Best rock band ever?

There's never been a "best" band; there are hundreds of acts that have qualities that stand out above others.

You CAN, however, compile an overall ranking based on original line-ups, longevity, musicianship, chart positions, sales, tour earnings, etc., and that becomes fairly-agreed-upon. Many in the Top Five would include: The Police, The Who, Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, and The Rolling Stones.

 

If you're going down that road of defining an objectively 'best' in all areas as opposed to a 'personal favourite', and/or down the road of direct influence on other bands and musicians (and their subsequent success), it would be hard (if not impossible) to exclude Black Sabbath from that list.

In fact, if we're talking about influence specifically, Black Sabbath essentially created a whole new genre of 'rock' music (OK, you can and should talk about the ground work of various other bands and influences, obviously, but one song of theirs really has to be considered the 'true beginning', as opposed to 'proto' versions and 'influences', and that one band really created the sound that originally defined the whole genre). A whole new genre and musical direction that grew and grew, spawned literally hundreds of sub-genres, and is still very healthily reinventing itself and selling massive amounts of music, concert tickets and merchandise 45 years later (and has done consistently for the entirety of that period, rather than dying off and coming back as a 'retro' thing). Meanwhile, that band itself, although going through various incarnations and off periods during that time, has still recently been around touring, and within the last couple of years released a new album (which both sold extremely well and was generally greeted to huge critical acclaim).

Their music (from the original line up particularly, but also some notable later ones) was unique and has been a mainstay of many, many music collections belonging to people of all ages and generations for nearly half a century. Their musicianship was both superb and utterly unique, and created a whole sector of music that hadn't previously existed. Sales and earnings are obviously massive over that period, especially if you include the solo work of their singer in particular. They might not be hugely popular among the 'mainstream', or hugely radio-friendly, or hugely rated in terms of chart single success (because that was never really their thing - it was all about the albums and the tours), but I don't think that it can realistically be denied that they should be considered right up there with the likes of Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, etc. overall.

I doubt there has ever been another song in history that has created an entire new kind of music in quite the way that this song did:
[video=youtube;X3c3gsjgdXA]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3c3gsjgdXA[/video]

 

Sure, Sabbath would definitely make it into anyone's Top Twenty list (along with Queen, Yes, Journey, Def Leppard, AC/DC, etc.).

 

"The Band" with Robbie Robinson.

Listen to "Such a NIght"

[video=youtube;OhFdaXzKxOE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpag e&v=OhFdaXzKxOE[/video]

 

This one is better,

such a night

[video=youtube;e_CRQV-JHow]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_CRQV-JHow&feature=player_detailpage[/video]

 

wtf? seriously?

 

Pound for pound, one of the best rock groups ever. Great sound from a three-piece outfit. Copeland is one of the most underrated drummers of all time. The hits, the tours, the albums sold.

- - - Updated - - -

And, yes, all that despite Sting's being a mild (*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*).

 

Don't think I'd have put them in the top 5, but they'd have to be in any top 20. Very underrated rock band by many people for some reason (maybe because they had so many hit singles, I guess!) - original, inventive and at times very, very dark and 'heavy' lyrically despite the relatively 'light' (in some ways) music with the upbeat reggae/rock mix:

[video=youtube;nH0vjLwMyc4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nH0vjLwMyc4[/video]

 

I also admire the fact that they went out on top. We didn't have to suffer through three albums that declined in quality while members left and were replaced with mediocre fill-ins.

 

True. It's sad when that happens. People can and do come and go from great bands, of course, and sometimes the new people are just as good even if they are bringing something different to the band that some of their fans don't like so much (lots of Sabbath fans didn't like Dio, but Heaven & Hell is still a great album). When egos get out of hand and original members just hire a bunch of jobbing musicians to do their bidding, though, you end up with a mess like G&R!

 

REM is the best rock band, followed by U2.

 

The Scorpions....uh.....UFO...I mean Zeppelin....oh never mind.

 

My vote would be a toss-up between The Beatles, Canned Heat and The Electric Prunes.

 

Well the answer to the 1st two is the Beatles. Elvis and Kiss sucked

As Frank Zappa would say about Kiss
[video=youtube;p8kO6jQxYhA]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8kO6jQxYhA[/video]

 

There is no greatest or best, just favorites.

For sheer enjoyment, longevity, and variety, it's the Eagles.

Saw them live last year. Amazing show.

 

Opinions are like (*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)s...everybod y has one...but I've got two....I googled "best band ever"...here's the answer...but I don't agree...here's the best today....the past is history...can't believe nobody picked the Dead.

http://www.thetoptens.com/greatest-classic-rock-bands/

[video=youtube;CjQfch6GYo8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjQfch6GYo8[/video]

[video=youtube;ToJ7veJLOUY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ToJ7veJLOUY[/video]

 

Great song, of course, but that's a pretty horrible cover version. Just a straight copy, essentially, with added Hammond organ, but not as good.

And the 'singing' is truly dreadful.

This is how it should be done:
[video=youtube;2TTJs5oLVak]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TTJs5oLVak[/video]

[video=youtube;iwm9rJLOKYw]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwm9rJLOKYw[/video] (starts at about 35 minutes)

 

Ac Dc Lyrics.

[video=youtube;vVf6GJHkSHE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVf6GJHkSHE[/video]

Ac Dc(1), Queen(2), The Offsprings(3) best ever in Rocks.

 

So why do I also like Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Halliday, Edith Piaf and Tony Bennet.. almost as much as I love doo wop??

 

Best rock band, Beatles. Best Rock n Roll, Rolling Stones.

 

Most likely because you may have been exposed that the variety of music which you took a liking too.

 

My favorites are Heart, and The Eagles. Oddly enough I don't know why I like Heart, but I do.

 

At school in the early 1960's some kids were going around looking shell-shocked saying "Wow, we heard a brandnew group on the radio last night called the Beatles, they're FAB, you gotta check 'em out!".
We checked and agreed they were fab, they dominated most of the 60's..
If I was to vote for second best group I'd say the Beach Boys, especially when Mike Love was on vocals, his voice was pure Americana-

[video=youtube;KnPL5OXSBNE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnPL5OXSBNE[/video]

 

Beatles by far, then the Who, the Kinks and Queen

 

I just got tickets to see them in april

Me and my brother would always argue with the kid next door. We said the Beatles he said the Beach Boys. For sure Pet Sounds is one of the greatest albums ever made. I could listen to it all day
[video=youtube;zD8RiWP6YV8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zD8RiWP6YV8[/video]