What's the best band ever?

Cafe Society
21

Talking rock and pop bands only right? No Duke Ellington or Miles Davis or other guys like that.

Well, The Beatles are the first to come to mind.

Classic Genesis was just fabulous bfut they’re on record saying The Beatles were their greatest influence.

I would also say Dylan but he’s a guy and not a band properly speaking and that also rules out Chico Buarque, who ismaybe the best lyricist I ever heard with a great sense of melody and a very nice voice.

Both The Who and The Rolling Stones are serious contenders.

And last of all, Can and Roxy Music were pretty great.

22

The Who circa Who’s Next is pretty tough to beat.

23

ZepZepZepZepZepZepZepZepZepZepZepZepZepZEP!!!

Tragically Hip? WEEZER? Throw me a friggin’ bone here, people.

24

I think you have to look at a lot of different factors to come up with a reasonable suggestion as to who is “the best.” I think the MAIN factors are:
1- musical ability, including a) singing, b) songwriting, and c) instrument playing ability.
2- How good a show did they put on live? Boston and Def Leppard put out some great LPs, but they were better in the studio than live.
3- How much did they influence the fans of their era? I mean, how many 18 year old guys saw a used electric guitar in a pawn shop window and bought it, hoping to someday play like THIS band did?
With all of the above in mind, my selections are, in order:

1- the Beatles. No surprise there. They weren’t that great live compared to some later groups, but in categories 1b) & 3 they are and probably will always be in a class by themselves.

2- Metallica. Very strong in all categories, but especially in 2 & 3. I personally know half a dozen guys who bought guitars so they could learn to play “Enter Sandman.”

3- Black Sabbath. The best combination of 1a, 1b, and 1c of any of these groups. Tony Iommi was a better guitar player than any of the Beatles or Kirk Hammet (but NOT Dave Mustaine) and Ozzy was a better singer in a lot of ways than Lennon, McCartney, or Hetfield. Their best songs (Paranoid, Iron Man, War Pigs) are as good as any the Beatles wrote.

What these bands have in common is that they either invented a form of music (thrash for Metallica) or revitalized the music scene by giving people a sound they couldn’t get anywhere else. (the Beatles, Sabbath).

There are some bands that are great even though they don’t meet my personal criteria. I think those are:

Led Zepplin. Better at playing their instruments than the Beatles, put on as good a show with less technical help than Metallica had available. “Stairway to Heaven” was to boomers what “Fade to Black” or “Enter Sandman” is to Gen X-ers.

AC/DC. So unique they’re hard to rip off. This also limits their influence. If nobody can copy them, how can anybody be influenced by them? Some have come close though.

25

The Doors. And you all know why, so I don’t even have to elaborate.
:smiley:

26

Nirvana

U2

27

Yes, the Tragically Hip were better than Led Zeppelin. They were also better than Pink Floyd, The Clash, Depeche Mode, the Smiths, The Who, Nirvana, Metallica, and Queen. (In retrospect, I must say I should have ranked U2 along with them, the Stones, and the Beatles.) You are free to disagree, but the OP asked our opinions, and that was mine, and I have listened quite extensively to every Zep recording you can find, so it’s not an opinion based on ignorance or temporal chauvinism.

28

I don’t know that it ever had a formal name, but its members were: Jo Jones, drums; Walter Page, bass; Freddie Green, guitar; Teddy Wilson, piano; Buster Bailey, clarinet; Buck Clayton, trumpet; Lester Young, tenor saxophone; and Billie Holliday, vocals.

Other worthy bands were: the Duke Ellington Orchestra, the John Coltrane Quartet (McCoy Tyner on piano and Elvin Jones on drums!!), Jimi Hendrix when he was accompanied by Billy Cox on bass and Noel Redding on drums, The Temptations, the Charlie Parker Quintet when Bird was accompanied by Fats Navarro on trumpet and Bud Powell on piano, and the Allman Brothers Band.

29

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, who are being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame later this month.

reoch, I like Weezer too. They are one of the most original bands to come along in quite a while. I almost cried when I heard the Olsen twins covered one of their songs… Island in the Sun, I think. ::shudder::

30

I’ve been listening to U2 only for the past six weeks. I can now say that they are, in my opinion, the finest rock & roll band ever. The lads would probably diagree, though.

I was very excited to see them at the Super Bowl.

I also think Van Morrison is tremendous.

31

Okay, firstly, the Beatles, Pink Floyd and Depeche Mode - wonderful bands, all. Metallica is and was okay, but was never really, really good, IMHO.

Best band recently - tied between Nirvana, Depeche Mode and Einstürzende Neubauten (especially live). They’re all equally good, IMHO, but in the past and for the medal of best band ever - Beatles to the gazillionth power. Without a doubt.

32

Yep, the Beatles are first, now and always. It probably helps to be able to remember their impact as it happened. Everybody else was just playing catch up, even though the Who and Stones and a bunch of other British Invasion bands did fantastic stuff.

But I’m surprised no one has mentioned Steely Dan. Over the course of their original seven albums, they probably had the highest percentage of good and great songs in their catalog of any band ever, and that includes the Beatles, who did a number of mediocre covers before going all original and changing the world in the process.

33

Before they released the piece o’ scheiss Everyday , I would have voted for the Dave Matthews Band. But that CD was so bad my roommate took a shit on it and sent it back to the record company.
I lament the passing of my favorite band. :frowning:

34

Black Sabbath. Or maybe the Doors. Or Judas Priest (or possibly Fight, Priest vocalist Rob Halford’s second band). Or perhaps Alice Cooper? Hell, I don’t know, but I think it’s probably Sabbath.

35

Pink Floyd or Tool.

36

the beatles were overrated. sure, few good albums, but they made a lot of crap. o-blah-di oh-blah-da anyone? and what was with those stupid suits.

the rolling stones became a joke.

led zeppelin spawned the worst musical genre of all time: hair metal.

the clash were good until they stopped making punk music. (this is radio clash? dude, give me white riot over this anytime)

pink floyd?

oh, that wasn’t a joke? you know, if the eagles had plugged all their guitars into weird pedals and played their songs backwards, you would have got pink floyd. perfect example: time. great intro, then it had to become a song and fell into the trap of bland rock.

so who is the best band of all time?

maybe it was bon jovi?

maybe it wasn’t.

thus, i find there is only one contender for the coveted position.

the white stripes

prove me wrong.