# In your "Objective" opinion, which are the 5 greatest Rock Bands of all time? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 15, 2008, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-your-objective-opinion-which-are-the-5-greatest-rock-bands-of-all-time/452983 "2008-06-15T04:49:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![MadTheSwine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MadTheSwine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadTheSwine)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2008, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-your-objective-opinion-which-are-the-5-greatest-rock-bands-of-all-time/452983/21 "2008-06-15T13:31:29Z")
1.Queen The rest. Pink Floyd Marillion(with Fish) Beatles. Rolling Stones ---
**Author:** ![Omi\_no\_Kami](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a88e4f/32.png) [@Omi\_no\_Kami](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omi_no_Kami)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2008, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-your-objective-opinion-which-are-the-5-greatest-rock-bands-of-all-time/452983/22 "2008-06-15T13:36:43Z")
Adding “I like and/or respect them” as a critical component: 1. The Grateful Dead (For their groundbreaking A/V setup) 2. X-Japan (not that original, but they reformed the heck out of Japanese rock) 3. Smashing Pumpkins (Because that entire debacle with the therapist was unbelievably funny) 4. The Beatles (Why not?) 5. Mongolian Chop Squad (Because I can’t think of a fifth, and I absolutely loved the show.) ---
**Author:** ![Octalcode](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Octalcode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octalcode)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2008, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-your-objective-opinion-which-are-the-5-greatest-rock-bands-of-all-time/452983/23 "2008-06-15T15:14:24Z")
1 Beatles 2 New York Dolls 3 Stones 4 Ramones 5 Humble Pie ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2008, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-your-objective-opinion-which-are-the-5-greatest-rock-bands-of-all-time/452983/24 "2008-06-15T15:26:50Z")
The Beatles The Rolling Stones Black Sabbath The Jam (Preferred to the Clash, but that’s just IMO) The Pixies (Nirvana? Yeah Right…) ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2008, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-your-objective-opinion-which-are-the-5-greatest-rock-bands-of-all-time/452983/25 "2008-06-15T15:53:00Z")
The Who Metallica Rolling Stones Guns and Roses Iron Maiden ---
**Author:** ![kevja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/aeb1de/32.png) [@kevja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kevja)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2008, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-your-objective-opinion-which-are-the-5-greatest-rock-bands-of-all-time/452983/26 "2008-06-15T19:03:01Z")
1. The Beatles 2. The Rolling Stones 3. Led Zeppelin 4. The Who 5. Guns N Roses ---
**Author:** ![WarmNPrickly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d78d45/32.png) [@WarmNPrickly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WarmNPrickly)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2008, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-your-objective-opinion-which-are-the-5-greatest-rock-bands-of-all-time/452983/27 "2008-06-15T19:28:05Z")
Pink Floyd The Beatles Black Sabbath Janes Addiction (Because in my book they beat Nirvana by a long shot.) Buddy Holly ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2008, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-your-objective-opinion-which-are-the-5-greatest-rock-bands-of-all-time/452983/28 "2008-06-15T19:52:30Z")
1. The Beatles 2. The Rolling Stones 3. The Who 4. Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band 5. The Kinks Number of albums sold has not a thing to do with greatness. In the immortal words of Will Rogers: “A majority means nothing. Sometimes all the fools are on the same side.” ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2008, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-your-objective-opinion-which-are-the-5-greatest-rock-bands-of-all-time/452983/29 "2008-06-15T20:17:25Z")
Who Beatles Floyd Stones Led Zeppelin Combine the audio/video catalogs of these guys, and you have a master’s course in the bands that paved the way for almost everyone else. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2008, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-your-objective-opinion-which-are-the-5-greatest-rock-bands-of-all-time/452983/30 "2008-06-15T20:46:58Z")
1. The Beatles 2. The Rolling Stones 3. The Who 4. Genesis 5. Pink Floyd ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2008, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-your-objective-opinion-which-are-the-5-greatest-rock-bands-of-all-time/452983/31 "2008-06-15T20:51:17Z")
1. Beatles 2. Rolling Stones 3. The Who 4. Pink Floyd 5. The Grateful Dead ---
**Author:** ![Sunshine\_and\_Smiles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Sunshine\_and\_Smiles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunshine_and_Smiles)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2008, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-your-objective-opinion-which-are-the-5-greatest-rock-bands-of-all-time/452983/32 "2008-06-15T21:07:45Z")
Led Zeppelin. The Beatles. The Rolling Stones. Pink Floyd. Wilco. ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2008, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-your-objective-opinion-which-are-the-5-greatest-rock-bands-of-all-time/452983/33 "2008-06-15T23:34:58Z")
1. Beatles 2. Zeppelin 3. Ramones 4. Nirvana 5. Zappa I think the OP’s list is close to what “the average classic rock fan” would say. A very good list. Joe ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2008, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-your-objective-opinion-which-are-the-5-greatest-rock-bands-of-all-time/452983/34 "2008-06-16T00:09:22Z")
1. The Rolling Stones (Surprised this one isn’t on _everybody_’s list. They’re as much of a gimme as The Beatles, IMHO) 2. The Who 3. Led Zeppelin 4. The Beatles The first 4 were easy, but I’m in a bit of a quandary about #5. In 1988, I would have definitely chosen Pink Floyd. But it’s 2008, and somehow, they seem a lot less “great” than they used to. I do like a lot of the choices in this thread, but none of them seem quite right. I think I’ll throw my lot in with the OP and include the chronically underappreciated… 1. Queen ---
**Author:** ![picker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/picker/32/13969_2.png) [@picker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picker)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2008, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-your-objective-opinion-which-are-the-5-greatest-rock-bands-of-all-time/452983/35 "2008-06-16T00:33:02Z")
Beatles Led Zeppelin Grateful Dead Rolling Stones Pink Floyd ---
**Author:** ![Frustrated\_Wonderer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a4c791/32.png) [@Frustrated\_Wonderer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frustrated_Wonderer)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2008, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-your-objective-opinion-which-are-the-5-greatest-rock-bands-of-all-time/452983/36 "2008-06-16T01:02:41Z")
I’ve only tallied the bands I listed as top 5 plus a new addition to “the group” (I also include my vote in the tally btw) there are too many individual bands to list them all. So far the SDMB has aranged the following groups in this order: # 1 The Beatles - 26 votes # 2 The Rolling Stones - 20 votes # 3 Pink Floyd - 17 votes # 4 Led Zeppelin - 15 votes #5 The Who - 14 votes #6 Queen - 9 votes The Who, by popular vote or demand or whatever you call it, has 5 more votes than Queen. Of course, this means nothing, but it is interesting nonetheless. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2008, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-your-objective-opinion-which-are-the-5-greatest-rock-bands-of-all-time/452983/37 "2008-06-16T02:53:27Z")
The Beatles The Rolling Stones The Who The Ramones–either them or The Clash because of their taking music in a whole other direction. I was never a real punk fan, but this was new and innovative. The Stone Ponies–because they gave us both The Eagles and Linda Ronstadt and mixed white country/folk along with R & B and all that black music ripped off by all those white boys. Dare I say that the Stone Ponies paved the way for Lynyrd Skynyrd and the like? Ok, if I’m full of it, I then choose Zeppelin, Queen, Who, Beatles and Stones. I suppose U2 needs to be in there somewhere… ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Credible](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a8b319/32.png) [@Justin\_Credible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Credible)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2008, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-your-objective-opinion-which-are-the-5-greatest-rock-bands-of-all-time/452983/38 "2008-06-16T03:00:52Z")
1)Rush 2)Beatles 3)The Who 4)Led Zep 5)STP ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2008, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-your-objective-opinion-which-are-the-5-greatest-rock-bands-of-all-time/452983/39 "2008-06-16T03:31:23Z")
1. The Beatles 2. Led Zeppelin 3. The Rolling Stones 4. U2 5. Pink Floyd It’s tough, very tough, to keep it to five. ---
**Author:** ![Qwertyasdfg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/ecc23a/32.png) [@Qwertyasdfg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qwertyasdfg)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2008, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-your-objective-opinion-which-are-the-5-greatest-rock-bands-of-all-time/452983/40 "2008-06-16T03:40:36Z")
I respect other opinions, but I don’t really see how one can “objectively” find Queen the greatest rock band of all time. They’ve got many great songs, to be sure, but their catalog is pretty bloated and when their formula missed it was pretty bad. There are many other artists with similar or greater influence, consistency, and awesomeness. Such as: Bob Dylan The Beatles Led Zeppelin The Clash Pink Floyd where I have weighted heavily towards influence and popularity over the more subjective idea of awesomeness. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-your-objective-opinion-which-are-the-5-greatest-rock-bands-of-all-time/452983.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-your-objective-opinion-which-are-the-5-greatest-rock-bands-of-all-time/452983.md?page=3)