Greatest American rock band

When it comes to great live shows there's Springsteen & the E Street Band No. 1 and then there's everyone else.

 

Just to clarify:

1. The Band was not an American band.

B. The Eagles blow.

 

Top 5 great American Bands

1. Springsteen & the E Street Band
2. Creedence Clearwater Revival

then in no particular order:
The Ramones
Beach Boys
TP & the Heartbreakers

 

But how does Springsteen & E Street, TP & Heartbreakers, BS & Silver Bullet differ from an act like Buddy Holly & the Crickets, the Jimi Hendrix Experience, etc?

 

Oh stop it. The Plain Dealer editors don't read this web site.

Good try, tho.

 

Joe Perry might wish to disagree with that assertion.

And REM is as much Peter Buck as Michael Stipe. Mike Mills, too for that matter. In fact, if you throw in Bill Berry, I would propose they are a sum of equal parts.

 

Can the Beach Boys really (seriously) be considered a rock band?
How anyone can list the Ramones, KISS, Van Halen or the Dead, I'll never understand.
I always thought the Doors and Aerosmith were short-trick ponies. Some good stuff, but a lot of shit that stuck to the wall too.
Never considered Springsteen as being in a band same with Tom Petty

How about some love for Boston or Foreigner (Seriously)? I think Boston's stuff pre-Amanda, was out of this world.
Big Big BIG fan of Foreigner. Jukebox Hero is amazing. Yeah I know some of the band was Brits, but they were formed in NYC.

My top 5
1. The Eagles ... too damn talented... Heard the opening riff of Take it Easy yesterday morning and it immediately brought a smile to my face ... Not sure they qualify as a rock band though ...
2. Pearl Jam ... Best band in the last 20 years
3. CCR .. wow.
4. Foo Fighters... vastly underrated
5. Tie ... REM ... the Einstein of rock bands, Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills and Nash

No love for Damn Yankees?

 

I was actually a Nirvana fan (still am, somewhat) way before i even liked Pearl Jam. My first PJ album was actually Yield, their fifth album, I was actually a latecomer.

Comparing PJ's first three albums to Bleach, Nevermind, Incesticide and In Utero, PJ's music were better and Vedder's lyrics were superior than Cobain's. What PJ did between '91-'94 was still much better than what Nirvana did combined.

To me it seemd like PJ actually sat down in a studio and had recording sessions, whereas Nirvana just took a bunch of old surf songs and Kurt put some words to it. But Cobain did have more pressure than Vedder did, I think Cobain penned more of their songs, including the music. Vedder had Ament and Gossard as bandmates, both are veterans of the music scene, who composed a great tunes for Vedder to write lyrics to.

I can still relate to the songs on Ten, Vs. and Vitalogy but I can't say the same for Nirvana's music. I know, my argument is more of a personal choice/interest but I don't know how else to explain it.

 

Green Day.

 

My five, at least my five favorites in order.

1. Van Halen - Best pure band with the best guitarist. I think they are the quintessential American rock band.
2. CCR
3. Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble
4. Ramones
5. Pixies

Honorable Mention: Guns N' Roses, Soundgarden, MC5, Black Flag, Husker Du, Minor Threat, Nirvana.

Used to love Pearl Jam, but they have fallen off my meter completely. Playing along to too many Mike McCready guitar licks can do that to you I guess. Maybe I burnt myself out on them, but looking back, I think they were the least original of the big bands that came out of Seattle during the early 90's.

 

Cast my vote for Pearl Jam.

 

1) Aerosmith (great staying power across generations)
2) REM (smooth transition from "Alt" to mainstream while maintaining critical acclaim)
3) Crosby, Stills & Nash (as influential as any U.S. band ever)
4) Allman Brothers and ZZ Top (guitar work that would make Jimi smile)

I just don't feel there's enough evidence of substantial collaboration to treat Springsteen/E Street as a band. Doesn't diminish what he/they have done, though.