Greatest American Rock Band

[atlantacowboy]

You're a smart man.

I just saw them in Atlanta and they were really good..........but Def Leopard stole the show.......dam English bands

 

[Runwildboys]

I don't know if it's all older people or not, but the Eagles are still selling out sizable venues, I think even after Glenn Frey died. Of course part of the thing with Aersosmith is they started putting out hit songs later in the life of the band, which CSN&Y, Doors, Eagles etc have not. Of course, there was no "later in the life of the band" with The Doors.

I'm going on assumption here, but my guess is that the Eagles are selling out to the people who grew up with them, and now have the kind of money necessary to buy their tickets.

 

[Runwildboys]

I just saw them in Atlanta and they were really good..........but Def Leopard stole the show.......dam English bands

I'm not a bid Def Leppard fan, and yet I'm not surprised.

 

[jterrell]

As others mentioned I am not a fan of sales as a standard.
The best current music to me seldom is even popular for years if ever.
While the mass produced popular nonsense is mostly terrible.

The bands I like fly in the face of that and sell later or never sell but influence a generation of artists.

I am surprised no one has mentioned KISS.
Very unique and very American.

 

[jterrell]

I'm going on assumption here, but my guess is that the Eagles are selling out to the people who grew up with them, and now have the kind of money necessary to buy their tickets.

Yes, 40-60 year olds fill Eagles concert tours.
They have a great catalogue of Americana/soft rock stuff.

 

[OmerV]

As others mentioned I am not a fan of sales as a standard.
The best current music to me seldom is even popular for years if ever.
While the mass produced popular nonsense is mostly terrible.

The bands I like fly in the face of that and sell later or never sell but influence a generation of artists.

I am surprised no one has mentioned KISS.
Very unique and very American.

My viewpoint is Kiss was unique in their look and theatrics, but not so much in their music.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

My viewpoint is Kiss was unique in their look and theatrics, but not so much in their music.

Agreed.

Very niched.

And their niche loves them to death.

But to many music lovers they're rather meh.

 

[JohnnyTheFox]

As others mentioned I am not a fan of sales as a standard.
The best current music to me seldom is even popular for years if ever.
While the mass produced popular nonsense is mostly terrible.

The bands I like fly in the face of that and sell later or never sell but influence a generation of artists.

I am surprised no one has mentioned KISS.
Very unique and very American.

Yes you could throw Kiss in the mix for sure, them along with the Beatles and Zeppelin were my 1st loves as far as bands go. I had no delusions, they and their music was never going to be confused with Zeppelin or Rush. I give kudos to them though and especially Gene and Paul, they created a Empire and did what they needed to keep the gears moving.

 

[RoboQB]

People will hate it but I vote:
1. Nirvana--defined a genre of rock and unequivocally American.
2. Tom Petty and the HB--again very American and a genre of singer/songwriter rock.
3. Van Halen--Harder edged more international style but American boys.
4. Aerosmith--basically same as above.

That's a reasonable list. I think I would invert it to suit my taste but they all deserve a mention
based on the parameters.

 

[atlantacowboy]

I'm not a bid Def Leppard fan, and yet I'm not surprised.

They surprised me. Its not a concert I would normally circle on my calendar. But...... Lots of great songs, and they still have the one armed drummer! If you haven't listened to Pyromania in a few decades, give it a try. Compared to the turds that come out of bands now, its pretty dam awesome.

 

[jterrell]

Agreed.

Very niched.

And their niche loves them to death.

But to many music lovers they're rather meh.

I'd agree with that now and frankly was never a big fan.
But Detroit Rock City is about as American rock as it gets.

In a lot of ways they were the forerunner of Metallica as a garage band and the forerunner of pop trash as the marketing wizards of the genre.

 

[Reverend Conehead]

I'm a huge fan of Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac. Not all FM fans know that Fleetwood Mac made some outstanding music before the Lindsay Buckingham/Stevie Nicks era. When Peter Green ran that band, they were blues rock and amazing at it. I like the later era FM also, but Peter Green's version of the band is my all-time favorite.

 

[morasp]

It's been a long time since i went to a rock concert and living in a small northern town and I didn't get to many. Of the few bands I got to see George Thorogood and the destroyers were the best show by far. Kansas and Cheap Trick were equally good. Kiss was OK but kind of disappointing. ZZ Top, REO Speedwagon (twice), and Starship were all equally bad. Cheap Trick blew ZZ top off of the stage.

 

[triplets_93]

Mostly American....

CSNY 1970