# 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:** 6
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2018, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-strongest-contenders-for-the-title-of-greatest-american-rock-band-ever/813547/101 "2018-05-05T03:53:06Z")
> [@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. That output encompasses one regular album, one EP, one double album, and one album of cover songs. I wouldn’t give them a lot of points for consistency over that small of a collection when they’re competing with bands who have two dozen albums like the Rolling Stones, Aerosmith, AC/DC or KISS. And I’d say that they have more than 2-3 crap songs, I can use up three just from Spaghetti Incident with “Look at your game, girl”, “Down on the Farm”, and “Since I Don’t Have You”. ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2018, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-strongest-contenders-for-the-title-of-greatest-american-rock-band-ever/813547/102 "2018-05-05T03:58:56Z")
Over 100 posts and no one has mentioned Little Feat? Well, the correct answer is The Allman Brothers Band. ---
**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, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-strongest-contenders-for-the-title-of-greatest-american-rock-band-ever/813547/103 "2018-05-05T04:11:55Z")
Little Feat are awesome, but they’re kinda niche. It’s like either people know them and love them, or they’ve never heard of them. Rock journalist Chuck Klosterman makes a pretty convincing case for GNR deserving more respect than they get, in his memoir _Fargo Rock City._ But I still think they’re not really prolific or influential enough to be high up on a list like this. ---
**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 5, 2018, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-strongest-contenders-for-the-title-of-greatest-american-rock-band-ever/813547/104 "2018-05-05T04:29:30Z")
> [@Pantastic](#): > > And I’d say that they have more than 2-3 crap songs, I can use up three just from Spaghetti Incident with “Look at your game, girl”, “Down on the Farm”, and “Since I Don’t Have You”. Nothing on that album are their songs. Among their **original** output, there are remarkably few duds. ---
**Author:** ![jaycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat/32/3015_2.png) [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2018, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-strongest-contenders-for-the-title-of-greatest-american-rock-band-ever/813547/105 "2018-05-05T04:30:31Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > . . . 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.) . . . Sure, but can you name their violinist? ---
**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:** [May 5, 2018, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-strongest-contenders-for-the-title-of-greatest-american-rock-band-ever/813547/106 "2018-05-05T04:30:36Z")
If the Replacements arent in the running then it’s a weird list. Three immortal LPs, plus more? Puts them in the top 5 or ten all time US bands for me. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2018, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-strongest-contenders-for-the-title-of-greatest-american-rock-band-ever/813547/107 "2018-05-05T05:25:35Z")
IMHO the Ramones were not the influence that some folks seem to think. I was deep into the American hardcore scene and the Ramones registered about as much as Billy Idol. Which is to say only distantly. I find it hard to believe that Hendrix has been mentioned only once up thread. Maybe because he lived fast and died young? I wasn’t a big fan but Lynyrd Skynyrd is very much American, but I’d certainly pick the Allman Brothers as the leaders for southern rock and by extension American rock. ---
**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2018, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-strongest-contenders-for-the-title-of-greatest-american-rock-band-ever/813547/108 "2018-05-05T06:44:18Z")
I can see two basic ways to classify some music as “rock”: 1. Characteristics it has 2. By default - i.e. it isn’t country or jazz or blues or whatever else. However, I’m very foggy on what characteristics actually belong in my item 1. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2018, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-strongest-contenders-for-the-title-of-greatest-american-rock-band-ever/813547/109 "2018-05-05T08:28:10Z")
Looking at only my music collection it would seem the answer is _The Jimi Hendrix Experience._ ---
**Author:** ![Batano](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b487fb/32.png) [@Batano](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Batano)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2018, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-strongest-contenders-for-the-title-of-greatest-american-rock-band-ever/813547/110 "2018-05-05T09:27:15Z")
> [@don\_t\_ask](#): > > Looking at only my music collection it would seem the answer is _The Jimi Hendrix Experience._ But 2/3 of them were British. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2018, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-strongest-contenders-for-the-title-of-greatest-american-rock-band-ever/813547/111 "2018-05-05T11:33:16Z")
> [@digs](#): > > 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. Elvis, Chuck Berry, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Buddy Holly, James Brown, Stevie Wonder, Aretha, Dylan, Michael Jackson - America does just fine. It’s the “band” part that’s weird. Other observation: “Rock n’ Roll” and “Rock” are all about danger. Danger in some culture-challenging way, is the first requirement of Rock. Dylan is a folkie who’s dangerous - he’s in, even before going electric. Journey \<\> Danger, in pretty much any way that matters. They are fine music, but as an avatar of Rock music?! :smack: ---
**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, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-strongest-contenders-for-the-title-of-greatest-american-rock-band-ever/813547/112 "2018-05-05T13:44:46Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > Other observation: “Rock n’ Roll” and “Rock” are all about danger. Danger in some culture-challenging way, is the first requirement of Rock. Dylan is a folkie who’s dangerous - he’s in, even before going electric. Journey \<\> Danger, in pretty much any way that matters. They are fine music, but as an avatar of Rock music?! :smack: I don’t think there’s anything at all “dangerous” about the Beach Boys, but they are most certainly rock. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2018, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-strongest-contenders-for-the-title-of-greatest-american-rock-band-ever/813547/113 "2018-05-05T13:52:55Z")
> [@Jacquernagy](#): > > I don’t think there’s anything at all “dangerous” about the Beach Boys, but they are most certainly rock. When Brian got weird, they veered off the boy band script. That was dangerous in a cultural way. ---
**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, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-strongest-contenders-for-the-title-of-greatest-american-rock-band-ever/813547/114 "2018-05-05T13:57:04Z")
Point taken, but how many listeners really felt that way? ---
**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, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-strongest-contenders-for-the-title-of-greatest-american-rock-band-ever/813547/115 "2018-05-05T14:01:35Z")
> [@Jacquernagy](#): > > I don’t think there’s anything at all “dangerous” about the Beach Boys, but they are most certainly rock. Yeah, I was thinking that as well. It’s really difficult for me to come up with an all-encompassing definition of rock. The Beach Boys seem easy to include as, especially their earlier music, they were very much based on the idioms of rock: strong back beat, blues influence (using “blue” notes in the melody, harmony emphasizing I-IV-V chords, guitar solos based on the blues scale, etc.), rock instrumentation (emphasized electric guitar, bass, drums), driving eighth-note rhythms vs swung jazzy rhythms. I can’t see a single thing that isn’t “rock” about them. Of course, once the rock idiom developed, it’s become a bit more difficult to really figure out where to draw the lines. The emphasis on the backbeat has remained, for the most part, but harmonies have expanded, instrumentation has expanded, the rhythmic language has expanded, even the blues influence–at least melodically and harmonically–has faded in many cases. ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2018, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-strongest-contenders-for-the-title-of-greatest-american-rock-band-ever/813547/116 "2018-05-05T14:15:14Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > Nothing on that album are their songs. Among their **original** output, there are remarkably few duds. While I missed ‘original’ when I wrote that response, including it makes the claim of consistency even weaker. “They’re very consistently good as long as you completely ignore one in five of their albums and 1-2 tracks on every album other than their debut.” is just not a sturdy claim to fame. And on the flip side if you’re not going to count cover songs, you have to discount at three really good songs from the post-debut era (Live n Let Die, Yesterdays, Knockin’ on Heavens Door), which I think is unreasonable to. Appetite For Destruction was an amazing album, but saying they had great consistency for following it up with a so-so EP, great double album, and weak album of covers (that stealthily doesn’t count for the consistency award) doesn’t really hold water IMO. You really need a sample size of more than five albums, one of which doesn’t count, to talk about consistent output, especially when two of the albums were recorded together. ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2018, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-strongest-contenders-for-the-title-of-greatest-american-rock-band-ever/813547/117 "2018-05-05T14:25:11Z")
> [@Jacquernagy](#): > > I don’t think there’s anything at all “dangerous” about the Beach Boys, but they are most certainly rock. Beach music sounds pretty dangerous if you just add distortion to the guitar. You pretty much instantly go from completely inoffensive popcorn music to speed metal: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/6v-eWbcVJq8/maxresdefault.jpg "Surf Music with Distortion") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6v-eWbcVJq8) And vice-versa: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/dVqqWUyDPzA/maxresdefault.jpg "Metal without Distortion") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVqqWUyDPzA) ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2018, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-strongest-contenders-for-the-title-of-greatest-american-rock-band-ever/813547/118 "2018-05-05T14:54:54Z")
The title of Greatest American Rock Band should a traveling trophy of sorts, given out on a weekly basis instead of held in perpetuity. That way everyone gets a shot at the title. ---
**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, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-strongest-contenders-for-the-title-of-greatest-american-rock-band-ever/813547/119 "2018-05-05T15:12:30Z")
[quote=“Pantastic, post:117, topic:813547”] Beach music sounds pretty dangerous if you just add distortion to the guitar. You pretty much instantly go from completely inoffensive popcorn music to speed metal: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/6v-eWbcVJq8/maxresdefault.jpg "Surf Music with Distortion") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6v-eWbcVJq8) And vice-versa: [/QUOTE] True indeed, but the Beach Boys =/= true Dick Dale style surf rock. Dale was Lebanese and started out playing a lute-like instrument called the Oud which required intense and fast picking, which is how he developed that sound. ---
**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, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-strongest-contenders-for-the-title-of-greatest-american-rock-band-ever/813547/120 "2018-05-05T15:25:35Z")
The Ventures were a better \*band \* before the Beach Boys. They never really evolved, though. The Beach Boys did, but stopped being a _band_. It became another American one-man-show, of Brian writing the music, the Wrecking Crew playing it, and the others singing over it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-strongest-contenders-for-the-title-of-greatest-american-rock-band-ever/813547.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-strongest-contenders-for-the-title-of-greatest-american-rock-band-ever/813547.md?page=7)