Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band = Greatest American rock and roll band?

[Al_4_State]

Gibson says so...
Bruce Springsteen & E Street Band: Greatest American Rock Band | News @ Ultimate-Guitar.Com

Obviously these lists are subjective as hell, but I think you can make a strong argument for them. Others I'd put up there:

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
Velvet Underground
Allman Brothers
Lynyrd Skynyrd
Grateful Dead
Creedence
Pearl Jam
Nirvana

If anything it drives home how much the British dominated classic rock.

 

[sunnysideup]

Skynyrd definitely needs to be higher on the list. And yes, I agree, British bands had almost more of an impact on rock than our own over here.

 

[kilgore_trout]

There are so many i'd put ahead of Springsteen (who i consider more of a solo artist):
ramones
talking heads
rem
ccr
eagles
THE REPLACEMENTS!

 

[RustyClone]

As much as I dig Bruce, the Stones played the best American rock n roll, they just weren't from here. Obviously I'm a freak but I'd put DBT up against anyone on that list below Petty and I've seen Fogerty and everyone else except VU, Nirvana and the Dead.

 

[sunnysideup]

There are so many i'd put ahead of Springsteen (who i consider more of a solo artist):
ramones
talking heads
rem
ccr
eagles
THE REPLACEMENTS!

I have never understood the love affair with REM. They have a handful of decent songs but I would not put them at the top of any rock list.

 

[Gonzo]

The Replacements

 

[Al_4_State]

The Replacements are definitely up there. Top 10 material. Their influence only seems more important with every passing year.

Springsteen definitely isn't a solo artist though. The E Street Band absolutely made his sound. Yeah, he wrote all those songs, but the band made them.

 

[Gonzo]

I have never understood the love affair with REM. They have a handful of decent songs but I would not put them at the top of any rock list.

Everything up to and including the Document album was aces. After Document there was a big dropoff in my opinion.

 

[Mr Janny]

Gibson says so...
Bruce Springsteen & E Street Band: Greatest American Rock Band | News @ Ultimate-Guitar.Com

Obviously these lists are subjective as hell, but I think you can make a strong argument for them. Others I'd put up there:

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
Velvet Underground
Allman Brothers
Lynyrd Skynyrd
Grateful Dead
Creedence
Pearl Jam
Nirvana

If anything it drives home how much the British dominated classic rock.

Good call on Velvet Underground. I'll throw Loaded up against any other album out there. Great, great record, even thought Lou Reed hated it.

 

[everyyard]

Yes. It isn't even close.

 

[Al_4_State]

Good call on Velvet Underground. I'll throw Loaded up against any other album out there. Great, great record, even thought Lou Reed hated it.

Loaded is a great album. The thing that would hold them back here is a lack of overall output.

They were the definition of "ignored in their time but posthumously influential".

 

[Gonzo]

I'd also nominate Pavement as one of the truly great American bands.

 

[pulse]

I think its clear the rock & roll masses are more in touch with reality than rock & roll "writers".

 

[Mr Janny]

Loaded is a great album. The thing that would hold them back here is a lack of overall output.

They were the definition of "ignored in their time but posthumously influential".

What's the quote that you always hear about them?

"The first Velvet Underground album only sold 10,000 copies, but everyone who bought it formed a band."

-Brian Eno

 

[Al_4_State]

I'd also nominate Pavement as one of the truly great American bands.

I'd disagree. They've become the quintessential hipster band. Malkmus was probably talented enough, but he was/is too worried about being cool. They put out some really good albums, but they haven't had the influence of a Velvet Underground.

Maybe 10-15 years from now they'll have stood that test of time. Right now, I'd call it premature.

What's the quote that you always hear about them?

"The first Velvet Underground album only sold 10,000 copies, but everyone who bought it formed a band."

-Brian Eno

I thought Mike Stipe said that(?). Either way, it's completely true.

 

[Al_4_State]

A band I would put just on the outside of this list (but one of my personal favorites) doing a great Velvet Underground cover.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lf9-BCix4io]YouTube - ‪The Black Crowes - Oh Sweet Nuthin'‬‏[/ame]

 

[RustyClone]

The Black Crowes are one of those "woulda, coulda, shoulda" bands. When they came out I thought they were going to grab the torch and run with it. I've been let down by them. One other band I'd put in the discussion is the J. Geils Band. And no I'm not talking about the Centerfold album, you have to act as though that never happened. Go out and get "Blow Your Face Out, Live." In my opinion one of the 5 best live albums of all time.

 

[Al_4_State]

The Black Crowes are one of those "woulda, coulda, shoulda" bands. When they came out I thought they were going to grab the torch and run with it. I've been let down by them. One other band I'd put in the discussion is the J. Geils Band. And no I'm not talking about the Centerfold album, you have to act as though that never happened. Go out and get "Blow Your Face Out, Live." In my opinion one of the 5 best live albums of all time.

I think they (the Black Crowes) did. They just haven't achieved the popularity. I think 20 years from now people will look back on them more favorably than they ever were when they were active.

Similar to the Truckers, I think they've put out extremely high quality American music, and just haven't received their full due. Now, they aren't as good as Truckers, but they're pretty damn good. The only thing keeping DBT off this list for me is their lack of commercial success/impact. They too will be bigger in 20 years than they ever were in their prime.

 

[Gonzo]

I'd disagree. They've become the quintessential hipster band. Malkmus was probably talented enough, but he was/is too worried about being cool. They put out some really good albums, but they haven't had the influence of a Velvet Underground.

Maybe 10-15 years from now they'll have stood that test of time. Right now, I'd call it premature.



I thought Mike Stipe said that(?). Either way, it's completely true.

I hear what you're saying, but I think you'd be surprised at the number of bands that have taken cues from Pavement. They were one of those bands that you couldn't really categorize or pigeonhole into any genre. They kind of made their own rules as they went and had a sound that others couldn't really replicate, which which set them apart from most great bands of the 90s.

 

[RustyClone]

Al, you are probably correct in the Crowes assessment. I just thought they could have done so much more after the first two albums. Granted the industry has changed so much since they came on the scene and has really became fragmented. Fortunately for them the classic album rock stations play their tunes so they have some mailbox money to keep them going.