Vinyl Me Please Essentials

bettim84 said:
Top 10 American rock bands (kind of in order):
  1. Talking Heads
  2. Steely Dan (if they count as a “band”)
  3. R.E.M. (if they count as classic rock)
  4. The Velvet Underground (ditto)
  5. The Band
  6. Ramones (if punk counts)
  7. Guns N’ Roses (they absolutely count)
  8. Blondie
If grunge counts, then I’d round up my list with Nirvana and Pearl Jam. Otherwise, I’d go with two out of the Stooges (though they’re not classic rock-y at all), CCR... ah what the heck, Aerosmith or Kiss.

Sly and P-Funk would probably make the list if they count, but I usually label them as “funk” rather than “rock.”

I’m also disqualifying Fleetwood Mac because of its British origins. And Metallica is metal, otherwise they’d rank in the top 5.

The Doors would probably be in the next tier, with Tom Petty and others.

I’ll happily take recommendations for Beach Boys albums beyond Pet Sounds, which to me is just “fine.”
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Disqualifying Fleetwood Mac for being mostly British but not disqualifying The Band for being mostly Canadian. It’s your list, your rules but it does lack a bit in consistency.
 
Joe Mac said:
I know, it was more that if you’re going to cancel out Buckingham/Nicks era Fleetwood Mac because of their roots and the three British members then I don’t think you can co opt The Band onto the same list because of Levon.

Edit: My hot take would be that there isn’t a great American classic rock band. The Beach Boys are pop and the great American rock acts are either solo or aren’t classic rock.
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Great American Classic Rock bands (off the top f my head): The Allman Bros. Band, The Grateful Dead. Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Aerosmith, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Steve Miller Band.
 
keylime_5 said:
The


Yes Talking Heads everyone loves.....but they werent bigger than The Doors. Doors are probably top ten classic rock bands (British and us combined) in terms of legacy along with The Beatles, Stones, Zeppelin, Who, Pink Floyd, Hendrix Experience, and a few others (arguably the Dead, CCR, Fleetwood Mac, Eagles)
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“Biggest” and “Best” can all be defined very differently or can be synonymous depending in on context.
 
cul8er said:
Kiss
Aerosmith
Boston
Tesla
Credence Clearwater Revival
Eagles
Bon Jovi
Mötley Crüe
Journey
Steely Dan
The Allman Brothers Band
The Grateful Dead
Lynyrd Skynyrd
Guns N' Roses
Metallica
Tom Petty
Bruce Springsteen
Van Halen
Bob Dylan
Jimi Hendrix

Just to name a few ;) and yes to ZZ top as well!
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You’ve listed a lot of solo acts there. And hair metal. And metal. Of what’s left I stand by my position. The concept of greatness is used far too interchangeably with the good or in place of “I enjoy”.
 
Joe Mac said:
You’ve listed a lot of solo acts there. And hair metal. And metal. Of what’s left I stand by my position. The concept of greatness is used far too interchangeably with the good or in place of “I enjoy”.
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What can I say? I only enjoy great bands! Lol

My definition of Classic Rock is different from yours.
 
cul8er said:
What can I say? I only enjoy great bands! Lol

My definition of Classic Rock is different from yours.
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Hahaha! I try to have the ability to say I love this and it’s important to me because of x y z but it’s not “great” per se. Equally with someone like Pink Floyd I’ll happily say I hate it but it hits a multitude of factors that mean it’s still deserving of being called great.
 
Joe Mac said:
I know, it was more that if you’re going to cancel out Buckingham/Nicks era Fleetwood Mac because of their roots and the three British members then I don’t think you can co opt The Band onto the same list because of Levon.
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wmeugene said:
You're missing #1.

The good ol' Grateful Dead.

And the Band were 4/5 Canadian
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TenderLovingKiller® said:
Disqualifying Fleetwood Mac for being mostly British but not disqualifying The Band for being mostly Canadian. It’s your list, your rules but it does lack a bit in consistency.
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You're all right, I goofed on The Band. Let Canada have them! But the U.S. gets to keep the Talking Heads despite the fact David Byrne is Canadian.

I'm not on board with the Grateful Dead, though when I posed the "greatest American band" question many years ago to a good music friend of mine, that was his answer.
 
TenderLovingKiller® said:
LOL, I actually didn’t mean it as a slight. I love Devo too. I just meant that my definition of “Classic Rock” is more narrowly defined. If Devo is considered Classic Rock then I could have to consider the likes of Sonic Youth or Suicide or other more avant-garde acts.
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Right, the question here is whether we're using "classic rock" as in the radio format (the narrower definition), or any rock band from the classic era of rock music (which would be something like 1967 through 1999, maybe 2001; the end point can be either The Fragile or Kid A).
 
bettim84 said:
Right, the question here is whether we're using "classic rock" as in the radio format (the narrower definition), or any rock band from the classic era of rock music (which would be something like 1967 through 1999, maybe 2001; the end point can be either The Fragile or Kid A).
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It’s funny you say that because I always think of classic rock as a sound from the late 60s and 70s and that anything after 1980 like that is more of an ongoing heritage act or an anachronism.
 
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