What Is The Greatest American Rock Band Ever?

[73109]

Brought up by something Lonestar said in the Van Halen thread.

I say Aerosmith.

[lonestar]

No to Aerosmith.  They lost so much after they sobered up.  I've had this argument many times with my boss, and it always comes down to either VH or Lynryd Skynyrd.

[Zantera]

Thrice.

/thread

[73109]

Skynyrd is way to countryish for me and I feel VH got too poppy as they got older. Aerosmith, to me, are the perfect blend of hard rockin' rock, and hard rockin' blues. Not to mention that I think Tyler is a better frontman they Roth. I also like Perry's style more than VH's. But as an overall guitarist, VH can run circles around perry.

[PlaysLikeMyung]

Aerosmith also went pop-rock later in their career, but I still dig the tunes.

Answer: Kansas

[Seventh Son]

Megadeth

[ClairvoyantCat]

I want to go and say something like The Dear Hunter, but I have a feeling when you say "greatest American rock band" you mean something much more specific....

[PlaysLikeMyung]

Beatles are very British, not American

[ClairvoyantCat]

shit









wasn't thinking

[lonestar]

Skynyrd is way to countryish for me and I feel VH got too poppy as they got older. Aerosmith, to me, are the perfect blend of hard rockin' rock, and hard rockin' blues. Not to mention that I think Tyler is a better frontman they Roth. I also like Perry's style more than VH's. But as an overall guitarist, VH can run circles around perry.

Funny, I feel that Aerosmith got too poppy after they sobered.  I always include Skynyrd because of their endurance.  They survived a plane crash that took half of the band members lives, and a couple of years later, they came back just as strong.  Also, they arguably have written two of the greates American rock songs, Freebird and Sweet Home Alabama.  I'll wait for more opinions before continuing.


And by American rock bands, dtismajesty, I think Cole is saying that they have to be American.  The Beatles were British.

[orcus116]

What has Skynyrd done outside of their first two albums that is even noteworthy?

[Gorille85]

Thrice.

/thread

Actually, I have to agree. It's weird that my top 5 favorite bands are all from different countries.

[yeshaberto]

I think VH has marred their record by all of their chaos...if Roth had stayed, the band had gotten along and they continued on for a number of years and then retired, there would be no question that they stand alone at the top of this.
unfortunately, none of those things happened

[King Postwhore]

Kiss. What are you gonna say about it.  The Kiss Army will back me up.

[Accelerando]

I'm going to have to go with Van Halen or Journey.

But if Alter Bridge keeps dishing out great albums like they have been....  


EDIT: I would've made the argument for Red Hot Chili Peppers if two of the members weren't Australian...

[skydivingninja]

The E Street Band /thread

Also, contenders include Van Halen, Metallica, Pearl Jam, Journey, and Coheed and Cambria (had to include that last one).

[73109]

The E Street Band /thread

Ouch. I completely forgot about them. Um...wow...yeah. Now, I have to think. Aerosmith is more rockin but Bruce and his band are really America. They have innumerable awesome songs and are really America's band. Hmm?

[DarkEternalNight]

There is no such thing as great American Rock to me.

[Cool Chris]

I imagine only old timers (and I mean really old) might see any argument in this.. but I'll throw it out there: The Beach Boys. In a certain sense, they are a product of their times, and fall in to the 'oldies' category. Or are merely associated with surfer music. But also, consider how timeless their music is. Pet Sounds is still recognized as a masterpiece. And like other timeless bands (The Beatles, for instance), there music still sounds fresh and crisp as a cracker.

On the short list I would include VH, maybe Journey, Springsteen, and Metallica. I'm hesitant to include Aerosmith because of my personal biases against them.

[73109]

There is no such thing as great American Rock to me.

Wow.

[skydivingninja]

There is no such thing as great American Rock to me.

Dream Theater?

@Cool Chris: Yeah, forgot that the Beach Boys were American.  Don't listen to them much/at all, but they were really influential and popular.  I can definitely understand your reasoning.

[DarkEternalNight]

Not saying there isn't such thing but I either can't stand or don't like any of the bands listed with the exception of Metallica and early Van Halen. Now, if we were talking about NORTH American Rock, we'd easily have a winner *coughrushcough*

I would pick DT even though they're technically Prog Metal.

[TempusVox]

The Eagles

Maybe also:

Pearl Jam
The Beach Boys
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
CCR

Rush....they're from North America. 

[Zook]

The Beach Boys

[pogoowner]

Answer: Kansas

This man knows what's up.

[skydivingninja]

The Eagles
CCR

The 13-year-old classic rock snob that used to exist inside of me forgot about these guys.  I hang my head in shame.

[thecrowing]

The Beach Boys

[lonestar]

OK, now that we have some opinions out there, I will rethink my original response.

I agree that the following need to be in the discussion...

The Eagles
CCR
The Beach Boys
Kiss

And I will rescind my Skynyrd motion, though they were responsible for the creation of a genre.

[contest_sanity]

I'm tempted to say Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, though some of his best work has technically been on solo records.  However, a lot of the Heartbreakers, particularly Mike Campbell, play on his solo records too.

Can't go wrong with The Eagles or The Beach Boys either, though.

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

Kiss. What are you gonna say about it.  The Kiss Army will back me up.

*backs king up*

[chrisbDTM]

van halen

[LudwigVan]

The Grateful Dead
Kansas
Metallica
Megadeth

[Fuzzboy]

What has Skynyrd done outside of their first two albums that is even noteworthy?

Honestly, not much but the first two albums are absolutely massive enough for me to consider them the greatest american rock band.

[TAC]

To me, the cross generational answer has to be Aerosmith. They've been successfull in all eras.


But I think there are some great "American" bands like Alice Cooper, Kiss, Springsteen, Van Halen, Bon Jovi, Metallica, Pearl Jam

[orcus116]

All eras? I can't stand any of their stuff from the late 90s, 2000s. They've made some classics no doubt but they should've called quits decades ago.