# The greatest American rock band of all time? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 2, 2015, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-american-rock-band-of-all-time/729690 "2015-09-02T11:55:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2015, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-american-rock-band-of-all-time/729690/101 "2015-09-03T00:06:43Z")
How about the holy trinity of seventies rock: Kansas, Foreigner, and Journey? Blues Brothers? ---
**Author:** ![Soul\_Brother\_Number\_Two](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/soul_brother_number_two/32/3515_2.png) [@Soul\_Brother\_Number\_Two](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soul_Brother_Number_Two)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2015, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-american-rock-band-of-all-time/729690/102 "2015-09-03T00:12:45Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Guns N’ Roses. Ripped off Aerosmith pretty egregiously. Listen to the second side of Rocks. I vote Aerosmith. Very influential. Pixies are right up there. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2015, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-american-rock-band-of-all-time/729690/103 "2015-09-03T00:30:31Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > How about the holy trinity of seventies rock: Kansas, Foreigner, and Journey? I’d trade all of them for Three Dog Night. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2015, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-american-rock-band-of-all-time/729690/104 "2015-09-03T00:31:42Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > Beyond that, I would go with The Beach Boys\*, The Ramones, Talking Heads (more than Velvet Underground) Nirvana. It feels like they are the longest shadows in their eras. I love Aerosmith’s first four, and the peak Allman’s, too. > \*If we can include the Beach Boys could we include the Wrecking Crew? 😉 If I have my memories correct, the first seven or so Beach Boys albums were done by the band itself and that’s the Beach Boys sound as we know it. Brian phased in the Crew over the next couple when he stayed off the tour and spent the time in the studio. When I think of the greatest band, though, I think in terms of musicianship rather than songwriting. That would put the Allmans up on top. If we’re going by songwriting it’s a whole nother list. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2015, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-american-rock-band-of-all-time/729690/105 "2015-09-03T00:40:15Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > their Greatest Hits 1971-1975 is the best selling album of all time in the U.S. And you _all_ own or have owned a copy. ADMIT IT! Greatest Hits 1971-1975 was the top selling album _of the 20th Century_. Also in the top 10 was Hotel California. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2015, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-american-rock-band-of-all-time/729690/106 "2015-09-03T00:46:11Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > How about the holy trinity of seventies rock: Kansas, Foreigner, and Journey? > > Blues Brothers? Kansas? I don’t think they get all the votes from their immediate families. Great band, but outside of a couple albums, they were an acquired taste and largely ignored by the mainstream. Foreigner? Really? Half the original line up were English. Journey? Now _they_ may have a claim! ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2015, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-american-rock-band-of-all-time/729690/107 "2015-09-03T00:53:05Z")
> [@drad\_dog](#): > > I can see where you’re coming from. But to divorce this from musical quality would make it meaningless. It’s the musical quality that is meaningless in a discussion like this. It is too subjective. Too much variation in personal taste. We could never get a consensus that way. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2015, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-american-rock-band-of-all-time/729690/108 "2015-09-03T01:02:04Z")
The Doobie Brothers (1970-'82 incarnation) were contenders. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2015, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-american-rock-band-of-all-time/729690/109 "2015-09-03T01:58:19Z")
> [@Typo\_Negative](#): > > And you _all_ own or have owned a copy. ADMIT IT! > > Greatest Hits 1971-1975 was the top selling album _of the 20th Century_. Also in the top 10 was Hotel California. Nope. Never. And this [Wikipedia page](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_albums) says it’s number six. Is Fleetwood Mac (tied for seventh) considered American post Lindsey and Stevie? Buckingham is fine at guitar himself. Every song on those hit albums has good guitar and every one sounds different from the others. How many bands can say that? ---
**Author:** ![up\_the\_junction](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f1d935/32.png) [@up\_the\_junction](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/up_the_junction)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2015, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-american-rock-band-of-all-time/729690/110 "2015-09-03T02:03:03Z")
I’m not an American and I was going to suggest The Band but there’s a cunning Canadian lurking there as well … ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2015, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-american-rock-band-of-all-time/729690/111 "2015-09-03T02:31:36Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Nah, their first three albums were solid and rockin’. They’re not really my cuppa from that “grunge” genre (Soundgarden is my preferred from the bunch usually associated with that time and place), but they did good, and they put on a very good show and are gracious and appreciative towards the fans. Soundgarden is also my favorite of those bands. I wish I had seen them back in the day. I did see Alice in Chains at Lollapalooza in 1993, and they put on a good show. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2015, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-american-rock-band-of-all-time/729690/112 "2015-09-03T02:38:45Z")
> [@Typo\_Negative](#): > > Foreigner? Really? Half the original line up were English. I considered that, too, but they were founded in New York City, so I’d give them a pass as being American. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2015, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-american-rock-band-of-all-time/729690/113 "2015-09-03T02:49:48Z")
Kind of like The Pretenders. Great band but just a bit too English kinda sorta. ---
**Author:** ![Sarahfeena](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarahfeena/32/519_2.png) [@Sarahfeena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarahfeena)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2015, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-american-rock-band-of-all-time/729690/114 "2015-09-03T03:21:50Z")
> [@Helena330](#): > > What is wrong with you guys? NO MENTION of Foo Fighters?? > > Maybe not the best, but Heart needs a mention here, too. I was going to mention the Foos. Not THE greatest maybe but a runner up for sure. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2015, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-american-rock-band-of-all-time/729690/115 "2015-09-03T03:22:07Z")
Although I’ve thrown out my main votes, honorable mentions might include Television, The Byrds, Love, Metallica, Fugazi, Cheap Trick. Even though it’s not really in my sweet spot stylistically, I’m having a hard time finding an argument against Van Halen when considering all the criteria. ---
**Author:** ![Sarahfeena](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarahfeena/32/519_2.png) [@Sarahfeena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarahfeena)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2015, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-american-rock-band-of-all-time/729690/116 "2015-09-03T03:26:01Z")
> [@drad\_dog](#): > > So far Pearl Jam is the worst band to be nominated. > > I can’t even express how much I dislike them. > > “Oh No…he’s going to kill everybody in the classroom!!! You can tell by when the singers eyes go back up in his head! Intense” It’s rather weird to judge a 20+ year career based on the band’s first single. And not even the song but the video! Pearl Jam is another close runner-up IMO. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2015, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-american-rock-band-of-all-time/729690/117 "2015-09-03T03:44:37Z")
> [@Sarahfeena](#): > > It’s rather weird to judge a 20+ year career based on the band’s first single. And not even the song but the video! Pearl Jam is another close runner-up IMO. I formed my opinion about them when I saw Eddie at a Bob Dylan anniversary special. He did “Masters of War” and he did the whole eye rolling 'I’m about to explode!!!" routine there, to one of Dylan’s least interesting tunes. He didn’t have a clue. I’ve heard plenty of this band. They are the modern version of Grand Funk, but without the songs. I’m with Cobain on this one. ---
**Author:** ![Robert163](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4af34b/32.png) [@Robert163](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robert163)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2015, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-american-rock-band-of-all-time/729690/118 "2015-09-03T03:55:25Z")
Interesting fact: There has now been more time elapsed between 2015 and the release of Nirvana Nevermind than there was between Nevermind (1991) and the release of the first black sabbath album (1970) ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2015, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-american-rock-band-of-all-time/729690/119 "2015-09-03T07:58:48Z")
> [@drad\_dog](#): > > Mellow is in the ear of the beholder. I might think that a lack of peaks and valleys in a record means that it is mellower (Maybe I should say “more somnolent”) regardless of the attitude struck. Even if the metronome is faster, or the amp is on 11. It has less interest. Some play real fast and lose all the feel in the rush. To me that’s like being asleep, esp across a whole record. You know, you can say that. You might even believe it. But that’s far from making it true. “Mellow” has a pretty non-ambiguous meaning in this context, and it’s not a synonym for uninteresting. > [@drad\_dog](#): > > They are not from the same era to me at all. ZZ top is “post Creedence” in many ways. 5 Years was a long time then. > > My definition of the GARB is not just based on “Rocking” but on a lot of things around musical qualities. The idea that bands should only rock loud and fast and there was a failure or weakness in not doing so came about after the mid 70s and punk. By then most music really blew. Hmmm… Sorry, but my definition of GARBOAT has to hold rocking first and foremost. If a particular band’s catalog has lots of non-rocking material, it’s going to hurt them when they go up against the folks who still pushed the form without trying to make it chamber music or folk. Rock at its core isn’t about being complex or smart, it’s about making people shake their butt in a particular way. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2015, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-american-rock-band-of-all-time/729690/120 "2015-09-03T08:39:28Z")
If the Wrecking Crew gets a nomination, I submit The Swampers, aka The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section. 75 gold records should count for something. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-american-rock-band-of-all-time/729690.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-american-rock-band-of-all-time/729690.md?page=7)