Guest Kinetic Report post Posted July 18, 2002 I saw a commercial for Aerosmith's 82nd greatest hits package, Oh Yeah, the other day and had my interest piqued when the voice over referred to them as "America's greatest band." I wanted to dispute the claim because, quite frankly, I cannot fucking stand Aerosmith. Their 70s stuff was fine, but I really despise everything they've done since getting back together. But, really...what American band can even compete with them, in terms of longevity and influence? They're still a viable commercial force to this day, which is far more than any of their 70s contemporaries can say. I mean, KISS is still around but they couldn't score a hit single if their lives depended on it at this point. Do you think Aerosmith is the greatest American band? If not them, who? The Beach Boys? The Grateful Dead? Grand Funk? I'm perplexed. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Shaved Bear Report post Posted July 18, 2002 well it really is hard to determine, but me being a Metallica-mark would throw their names into the argument, but I also think the Dead are likely the best Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest evenflowDDT Report post Posted July 18, 2002 It's funny, you'd think Aerosmith would've sucked by now, and they might album-wise, but single-wise they've only fallen a teensy bit. They probably are the "greatest American band". Although that really depends on what you're going by. If you're going by concerts, then the "greatest American band" would probably be the Dead or Phish, both of whom have had dedicated legions of fans and stellar concerts for years, despite having no mainstream success with their studio albums. If you're going by creativity and don't go for any of that stoner jam stuff (what? I like it but it's true ) then the greatest American band is probably The Beach Boys, seeing as how Pet Sounds ends up on almost everyone's "top albums of all time list". But, aside from that, are The Beach Boys even that good to merit a "greatest" denomination? And who says the greatest American band has to be an "accomplished band" anyway? We could go purely on popularity and say it's the Backstreet Boys... OK not really Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Jerome Drake Report post Posted July 18, 2002 Cypress Hill Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Shaved Bear Report post Posted July 18, 2002 Cypress Hill ok someone better prepare an explanation Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Kinetic Report post Posted July 18, 2002 How about R.E.M.? The Doors? Why are so many more seminal bands from Great Britain? It doesn't seem fair. We've got the best solo artist, though. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest red_file Report post Posted July 18, 2002 Why are so many more seminal bands from Great Britain? It doesn't seem fair. I remember a while back a read a rather interesting essay on this topic. The final conclusion came down to the simple idea of "bad translation." Musicians in America (the old blues masters) would do something pretty cool and it would get bounced over to England where the youths would listen to it, screw it up a bit and make it their own. Then the English band's warped translation of a style of American music (blues through the filter of rock) would influence American musicians whose music would again bounce back to England to be warped again. A lot of the really cool stuff that came out of England in the late 60s/early 70s was a really funky mutation of what was going on with psychedelic bands in California. It's not entirely unlike the way that Poe's poetry influenced the American poetry scene by way of influencing a bunch of Spanish poets. Cool in its own way. And then there's always the fact that America has no real equivalent of Britain's art schools. I wouldn't even begin to know where to make a guess as to the greatest American rock band. Maybe Blue Oyster Cult. Always thought they were vastly underrated. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest MrRant Report post Posted July 18, 2002 My vote would go Creedence Clearwater Revival personally. Great songs each and every one of them. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Jerome Drake Report post Posted July 18, 2002 Cypress Hill ok someone better prepare an explanation I like Cypress Hill. Deal with it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest MrRant Report post Posted July 18, 2002 Cypress Hill ok someone better prepare an explanation I like Cypress Hill. Deal with it. But... aren't you Canadian? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Jerome Drake Report post Posted July 18, 2002 So? Doesnt mean I cant appercite American music. I like America and its culture. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest M Nyland Report post Posted July 18, 2002 yeah....but putting Cypress Hill as the greatest American BAND...when in fact they are A GROUP Bands play instruments - i.e. Metallica, Aerosmith Groups SING - i.e. lots of rappers, teen pop shit... The greatest American BAND would be the Doors... I'm not even a big Doors fan...but nothing compares to them. "The End" is one of the greatest songs ever.......they have legions of rock fans that couldn't really be matched at that time with an other AMERICAN bands... Metallica heads up the "metal" section of "greatest American band"... whilst the Ramones head up the "punk" section... and the Jimi Hendrix Experience (it wasn't just HIM ya know) gets "psychadelia" Sublime gets "ska"... Nirvana AND/OR Pearl Jam get "grunge" and Wierd Al Yankovic wins "comedy/parody/satire" Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest evenflowDDT Report post Posted July 18, 2002 Oh damn, I forgot all about The Doors... oh hell yea, then, The Doors for sure... shoot, they even fall under "Cali luv" Oh, and Nyland, not to be an ultra-detailed prick, but The Jimi Hendrix Experience is technically a British group, because they formed in Britain, released their album in Britain first (I think) and, with the exception of Jimi, are all from Britain (all two of them). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest M Nyland Report post Posted July 18, 2002 sorry for my mistake of not keeping my documented research about certain bands... I never listened to him anyways...... then I guess Grateful Dead can have that category if they count Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest evenflowDDT Report post Posted July 18, 2002 Sorry again about being a prick, just felt the need for the quick correction. But, we still need to do one thing with this thread before it takes off into everyone naming their favorite band... What does "greatest" mean? Most popular? Most consistent? Best album? Most good songs? No bad albums? It's really tough even deciding what to choose as "greatest" criteria, when most will just go the easy way and just say their favorite band. An example is Shaved Bear's choice of Metallica. Don't think I'm attacking you or anything man, because I'm really not (I liked Master of Puppets too ), but they were pretty popular (though not anymore), pretty inconsistent, some pretty good songs, but hardly any "best albums", and certainly not any "bad albums". Does that disqualify them for "greatest" status? WTF does greatest even mean, anyway? It's like "sell-out", it's thrown around too often, and in the end it really doesn't even say you can/can't like an artist. That being said, I stick with what I said earlier, and Nyland was right about The Doors. They've been responsible for a lot of classic songs, haven't had any really bad albums IN THEIR ORIGINAL LINE-UP, and are still fairly popular today. If that's what we're accepting as "greatest" then yea, they're the greatest. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest red_file Report post Posted July 18, 2002 Oh, and Nyland, not to be an ultra-detailed prick, but The Jimi Hendrix Experience is technically a British group, because they formed in Britain, released their album in Britain first (I think) and, with the exception of Jimi, are all from Britain (all two of them). Interesting. To quibble with your quibble, yes, they were formed in Britain, but Mitch Mitchell and Noel Redding were added to the line up to "flesh out" Jimi's sound. Chas Chandler had intended Hendrix to record as a solo artist after he had discovered him in New York. For all intents and purposes, it's not really far off the mark to consider his work in the same vien as Dylan's: a brilliant solo artist with a great back up band. It's the second rationale, that of releasing the first album in Britain first, that is especially interesting. Does that then make David Hasselhoff a (horrible) German musician? Or Twister Sister a British group? I understand what you're saying. I just don't entirely agree. To quibble with Nyland -- they have legions of rock fans that couldn't really be matched at that time with an other AMERICAN bands... At the time that the Doors were recording and touring other American bands that rivaled their popularity included Jefferson Airplane, CCR, Grand Funk, and the Grateful Dead. Certainly the Doors were among the most popular bands, but I think it would be a stretch to say that they were without a doubt the most popular American band at the time (67-78). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Incandenza Report post Posted July 18, 2002 America's greatest band? The Velvet Underground. Unlike the Beach Boys, who saw the quality of their output decline over the years, the Velvet Underground released a mere four albums in a four year time span--three of which are masterpieces and one of which is just very good. They've also influenced countless bands, and one could argue that punk and grunge music would not have been the same without White Light/White Heat. By the way, I am not a big Beach Boys fan, but I can live with them being in contention for the title of America's Greatest Band. I cannot stand the Grateful Dead, however, and I shudder to think that anyone outside of hippies and stoners would think their excruciatingly boring brand of jam music is "great." Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest godthedog Report post Posted July 18, 2002 America's greatest band? The Velvet Underground. Unlike the Beach Boys, who saw the quality of their output decline over the years, the Velvet Underground released a mere four albums in a four year time span--three of which are masterpieces and one of which is just very good. They've also influenced countless bands, and one could argue that punk and grunge music would not have been the same without White Light/White Heat. dammit, you stole my answer. but the velvets ARE the best band to ever come out of america. it's not even close. their music helped motivate a revolution in europe, for christ's sake. and every album they released is in the range of 'almost great' to 'fucking amazing'. no other band in history can make that claim. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest sk8420kid Report post Posted July 18, 2002 Well theres two different ways to answer this question. One is by genre, so you could say that Metallica was the best American metal band, or that the Ramones were the best punk band, and so on. However, these are usually the opinion of the individual and your own tastes in music so I won't answer it like that. the second way is by influence. What American band has had the most influence on music today? I don't mean to you personally, I mean on a bigger world scale. At The Drive-In is my favorite band ever and has had more influence on me than any other band, but does that mean it had that same influence on the rest of the world and made an impact? Of course not. The greatest American band had to have a huge impact on the world with their music that is still felt today. I can't think of any band that qualifies for this title right now, but I'm sure at least one existed or still exists. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest pochorenella Report post Posted July 18, 2002 While this is a very relative subject, I'll try to make my humble point here. Some may agree, some may not but I'll try to illustrate some examples as well. Of course I'm biased, but what the hell. I believe the greatest American band is Kiss. They've been around since 1973 and can still command attention to this day, even with their 50-year-old painted faces. You can call it nostalgia or wathever you want, but 20 years afeter their prime they still managed to get the Top Grossing Tours of the year. They've sold over 90 million albums worldwide. Their live shows are the standard by which all live rock shows are measured. Imitated but never duplicated. Their fans are among the most loyal around, we collect their stuff, we paint our faces, we tatto our bodies with images of the band, we go to their live shows around the world. They have the unquestioned greatest Rock live recording ever in "Alive!". They have songs that have become anthems in American rock radio and will forever be remembered. And they embody the "Sex, Drums, and Rock and Roll" spirit better than most, and what's more american than that? Kiss' influences to other bands are too numerous, even though some may not admit it. What young kid didn't want to pick up a guitar after watching Gene Simmons do his stuff onstage? I agree with Kinetic in the fact that their best days may be behind them (as well as Aerosmith's), and they might never get another hit single, even though they didn't have that many to begin with. So they never had critical acclaim? Leave that to the REM's or Velvet Undergrounds of the world (and I LOVE REM). And I think they'll never be inducted in the Rock Hall of Fame. But so what? They made their mark, Kiss is immortal. This has been the completely biased opinion of an insane Kiss fan. Peace. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Kinetic Report post Posted July 18, 2002 I was thinking of the Velvet Underground, too, but thought they might be hindered by the relatively short period of time that they existed and the fact that a rather large portion of the population has no clue who they are. I damn sure like them better than Aerosmith, though, so I guess my vote probably goes there. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Jerome Drake Report post Posted July 18, 2002 Fine, I pick The Roots than. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest godthedog Report post Posted July 18, 2002 I was thinking of the Velvet Underground, too, but thought they might be hindered by the relatively short period of time that they existed and the fact that a rather large portion of the population has no clue who they are. I damn sure like them better than Aerosmith, though, so I guess my vote probably goes there. i don't buy the whole 'they can't be the greatest ever cause they weren't popular enough' argument; being the best band isn't a popularity contest, it's a matter of whose music holds up better. if the beatles had sold a million fewer copies of 'sgt pepper' would that make the beatles any less of a great band? and about the doors...to me, they're the velvet underground lite. basically everything that the doors did to be different from the other music of that period, the velvets did better (except the whole sex symbol thing). the doors had a 'strange' sound compared to the rest of the music scene? the velvets had a damn viola and a deep-voiced female german vocalist, how strange is that? the doors were 'darker' than everybody else at the time? lou reed was writing songs about transvestites, homosexuality, sadomasochism and heroin addiction while the doors were singing on the ed sullivan show. i know doors fans who would freak out if they ever heard 'european son' or 'sister ray'. jim morrison's 'poetry'? morrison on his least-drugged-up day couldn't write lyrics half as good as reed. 'light my fire' can't hold a candle to 'sweet jane'. anyway: i'm not saying the doors aren't a really good band, they are. but they're not the greatest, and they're not even really that unique. and screw aerosmith. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest NoCalMike Report post Posted July 18, 2002 I think Tool has the potential. I have absolutely loved everything they have done. 4 cds probobaly isn't enough for the Longevity issue, but hey, they aren't done yet. The music industry is a much different scene these days though, it is more about having the hot single, then getting a new band with the hot single. Most band have a hit album, then get pushed out the door a month later and you never hear from them again. So the length of the tenrue of bands may never be the same. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest M Nyland Report post Posted July 18, 2002 dude...someone ELSE actually likes At The Drive-In besides me...sweet... I would like to second the KISS recommendation...I totally forgot about them. Tool is a great band, very imaginative and unique... but as for GREATEST...I don't think so...they would be in a top 10 or 15 though... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest razazteca Report post Posted July 18, 2002 I will like to nominate the super group Paramont Funkadelic P-Funk as one of the greatest bands in from America. This 70s supergroup much like other gimmick bands of the era had style, crazy characters as band members, and a psychodelic drug influence sound that had the industry at the time say "Damn" what is this. During the band's hey day it had gold albums for nearly every solo project they produced. Bootsy Collins is a guitar god, he is that crazy guy with the star glasses doing those shoe commercials BRING BACK DA FUNK Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest MrRant Report post Posted July 18, 2002 Goddamnit no one ever gives respect to CCR . SO many great songs. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Incandenza Report post Posted July 18, 2002 and about the doors...to me, they're the velvet underground lite. basically everything that the doors did to be different from the other music of that period, the velvets did better (except the whole sex symbol thing). the doors had a 'strange' sound compared to the rest of the music scene? the velvets had a damn viola and a deep-voiced female german vocalist, how strange is that? the doors were 'darker' than everybody else at the time? lou reed was writing songs about transvestites, homosexuality, sadomasochism and heroin addiction while the doors were singing on the ed sullivan show. i know doors fans who would freak out if they ever heard 'european son' or 'sister ray'. jim morrison's 'poetry'? morrison on his least-drugged-up day couldn't write lyrics half as good as reed. 'light my fire' can't hold a candle to 'sweet jane'. Amen. I always felt the Doors were hugely overrated, and whatever they did VU did better, AND so much more. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest evenflowDDT Report post Posted July 18, 2002 We've got the best solo artist, though. But Kinetic, I thought George Michael was English! OK, more seriously, it seems it's come down to The Doors vs. Velvet Underground. I'll already admit that I'm more of a Doors fan, so I'm obviously a bit biased, but I just can't get into Velvet Underground. It's "too alternative" to be recognized by enough of an audience to be the "greatest". "Greatest" should be something that's unique but not so unique that it turns people off (or should it even have to embody something unique? The Beatles are usually "the greatest", but when they first started there wasn't anything unique about them at all). I think The Doors embody that spirit perfectly. Although at the same time I'll admit The Doors are a little overrated, they're the closest thing to a "greatest band" in the U.S. of A. Shoot, maybe it really is CCR... Oh, and I second the Bootsy Collins praise, although what's up with the updated version of "We Got the Funk" with Snoop Dogg? Anyway, on the subject of funk, even though it's great music, I think it's been too "type-cast" to be taken seriously by audiences of today and the future. After all, shouldn't "the greatest" be able to stay that way forever? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
