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Best American rock 'n roll band ever?

Besides Bad Moon Rising, when there is a snowstorm of doom on the horizon, stores should also play, It's the end of the world as we know it.

Was a huge fan of REM, their very last single "We All Go Back to Where We Belong" (a very good and almost never played track) would be a good choice as well.

True Fact: I told my wife that "Nightswimming" would be a song I would not mind being played at my funeral.
 
This thread needs a poll.

There have been many great bands listed here. imo the answer is the Eagles. ymmv.

Sec while I put on my flame suit.

I would say GNR as an honorable mention. I know everyone is tired of hearing them but they had some massive hits. Chili Peppers too.
 
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It’s GNR for me. They were musically superior to their peers, and though their original heyday only spanned 5 years, they were absolutely massive, sold a ton of records and were probably the last true sex, drugs and rock n’ roll “rock stars” in American music.

That’s my preference. Many of the aforementioned bands have had a longer career and more expansive catalogs.
 
I'd like to submit one simply for discussion. Steely Dan. Not sure that anyone would consider them as strictly a rock band since their sound was heavily influenced by jazz and pop. And perhaps not even in the top 10 American bands. But the number of hits they generated should be noted. Kinda odd because they were just two friends from college, Walter Becker and Donald Fagan, that wrote a ton of great songs, rarely played live shows, and hired studio musicians when recording their albums.

If you listened to rock radio in the 70s you heard them a ton. And if you listen to any classic rock now you've no doubt been exposed to them.

Here's a few that everyone should know...

Do it Again
Reelin' In The Years
My Old School
Kid Charlemagne
Deacon Blues
Hey Nineteen
FM
Peg
Black Friday
Aja
Rikki Don't Lose That Number
 
I'd like to submit one simply for discussion. Steely Dan. Not sure that anyone would consider them as strictly a rock band since their sound was heavily influenced by jazz and pop. And perhaps not even in the top 10 American bands. But the number of hits they generated should be noted. Kinda odd because they were just two friends from college, Walter Becker and Donald Fagan, that wrote a ton of great songs, rarely played live shows, and hired studio musicians when recording their albums.

If you listened to rock radio in the 70s you heard them a ton. And if you listen to any classic rock now you've no doubt been exposed to them.

Here's a few that everyone should know...

Do it Again
Reelin' In The Years
My Old School
Kid Charlemagne
Deacon Blues
Hey Nineteen
FM
Peg
Black Friday
Aja
Rikki Don't Lose That Number
I’m not a musician, but musicians tell me steely was next level talented. Real pros
 
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No order

GNR
Van Halen
Grateful Dead
Beach boys
Aerosmith
Allman bros
CCR
Widespread
Dmb
Doobie bros
Doors
REM
 
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Was a huge fan of REM, their very last single "We All Go Back to Where We Belong" (a very good and almost never played track) would be a good choice as well.

True Fact: I told my wife that "Nightswimming" would be a song I would not mind being played at my funeral.
She doesn't already have a date picked out, I hope. :)
 
There is no best....only fav's and the list can be compiled w/ a slew of extraordinary bands that have their own place in history.

Boss/ESt
Eagles
Aerosmith
Lynyrd Skynyrd
Allman Bros.
Steely Dan
Beach Boys
Pearl Jam
....to name just a few iconic bands that have defined music in countless ways.
 
There is no best....only fav's and the list can be compiled w/ a slew of extraordinary bands that have their own place in history.

Boss/ESt
Eagles
Aerosmith
Lynyrd Skynyrd
Allman Bros.
Steely Dan
Beach Boys
Pearl Jam
....to name just a few iconic bands that have defined music in countless ways.

Well, knock me down with a feather, if you traded out Aerosmith for REM, I would probably give that a 100% like. Maybe if we stay out of each other's way on the political threads, we may yet learn to get along. ;)

Similar to ABB, when I was young, never thought much one way or the other about Steely Dan, but in the last few years, I realized how great they were. Who else ever wrote a song about G. Gordon Liddy?
 
Being a guitar player, I greatly respect Steely Dan and their musicianship. However, I just can't dance to it,

Some really good choices in this thread. Several I wouldn't have thought of, TBH, but deserving of consideration. Good discussion.
 
Not a hard rock band by any means and maybe not to be considered one of the greatest of all time but I was always a fan of Huey Lewis and the News back in the day. They had some great music that they put out in the 80's.
 
There has never been a band that I am more hot and cold on than the Doors.

I go through stretches where I think they're one of the top bands from America. And I go through stretches where I can't stand them.

Unlike the Eagles, who I loathe continuously.
Agree on the eagles. Only a few hits, but people wanna crown em. Well, go ahead and crown their ass.

Doors are just badazz. Front man genius and the electric keys. Come on, come on and touch me babe…..du na du na….cant you see that I am not afraid 😁😁😁😁
 
1. Aerosmith. Nobody has had a bigger influence and more hits than them
I’m sure Aerosmith influenced some bands, but I’m going with The Beatles as the number one influencer.

They were the first to create “a scene”. Their early music was simple but evolved with a bit more complexity. Plenty of bands that started in the late 60’s and onward would usually cite the Beatles and earlier blues musicians as their main influences.

Pretty sure even some of the grunge bands mentioned The Beatles as influential.
 
I’m sure Aerosmith influenced some bands, but I’m going with The Beatles as the number one influencer.

They were the first to create “a scene”. Their early music was simple but evolved with a bit more complexity. Plenty of bands that started in the late 60’s and onward would usually cite the Beatles and earlier blues musicians as their main influences.

Pretty sure even some of the grunge bands mentioned The Beatles as influential.
I get the fact this is a conversation about (Bands) but I thought it was about American Bands? Even if we open it up, I would put the bigger influence for any band or singer as Elvis Presley. He started it all.
 
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It’s GNR for me. They were musically superior to their peers, and though their original heyday only spanned 5 years, they were absolutely massive, sold a ton of records and were probably the last true sex, drugs and rock n’ roll “rock stars” in American music.

That’s my preference. Many of the aforementioned bands have had a longer career and more expansive catalogs.
"peer" as in ? Slash was a very good guitarist, he was NOT superior to quite a few of his peers, Duff ? LOL. Steven Adler ? Love me some GNR, but "musically superior to their peers" I would not agree with, which is why we all have our favorites. Motley Crue can match member for member other than Slash, who is a better guitarist than Mick Mars.

They was pretty known for the sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll rock star life as well. SO even that part is not true.
 
I’m sure Aerosmith influenced some bands, but I’m going with The Beatles as the number one influencer.

They were the first to create “a scene”. Their early music was simple but evolved with a bit more complexity. Plenty of bands that started in the late 60’s and onward would usually cite the Beatles and earlier blues musicians as their main influences.

Pretty sure even some of the grunge bands mentioned The Beatles as influential.
The Beatles aren't an American band though.
 
I get the fact this is a conversation about (Bands) but I thought it was about American Bands? Even if we open it up, I would put the bigger influence for any band or singer as Elvis Presley. He started it all.
The Beatles aren't an American band though.
Just talking about the major influencers. I'm all in on ABB.

No doubt Elvis kickstarted the pop side of R&R, but he wasn't technically a band. I've just heard more bands/band members refer to The Beatles as one of their first major influencers.

In my mind you'd go back to guys like Link Wray as the earliest influencers of R&R.
 
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The Beatles were heavily influenced by a lot of stars in the 50's and copied their styles in their early days.....Chuck Berry, Elvis, Everly Bros, Buddy Holly. One of the bio's I read about John and Paul had a lot of quotes from them about their influences.
 
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I've wondered if there was some sort of bragging rights contest between America vs the world, who'd win. America has the blues, country, folk, motown, rap and r&b, thrash metal, grunge, etc. We've got the bands named in this thread plus artists like Jackson, Prince, Dylan, Elvis, Little Richard, Cash, Bruce, etc. The biggest metal band in the world is Metallica, we start and end most music trends, and if you can make it in America, you're usually made around the world. America is also home to (like it or not) probably the biggest female pop star ever, Taylor Swift.

However, Black Sabbath is considered the godfathers of metal, The Beatles are considered the biggest band ever, you've got The Who, Iron Maiden, Zeppelin, The Stones, Queen, Pink Floyd, Fleetwood, AC/DC, Deep Purple, The Clash, and countless others abroad.
 
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Funny, but of all the great bands mentioned in this thread, I actually only rarely listen to many of them, much prefer newer stuff, even some country, sorry, but I have heard all of the great songs by Eagles/Doors/REM/Pearl Jam/Springsteen, et al, about 10,000 times each, just would rather listen to much more modern sounds.
 
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Along those same lines, Booker T and the MGs - played on a LOT of hits from Stax records. Steve Cropper co-wrote several (Dock of the Bay, Soul Man, etc.). Also, many members were the band with the original Blues Brothers (Ackroyd and Belushi).
Oh yes..Stax
Being a guitar player, I greatly respect Steely Dan and their musicianship. However, I just can't dance to it,

Some really good choices in this thread. Several I wouldn't have thought of, TBH, but deserving of consideration. Good discussion.
i found out it's impossible to dance to "Aqualung"
 
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