# 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:** 5
**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, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-strongest-contenders-for-the-title-of-greatest-american-rock-band-ever/813547/81 "2018-05-04T20:37:09Z")
> [@Jacquernagy](#): > > The Grateful Dead are an exception to that, imo. KISS too. Their music was wishy-washy rubbish, but they took the idea of “band as characters” and ran with it. ---
**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, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-strongest-contenders-for-the-title-of-greatest-american-rock-band-ever/813547/82 "2018-05-04T20:49:57Z")
> [@Jacquernagy](#): > > 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. Oh, Chili Peppers would be good, too. I’m not so much a fan of their music, but what they do is great, and I’ve seen many funk-rock type bands trying to ape the Peppers and nobody does that sound as well as they do. Plus I’ve noticed they seem to have a lot of international fans/influence. When I lived in Hungary, it seemed like every other rock band was trying to rip off the Chili Peppers. Drove me nuts, as, like I said, nobody can do the Chili Peppers except the Chili Peppers. A litte Straight Dope synchronicity: I just got back from picking up my daughter from pre-school and caught the tail end of the talent show. The winner was a Mexican 8th grade boy, wearing a Ramones tee-shirt. Cross cultural and cross generational! 🙂 (He did a cover of a Snow Patrol song, though.) (Plus, oddly enough, I saw a woman with a RHCP tee-shirt as well, on my drive back. I thought, huh, I haven’t thought about them in a while, and here it is on the Dope!) ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2018, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-strongest-contenders-for-the-title-of-greatest-american-rock-band-ever/813547/83 "2018-05-04T20:57:00Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > 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. For as short as they were around (I don’t count anything past _“The Spaghetti Incident?”_ as G’n’R), their original output was remarkably, consistently high quality. Among their entire catalog of original music there are _maybe_ 2-3 legitimately shitty songs. I doubt many, if any, other bands can claim as few outright duds as G’n’R. ---
**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, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-strongest-contenders-for-the-title-of-greatest-american-rock-band-ever/813547/84 "2018-05-04T22:43:51Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > For as short as they were around (I don’t count anything past _“The Spaghetti Incident?”_ as G’n’R), their original output was remarkably, consistently high quality. Among their entire catalog of original music there are _maybe_ 2-3 legitimately shitty songs. I doubt many, if any, other bands can claim as few outright duds as G’n’R. I never got into _The Spaghetti Incident_, and there were some snoozers on _Use Your Illusion II_. _Appetite_ is perfect, though. ---
**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:** [May 4, 2018, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-strongest-contenders-for-the-title-of-greatest-american-rock-band-ever/813547/85 "2018-05-04T23:00:23Z")
> [@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, 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? Slight hijack, but: I truly believe the single most common reaction to learning that a group had the sheer audacity to perform as The Supremes was _hey, what’s her name? Diana Ross? Wow, she seems like a bona fide superstar; I can’t say a thing against her. Oh, and look: two other people are also there! Well, how about that!_ ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2018, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-strongest-contenders-for-the-title-of-greatest-american-rock-band-ever/813547/86 "2018-05-04T23:16:12Z")
And CCR was John Fogerty and some other dudes. Without Creedence how could you have a movie where some kid steps off the plane in Vietnam for the first time? It would just be dead air unless you could play “Fortunate Son”. ---
**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, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-strongest-contenders-for-the-title-of-greatest-american-rock-band-ever/813547/87 "2018-05-04T23:22:51Z")
And his first time getting lost on patrol wouldn’t be the same without “Run Through the Jungle.” ---
**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, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-strongest-contenders-for-the-title-of-greatest-american-rock-band-ever/813547/88 "2018-05-04T23:23:08Z")
Nah, there are like 15 other songs that are just as popularly associated with Vietnam. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2018, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-strongest-contenders-for-the-title-of-greatest-american-rock-band-ever/813547/89 "2018-05-04T23:36:55Z")
Bill Haley & his Comets. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/ZgdufzXvjqw/maxresdefault.jpg "Bill Haley & His Comets - Rock Around The Clock (1955) HD") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgdufzXvjqw) ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2018, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-strongest-contenders-for-the-title-of-greatest-american-rock-band-ever/813547/90 "2018-05-05T00:55:10Z")
Who rocks harder than Metallica? ---
**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 5, 2018, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-strongest-contenders-for-the-title-of-greatest-american-rock-band-ever/813547/91 "2018-05-05T01:00:57Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > Who rocks harder than Metallica? Slayer! ---
**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 5, 2018, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-strongest-contenders-for-the-title-of-greatest-american-rock-band-ever/813547/92 "2018-05-05T01:07:52Z")
[quote=“Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor, post:89, topic:813547”] Bill Haley & his Comets. [/QUOTE] I’m not sure if this is a joke or not, but I think bringing up Bill Haley is very much missing the point of my OP. And I don’t mean this as a personal affront or to be snide in any way, I’m just trying to explain my thought process. The criteria I suggested included musical skill, longevity, continuing influence, etc. Bill Haley and the Comets were certainly very, very influential to the birth of rock music, but are there many people today who even know one of their songs other than _Rock Around The Clock_, or current musicians who would count them as a major influence? ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2018, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-strongest-contenders-for-the-title-of-greatest-american-rock-band-ever/813547/93 "2018-05-05T01:18:17Z")
Warrant. “Cherry Pie” is the greatest song in the history of rock n’ roll. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2018, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-strongest-contenders-for-the-title-of-greatest-american-rock-band-ever/813547/94 "2018-05-05T01:58:34Z")
I’m the biggest, baddest Grateful Dead fan on this board, and I’d never call them a “rock band.” They were a “rock-blues-bluegrass-jazz-avant garde classical-jam-boogie band” ---
**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:** [May 5, 2018, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-strongest-contenders-for-the-title-of-greatest-american-rock-band-ever/813547/95 "2018-05-05T02:04:44Z")
> [@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, 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? I’d like to make this work, but as I was playing with it in my head I kept stumbling. The Stones became the Mick and Keith show even before Brian Jonesed himself to death. Pink Floyd was Syd Barrett’s band and then Roger Waters and then David Gilmore’s. Fleetwood Mac was Peter Green, and a title that was a joke about the rhythm section. Can anyone name the bassist for Blind Faith? (Rick Gretch. I hope I’m spelling that right without looking it up. Nope. Got both names wrong.) You know who it does work for? Crosby, Stills, Nash (and Young). I think they’re a great band. I think the first album is as perfect a piece of vinyl as ever came out. Influence? It created an entire genre and a decade’s worth of music. (How many others can say that? The Allmans did it for Southern Rock; Led Zeppelin for Hard Rock/Heavy Metal.) The personalities made the band, and then just as famously unmade it. They were never as strong as a live band as in the recording studio, though, and that has to count in greatest rock band discussions. Ike, I think I’m a crucial decade older than you. I remember when the Beatles appeared and defined the words “rock band.” They blended every musical genre in the known universe. That’s still rock to me. ---
**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 5, 2018, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-strongest-contenders-for-the-title-of-greatest-american-rock-band-ever/813547/96 "2018-05-05T02:09:34Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > I’m the biggest, baddest Grateful Dead fan on this board, and I’d never call them a “rock band.” They were a “rock-blues-bluegrass-jazz-avant garde classical-jam-boogie band” I guess my definition of rock is broader than yours. I think it is a very broad category indeed. There are rock bands who draw from all of those influences and can still be considered rock bands. Their influence on other rock bands is undeniable, at any rate. I once had a guy say, “I hate the Grateful Dead.” I asked him, “what music do you prefer?” He said, Punk and 80s New Wave. I said, “Do you like Elvis Costello and the Attractions?” Fuck yes, he replied enthusiastically - and why wouldn’t he, they’re awesome. Well, a _major_ component, not just rhythmically but also musically, of the Attractions and thereby Elvis Costello’s whole ouvre, was the bass playing of Bruce Thomas, who’s not only one of my favorite bassists of all time, but also a friend. And guess who was one of Thomas’s biggest influences? Phil Lesh. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2018, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-strongest-contenders-for-the-title-of-greatest-american-rock-band-ever/813547/97 "2018-05-05T02:27:20Z")
Oh, well, definitions of “rock band” have been the subject of inside jokes for a long time. Gilbert Shelton, the underground comix artist famous for the “Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers,” has done an on-and-off comic since 1994 about **Not Quite Dead** , a band who has famously argued about their genre status. The members are Cat Whittington (bass); Elephant Fingers (guitar); Sweaty Eddie (alto sax); Felonious Punk (keys); and Thor (the loudest drummer in the world). Mighty fun stuff — check it out. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2018, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-strongest-contenders-for-the-title-of-greatest-american-rock-band-ever/813547/98 "2018-05-05T02:37:13Z")
> [@Clawdio](#): > > Lynyrd Skynyrd isn’t getting any love? Sure seems like they check all the boxes and are at least worth a mention. Their greatest hits is basically a list of American classics. You are correct. Everyone else in this thread is horribly wrong. And probably roots for non-SEC college football teams. Which is also horribly wrong. ---
**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 5, 2018, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-strongest-contenders-for-the-title-of-greatest-american-rock-band-ever/813547/99 "2018-05-05T02:43:35Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > Gilbert Shelton, the underground comix artist famous for the “Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers,” has done an on-and-off comic since 1994 about **Not Quite Dead** , a band who has famously argued about their genre status. I do like Gilbert Shelton and all the other underground comix artists of the 60s. I have several anthologies of that genre, including numerous R. Crumb collections. It was before my time (I’m 31) but most of it holds up pretty well. By the way - are you able to see my “location”? One thing I don’t understand about this board is why it shows up in the corner of some of my posts, but not others. Anyway, that’s been my location since I registered here. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2018, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-strongest-contenders-for-the-title-of-greatest-american-rock-band-ever/813547/100 "2018-05-05T03:09:31Z")
When I skimmed the thread title, I immediately thought "Well, the strongest contenders for the title of ‘greatest rock band ever’ would be the Beatles, Stones, Who, Zeppelin, Sex Pistols, Clash … … and then I saw the word “American”. Now I feel like we’re just lowly colonists. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-strongest-contenders-for-the-title-of-greatest-american-rock-band-ever/813547.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-strongest-contenders-for-the-title-of-greatest-american-rock-band-ever/813547.md?page=6)