Red Mosquito

McParadigm wrote:Stabbing Westward

I lol'd.

Jorge wrote:

stip wrote:

Jorge wrote:The last time I saw a reddit thread that asked "who is the greatest American rock band", the wide consensus surprised the heck out of me

and it was?

Green Day by an overwhelming margin

That's not a crazy answer. It's far from the one I'd give but in terms of longevity and consistent popularity they have to be up there. and it's a better answer than the Chili Peppers

stip wrote:

Jorge wrote:

stip wrote:

Jorge wrote:The last time I saw a reddit thread that asked "who is the greatest American rock band", the wide consensus surprised the heck out of me

and it was?

Green Day by an overwhelming margin

That's not a crazy answer. It's far from the one I'd give but in terms of longevity and consistent popularity they have to be up there. and it's a better answer than the Chili Peppers

I could go my life never hearing RHCP again, but agree Green Day is not a bad pick and probably top 20. They’re not Petty, Aerosmith, or Metallica though.

If it's not PJ then it's the dead, or metallica

RHCP have had the hits but not a touring force

Objectively, it's the dead

Kalevi wrote:Objectively, it's the dead

why?

If I needed a top 5 it would be (not in order)

Metallica, REM, Pearl Jam, Green Day (I don't like it, but it's probably true) with a fifth slot to be named later.

There are still a large contingent of young people that will follow Bob weir around or go to a dead and company. Studio out put is great. Live component puts them over the top. They are the only one of these gaining fans even though they are long gone as a band.

Personally I prefer PJ and REM

How are we defining "young" here, because I've uhh seen some of those crowd shots

My personal observations have seen more early 20s at weir vs PJ

Also seeing people wearing dead merch is much more prominent

Kalevi wrote:My personal observations have seen more early 20s at weir vs PJ

There are also more people in their 70s which bolsters my argument

Kalevi wrote:Also seeing people wearing dead merch is much more prominent

my neice has a nirvana shirt and knows none of their music. if pearl jam liscenced their merch through hot topic you would see a lot more of them in the wild

The Dead have been a force for 60 years, well past their initial “end” as a band. Their repertoire very faithfully comprises many of the most important forms of American music — folk, country, jazz, blues, bluegrass, rock and roll — and the touring culture that sprung up around them espoused a freewheeling, life-on-the-open-road traveling philosophy that is very American in spirit. It is possible that their diversity is a strike against them — maybe for the “greatest American rock band,” you want a band who only deals in rock — but if that’s not an issue, I think they fit the bill better than anyone else mentioned thus far.

Except for one thing. They’ve not had any real hits. Your average layman can’t name a single song by them. Hell, I probably can’t name 10, myself. If you’re gonna have the top dog title, you gotta have the songs to back it up. And I don’t think they do for your average American rock music fan.

“Touch of Grey” was a massive hit.

Name another.

And most people can’t even name that one.

wease wrote:Except for one thing. They’ve not had any real hits. Your average layman can’t name a single song by them. Hell, I probably can’t name 10, myself. If you’re gonna have the top dog title, you gotta have the songs to back it up. And I don’t think they do for your average American rock music fan.

Your avg layman might name 4 PJ songs, none within 33 years

Kalevi wrote:

wease wrote:Except for one thing. They’ve not had any real hits. Your average layman can’t name a single song by them. Hell, I probably can’t name 10, myself. If you’re gonna have the top dog title, you gotta have the songs to back it up. And I don’t think they do for your average American rock music fan.

Your avg layman might name 4 PJ songs, none within 33 years

Despite the lack of hits pj is great, I wish they would always know that. So are the dead.

the answer is REM regardless