Ten Great Bands Of All Time: NAME 'EM

In My Humble Opinion
1

Here’s an opinion question for you; who are the ten greatest musical acts in pop/rock history?

Set your own criteria, except for this; don’t just rattle off your personal favourite ten best (some of the ones I named I hate, and my favourite band I did not name.) Try naming the ten greatest in terms of their status in pop/rock history. Limit yourself to definable bands or musicians; let’s keep this a list of acts, not so-and-so who was a great guitarist playing backup for eight musicians. You may name a significant musician who published some of his work in cooperation with others (e.g. Sting/The Police.)

you can name your Top 15 or 25, too, if’n ya want.

I’ll rip off my list, stressing that I haven’t put more than twenty minutes of thought into it:

The Ten Greatest Pop/Rock Acts Ever

  1. The Beatles
  2. Elvis Presley
  3. Michael Jackson
  4. The Rolling Stones
  5. U2
  6. The Beach Boys
  7. Jimi Hendrix
  8. Madonna
  9. CCR
  10. Prince
    I’m surprised at how much I DON’T like my list. Disco, rap, and heavy metal are entirely unrepresented, and the list seems heavy on the 60’s and 80’s. And there aren’t enough women.

Thoughts?

2

Beatles
Chuck Berry
Byrds
Creedence Clearwater Revival
Jimi Hendrix
Kinks
Led Zeppelin
Roy Orbison
Elvis Presley
Pink Floyd

3

1 Beatles
2 Led Zepplin
3 Rolling Stones
4 Aerosmith
5 U2
6 Pink Floyd
7 Doors
8 Jimi Hendrix
9 Elton John
10 Elvis
11 Metallica
12 Beach Boys
13 Creedence
14 Temptations
15 Chuck Berry
16 Heart
17 Eric Clapton
18 Nirvana
19 Tina Turner
20 Van Halen

4

The Beach Boys
The Beatles
CCR
The Doors
Bob Dylan
Marvin Gaye
Janis Joplin
Michael Jackson/Jackson 5
The Police
Elvis Presley
The Rolling Stones
The Supremes

5

[ol]
[li]Buddy Holly[/li][li]Beatles[/li][li]Led Zeppelin[/li][li]Rolling Stones[/li][li]Michael Jackson[/li][li]Ozzy Osbourne[/li][li]Jimi Hendrix[/li][li]Pink Floyd[/li][li]Eric Clapton[/li][li]Barry Manilow[/li][/ol]

6
  1. Bob Dylan
  2. The Beatles
  3. Rolling Stones
  4. Led Zepplin
  5. Elvis
  6. Nat King Cole
  7. Simon and Garfunkel
  8. Jimi Hendrix
  9. Duke Ellington
    10.The Who

Honorable Mention: Pink Floyd, Nirvana, Buddy Holly, Michael Jackson, Marvin Gaye, the Temptations, the Supremes, and a few dozen others I’m too tired to type right now.

7

Genesis (pre’80) / Peter Gabriel
Pink Floyd
Roxy Music / Brian Eno
Japan / David Sylvian
Eagles
Talking Heads
Dire Straits
U2
Cranberries
Queen

8
  1. The Beatles
  2. Bob Dylan
  3. The Rolling Stones
  4. The Band
  5. Jimi Hendrix
  6. Bruce Springsteen
  7. CCR
  8. U2
  9. Van Morrison
  10. Elvis
9

  1. The Beatles

  2. Rush

  3. Pink Floyd

  4. Rolling Stones

  5. Creedence Clearwater Revival

  6. Led Zeppelin

  7. Elvis Presley

  8. Yes

  9. Camel

  10. The Beach Boys

10

10 bands? I think I can pull that off. This won’t exactly span all musical genres, but I like it.

  1. CCR
  2. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
  3. Beatles
  4. Jimi Hendrix
  5. Doors
  6. De La Soul
  7. Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band
  8. George Thorogood and the Destroyers
  9. Pearl Jam
  10. Led Zeppelin
11

In no particular order…

Grateful Dead
Santana
Queen
Eric Clapton
Rolling Stones
ELO
Jimmy Buffett (nothing like a live show…)
U2
REM
Beatles

There’s probably about a dozen more that belong on this list…but I’m not even sure where to begin ranking any of them…

12

CCR on nearly every list? I don’t get their significance (which I think was the intent of the OP). Perhaps we should amend the question to add that you have to give your reason for inclusion as well.

My list, my rationale, and my favorite song.

Beatles : expanded genre from 3 minute pop song. “A Day in the Life.”

Beach Boys: besides practically inventing the “surf sound” they revolutionized recording techniques and, like the Beatles, blew the genre open. “God Only Knows”

Bob Dylan - proving you can say more in a rock and roll song than just moon, spoon, June. “Positively 4th Street”

Rolling Stones - they took American blues and R&B and fed it back to America from an English perspective. “Gimme Shelter”

Elvis Presley - take country twang, gospel holy-rolling, R&B sexual energy, add several thousand screaming girls, shake well, serve hot. “Mystery Train”

Aretha Franklin - lays it right out there on the line, no bullshit, proving that a woman can be just as tough (if not tougher) than any man. The true Queen of Soul. “Think”

Led Zeppelin - crunchy and loud. Let’s see just what a Gibson and a stack of Marshall amps will do. “Trampled Under Foot”

The Band - North American folk heritage mixed with a heavy dose of Dylan. Not all hippies took ten minute guitar solos while staring at their amp. “Stage Fright”

Marvin Gaye - took Motown in a different direction. “What’s Going On”

Iggy Pop - the return of the angry young man. Let’s strip it all back down. “Lust for Life”

13

In no particular order (because I don’t think rankings are are possible:[ul][li]Chuck Berry- The guy essentially invented Rock and Roll. He has to be on the list.[/li][li]The Beatles- For obvious reasons.[/li][li]Elvis Presley- did more to popularize Rock ‘n’ Roll than any other performer.[/li][li]The Rolling Stones- Remarkable longevity, and the greatest live performers. They get my vote as the best Rock ‘n’ Roll band.[/li][li]Bob Dylan- Introduced poetry to Rock ‘n’ Roll.[/li][li]R.E.M.- The Beatles of Alternative Music. They were the first to make the transition from college radio to the big-time (all the while remaining true to themselves) and paved the way for all the grunge and alternative acts of the 90’s. Oh yeah, and their music kicks ass.[/li][li]The Pretenders- Chryssie Hynde is the true queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll, IMHO.[/li][li]Led Zepplin- Can’t say I’m a big fan, but I have to give them their due for their popularity and influence.[/li][li]Pearl Jam- The best band of the past decade, IMO. They have sacrificed popularity to fight some of the powers that be in the music industry, and I tip my hat to them for that.[/li]The Clash- The Ramones or the Sex Pistols might be credited for inventing the genre, but The Clash perfected punk rock.[/ul]

14

In roughly chronological order:

  1. Louis Armstrong, with all of his bands

  2. Duke Ellington, for wedding popular music with high art.

3)That band that featured Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie (I’m letting my jazz ignorance show)

  1. Aretha Franklin. Aretha bridged the gap between the hard-luck victimized ladies of the blues and todays in-control divas. Okay, so she could be held responsable for Mariah Carey, but I think that every artist from Mary J. Bligh to Ani DiFranco owes her.

5)The Beatles, for giving us rock and roll as we know it.

  1. Bob Dylan, who modernized the troubadours.

  2. Eric Clapton, solo and with collaborators

  3. The Greatful Dead, for being geniune grass-roots superstars. Truly the people’s band

  4. Led Zepplin- sums up anything anyone wants to say about heavy metal

  5. Parliament-Funkadelic- begins and ends disco, funk, rap and hip-hop.

  6. Talking Heads. Don’t personally care for most of their stuff, but can’t deny the influence (kind of my feelings on Dylan)

  7. REM and U2 should share credit for making alternative mainstream.

    Honorable mention: a few of my own personal demi-gods and -goddesses: Etta James, Van Morrison, Kate Bush, Elvis Costello, Phish (Phish are four of the most inspired and technically gifted musicians around.) And who woulda thought in the eighties that the Beastie Boys and the Red Hot Chili Peppers would still be making decent music- they are both true to their roots and have grown musically (unlike, alas, U2).

    Recently, I listened to the old Peter Gabriel tape that had Shock the Monkey and I Have the Touch again after about 12 years, and was shocked at how pre-industrial it was. Trent Reznor must have listened to a lot of Peter Gabriel in junior high.

15

I based my choices on five fundamental criteria:

  1. Popularity during their run,
  2. Influence on contemporary and future music,
  3. General quality of their music, especially in terms of the volume of genuinely outstanding work,
  4. Chronologically broad-based appeal (e.g. if nobody remember it, who cares if it sold well in 1967?)
  5. Non-musical influence or special cases.

In the case of CCR I think they get a lot of points on 3 and 4. They made a lot of genuinely magnificent music and it’s still very popular.

Like you, I included the Beatles, Beach Boys and Rolling Stones because they scored well in every respect; all were insanely popular, made huge amounts of great, timeless music, and were genuine innovators in terms of the direction and sound of music.

Elvis Presley is much the same.

I included Michael Jackson because

  • His level of popularity, especially considering international appeal, is unprecedented in pop/rock history
  • He was the greatest innovator of all time in the creation and development of music videos and changed the circa-1982 direction of pop music to a refined, technological style
  • He made a lot of outstanding popular music

I included U2 for their sheer volume of innovative, outstanding music and wide international popularity, and I felt I needed another 80’s/90’s representative, shifted ahead of Michael Jackson a bit. I included Madonna for sheer weight of popularity and her impact on music video and 80’s music.

In retrospect I’d take Prince off my list and replace him with Chuck Berry, who had more early impact. I might also find room for Led Zeppelin.

I liked your choices and rationale. Actually, I’m impressed with all the lists so far.

**
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16

No one’s mentioned Cream yet?

17

To rattle on a little more, if you look at my list, you will notice no Elvis. I feel that Elvis, charasmatic as he was, is really overrated, both as a musician and as an influence. Rock and roll would be exactly the same both in the fifties and now if Elvis had stuck with the truck driving.

A lot of my college age friends would list Nirvana on this list. Nirvana is considered the turning point of American music; every single freaking has-been on VH1's Where Are They Now blames Nirvana for the death of their own career, but Nirvana wasn't doing anything in 1991 that the Replacements weren't doing in 1984.
18

Beatles - For both timeless quality, and historical impact, perfect marriage of art and commerce. I don’t think their musical influence is as strong as some of these other bands, (except in the case of Oasis) because they were so diverse in their output (Rocky Racoon and Helter Skelter on the same album).

Led Zepplin - hate their stuff but they have had a huge influence on music since then - Most of what we call metail wouldn’t exist without Zepplin

The Clash - Best Punk Band Ever, honorable mention to Iggy Pop and The Sex Pistols

Stones - Live performances, longevity, strength of catalog, but of course earn demerits for birthing Arena Rock as a genre and concert going experience.

NWA/Dr Dre - Gansta Rap has yet to stop reverberating

Chic - Are there really any dance tracks that don’t owe something to this band?

U2/REM - Took “College Music” mainstream, which for better or worse has left us with yet another radio format (“alternative”) that won’t even play their stuff

The David Cassidy Marketing Juggernaut - thru New Edition, NKOTB right up to N’Sync and Britney - Bubblegum is never denied for long

Nirvana - denied bubblegum between NKOTB and Backstreet Boys, what they did, with a dose of rap, constitutes most of “alternative” today.

Other Mentions -

Berry Gordy - for motown
Teddy Riley - for New Jack Swing, the non rap side of today’s R&B
Chuck Berry - Whom all of the above ripped off
Elvis - Who made it all possible
Prince/Madonna - for the MTV generation
Bands I like with little historical import/ongoing influence

Pink Floyd - along with Genesis and Rush, the only good things about Art Rock -

The Police - Post Punk Ska Band to Biggest Rock Band in the world in 5 albums, cool stuff, but has it really met the test of time.

The Eagles - Don’t know why I like it, I just do.

Pop Will Eat Itself - a band ahead of its time, techno beats, rap delivery, enough pop culture referencing to make Dennis Miller’s head spin, all by 1989.

Devo - a band that is still ahead of its time

19

The Eagles
Led Zepplin
Cream (I enjoy “White Room”, but they’re using it in a computer commercial, which is kinda depressing.)
The Beatles
Credence Clearwater Revival
Eric Clapton (Layla. That explains itself.)
Jimmy Buffett
Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band (Damn good music)
Queen
The Rolling Stones
The Mamas and the Papas
Fleetwood Mac
Aretha Franklin (even though I hate her)
Streisand (Why people like her is beyond me)
The Police
The Who
The Greatful Dead
Jefferson Airplane/Starship/whatever they are now
Buddy Holly (He seems to have influenced a lot of people)
Bruce Springsteen (He wrote songs people could relate to)

So many to list, so little time.

20

I’m not entirely sure that I agree with the Nirvana / Replacements comparison. (Don’t get me wrong, the Replacements definately have a legitimate claim to hold a spot in this list.) I would say, more accurately IMO, that Nirvana wasn’t doing anything that the Pixies weren’t doing in 88-89