Top 10 Rock Bands of All Time

[48Fire]

Inspired by a couple recent threads and a recent conversation I had. The conversation went like this:

Him: "I think XYZ band is overrated".
Me: "Yeah, so what are they ranked?"
Him: "I don't know, but they're overrated. They have one good song."
Me: "Have you seen them live?"
Him: "No"

So still working on my list, and I'll post it soon, but don't want to bias the discussion yet

So what are your top ten bands of all time?

 

[6miths]

Beatles
Stones
U2
Grateful Dead
Velvet Underground
Led Zepplin
Ramones
Pink Floyd
Bob Marley and the Wailers
Sly and the Family Stone

One list I saw. I would have put The Who and Queen on the list. And would have considered The Doors and The Beach Boys but the latter was never really taken seriously I think. Eagles and The Clash occurred to me too.

 

[IMATERP]

You can start with these 5:

1. Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band
2. Rolling Stones
3. Beatles (in conjunction w/Paul McCartney & Wings)
4. Eagles
5. Led Zeppelin

Then add a few of these (but strictly contingent on my mood)

6. U2
7. Beach Boys
8. Fleetwood Mac
9. Heart
10. Neil Young (Crazy Horse) also w/CSNY
10. Pearl Jam
10. Rush

Michael

 

[MichaelB]

Spinal Tap

 

[RunningBum]

Me: "Have you seen them live?"
Him: "No"

Does seeing them live have a large influence on you, or at least their rep as a live band? It means very little to me, since 99% of the music I listen to is recorded.

 

[48Fire]

Hmmm... good question. I think seeing a band live tends to influence me somewhat, although my preliminary top 10 has 4 that I have not seen live.

 

[6miths]

Yes I think seeing them live would have an impact but I think the list for 'Top 10 Live Rock Band Performances' is a different list and who would be in a position to make the call.

Looking at Rolling Stones Top 100 Artists of all time I see that The Beach Boys would make it into the Top 10 bands so I guess their stature continues to rise. They were a favourite of mine growing up so brings a smile.

 

[Sojourner]

1. Led Zeppelin
2. The Beatles
3. Pink Floyd
4. Radiohead
5. U2

Beyond that, the ordering gets very fuzzy so I'll just go with the top 5.

 

[48Fire]

1. Led Zeppelin
2. The Beatles
3. Pink Floyd
4. Radiohead
5. U2

Beyond that, the ordering gets very fuzzy so I'll just go with the top 5.

Good point, I had the same troubles

 

[48Fire]

Here's my list:

1. Beatles
2. Rolling Stones
3. Led Zeppelin
4. Pink Floyd
5. The Who
6. The Doors
7. U2
8. Queen
9. Aerosmith
10. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band

 

[golfnut]

Rolling Stones
Beatles
The Who
Led Zeppelin
Allman Bros.
Clapton - almost every band he was in
Pink Floyd
Jimi Hendrix Experience

Really can't come up with last two

 

[48Fire]

Clapton is a good call. I think he's in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame three times

 

[Nemo2]

- Stones
- Creedence
- Bob Seger
- Dire Straits
- Grateful Dead
- Fleetwood Mac
- AC/DC
- Pink Floyd
- Eagles
- ZZ Top

 

[GrayHare]

Good lists. Somewhere in the mix I'd include one clear prog rock representative, probably Yes, but it could also be King Crimson, Genesis, ELP.

 

[48Fire]

Ok, I'll take Genesis out of that list. First band I ever saw with two drummers

 

[candrew]

It seems that Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers deserve to crack the list considering a body of work that transcends a couple of generations.

 

[48Fire]

Nice pick, too. Wish I could have seen him one more time

 

[RunningBum]

Hard to get it down to 10, but I have a USB stub drive in my car with 20GB of my music and these are the ones that get the most play. But I only listen to an artist or CD some of the time; more often I listen to different playlist compilations from about anyone. In rough order of preference:

Smashing Pumpkins
Cranberries
Pink Floyd
Radiohead
Eagles
Electric Light Orchestra
Chicago
Springsteen
Violent Femmes
U2

Hard to leave out:
REM
Led Zeppelin
Pearl Jam
Foo Fighters
Beatles
Thorogood

 

[Alvin Tostig]

Here is 10:
Rolling Stones
Beatles
Rod Stewart and Faces
J. Geils Band
CSN&Y
Fleetwood Mac
Lynyrd Skynyrd
Allman Brothers
Creedence Clearwater Revival
Doobie Brothers or Chicago

 

[Beldar]

I'm stuck in my past on this subject, so, I can only mention two groups who I am currently listening to again, that being Pink Floyd and The Doors.

I enjoy both their studio and live performances.

And I should mention 2 individuals (even though this thread is about BANDS), Jimi Hendrix and Robin Trower. Their styles are the same and they compliment each other.

I could add to the list to get to the magic 10 but it might just be album specific.

_B

 

[Sojourner]

Smashing Pumpkins
Cranberries
Pink Floyd
Radiohead
Eagles
Electric Light Orchestra
Chicago
Springsteen
Violent Femmes
U2

Hard to leave out:
REM
Led Zeppelin
Pearl Jam
Foo Fighters
Beatles
Thorogood

Good list. Many of those are definitely in my top 15-20... except for Thorogood, Chicago, ELO, and Violent Femmes. Decent bands, but not all-time greats, IMHO.

 

[DrRoy]

Came up with a baker's dozen +, in rough but not firm order:

Pink Floyd
Eagles
Fleetwood Mac
Peter Gabriel/Genesis
Heart
Steely Dan
Styx
Led Zeppelin
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
Yes
AC/DC
Beatles
Stones
Rush

 

[Amethyst]

For me, it would have to be Yes, if only for longevity and variety, but also for vision and execution (except for their nonsense lyrics). Genesis broke up and went non-prog pretty quickly. KC never appealed to me that much. ELP - while I liked them - wasn't in the same league.

(Surprised no one has mentioned Jethro Tull).

Good lists. Somewhere in the mix I'd include one clear prog rock representative, probably Yes, but it could also be King Crimson, Genesis, ELP.

 

[Koogie]

In no order whatsoever...

U2
INXS
The Tragically Hip
Midnight Oil
The Pogues
Pearl Jam
Smashing Pumpkins
Green Day

..and having seen them just last night at probably one of the best concerts of my life, a band that Rolling Stone magazine said had the best album for the 2000 decade, our very own Arcade Fire...

 

[Midpack]

For me The Beatles are still the greatest of all time so far. From there in no particular order

• Led Zeppelin (Jimmy is my favorite lead guitar)
• Nirvana
• Radiohead
• The Doobie Brothers (before Michael McDonald)
• The Eagles
• The Who
• Pink Floyd
• Van Halen (before Sammy Hagar and despite Diamond Dave...)

and about a dozen honorable mentions...