Best American Rock Band Ever

The Doors were so short lived.  Too bad Jim fell apart as he was a talented writer. 

If Shannon Hoon hadn't died after only two incredible albums, I'd probably be saying Blind Melon.

curmudgeoness said:

CP218430 said:

Springtsteen/E Street, Petty/Heartbreakers (which I could as bands), The Dead and Pearl Jam. Bob Dylan is the greatest American Artist, not a challenger in my book but that's just my opinion. 

Looks like there's pretty solid consensus around Springsteen, Petty, and the Dead. I can't argue with that (even though I'm still not a Bruce fan).

I'm not getting the CCR/ Aerosmith mentions. Look at it as the flip side of "GTFO with that 21 PIlots/ Imagine Dragons nonsense." Does anyone under 30 know who CCR is? I bet they know who Springsteen is, and they know who Petty is; they might know who Steven Tyler is, but not for the right reasons. I really only know about CCR because my parents had one of their albums, Creedence Gold, and I as a small child was fascinated by the album cover. I'm nearly fifty. I'm absolutely certain that neither of my adult children knows who CCR is -- and one of my kids is a musician.

Kind of surprising that nobody has mentioned KISS --

CCR was the biggest band of their day and Fogerty still packsthe house leaning heavy on CCR material. 

Aerosmith as well and has there ever been a band with 2 separate blockbuster runs. 

To deny either shows a high level of ignorance. Aerosmith is getting ready to set up camp in Vegas and stroll through an assortment of 4 dozen stone cold classics on a nightly basis. CCR material is as vital and meaningful  now as it’s ever been.


Longevity is overrated. Most of the bands mentioned have their drawing power and influence from just a few albums and maybe a decade run at most. Something you can mention along with other achievements, but not nearly as important as peak years productivity imo. 


Has Wilco been mentioned?

DewieCox said:

Tool,  Black Crowes and STP need a mention.

Jack White would be another if we count all his projects and he’s much more of the main creative force in his bands than Cornell.

If im being objective I don’t think PJ quite cracks the top 5, but probably top 10, going by overall success, studio work, live reputation, and influence. I don’t bring activism or charity into the discussion. Nice that they do it, but doesn’t make them a better band.

Bruce
Dead
Petty
CCR
Aerosmith

....would be hard to crack that top 5

Allman’s 
Skynyrd
Hendrix
Chili Pepper

Surprised it took this long for someone to mention Jimi Hendrix. And, so far, the ONLY one. And now me.

Hendrix didn't have the longevity, obviously, but he's still influential today and will be this time in the year 3018.

Rage anyone? Longevity is a no but the impact they had was huge and the music is just superb, I’d throw system of a down in their too.

bruce
pj
rage
soundgarden
black crowes
faith no more?????

curmudgeoness said:

CP218430 said:

Springtsteen/E Street, Petty/Heartbreakers (which I could as bands), The Dead and Pearl Jam. Bob Dylan is the greatest American Artist, not a challenger in my book but that's just my opinion. 

Looks like there's pretty solid consensus around Springsteen, Petty, and the Dead. I can't argue with that (even though I'm still not a Bruce fan).

I'm not getting the CCR/ Aerosmith mentions. Look at it as the flip side of "GTFO with that 21 PIlots/ Imagine Dragons nonsense." Does anyone under 30 know who CCR is? I bet they know who Springsteen is, and they know who Petty is; they might know who Steven Tyler is, but not for the right reasons. I really only know about CCR because my parents had one of their albums, Creedence Gold, and I as a small child was fascinated by the album cover. I'm nearly fifty. I'm absolutely certain that neither of my adult children knows who CCR is -- and one of my kids is a musician.

Kind of surprising that nobody has mentioned KISS --

Overall, what does anyone under 30 (generalization) know about Best American Rock Band Ever?
Aerosmith and CCR crush most of the bands getting 2-3 citations.  Crush 
Look at record sales.  Look at number of hits.  Look at how long their music has been played.
I'm sorry but I totally agree that Imagine Dragons and 21 Pilots have no space in the top 30.  (Probably in the top 130, though.)

I don't think any surpass, but a few that are up there:

Bruce and E Street
The Dead
The Band
Allman Bros.
Wilco
Foo Fighters

I went and listened to a couple of songs by 21 Pilots (their top one has nearly 1 BILLION plays on Spotify, and they have 14+ Million listeners/month. That's a lot!). Meh. They might be okay - it's just not my style of music.... But that's not even a rock band as far as I can tell. They fall pretty solidly into the pop category IMO.

hugepjfan said:

I'd like to entertain arguments for other American bands that surpass PJ. I don't think anything comes close but I'm biased. What are the best American bands of all time? As far as pj is concerned: Front man, distinctive voice, check. Sales, check. Mind melting solos, check. Lyrics, check. Live, performances, check. Longevity,  check. Activism/charity, check. 

Why is Imagine Dragons even mentioned in a list with The Doors, Pearl Jam, REM, Nirvana, Aerosmith, etc?

IMO....ID are fucking terrible.  

Thunder, thu thu thunder, lightning and the thunder. Thunder, thu thu thunder,  lightning and the thunder.

Then there is the car commercial song....believer.  "a wubba-day wubba-day, hibbida dibbida, hummina hummina, boppity bippity."

End rant.