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sween345
climber
back east
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What! You never heard of Stillwater?
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the Fet
climber
Tu-Tok-A-Nu-La
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The Steve Miller Band. Hey it's got band in the title! Living in the USA 1968, hits through 1982.
Boston is boss.
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. In the same bucket band/front man wise as Steve Miller I'd rekon.
STP had some great songs IMO.
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StahlBro
Trad climber
San Diego, CA
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Talking Heads
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Brandon-
climber
The Granite State.
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Talking heads and the Dead FTW. David Byrne is a genius and Jerry was a master.
Edit, heard a song on the radio today that was a mashup of Talking Heads ‘Life in Wartime’ and Bob Marleys Exodus. Not DJ stuff, but a band. It was super cool. I’ll try to find it and post it. Very worth a listen.
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wilbeer
Mountain climber
Terence Wilson greeneck alleghenys,ny,
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Stillwater[Click to View YouTube Video]
Saw them open for a young 38 special ,back in the day when opening bands blew the headliners away,they did. 38 was so flustered they couldn’t stay in tune.
Supersuckers ,for sure. [Click to View YouTube Video]
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Scole
Trad climber
Zapopan
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Rage against the Machine
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Mike Friedrichs
Sport climber
City of Salt
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Camper Van Beethoven.
Best non-American band - Midnight Choir (Norway)
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Brandon-
climber
The Granite State.
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Gretta Von Fleek is killing it as well, not great yet though.
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ecdh
climber
the east
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Stooges.
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Minerals
Social climber
The Deli
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What is, and how do you define best? What are the criteria by which we can judge what is “best,” compared to that which is less than “best”?
If something sounds great, how do you define “great”? Why is it “great,” and what makes it “great”?
Most Popular American Rock Band or Your Favorite American Rock Band would be a much more appropriate title for this thread. There is no “best.” Declaring which band is the “best” is like walking into an art museum and asking which piece in the museum is the best. Music is art, a form of human expression, and we all have different tastes and preferences, and our own opinions. It’s quite obvious that what may sound good to one person may sound horrible to another, just as a painting may be considered to be beautiful by one person, and an eyesore to another. It’s totally subjective.
We can look at numbers, such as a list of best-selling albums of all time, which is currently topped by The Eagles, but all that means is they’ve won a popularity contest amongst those who buy music albums. If it’s simply about a popularity contest, then all we need to do is turn on our local classic rock radio station, and listen to the same old stuff over, and over, and over again, because that’s what’s “popular,” and what the masses want to hear (and where the $$$ is). Does this mean that the bands that we hear on the radio are made up of the “best” musicians out there? Maybe, or maybe not. There’s no doubt that some bands have become popular because of their “sound,” or “attitude and appearance,” and certainly not because of an abundance of talent or skill, as some clearly haven’t quite adapted to their instrument, or refined their vocal ability. I think we can come to some sort of consensus on the qualities that make a musician great, but to name a specific musician as the “best” simply goes right back to the realm of that which is subjective; we will never all agree.
Is the fastest guitar player the “best” – the one who can play Flight of the Bumblebee at the highest tempo? Is the “best” guitar player the one who bends notes with the utmost display of emotion, and with a saturation of heartfelt vibrato? And how about tone; what is good tone and what makes tone awesome? Or is the “best” guitarist the one who can play the most diverse array of styles, from that which is as light and mellow as hydrogen, to that which lies at the bottom of the periodic table? Is one style of music better than another style of music? What is good songwriting and what is bad songwriting? Is there a “best” songwriter, or songwriting at its “best”?
We can certainly separate those with advanced technical ability from those without, and those with an obvious working knowledge of music theory from those without. And we can point to those who have been successful, as the ones that we repeatedly hear on the radio, in contrast to the esoteric subsurface bands that we may have never heard of. But in the end, it just comes down to the fact that “we like what we like,” and we each know what sounds pleasing to us and what doesn’t. There is no best.
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wilbeer
Mountain climber
Terence Wilson greeneck alleghenys,ny,
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Everything in life is subjective.
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ecdh
climber
the east
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Best, the one who made the biggest impact relative to the odds stacked against their success. Hence the Stooges.
No private planes, no light shows, no hit singles, no beautiful girls, no scene, no stereotypes, but they shifted the course of modern music.
As Jim Jarmusch said, 'they were only guys of their time not trying to be the rolling stones'.
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the Fet
climber
Tu-Tok-A-Nu-La
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Of course you're right Minerals but that doesn't stop it from happening all the time, e.g. Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums. Of which some tops ones are crap.
I think in this context "Best" is who do you consider the "Best" band, not your "favorite".
Of course it's subjective and I think the best band is one that has had some combination of longevity, popularity (a degree of, not necessarily the most popular), a significant body of work, very good musicianship and vocals, good song writing, influential, good live performances, etc. And even then I'd say I could maybe come up with a top ten but it would be hard to rank them.
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the Fet
climber
Tu-Tok-A-Nu-La
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Fleetwood Mac, British-American though.
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