Greatest rock bands
 

Earlier some friends and I were discussing this, and we narrowed down a list to four bands: The Rolling Stones, Queen, Led Zeppelin, and The Who.

I'm just curious what everyone else considers to be the greatest bands.

I'm not a huge fan of any of those four, and hardly an expert on music, but I like Queen and The Who the most out of those four.

This is not even a contest. Queen by a stupidely massive margin. End of thread.

The best band is Queen! Fucking Queen! It's indisputible!

Queen, The Who, AC(we need a lightning bolt emoticon just for typing their name)DC and Led Zeppelin.

Stones shouldn't be on that list... sorry.

Agreed.

I think AC/DC is over rated.

REM should be on the list, as well as The Smiths.

There is no doubt.
 

Led Zeppelin. You argue, I call a lawyer and sue you.

Queen and Led Zeppelin.

Seems the Rolling Stones aren't getting any support.

And for good reason. Though all of these bands have provided some tier-one songs, Zeppelin and Queen stand out as the top 2. As much as I love Led Zeppelin, Queen has to be the most consistent performer. Really, though, Led isn't far behind.

Guys, don't read the spoiler below if you are faint of heart.
Rock music didn't die at the end of the '70s.
I'll admit, enough nostalgia can really make a band, no matter how meh (Rolling Stones), mediocre (Queen), generally ok (The Who), or pretty good (Led Zeppelin), seem like the absolute pinnacle of what can be done with musical instruments.

But those four up there aren't close to the be-all, end-all of rock music. At most, I'd say they're best use is to draw new music listeners away from radio dreck and into the world of non-mainstream choices, but I'd hope they'd grow out of the "new music nowadays aint got that spark of mah oldies!" and realize that new, good, content is being made.

Hear hear. I can't stand people who decide that just cause it isn't being played on the local classic rock station it doesn't count as music and doesn't warrant a listen.

Still out of those bands, I'm gonna pull away from the Queen circle-jerk that is NPF and vote Led Zep. They're totally amazing.

I agree with that except for the fact that these bands (and others) are still gaining fans daily who say the same about them. I guess what I'm trying to say is that the fans too young to have heard these bands growing up haven't been tinted by nostalgia but still recognize great music. Personally I think Led Zep is a bit overrated.

Also my friends dad suggested another one to me today: Creedence Clearwater Revival.

No, they're still being warped by nostalgia. With these bands, the overall perception is so entrenched in the population that before you even listen to the first song you walk in with a pre-established mindset. Whether it's your dad espousing the glories of the good old days, or reading a music publication where they bitch and moan over how bad today's music is in comparison with yesteryear's, or even seeing twenty people wearing a 'vintage' concert shirt, you go in there thinking that you're about to hear something fantastical.

I think I'm coming off as a bit offensive towards old music though. In general old music isn't bad, just horrifically overrated. Just because you were given FF8 when you were awaiting FF6 doesn't make it as bad as FF2, it just makes it FF8, but it does make it annoying when everyone around you insists you're holding FF6.

For best rock band, I'll go with my favorite, Broken Social Scene.

All 4 are overated, Scorpions FTW. Winds of Change may be the single most beautiful song ever written.

I'm just glad that there are people here who realize that some bands are better than Zeppelin. When my friend brought up the subject yesterday, he got mad that I disagreed with him, repeated the reasons he chose them about three times, and then threaten to punched me if I said another word about my choices.

I smell the sickening scent of social constructionism. Anyway the only band I picked that I feel that my opinion is derived from society rather than personal preference is Led Zep. The rest I got to really love on my own.

On modern rock bands, Wolfmother kicks serious arse.

The pinnacle of what can be done on musical instruments?
I think making trumpet sounds on guitar, piano sounds on drums, and drum sounds on the bass pretty much sums this up.
(All Queen by the way)

I just thought of two more bands that could be near the top of this list, The Eagles and Pink Floyd.

Why the hell has Journey not been mentioned yet?
Fuck you guys!

Those are Southern Rock and Psychadellic Rock though, I mean are we just going with everything? Someone mentioned REM which isn't rock, as much as their fans may argue about it... America is one of my favorites, but I don't know if they'd go into the "Rock" category.

I also think that most people that are true music fans and not teenie-boppers, especially today with the internet, are fairly well informed and their opinions while possibly initially slanted due to parental/media influence, have settled with their own plates of what they consider great.

Oh, Manfred Mann and Van Halen.

I don't see how REM isn't rock.

I think most classic rock bands are overrated.

Bon Jovi, Def Leppard, Aerosmith, Black Sabbith, AC/DC, and the like get no love?

For me, The Doors wins most of the time. AC/DC before "Back in Black" was on of the best bands too. Old school rock has really proved to be the best. I've never really liked Queen though.

Wait, so the only reason you like Led Zep is because of influence from society, but you think Wolfmother is awesome?

:confused:

No, I really like Led Zep just not as much as Queen, The Who or even ACDC, but I put in the greatest bands because of how influential I've been told it is.

And I like them better than Wolfmother. Also what's wrong with Wolfmother?

Alright, I guess I just misread your post then. I thought you said you didn't like Led Zep but loved Wolfmother, which pretty much makes no sense considering their musical similarity.

And Wolfmother is good.

What, no Beatles?

I respect the Beatles mostly on output.

When you're a fan of indie music, it's pretty common to hear a really great CD , and then discover that the band hasn't even started on the next CD, or has announced that they might think about getting some ideas down in a few years or so, which means you might not hear their sophmore album for 2-3 years.

The Beatles released 12 albums in 6 years. That's plain fucking unbelievable, but the fact that they didn't release a complete turd in that outpouring is a sonic miracle.

Of course, my friend says that the Beatles are hands down the most overrated band that will ever exist. Not because he thinks they suck, far from it, but they were, and still are, bigger than Jesus. You can't match nostalgia that great.

I'm more a Beach Boys fan...ok, I'm a big Pet Sounds/Brian Wilson fan.

Also, assuming "Greatest Rock Bands" means nothing later than '85, I'd like to throw out David Bowie. That is a man who's had a profound influence on the current music spectrum.

I can see that, but as someone who did not live during the time of Beatlemania, my opinion on them simply comes from listening to the band's body of work, and there just aren't shitty Beatles songs. I'm not saying that everything they ever put out is an auditory orgasm, nor are they necessarily on my list of favorite bands, but I have to say that they probably are close to the top of the list if not king of the mountain based on output, creativity, evolution, how well four guys with relatively different styles and focuses managed to merge so fluidly, influence on the music scene, and how well their work still holds up to this day.

See, that right there is a huge problem for me. Most of what I've been into is post-1992. Or stuff from the late-70's/early-80's punk scene. I'll take The Clash over The Rolling Stones any day of the week, for instance.

I meant more in the sense that for this thread, only bands before '85 are up for consideration.

I know that, but I don't think that's an official rule. Also:

With the exception of Sabbath, not really, no.