Greatest Band of All Time

[dpapo]

The Beatles

[And That]

I'm not a huge Beatles guy to begin with, but they fail the longevity test. They were around for what, like a dozen years? Same thing with Led Zeppelin, and as I mentioned before, The Band (although they were around in some iteration for more than twice that long).

 

By contrast, The Dead were around, almost constantly making outstanding music in the studio and on the stage for 30 years.

[BrewCrewForever]

Led Zeppelin for me, by a long shot. Maybe Pearl Jam and Linkin Park close seconds for me.

[Pedro]

Louis Armstrong's Hot Five.

Post-1930, The Beatles.

[brettac1]

I'm not a huge Beatles guy to begin with, but they fail the longevity test. They were around for what, like a dozen years?

 

A dozen years is a pretty long time, and I guess longevity isn't really something I use to judge the merits of an artist, anyhow. I love the Grateful Dead, but I guess they fail the "influential" test (which I would place far more weight on), because the bands they did influence are/were mostly mediocre at best.

 

And, though it's obviously purely subjective, I think the Dead fails the longevity test in regards to the "how long they were making good music" criteria - sure, there's American Beauty and Workingman's, but that's not Rubber Soul, Revolver, Sgt. Pepper, Abbey Road, and White Album. I think the rest of the Dead's studio work is pretty spotty outside of those two albums. They were obviously a great live band, but they also played a ton of covers (like several Beatles songs, for instance) in their live shows.

[And That]

I'm not a huge Beatles guy to begin with, but they fail the longevity test. They were around for what, like a dozen years?

 

A dozen years is a pretty long time, and I guess longevity isn't really something I use to judge the merits of an artist, anyhow. I love the Grateful Dead, but I guess they fail the "influential" test (which I would place far more weight on), because the bands they did influence are/were mostly mediocre at best.

I don't think a dozen years is a particularly long time... I was just looking at some of my favorite artists, and even the up and coming ones have been around for 7-10 years. Longevity in a good band matters to me, because the longer they are around, the more their influence has a chance to grow. What if the Beatles had put out another "great" 3 or 4 albums?

I also disagree that the Dead aren't influential. If you're basing their musically influential legacy on Phish and Big Wu, sure, but the Dead's influence extends far out beyond jam bands. Furthermore, limiting their influence to just music is also a mistake - their influence over whole generations of non-musicians is both remarkable and lasting.

 

[brewcrew00]

Has to be Led Zeppelin for me.

[M Skjellyfetti]

I'll second the Grateful Dead vote. I don't think you can blame the Dead for their disciples being weaker than they were. Their influence is still pretty undeniable.

[homer]

"their influence over whole generations of non-musicians is both remarkable and lasting"

 

Are you referring to flashbacks 30 years after a bad acid trip?http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

 

GD was a great band, but I don't think they really were ahead of their time or anything. And you may disagree but I don't think they really 'changed the course of music' either. I would say Pink Floyd, Beatles, and Led Zeppelin all had a farther reaching affect on music than GD did (heck you could argue that Nirvana had a bigger impact on music that GD - not saying that's true necessarily but you could make the argument)

 

And Led Zeppelin would have gone on longer had Bonham not swallowed his puke.

[iluvlamp]

While I am not glad Bonham choked on his puke, the direction they were going in was awful. I don't think I like a single song on their last album.

[homer]

I think the last album "Coda" was a bunch of stuff that they had recorded throughout the years but never released. It was not the direction the band was heading necessarily.

[TURBO]

I think the last album "Coda" was a bunch of stuff that they had recorded throughout the years but never released. It was not the direction the band was heading necessarily.

 

QFT

[RockCoCougars]

What, no votes for Wilco?

I'll go with the Beatles.

[homer]

"QFT "

 

Huh? I'm old. Don't get it.

[brettac1]

QFT = Quoted for truth

 

What, no votes for Wilco?

 

While they are my favorite band, they're not quite the Beatles.

[And That]

Wilco is also my favorite band, but they aren't near to The Dead, The Band, The Beatles, or otherwise.

[SoCalBrewfan]

Feeling contrary I guess...prolly I'd say the Beatles given the criteria listed...but there's a definite classic rock / prog rock orientation here that's interesting.

 

While they weren't so hot on longevity, the Million Dollar Quartet had a lineup that can't be beat (Presley, Cash, Perkins, Lewis). But they weren't a real band, just the stars from one label who played together one afternoon. Still...

 

Bob Dylan backed by Levon and the Hawks were not too shabby either...gets you Dylan and The Band for the price of one. Again the longevity thing though. The Band by themselves were purty good as well.

 

Otis Redding backed by Booker T and the MGs. Mmmm.

 

The Blue Grass Boys (Monroe, Flatt & Scruggs, later Jimmy Martin)...invented a genre of music and played real nice too.

Bob Marley and the Wailers

The Byrds (maybe more influential than great, but still pretty great)

The Beach Boys

The Clash

 

Though they may have little or no case for Greatest: the Flatlanders, REM, the Replacements, Uncle Tupelo....without them and those they influenced, my CD collection would be pretty empty.

 

For whatever reason, I haven't felt the need to hear Led Zeppelin for years and years now...never thought I would say that.

[SeriesFinale]

http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x296/uecker9/foolishpleasure.jpg

 

I don't know who these guys are, but I want to. It's like Kajagoogoo landed in 1985 Jefferson County.

[SeriesFinale]

By the way, SoCal, I saw the Flatlanders up here in SF recently at the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival...fist time I'd ever seen them (have been listening to their music for several years now) and they were fantastic

[gypcasino]

I'll say

Black Sabbath

[Fatter than Joey]

I think the last album "Coda" was a bunch of stuff that they had recorded throughout the years but never released. It was not the direction the band was heading necessarily.

 

Coda was produced 2-3 years after Bonham died.

 

And Led Zeppelin would have gone on longer had Bonham not swallowed his puke.

 

Maybe -- Plant got into his big accident before Presence, Page was smoking a lot of the reefer. LZ's popularity was waning after the release of Presence, and In through the Out Door, while they may have kept going, it was not as if Bonham died at LZ's peak -- they were on their downslope.

[brettac1]

Page wasn't smoking reefer (well, I suppose he probably was a little) - he had a pretty heavy equestrian habit. That's why he weighed like 85 pounds.

 

Zeppelin was definitely on the decline before Bonham's death. Plant was getting to sound pretty shot after the accident, they were just totally living a life of excess and making somewhat poor music (by their standards). I do LOVE Led Zeppelin, though. But the peak of their ass-kicking came on I-IV and Houses of the Holy. By the time of HotH, things like "D'yer Mak'er" were popping up.

[homer]

I'd throw Physical Graffiti in there too. I dig that album.

[brettac1]

Oh, yeah, it's really great, but it has some filler. I think it's the last great Zeppelin album, I just listed the others that I did because I think they are the most consistent.

[valpocrewsader]

A second vote for Rush.