[narlus]

USA Today readers. damn are they an ignorant lot, although it's not too surprising.

without further doo-doo, here they are:

And the greatest American rock band ever is ...
1. Pearl Jam
2. Aerosmith
3. Van Halen
4. The Eagles
5. Journey
6. Guns N' Roses
7. The Grateful Dead
8. Queensryche
9. The Doors
10. R.E.M.
11. The Allman Brothers Band and Fleetwood Mac (tie)
12. Metallica
13. KISS
14. The Ramones
15. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band and Creedence Clearwater Revival (tie)
16. Dave Matthews Band and Lynyrd Skynyrd (tie)
17. The Beach Boys
18. Nirvana
19. The Replacements
20. Bon Jovi

http://www.usatoday.com/life/columnist/popcandy/2005-07-05-pop-candy_x.htm

criteria listed as being important included:

Influence
Popularity/record sales
Live performance
Musicianship
Longevity


wtf? 1st off, i'm assuming maybe ten thousand people emailed (it's a high-traffic site, i'd reckon), so how can there be three ties? seems very odd.

and there are some real stinkers on there. why not put bob seger fer chrissake?

someone please tell me how Fleetwood Mac turned into an american band? i suppose most of the voters don't know who danny kirwan or peter green are; just because two yanks joined the band 10 years in, doesn't change the geographical grounding of the band.

some obvious omissions (although most, w/ the exception of the talking heads, don't really meet the "records sold" criteria - see ):

guided by voices
talking heads
steely dan
fugazi
sonic youth
the stooges
frank zappa
pere ubu
pixies
husker du

 

[N8 v2.0]

husker du

Da Da Da.... oops... that's Trio... my bad.

 

[Westy]

Ack, in general a crappy list.

 

[MMike]

Pearl jam? GImme a break...I saw them in Seattle. What a lame-ass concert that was.

Green Day is a better live show.

 

[Zark]

4. The Eagles

:mumble: Gah! I guess they didn't consult The Dude on this one

 

[stosh]

I wonder who actually reads this stuff and believes it....

 

[biker3]

Pearl jam? GImme a break...I saw them in Seattle. What a lame-ass concert that was.

Green Day is a better live show.

I dont know if PJ should be number 1 but they're top 5 no doubt. Pearl Jam kicks ass. Musically and Creatively they kick the living CRAP out of Green Day. How can you even compare? I like green day and all but you cant sit here and tell me they are a TALENTED group of guys. Pearl Jams lead guitarist could outplay greenday by himself.

I saw Pearl Jam live and it was the best show Ive ever seen.

 

[Westy]

What short memories people have. I like how the majority of the bands have been around since the last ten years.

 

[narlus]

well longevity was listed as one criterion. actually, i forgot to put the velvet underground and uncle tupelo on my list of oversights too. and if fleetwood mac is american, then the jimi hendrix experience should qualify too.

 

[stinkyboy]

The Mats are there, screw most of the rest.

 

[Angus]

I have long stopped worrying about what music is cool to listen to, if music is truly art, then we should all have different levels of appreciation for different artist. I no longer seek out new stuff, If I do come across something I like I pay attention and check them out, and I do find some good gems along the way, however I am more likely to pick up an Old Neil Young CD over something that is "HOT" the next time I'm at Best Buy.

 

[SkaredShtles]

RRICA.

Where the fock is DHGirlie, anyways?

 

[urbaindk]

Musically and Creatively they kick the living CRAP out of Green Day. How can you even compare?.

Creative? Bull Crap. They steal their guitar solos from the likes of Lynard Skynard and Hendrix and pawn them off is orignal. Pearl Jam annoys the crap out of me.

 

[Echo]

I bet the only reason they print lists like that is to watch everyone get their panties in a bunch

 

[golgiaparatus]

So they missed one as blatantly obvious as Led Zep.

 

[Anders]

no marilyn manson :nuts:

 

[H8R]

Creative? Bull Crap. They steal their guitar solos from the likes of Lynard Skynard and Hendrix and pawn them off is orignal. Pearl Jam annoys the crap out of me.

Not to mention Nugent.

(Free For All > Evenflow)

 

[H8R]

So they missed one as blatantly obvious as Led Zep.

Yes, Led Zep. A truly great AMERICAN band.

 

[H8R]

no marilyn manson :nuts:

"Greatest American bands", not "Worst New-Wave bands from Gheysville".

 

[H8R]

I bet the only reason they print lists like that is to watch everyone get their panties in a bunch

AAHHH HAA!!!!!

 

[dwaugh]

Funny how in that whole list, there are only about 2 bands that I actually like, and how I have never even heard songs from half of the list. Pearl Jam? I've only heard the name a few times, but that's it.

 

[narlus]

Funny how in that whole list, there are only about 2 bands that I actually like, and how I have never even heard songs from half of the list. Pearl Jam? I've only heard the name a few times, but that's it.

are you serious? what bands haven't you heard songs from???

 

[splat]

While I agree with some of them , Not many though ,

I mean Whats with no
Buddy Holly , Elvis Presley , Bill Haley and the Comets , the Turtles, the Byrds, tangerine dream , Chuck Berry , etc , etc

these are guys who Shaped the music of today !

 

[biker3]

Creative? Bull Crap. They steal their guitar solos from the likes of Lynard Skynard and Hendrix and pawn them off is orignal. Pearl Jam annoys the crap out of me.

Okay Ill agree with you there. A lot of the solos are tributes tho. All guitar players have "influence" these days. Everyone rips off everyone. At least they can play songs without only using bar chords and power chords like every band you see today.

And if you havent been to a live show you should see some of the improv they can do. Pearl Jam is a talented band. Every time Mike(lead guitar) solos live its ALWAYS completaly different. He'll throw in skynard, hendrix and his own stuff. He tears it up.

Listen to the song Yellow Ledbetter. Its extremely Jimmi hendrix but a really badass song nonetheless.

 

[MMike]

I dont know if PJ should be number 1 but they're top 5 no doubt. Pearl Jam kicks ass. Musically and Creatively they kick the living CRAP out of Green Day. How can you even compare? I like green day and all but you cant sit here and tell me they are a TALENTED group of guys. Pearl Jams lead guitarist could outplay greenday by himself.

I saw Pearl Jam live and it was the best show Ive ever seen.

Pfffft.... their guitar player is NOTHING special.... I can't remember the name of that song... yellow bellied love bird or whatever the hell it's called.... it's likley the most impressive guitar playing they have and it's REALLY easy to play. (I learned it in about a half hour).

Pearl Jam sucks patootie.

 

[MMike]

Listen to the song Yellow Ledbetter. Its extremely Jimmi hendrix but a really badass song nonetheless.

Ah there you go. I knew you'd rely on that. That is NOT Hendrix-y. A Strat on clean does not Hendrix make. It's the same riff over and over.

 

[narlus]

While I agree with some of them , Not many though ,

I mean Whats with no
Buddy Holly , Elvis Presley , Bill Haley and the Comets , the Turtles, the Byrds, tangerine dream , Chuck Berry , etc , etc

these are guys who Shaped the music of today !

i think the key word was "band", so solo performers get aced (although bruce gets in w/ the e street band...i guess they've been a functioning unit pretty much all along).

i'll definitely give you the byrds; good call. but people's memories ain't that good. personally i can't be bothered w/ much music made before '65 or so...bill haley, elvis, all that stuff doesn't do anything for me.

and tangerine dream were krauts!

 

[Echo]

it's likley the most impressive guitar playing they have and it's REALLY easy to play. (I learned it in about a half hour).

But you did learn it

 

[MMike]

But you did learn it

ONLY BY ACCIDENT!! It was one of those dinking around with the guitar and accidentally..."Hey....what did that sound like? Oh that's that crappy Pearl Jam song.."....A little while later I had it pretty much down. Good enough anyway to be convincing.

I've likley forgotten it though. HONEST!!

 

[Rip]

Where's slayer?

 

[dwaugh]

are you serious? what bands haven't you heard songs from???

Well, maybe I've said it wrong. I may have heard some some songs without knowing they were by some of these bands. You know what I mean, if I heard it, I could not say "oh that was by this band."

Ok, lets see, I dont really know the following:
1. Pearl Jam
2. Aerosmith
3. Van Halen
4. The Eagles*
5. Journey
6. Guns N' Roses
7. The Grateful Dead
8. Queensryche
9. The Doors
10. R.E.M.
11. The Allman Brothers Band and Fleetwood Mac (tie)
12. Metallica
13. KISS*
14. The Ramones*
15. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band (tie)
16. Dave Matthews Band and Lynyrd Skynyrd (tie)
18. Nirvana*
19. The Replacements
20. Bon Jovi

Ok, so I only really know the beach boys and CCR, both good bands. The ones with * means that I have heard about 1 song from them for sure, but that's it. Yeah, I dont know much, do I? I have Offspring on now and Green Day is good too.

 

[MMike]

....and furthermore, that crap ass solo in that song makes me vomit. The blatant incorrect use of the whammy bar is just inexcusable. The whammy is there to be used with feeling. PJ guy...well it's as if he's just pounding it with his fist 5 times. bad form. Even Eddie Van Halen shows more finesse with his dive bombs.

For an example of correct whammy-age, I suggest listening to "Lenny" by Stevie Ray Vaughan.