Recently, while listening to Sandinista by the Clash, I started thinking about what was the best rock band in history. Of course, this is highly subjective, and if you ask 10 people who they think was the best band ever, you will likely get almost as many different answers, although I suspect that at least 2 of the 10 people would say that The Beatles were the greatest ever.
I had my own opinion, but I decided to a little search on the Internet to find out what other people think. The first search result was an article written by Eric Olson on MSNBC called “The 10 Best Rock Bands Ever.” Not surprisingly, the Beatles top his list, but some of the other choices were very surprising and definitely not bands that I would consider for my list of the 10 top bands of all time.
Of course, compiling a list like this is highly subjective, and the references to specific songs illustrate just how subjective music is. What some critics or historians consider to be absolutely amazing, generation defining songs are shite to me. Bands that some writers put in their top 10 list mean absolutely nothing to me. For the sake of discussion, let’s examine Eric Olsen’s list:
1. The Beatles – the best and most important band of all time. The Beatles likely appear on everyone’s top 10 list. The only people who wouldn’t rate The Beatles as one of the 10 greatest rock bands of all time are very stupid, and possibly retarded.
2. The Rolling Stones – I’ve never been a big fan of the Stones. There’s no doubt that they are legends, and have written and recorded some amazing songs. However, I suspect that a lot of their popularity and longevity comes from showmanship rather than musical genius. Even though Jagger can’t sing, and Keith Richards, anytime I’ve seen them live, sounds like he can’t even play the guitar, I’d have to agree that they are one of the 10 greatest rock bands.
3. U2 – not even in the ballpark. They are a good band, but definitely not one of the greatest. All of their songs sound the same. When they were young, they were a bunch of nerds. Then they got makeovers and became hipster dufuses. Now they’re too into image and trying to look cool.
4. The Grateful Dead – C’mon, does anyone under the age of 55 even know who these guys are? Yeah, they were good. Their later stuff that they did when they were senior citizens is actually better than the stuff they did in the 60’s.
5. Velvet Underground – What? They were kind of different, but one of the greatest? No way. There are tons of other bands that shone brightly for a few years, and then fizzled out that were better and more influential.
6. Led Zeppelin – Hmmm, tough one. They did some good tunes. They lived life to rock star excess, but one of the top 10 bands ever. Yeah, I’ll give him that one.
7. Ramones – Absolutely! They pretty much started punk rock, and a lot of the great British punk bands got their start after seeing the Ramones. The Ramones showed that you didn’t even know how to play instruments to be able to create simple, timeless, infectious rock and roll.
8. Pink Floyd – virtuoso musicianship. Not sure about this choice though.
9. Bob Marley and the Wailers – are you on crack? Bob Marley introduced a lot of people outside of the Caribbean to reggae, but other than a few good songs, he was nothing special. There are lots of much better, but far less known ska and reggae artists out there.
10. Sly and the Family Stone – say what? Okay, now I really think this guy is on crack.
Here then, is the Wicked Scholar list of the top rock bands of all time.
1. The Beatles – nuff said. The best ever, and if you don’t think so, you’re a retard.
2. The Clash – what they lacked in musical skill and singing ability, they more than made up for with songwriting and passion. The Beatles of their generation. Started simple and explored new styles and more complex composition as they matured musically.
3. The Ramones – basically invented punk rock. Whereas bands like the Sex Pistols blazed brilliantly for one album, the Ramones went on, and on, and on, turning out brilliant 3 chord rock and roll for two decades.
4. The Who – How can any top ten list not include The Who. The songs, the excesses, the personalities, the noise – The Who were incredible.
5. The Rolling Stones – the original bad boys of rock, the anti-Beatles. Unlike a lot of bands, they’ve been able to get along and work together for decades. Haven’t really done anything new lately, but at their peak, they wrote some amazing music.
6. Rush – how many studio albums is it now, 300? The most amazing, underrated band in the world, since 1968.
7. Led Zeppelin
8. Queen – Amazing band, fantastic classical and baroque flavoured rock and roll. Freddy Mercury had one of the best voices in rock.
9. Pink Floyd
10. Can’t decide. Keep checking back.
Most overrated bands of all time:
1. Nickelback – they suck, pure and simple. Every song sounds exactly the same as the last one. It’s amazing how many albums they sell, and how much money these bozos make. Must make real, struggling musicians sick.
2. Nirvana – rehashed punk. Cobain elevated being a whiny little beeotch to new heights.
3. Oasis – a few good songs, but the drama, fighting, and arrogance probably has a lot to do with their fame, or should we say, infamy.
4. The Doors – couple of good songs, but the rest were drug addled shite. If Jim Morrison had been ugly, they wouldn’t have been as popular as they were.
5. Pearl Jam
6. Dave Matthews Band
7. U2
8. Kiss – saw them on another top 10 list. Did a couple of decent albums. Were a cool novelty for awhile. Then they took their makeup off and it was just gross.