nart]

Does 'Atmospheric Progressive Death Metal' qualify?

In any case it must be Opeth

[Tony Alicea]

THE BEATLES

[Richard Hawkes]

Pixies
Faith No More

Now rock is dead. Give me Korean power ballads and Euro-candy-pop. Come on Barbie, Let's go Party

[Joe King]

Originally posted by Richard Hawkes:
Come on Barbie, Let's go Party

Argh! You Now you've done it. I'll never get that song out of my head.

Emergency procedures required!

<click> <winamp> <click>
<scroll down to U2>
Ah, that's better. Nothing beats a good bit of Silver And Gold

[Helen Thomas]

The Stranglers
Post-Psychedilic, Pre-Punk anthemic UK Rock group
Golden Brown , Strange Little Girl etc.

The Stranglers
From Wikipedia great music , dubious racist and sexist lyrics.

No they wouldn't top the bill for me. Too Punk rock / Goth rock. Kajagoogoo - whatever happened to them? They were as far punk as I went or remember going
Too shy shy
Hang on now

[ September 01, 2004: Message edited by: Helen Thomas ]