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Top 5 rock bands of all time... Brits win?


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I bought this CD, The Best of the Moody Blues. WOW. Reminded how damn awesome this band was. Gosh, it's hard to beat. Incredible marriage of rock with symphonic accompaniment. I saw them in concert last year at a small venue, held about 2,000. One of the best shows I've ever seen. Got me to thinking... shoot, the Brits blew the U.S. away in rock and roll. What do you think? Beatles Rolling Stones Moody Blues The Who Pink Floyd What a list. The U.S. Uh... Chicago? Doobie Brothers? Creedence?

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My top five in terms of influence on me. 1. Beatles 2. ELP 3. Kansas 4. Doobies 5. Steely Dan
Our country is not the only thing to which we owe our allegiance. It is also owed to justice and to humanity. Patriotism consists not in waving the flag, but in striving that our country shall be righteous as well as strong: James Bryce
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Beatles Who Rush (Canadian band with an American drummer) Police (English band with an American drummer) U2 (Irish) Honorable Mention: STP (U.S.) Living Colour (U.S.) Hendrix Experience (I don't categorize them as a "band") So that's 60% British. (Note to Americans: Ireland is NOT part of Britain.)

The Black Knight always triumphs!

 

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-Zeppelin -Deep purple -Hendrix (W/Mitch Michell) Great drummers and guitar players together make for super great rock, but only if the rest of the band isn't pushed to the side. JPJ was of paramount importance. Zeppelin had substance coming out of the butt! But if you think about the 80's and the focus all being on the guitar, it got pretty shitty after Eddie set a new standard. "Rock Bands" turned into; lets back up the fastest guitar player. Sad, Very sad. I'm so glad that is over. so so so glad. The Brits definatley are the leaders in the classic rock band area though i think. Remember the Ian Gillan thread? Well i thought he was one of the few singers from this era to have substance. Didn't like Roger Daltry at all. Roger Waters... uummm, he was ok. SRV sang better than JIMI ever did. Robert plant had so much character i didn't care if he sang in tune. But Ian Gillan, that Mutha could belt it out! Paul rogers of course was one of the best. He's British isn't he. American's just lacked something in that era. Like, what was with Grand Funk? What was that?
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[quote]Originally posted by halljams: [b] American's just lacked something in that era. Like, what was with Grand Funk? What was that?[/b][/quote] Mark Farner can -- and still does -- sing like a muthafucka! Dude's got pipes! I'm not crazy about the "Locomotion/Some Kind of Wonderful" copy period, but earlier, it's pretty happening.
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I count the Beatles as the most important POP band of all time, which is certainly a debatable point, but I wanted to point out 'why' they are not on my list... No particular Order Van Halen The Who The Rolling Stones Nirvana KISS Now, that being said, I am a TOTAL (!!) Rush/U2/Police/Cult/Living Color. etc/ guy, but I don't think any of these had the impact on ROCK that these 5 listed did.
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[quote]Originally posted by LiveMusic: [b] ... shoot, the Brits blew the U.S. away in rock and roll. What do you think? [/b][/quote] I think ... BEATLES ROLLING STONES LED ZEPPELIN DEEP PURPLE THE WHO ... well, it seems so. Sorry. :D Though my personal top-5(+) would be something like that: YES GENESIS JETHRO TULL QUEEN RUSH + KANSAS PS. IMO, Beatles is the-most-overrated-band-of-all-time. :p )
I am back.
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[quote]Originally posted by trickfall@yahoo.com: [b]The Beatles were not a rock band for too long....... [/b][/quote] Yeah and Eric Clapton didn't play blues much either :D Where do most folks draw the line between Rock and Pop? Most Likely List: Beatles Stones The Who Led Zepplin Deep Purple Yeah! the Brits win!!! My Faves (Rock) The Who Dire Straits The Clash Van Halen Led Zepplin My Faves (overall): Steely Dan Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers Elvis Costello & The Attractions Prince & The Revolution Parliment/Funkadelic A mixed bag !?! RobT

RobT

 

Famous Musical Quotes: "I would rather play Chiquita Banana and have my swimming pool than play Bach and starve" - Xavier Cugat

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[quote]Originally posted by gunndrum: [b] Sorry, Dan, can't let you get away with this one. Neil Peart was born & raised in St. Catherines, Ontario. :D Cheers, Don[/b][/quote] Oh Dan, never mess with a Serious RUSH or Neil Peart fan. :eek: Very intellingent and dedicated people these are. When i went to music college, i met some of the most serious Rush, and especially serious Neil Peart fans. The guys in that band did something very special it seems. Cool that a Canadian lot had such a technical impact on musicians. Speaking of stunning Canadians, Have you ever heard Alain Carron? ....Jack Semple, Wide mouth Mason? Look out chillins!..................................................... Phil Dweyer?.... Oh and of course that other girl there... uuumm the one with the nice piano songs ... Diana Krall.
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[quote]Originally posted by halljams: [b] Oh Dan, never mess with a Serious RUSH or Neil Peart fan. :eek: [/b][/quote] Why not? I can't stand Rush (specially Peart) so I LIKE to mess with Rush fans. :D As for the 5 greatest rock bands ever - well of COURSE the Brits win. At least the top 4 - Beatles, Stones, Who, Zeppelin. They also happen to be my personal top 4. Who's Number Five? I could think of a lot who MIGHT be, but I don't think any of them had QUITE the impact of those four. --Lee
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This anglophobe (well, at least for contrarian purposes on this thread ;) ) says ... Greatest Commercial Rock Bands: Beach Boys Grateful Dead Aerosmith AC/DC Nirvana Greatest non-Commercial Rock Bands: Mothers of Invention (& Zappa solo) Velvet Underground (& Reed/Cale/Nico/Tucker) Faust Ramones Dead Moon (& all of Fred Cole's earlier bands) I think the Americans have it (well, except for one each from Australia and Germany)!
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Sorry about the Peart thing. A rabid Rush fan once told me that he was an American. Last time I believe a rabid Rush fan. The Beach Boys are NOT a rock band. If you think they are, you need testosterone supplements.

The Black Knight always triumphs!

 

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[quote]Originally posted by Dan South: [b]The Beach Boys are NOT a rock band. If you think they are, you need testosterone supplements.[/b][/quote] The Beach Boys are (or at least were - now they're an oldies/nostalgia entertainment event) a rock band. If you think they aren't, you need intelligence supplements ;) . Cases in point: * covers of "Johnny B. Goode", "Let's Go Tripping", etc. * too many Chuck Berry ripoffs to name (are you saying that Chuck Berry didn't rock?!? Or that adding harmonies to a rock song suddenly makes it non-rock? Tell that to Queen!) * "Dance Dance Dance" ('Beach Boys Today') * "The Girl From New York City" ('Summer Days/Summer Nights') * the entire 'Wild Honey' album * "All I Wanna Do" & the cover of "Cease To Exist" ('20/20') * "It's About Time" ('Sunflower') * "Feel Flows" (acid rock from 'Surf's Up') Certainly, they recorded a good number of non-rock songs, but so did most of the "greatest rock bands" already mentioned here, such as: * Led Zeppelin ("That's The Way", "Black Mountain Side") * Pink Floyd ("Fat Old Sun", "Wish You Were Here") * Rolling Stones ("Wild Horses", numerous 70s disco songs) * Who ("The Song Is Over", "Blue Red and Grey" ... and Keith Moon thought the Beach Boys rocked!) * Hendrix (acoustic version of "Hear My Train A-Comin'") * Deep Purple ("April", 'Concerto For Group and Orchestra') * Black Sabbath ("Changes", lots of acoustic guitar pieces) * Van Halen ("Big Bad Bill Is Sweet William Now", all those Sammy ballads) etc. etc. And the Beach Boys DEFINITELY rocked more than the Moody Blues (but, OK, less than K0RN)! :D
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[quote]Originally posted by DougP: [b] And the Beach Boys DEFINITELY rocked more than the Moody Blues (but, OK, less than K0RN)! :D [/b][/quote] Barry Manilow, Neil Sedaka, Perry Como, and Mrs. Partridge could have put together a better "rock" band than the Beach Boys. I don't deny that the Beach Boys were influential pop icons, but that sappy, sugary, polite, white boy sound just ain't in the same ball park as the Stones, Who, Zep, and other rockers. The Beatles leaned more toward pop, also, but they COULD rock when they wanted to. Nobody did a better Little Richard than McCartney - not even Little Richard. Back In The USSR has some great Jerry Lee influences. Revolution, Helter Skelter, Come Together, Day Tripper - they're all excellent rock tunes. California Girls and Surfin' Safari are fun pop tunes, but they're about as "rock" as Debbie Gibson.

The Black Knight always triumphs!

 

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Being nasty to one extent or another doesn't make you [i]rock.[/i] I'm sorry, but I think that's the silliest requirement I've heard in a while. Of course the Beach Boys were rock. I guess you think they were country or something. ;) I can't improve on what everyone else said, except you might add The Kinks to the mix, since they seemed to have quite a following and influence on styles like punk and new wave. Rock n roll might have been invented in America, between countless black acts and Elvis, but it was perfected in it's modern form by those darn Brits. Gotta love 'em. :D
This keyboard solo has obviously been tampered with!
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[quote]Originally posted by Dan South: [b]I don't deny that the Beach Boys were influential pop icons, but that sappy, sugary, polite, white boy sound just ain't in the same ball park as the Stones, Who, Zep, and other rockers.[/b][/quote] *sigh* You obviously haven't even listened to this band, have you? I'll admit that I felt the same way about them before I actually listened to their albums. Man! Was I ever mistaken! "Sugary"? Brian Wilson (and also his brother Dennis) wrote some of the most depressing, emotionally gut-wrenching songs ever - "'Til I Die", "Caroline No", "Warmth of the Sun". "Polite"? A band that covered a Charles Manson song and included a recording of an orgasm on another song? "White Boy"? Um, I think that *all* of the bands that have been listed in this thread were "white boys" (except for P-Funk, Living Color, and Hendrix - but he was mostly playing "white" music until his Band of Gypsies, anyway). And at least they weren't a bunch of business school students (Stones) or music industry insiders (Led Zep). During the early 70's (before the 'Endless Summer' compilation that turned the touring band into the pathetic nostalgia regurgitation act it currently is), they were considered to be one of the top ROCK concert attractions. Check out back issues of 'Rolling Stone' for reviews of that phenomenon. [b]Nobody did a better Little Richard than McCartney - not even Little Richard.[/b] Um, you're joking, right? The only person who did a better Little Richard than Little Richard was Esquerita (for obvious reasons). [b]Back In The USSR has some great Jerry Lee influences.[/b] Yes, but it has far more Beach Boys influence - it was written by the Beatles as their version of a Beach Boys song! (In the same way that, say, "Yer Blues" was the Beatles version of writing a Cream song.) [b]Revolution, Helter Skelter, Come Together, Day Tripper - they're all excellent rock tunes.[/b] ... as are all the Beach Boys songs I mentioned in my previous message. Have you actually heard any of them? [b]California Girls and Surfin' Safari are fun pop tunes, but they're about as "rock" as Debbie Gibson.[/b] So you would write off a band's entire career on the basis of two songs? Believe it or not, the Beach Boys had a few more songs than that. By that logic, I'll cite "'Til There Was You" & "Good Night" (I could name far more, but if you're only going to come up with two titles ... ) as proof that, yep, that Debbie Gibson sure rocked more than those Beatles ;) !
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