POLL - The WEAKEST LINK of AMERICAN BANDS - (Championship) ROUND 1

MedozK

We have now narrowed the field down to 8 great American bands. From these we will decide who the GREATEST AMERICAN BAND is.

You are going to pick the band that you think is the "Weakest Link" after 2 days I remove the two (2) bands with the most votes. We will then move on to Round 2.

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
R.E.M.
Soundgarden
Alice in Chains
Metallica
Guns N' Roses
The Ramones
Talking Heads

mfc2006

Guns N' Roses

This one is going to be tough

OffSheGoes35

The Ramones

I am going to listen to the greatest hits of my bottom 2 bands before I vote. Think I'll feel less guilty about voting if I re-familiarize myself with the lesser known choices before making a final decision.

tempo_n_groove

Talking Heads

I see Metallica taking this.

Spiritual_Chaos

Talking Heads

MORTAL

KOMBAAAATTTTT

brianlux

Guns N' Roses

Damn it!  I need new glasses.  I could swear it looks like The Ramones and Talking Heads are getting beat out by Metallica, Alice in Chains and Soundgarden.

pledgeagrievance

Guns N' Roses

Easy pick so far. Going to get hard 

Hobbes

Guns N' Roses

A fine collection of bands, but the list of British bands (minus Oasis and Radiohead) trounces this list of American bands.

Curious, @MedozK what would have been your list of ten American bands had you conducted this poll in the traditional way?

OffSheGoes35

The Ramones

Damn, people are just pulling the trigger like it's a race. 

brianlux

Guns N' Roses

Hobbes said:

A fine collection of bands, but the list of British bands (minus Oasis and Radiohead) trounces this list of American bands.

Curious, @MedozK what would have been your list of ten American bands had you conducted this poll in the traditional way?

That's because Neil Young and Crazy Horse, Dinosaur Jr, The Replacements, and The Dream Syndicate are not on it! All of those bands crush most of what's on this current list. 

tempo_n_groove

Talking Heads

brianlux said:

Hobbes said:

A fine collection of bands, but the list of British bands (minus Oasis and Radiohead) trounces this list of American bands.

Curious, @MedozK what would have been your list of ten American bands had you conducted this poll in the traditional way?

That's because Neil Young and Crazy Horse, Dinosaur Jr, The Replacements, and The Dream Syndicate are not on it! All of those bands crush most of what's on this current list. 

Out of all the bands listed Metallica and Soundgarden have the strongest discography.

brianlux

Guns N' Roses

tempo_n_groove said:

brianlux said:

Hobbes said:

A fine collection of bands, but the list of British bands (minus Oasis and Radiohead) trounces this list of American bands.

Curious, @MedozK what would have been your list of ten American bands had you conducted this poll in the traditional way?

That's because Neil Young and Crazy Horse, Dinosaur Jr, The Replacements, and The Dream Syndicate are not on it! All of those bands crush most of what's on this current list. 

Out of all the bands listed Metallica and Soundgarden have the strongest discography.

Well, I have to tell ya...  ummm... 

hihobibo

Talking Heads

If you vote on hits/radio play, its Tom Petty winning, with REM runners up. 
If you go by longevity and career, Its Metallica and Petty
If you go by influence, I'd say its Ramones, Metallica.
If you go by a rock force that blew everyone away in their hey day, its GNR. 
Soundgarden and AIC are great, but I don't know their niche on this list.

I have no clue about the Talking Heads, who I voted out every round I participated in.

tempo_n_groove

Talking Heads

hihobibo said:

If you vote on hits/radio play, its Tom Petty winning, with REM runners up. 
If you go by longevity and career, Its Metallica and Petty
If you go by influence, I'd say its Ramones, Metallica.
If you go by a rock force that blew everyone away in their hey day, its GNR. 
Soundgarden and AIC are great, but I don't know their niche on this list.

I have no clue about the Talking Heads, who I voted out every round I participated in.

Metallica blew minds before GnR did, that's for sure.  They continued to even greater heights w the Black album.

tempo_n_groove

Talking Heads

brianlux said:

tempo_n_groove said:

brianlux said:

Hobbes said:

A fine collection of bands, but the list of British bands (minus Oasis and Radiohead) trounces this list of American bands.

Curious, @MedozK what would have been your list of ten American bands had you conducted this poll in the traditional way?

That's because Neil Young and Crazy Horse, Dinosaur Jr, The Replacements, and The Dream Syndicate are not on it! All of those bands crush most of what's on this current list. 

Out of all the bands listed Metallica and Soundgarden have the strongest discography.

Well, I have to tell ya...  ummm... 

Pick any album by any other band and I will pick a better one by both these bands.  There is a lot of filler on a lot of the other albums.

brianlux

Guns N' Roses

It boggles my mind that Talking Heads are getting creamed.  I saw these guys live in the mid 80's with the expanded band that included Adrian Belew on guitar, the late great Bernie Worrell on keyboards, and Steve Scales on percussion.  The amount of talent and energy on that stage was mind boggling.  To see some of these other bands beating out T.H. here leaves my scratching my head big time.

tbergs

The Ramones

If I were to pick the band I least wanted to listen to off this list, it'd be these guys. Great group, but what's their best album? Doesn't compare to any other band's best album of those left. Everyone else has at least a few really revered albums.

1ThoughtKnown

Guns N' Roses

This will get really hard in the final four 

HughFreakingDillon

Talking Heads

brianlux said:

It boggles my mind that Talking Heads are getting creamed.  I saw these guys live in the mid 80's with the expanded band that included Adrian Belew on guitar, the late great Bernie Worrell on keyboards, and Steve Scales on percussion.  The amount of talent and energy on that stage was mind boggling.  To see some of these other bands beating out T.H. here leaves my scratching my head big time.

it really shouldn't boggle the mind. you said it yourself in your comment...."in the mid 80's". it's basically ingrained in the generation that dominates this board that nearly everything that came out that decade was utter tripe. 

now, we know that's not totally true now, but I'd wager not many of us have any emotional attachment to the TH, hence them "winning" this race. 

brianlux

Guns N' Roses

HughFreakingDillon said:

brianlux said:

It boggles my mind that Talking Heads are getting creamed.  I saw these guys live in the mid 80's with the expanded band that included Adrian Belew on guitar, the late great Bernie Worrell on keyboards, and Steve Scales on percussion.  The amount of talent and energy on that stage was mind boggling.  To see some of these other bands beating out T.H. here leaves my scratching my head big time.

it really shouldn't boggle the mind. you said it yourself in your comment...."in the mid 80's". it's basically ingrained in the generation that dominates this board that nearly everything that came out that decade was utter tripe. 

now, we know that's not totally true now, but I'd wager not many of us have any emotional attachment to the TH, hence them "winning" this race. 

I have to remind my self of a couple things.  One is that many music fans get lodged in the era they grew up in.  My folks were into Glen Miller and Perry Como and never moved beyond that era.  Or another example would be  how so many baby boomers got stuck in the days of Crosby Stills and Nash and Jefferson Airplane, etc. and never moved on from there.  All that older music is great, but there is so much more! 
So the other I need to remember is that most music fans here are 90's fans, thus the love for all these 90's bands.  I'm not saying that's a problem or trying to be critical, I'm just more "greedy" when it comes to music.  I want the whole palate going backwards and forwards!

HughFreakingDillon

Talking Heads

brianlux said:

HughFreakingDillon said:

brianlux said:

It boggles my mind that Talking Heads are getting creamed.  I saw these guys live in the mid 80's with the expanded band that included Adrian Belew on guitar, the late great Bernie Worrell on keyboards, and Steve Scales on percussion.  The amount of talent and energy on that stage was mind boggling.  To see some of these other bands beating out T.H. here leaves my scratching my head big time.

it really shouldn't boggle the mind. you said it yourself in your comment...."in the mid 80's". it's basically ingrained in the generation that dominates this board that nearly everything that came out that decade was utter tripe. 

now, we know that's not totally true now, but I'd wager not many of us have any emotional attachment to the TH, hence them "winning" this race. 

I have to remind my self of a couple things.  One is that many music fans get lodged in the era they grew up in.  My folks were into Glen Miller and Perry Como and never moved beyond that era.  Or another example would be  how so many baby boomers got stuck in the days of Crosby Stills and Nash and Jefferson Airplane, etc. and never moved on from there.  All that older music is great, but there is so much more! 
So the other I need to remember is that most music fans here are 90's fans, thus the love for all these 90's bands.  I'm not saying that's a problem or trying to be critical, I'm just more "greedy" when it comes to music.  I want the whole palate going backwards and forwards!

I hear ya brian. I, for one, am guilty of the "one era" music lover thing. I stick to what I dig, what i was emotionally attached to, which was 90's alternative. Then I go to the "what's on your record player" thread and I see all these jazz titles and motown and early blues, and I'm kind of envious that many people (at least @mrussel1 @MedozK, among others) have that kind of open palette, as you do. A lot of that stuff just doesn't ring my bells, and I can't force it. I've tried. 

tempo_n_groove

Talking Heads

Metallica albums were made in the 80's.

G N R first albums were in the 80's.

REM's greater albums were made in the 80's.

I like albums that are a little more rough and that doesn't mean that I am not smitten w Once in a Lifetime though...

brianlux

Guns N' Roses

HughFreakingDillon said:

brianlux said:

HughFreakingDillon said:

brianlux said:

It boggles my mind that Talking Heads are getting creamed.  I saw these guys live in the mid 80's with the expanded band that included Adrian Belew on guitar, the late great Bernie Worrell on keyboards, and Steve Scales on percussion.  The amount of talent and energy on that stage was mind boggling.  To see some of these other bands beating out T.H. here leaves my scratching my head big time.

it really shouldn't boggle the mind. you said it yourself in your comment...."in the mid 80's". it's basically ingrained in the generation that dominates this board that nearly everything that came out that decade was utter tripe. 

now, we know that's not totally true now, but I'd wager not many of us have any emotional attachment to the TH, hence them "winning" this race. 

I have to remind my self of a couple things.  One is that many music fans get lodged in the era they grew up in.  My folks were into Glen Miller and Perry Como and never moved beyond that era.  Or another example would be  how so many baby boomers got stuck in the days of Crosby Stills and Nash and Jefferson Airplane, etc. and never moved on from there.  All that older music is great, but there is so much more! 
So the other I need to remember is that most music fans here are 90's fans, thus the love for all these 90's bands.  I'm not saying that's a problem or trying to be critical, I'm just more "greedy" when it comes to music.  I want the whole palate going backwards and forwards!

I hear ya brian. I, for one, am guilty of the "one era" music lover thing. I stick to what I dig, what i was emotionally attached to, which was 90's alternative. Then I go to the "what's on your record player" thread and I see all these jazz titles and motown and early blues, and I'm kind of envious that many people (at least @mrussel1 @MedozK, among others) have that kind of open palette, as you do. A lot of that stuff just doesn't ring my bells, and I can't force it. I've tried. 

tempo_n_groove said:

Metallica albums were made in the 80's.

G N R first albums were in the 80's.

REM's greater albums were made in the 80's.

I like albums that are a little more rough and that doesn't mean that I am not smitten w Once in a Lifetime though...

To both of you, nothing wrong with going what you like. If I were critical of what other people prefer for music, I would have big issues with my wife.  Her musical interests lie almost solely in classical, modern country, and folk, and lately she has shown an interest in some quality jazz.  But avant garde or free jazz?  No way!  Punk rock, loud guitars, heavy duty garage rock, etc.?  No way!  When I saw Pearl Jam in Missoula in 2012 (I had been gifted a ticket) I told her I could probably score her a ticket from a scalper.  She said, no, I think I'll stay in the campground and do some knitting.  LOL, I love that woman so much but music is NOT the common ground for us!

HughFreakingDillon

Talking Heads

tempo_n_groove said:

Metallica albums were made in the 80's.

G N R first albums were in the 80's.

REM's greater albums were made in the 80's.

I like albums that are a little more rough and that doesn't mean that I am not smitten w Once in a Lifetime though...

yes, there are of course some outliers, but the 80's music scene is more often associated with synth pop and bright coloured clothes. I wasn't talking about every single band contained in the era. (nirvana recorded their first album in the 80's as well, and some of nevermind was written then). 

mrussel1

Metallica

So I missed the early rounds, but were the classic rock era bands purposely omitted?

It would be hard to have a list like this without the Dead, Doors, Bruce, Hendrix (although maybe the Experience is considered British?), etc.  To me, there's no world where the Talking Heads, Metallica, AIC, SG, compete favorably with the very icons of our favorite music.  

mrussel1

Metallica

Metallica is voted out for being douche bags since 1991. 

HughFreakingDillon

Talking Heads

mrussel1 said:

So I missed the early rounds, but were the classic rock era bands purposely omitted?

It would be hard to have a list like this without the Dead, Doors, Bruce, Hendrix (although maybe the Experience is considered British?), etc.  To me, there's no world where the Talking Heads, Metallica, AIC, SG, compete favorably with the very icons of our favorite music.  

many classic rock bands were included in these lists. 

and I'm shocked SG has no votes against. I mean, I love me some SG, but they are hardly every talked about around this place, so I find that kind of surprising. Unless it's all about MC loyalty?

Spiritual_Chaos

Talking Heads

mrussel1 said:

Metallica is voted out for being douche bags since 1991. 

Until it sleeps is their best song.

Deal with it.

brianlux

Guns N' Roses

mrussel1 said:

So I missed the early rounds, but were the classic rock era bands purposely omitted?

It would be hard to have a list like this without the Dead, Doors, Bruce, Hendrix (although maybe the Experience is considered British?), etc.  To me, there's no world where the Talking Heads, Metallica, AIC, SG, compete favorably with the very icons of our favorite music.  

Surprising to see that here, indeed, because looking at the "I just picked up____on vinyl" thread (and others), it's obvious most everyone here is familiar with those iconic bands.  I guess it goes back to what HughFreakingDillon said about how most people are fans of their generation's music. 

1ThoughtKnown

Guns N' Roses

Spiritual_Chaos said:

mrussel1 said:

Metallica is voted out for being douche bags since 1991. 

Until it sleeps is their best song.

Deal with it.

You can’t be serious 

1ThoughtKnown

Guns N' Roses

mrussel1 said:

So I missed the early rounds, but were the classic rock era bands purposely omitted?

It would be hard to have a list like this without the Dead, Doors, Bruce, Hendrix (although maybe the Experience is considered British?), etc.  To me, there's no world where the Talking Heads, Metallica, AIC, SG, compete favorably with the very icons of our favorite music.  

I would disagree with you here. Those bands you mentioned are icons of the next wave of rock.