Greatest American Rock Band

[atlantacowboy]

1. Eagles
2. Aerosmith
3. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
4. Grateful Dead
5. Beach Boys

 

[RoboQB]

Has to be the Beach Boys & The Eagles at the top.

Beach Boys... 4 #1 hits. 15 top-10 singles.

The Eagles... 5 #1 hits. 10 top-10 singles.

All the rest of them fall behind these two. Aerosmith has 1 #1 hit. CCR never had a #1 hit. ZZ Top's two top songs were at #8. Motley Crue never had a #1 hit.

With respect, mostly, that only indicates The Beach Boys and The Eagles were more mainstream.
Both bands were actually also played on Country stations. Same with CCR, by the way. But you gotta be
a rock fan to hear Aerosmith, ZZ Top and Crue.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

With respect, mostly, that only indicates The Beach Boys and The Eagles were more mainstream.
Both bands were actually also played on Country stations. Same with CCR, by the way. But you gotta be
a rock fan to hear Aerosmith, ZZ Top and Crue.

"Mainstream" rock is still rock.

To beat the definition of "rock" down to about an 3"x4" opening that only a few bands are going to squeeze through... Nah, that doesn't make sense to me. Rock is rock.

If someone would have started this discussion looking for the greatest American hard rock band... That's something else entirely.

 

[atlantacowboy]

"Mainstream" rock is still rock.

To beat the definition of "rock" down to about an 3"x4" opening that only a few bands are going to squeeze through... Nah, that doesn't make sense to me. Rock is rock.

If someone would have started this discussion looking for the greatest American hard rock band... That's something else entirely.

Can we at least agree rock should involve guitars, a drum, and not be on the Lawrence Welk Show?

 

[RoboQB]

"Mainstream" rock is still rock.

To beat the definition of "rock" down to about an 3"x4" opening that only a few bands are going to squeeze through... Nah, that doesn't make sense to me. Rock is rock.

If someone would have started this discussion looking for the greatest American hard rock band... That's something else entirely.

My bad. I didn't realize that I narrowed it down too much. Sometimes, I don't know my own strength.
Mostly, because I listen to Heavy Metal when I'm working out... lol. Sometimes I listen even not when
I'm working out.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

My bad. I didn't realize that I narrowed it down too much. Sometimes, I don't know my own strength.
Mostly, because I listen to Heavy Metal when I'm working out... lol. Sometimes I listen even not when
I'm working out.

Hey, if you think an HM band is the greatest American rock band of all-time... That's fine.

 

[RoboQB]

Hey, if you think an HM band is the greatest American rock band of all-time... That's fine.

Well, based on the numbers, it's probably the Eagles and the Beach Boys, like you said (lol),
but they don't get the blood pumping like an old Metallica CD... lol

 

[RoboQB]

Hey, if you think an HM band is the greatest American rock band of all-time... That's fine.

Mike, after giving it some thought, my personal pick for this topic is Van Halen (with Aerosmith right behind).
The original lineup. They had a couple nice albums with Hagar but I gotta go with
Diamond Dave over the Red Rocker.

Sadly, they are a bit of a joke now but from 78-85 they were on fire.
There's a cool interview, or talk show, from Henry Rollins describing when he first
saw VH. Anyone interested should check it out. Google that shhh... stuff.

Fleetwood Mac could possibly make the top 3-5 on my list. And yes, of course, The Eagles.

 

[JohnnyTheFox]

Mike, after giving it some thought, my personal pick for this topic is Van Halen (with Aerosmith right behind).
The original lineup. They had a couple nice albums with Hagar but I gotta go with
Diamond Dave over the Red Rocker.

Sadly, they are a bit of a joke now but from 78-85 they were on fire.
There's a cool interview, or talk show, from Henry Rollins describing when he first
saw VH. Anyone interested should check it out. Google that shhh... stuff.

Fleetwood Mac could possibly make the top 3-5 on my list. And yes, of course, The Eagles.

Agreed, from inception until 84 they were a great band. Saw them 6 times from 79 to 84 to confirm this, especially during those early tours. They were on fire and were hungry. And no one and i mean no one worked harder than VH. Just during 1978 alone they came to little ole Oklahoma 5 times or so, when Roth was cracking the whip they were unstopable, when he left.....well they turned into what i call Air Supply or Diet VH.

 

[Chrispierce]

How in the heck does nobody have Fleetwood Mac? I know one half is UK,but they formed what became mega group “Fleetwood Mac” with Nicks and Buckingham in the Hollywood Hills.
(Oh wait...it’s mentioned Fleetwood up there already...”check”)

 

[RoboQB]

Agreed, from inception until 84 they were a great band. Saw them 6 times from 79 to 84 to confirm this, especially during those early tours. They were on fire and were hungry. And no one and i mean no one worked harder than VH. Just during 1978 alone they came to little ole Oklahoma 5 times or so, when Roth was cracking the whip they were unstopable, when he left.....well they turned into what i call Air Supply or Diet VH.

Diet VH.. I love that... perfect name...lol
Ironic, because Hagar had to check into a fat farm before each tour.

I saw them at Monsters of Rock in '89. Hagar couldn't sing Roth's songs.
He actually quit in the middle of "Panama" and said "let's play some 5150.
I don't know, maybe that was staged, but they were terrible. EVH played
this terrible solo. He never missed a note but it was very laid back, almost
somber. I just missed the 1984 tour. That's a bitter story.

 

[JohnnyTheFox]

Diet VH.. I love that... perfect name...lol
Ironic, because Hagar had to check into a fat farm before each tour.

I saw them at Monsters of Rock in '89. Hagar couldn't sing Roth's songs.
He actually quit in the middle of "Panama" and said "let's play some 5150.
I don't know, maybe that was staged, but they were terrible. EVH played
this terrible solo. He never missed a note but it was very laid back, almost
somber. I just missed the 1984 tour. That's a bitter story.

Yes, seeing them with Roth was a whole different experience. Saw them in the summer of 79 at the Civic Center here, with a crowd of about 2500 people who went absolutely bonkers. As far as EVH goes yes, love his playing but he has been mailing it in for quite a while. Doing the same solo live, over and over again year after year for the most part. He is still a good player just not as good as he was pre 84. When Sam joined the band lost its magic, least for me.

 

[Runwildboys]

Well, based on the numbers, it's probably the Eagles and the Beach Boys, like you said (lol),
but they don't get the blood pumping like an old Metallica CD... lol

If you go by sales, Britney Spears is better than some of the bands mentioned.

Let's not go by sales.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

If you go by sales, Britney Spears is better than some of the bands mentioned.

Let's not go by sales.

(Looking up to see if one person can be a rock band...)

 

[morasp]

If you want to base it off of album rankings The Dave Mathews Band has a valid claim to the title.

Under the Table and Dreaming Rank 11
Crash Rank 2
Before These Crowded Streets Rank 1
Every Day Rank 1
Busted Stuff Rank 1
Stand Up Rank 1
Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King Rank 1
Away From the World Rank 1
Come Tomorrow Rank 1

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Matthews_Band_discography

But I'm going to humbly submit Little Feat.

Reasons:

1.) To add some diversity to the discussion. That's part of the fun of having threads like this.

2.) I don't expect them to win but they were so good they at least deserve to get mentioned and I might as well be the one to do it.

3.) I'm in good company with someone that knows something about rock bands:

Guitarist Jimmy Page stated Little Feat was his favorite American band in a 1975 Rolling Stone interview.

4.) To call these guys underappreciated would be a gross understatement, a lot of people might not have even heard of them.

5.) Imitation is the Sincerest Form of Flattery

Some of the prominent musicians and bands to play and record the music of Little Feat include Phish,[12] The Black Crowes, The Byrds, The Bridge, Garth Brooks, Jackson Browne, Bob Dylan, Steve Earle, The Flying Burrito Brothers, Emmylou Harris, Taylor Hicks, Ron Holloway, Keisuke Kuwata, Nicolette Larson, Nazareth, Robert Palmer, The Radiators, Bonnie Raitt, Linda Ronstadt, John Sebastian, Richard Shindell, Carly Simon, Mick Taylor, Van Halen, Joe Walsh, Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Sam Bush, Coco Montoya, Vince Herman, Inara George, Stephen Bruton, Widespread Panic, Warren Haynes and Gov't Mule, Blackberry Smoke, Jimmy Buffett Anders Osborne and Gregg Allman.

The picuture quality isn't too good but here is a small sampling of their songs:

 

[OmerV]

How in the heck does nobody have Fleetwood Mac? I know one half is UK,but they formed what became mega group “Fleetwood Mac” with Nicks and Buckingham in the Hollywood Hills.
(Oh wait...it’s mentioned Fleetwood up there already...”check”)

Actually 3/5 is from UK, so while it's true the band didn't become what it did until after Buckingham and Nicks joined, it was still founded entirely in England, the majority of the band is English, and Christine McVie was one of the prominent songwriters (of course along with Nicks and Buckingham).

In the end I suppose it depends on how one defines "American Rock Band"

 

[Runwildboys]

(Looking up to see if one person can be a rock band...)

You get the point.

 

[RoboQB]

If you go by sales, Britney Spears is better than some of the bands mentioned.

Let's not go by sales.

It's Winicki's fault... lol. He brought up #1 records and hit singles and such.
Damn you, Winiicki... lol

 

[atlantacowboy]

One of the criteria has to be whether or not the music has stood the test of time. I saw someone had DMB on here. Nobody is listening to that sh--t now. It was huge in its day and faded. Meanwhile your grand kids and great grand kids will still be rocking out to Aerosmith, CCR, Van Halen ect.

On a side note, this thread has made realize how much better English bands have been at standing the test of time. We have nothing to compare to the Beatles, Stones, or Led Zep

 

[atlantacowboy]

This really requires a definition for rock. There are too many genres that can fit under rock. The Eagles are not what I would call rock, but they would be high on the list. Same goes for REM and The Beach Boys. Is grunge rock? Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Sound Garden, and Alice in Chains can all be included if the answer is yes. Does Fleetwood Mac fit under American band, since without Stevie and Lindsey they would not even be mentioned.

Maybe we should do it by regions? Southern rock, NE rock, midwest, and west coast?

NE: Aerosmith, Boston, Kiss, The Ramones, Talking Heads
South: Eagles, CCR, Skynard, ABB, REM
MW: Chicago, Styx, REO Speed Wagon, ZZ Top
WC: Beach Boys, Nirvana, Chillipeppers, Van Halen, Pearl Jam

Eagles were a southern band............southern california.