# Who are the strongest contenders for the title of "greatest American rock band ever"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 4, 2018, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-strongest-contenders-for-the-title-of-greatest-american-rock-band-ever/813547 "2018-05-04T02:32:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2018, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-strongest-contenders-for-the-title-of-greatest-american-rock-band-ever/813547/61 "2018-05-04T17:19:21Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > Frank Zappa was born in Baltimore, the son of an immigrant who worked in a chemical plant. The family kept gas masks in the house in case something happened at the plant. > > Is that soul-crushing and blue-collar enough? Zappa’s father was actually a high-ranking military officer and scientist, not just a blue collar guy who worked at a chemical plant. Regardless, though, everything **Ace** said is nonsense. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2018, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-strongest-contenders-for-the-title-of-greatest-american-rock-band-ever/813547/62 "2018-05-04T17:35:45Z")
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. 45 years of unparalleled, brilliant live shows. Check out [KItty’s Back](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6JLWmiyF4I) from a few years ago. Still killing it. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2018, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-strongest-contenders-for-the-title-of-greatest-american-rock-band-ever/813547/63 "2018-05-04T18:00:43Z")
> [@Jacquernagy](#): > > Zappa’s father was actually a high-ranking military officer and scientist, not just a blue collar guy who worked at a chemical plant. > > Regardless, though, everything **Ace** said is nonsense. You consider Robert Johnson and Lead Belly nonsense? Rock is the bastard child of the blues. Always has been and always will be. The Stones and Beatles have always talked about the influence of the blues on their music. ---
**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:** [May 4, 2018, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-strongest-contenders-for-the-title-of-greatest-american-rock-band-ever/813547/64 "2018-05-04T18:05:48Z")
> [@Lucas\_Jackson](#): > > Allman Brothers. > > I do not get the love or respect about the Ramones in regards to greatest band. I really don’t. As mentioned above I can’t name one of their songs. Was Lola one? Funny enough, I just heard “Sheena is a Punk Rocker” as part of a commercial on WXRT. The ones that get radio play around here are “Blitzkrieg Bop,” “I Wanna Be Sedated,” “Sheena is a Punk Rocker,” “Rock and Roll High School,” and “Beat on the Brat.” Of course, you have to be listened to the right radio station, but that’s all part of WXRT’s rotation (they’re classified as an “adult alternative album” station with the slogan “Chicago’s finest rock.”) Like I said, they’re not top five on my personal list, but the influence of their music reaches far and wide, them being pretty much the godfathers of punk music. As far as influential American rock groups go, they have to be top three, but I really can’t think of one more influential. And in all my travels, I would find teenagers and adults all over the world with Ramones tee-shirts on, so it’s not like their influence is confined to the US or anything like that. I’ve seen 'em in Australia, Croatia, Hungary, Poland, Germany, the UK, and I’m sure others. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2018, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-strongest-contenders-for-the-title-of-greatest-american-rock-band-ever/813547/65 "2018-05-04T18:37:00Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I would consider all those rock bands. That’s okay. We clearly have different definitions of “rock band” then. ---
**Author:** ![Clawdio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d07c76/32.png) [@Clawdio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clawdio)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2018, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-strongest-contenders-for-the-title-of-greatest-american-rock-band-ever/813547/66 "2018-05-04T18:41:27Z")
You know, at first I thought people saying they couldn’t name a Ramones song were using hyperbole for effect… but then I realized I probably can’t name an Allman Brothers song. I mean I certainly know who they are, and about how Duane is held in high regard among guitarists, but honestly, I can’t name a single song without google. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2018, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-strongest-contenders-for-the-title-of-greatest-american-rock-band-ever/813547/67 "2018-05-04T18:48:11Z")
> [@Clawdio](#): > > You know, at first I thought people saying they couldn’t name a Ramones song were using hyperbole for effect… but then I realized I probably can’t name an Allman Brothers song. I mean I certainly know who they are, and about how Duane is held in high regard among guitarists, but honestly, I can’t name a single song without google. I only know “Jessica” because They Might Be Giants covered it. And I recognize the names of the Ramones songs **pulykamell** mentioned, but I don’t know whether I could have come up with any of them on my own, and even seeing after seeing the titles I couldn’t tell you what any of them sound like. Which just goes to show that all of us have major gaps in our musical knowledge. Or at least I do. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2018, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-strongest-contenders-for-the-title-of-greatest-american-rock-band-ever/813547/68 "2018-05-04T18:49:53Z")
I agree with Aerosmith, The Beach Boys and the E Street Band, and I think I oughta at least mention Buddy Holly and the Crickets. And R.E.M. ---
**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:** [May 4, 2018, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-strongest-contenders-for-the-title-of-greatest-american-rock-band-ever/813547/69 "2018-05-04T18:57:04Z")
> [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](#): > > I agree with Aerosmith, The Beach Boys and the E Street Band, and I think I oughta at least mention Buddy Holly and the Crickets. And R.E.M. Oh, yes, Buddy Holly and the Crickets would definitely have to be up there, as well as REM. ---
**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:** [May 4, 2018, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-strongest-contenders-for-the-title-of-greatest-american-rock-band-ever/813547/70 "2018-05-04T18:59:47Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > That’s okay. We clearly have different definitions of “rock band” then. It does seem to be so. I would also put Guns N Roses up there, but they just didn’t have the longetivity. _Appetite_, though, is one of the best hard rock albums of the 80s for sure. Perhaps the best. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2018, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-strongest-contenders-for-the-title-of-greatest-american-rock-band-ever/813547/71 "2018-05-04T19:05:18Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > It does seem to be so. I would also put Guns N Roses up there, but they just didn’t have the longetivity. I can agree with that. I’d say Aerosmith then. ---
**Author:** ![ZonexandScout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zonexandscout/32/544_2.png) [@ZonexandScout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZonexandScout)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2018, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-strongest-contenders-for-the-title-of-greatest-american-rock-band-ever/813547/72 "2018-05-04T19:07:26Z")
> [@GargoyleWB](#): > > My vote is for true American work ethic band. The kind of bands that get up in the morning to weld steel girders, eat lunch while jackhammering asphalt, and drive home with axle grease under their nails. 40 years after you hung your poster you’re too tired and busy with your life to see their show? Too bad, they’re still on the tour bus pumping pure rock and angst into every flyover town you never cared to notice on a map. > > **Cheap Trick** and **Blue Oyster Cult** demand to stand and be counted. Yeah. I’ve got to say that CT and BOC make the short list for consideration. ---
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2018, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-strongest-contenders-for-the-title-of-greatest-american-rock-band-ever/813547/73 "2018-05-04T19:08:12Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > You consider Robert Johnson and Lead Belly nonsense? > > Rock is the bastard child of the blues. Always has been and always will be. > > The Stones and Beatles have always talked about the influence of the blues on their music. No, Robert Johnson and Lead Belly are not nonsense. The idea that rock music needs to be “working class” or “blue collar” or something in order for it to be “authentic”, is what’s nonsense. ---
**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:** [May 4, 2018, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-strongest-contenders-for-the-title-of-greatest-american-rock-band-ever/813547/74 "2018-05-04T19:13:13Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > I can agree with that. I’d say Aerosmith then. Yeah, if I had a top 5 of American hard rock and/or heavy metal, it’d be Aerosmith, Van Halen, Metallica, Slayer, Soundgarden. Something like that, if I’m excluding punk and more experimental rock like Sonic Youth and the such. ---
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2018, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-strongest-contenders-for-the-title-of-greatest-american-rock-band-ever/813547/75 "2018-05-04T19:28:50Z")
The Red Hot Chili Peppers get a lot of hate, maybe because of their commercial success, maybe because some of their later work is very self-derivative, but they’d be in my top 5 of “hard rock/punk-type rock” American music, along with Weezer. ---
**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:** [May 4, 2018, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-strongest-contenders-for-the-title-of-greatest-american-rock-band-ever/813547/76 "2018-05-04T19:33:15Z")
I think it is safe to say that everybody on this board has absolute crap taste in music. Except those of you who agree with me. You guys are geniuses! ---
**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2018, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-strongest-contenders-for-the-title-of-greatest-american-rock-band-ever/813547/77 "2018-05-04T19:44:52Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > I think it is safe to say that everybody on this board has absolute crap taste in music. Everybody. By the way, the answer is Los Lobos. ---
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2018, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-strongest-contenders-for-the-title-of-greatest-american-rock-band-ever/813547/78 "2018-05-04T19:46:15Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > There have been a few of these threads. They are a pain to locate via search. > > I tend to think of The Ramones, The Beach Boys, The Allmans. The correct answer is **Chuck Berry** , but he doesn’t count for this discussion. The Beach Boys are the only ones who had the type of arc that The Beatles had, from pop to artistry. > > It’s fascinating how the U.S. has more Stars vs. Bands. I think we have these threads because its weird how we don’t have an easy answer like The Beatles or Stones. I think that America never really latched onto the idea of band members as _characters_ that make up the whole, rather than just a bunch of guys who play the same songs at the same time on the same stage, The Beatles probably codified the idea, that you knew who played each instrument and invested him with a personality outside the songs themselves, the Stones and the Who ran with it, and you even got it in the Sex Pistols: when Sid replaced Glen, it _mattered_. Each band was its own narrative. Who, on the other hand, can name the members of Aerosmith beyond Steve Tyler and the guitar guy who’s not the one in Journey? Does it \*matter \*who plays bass for Aerosmith? ---
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2018, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-strongest-contenders-for-the-title-of-greatest-american-rock-band-ever/813547/79 "2018-05-04T19:57:44Z")
I can name them, and the bassist in Aerosmith is Tom Hamilton and he is very good. ---
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2018, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-strongest-contenders-for-the-title-of-greatest-american-rock-band-ever/813547/80 "2018-05-04T19:59:59Z")
> [@Penfeather](#): > > I think that America never really latched onto the idea of band members as _characters_ that make up the whole, rather than just a bunch of guys who play the same songs at the same time on the same stage…Each band was its own narrative. The Grateful Dead are an exception to that, imo. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-strongest-contenders-for-the-title-of-greatest-american-rock-band-ever/813547.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-strongest-contenders-for-the-title-of-greatest-american-rock-band-ever/813547.md?page=5)