Greatest band of the 20th century

[Lordmarkus]

U2
Led Zeppelin
The Who

But in terms of changing the music business, I must say the Beatles without doubt.

 

[kanyatta]

Chuck Berry.
Beatles.
Led Zeppelin.

This basically sums up the thread.

Without these 3, rock music would be a niche hobby and not the mainstream entity it is today.

 

[sean.A7x]

METALLICA since their my favourite band

 

[Hobo Joe]

Judas Priest or Iron FUCKING Maiden!

Don't ask why I always put 'FUCKING' every time I write out their name; I think I heard Bruce say it once and it stuck

 

[AgentNein]

You are all looking way too late. Nat King Cole? Duke Ellington? Jelly Roll Morton? Benny Goodman? Artie Shaw? Count Basie? Miles Davis? Come on. Not all music is rock. Without jazz, rock wouldn't even exist.

Although I would like to commend Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry, The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, The Rolling Stones, Frank Zappa, Queen, The Who, Bob Seger, Aerosmith, Iron Maiden, Ozzy Osbourne, AC/DC, Fleetwood Mac, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Alice Cooper, Pink Floyd, Judas Priest, Sex Pistols, Nirvana, U2, Bruce Springsteen, Metallica, Pearl Jam, Ramones, Blink-182, and Guns N Roses for their contributions to rock and metal.

Then there's the Pop/Motown classics: Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, The Temptations, The Four Tops, The Supremes, etc.

And although this will destroy any credibility my judgment has, some hip-hop groups have to be mentioned. NWA, Wu Tang Clan, Outkast, Public Enemy, A Tribe Called Quest, even the Gorillaz.

Of course now for daring suggest that anyone other than a guitarist has contributed to modern music, I'm liable to be mobbed.

Sort of on the defensive right off the band aren't you? To be fair, the question is "bands" and you mostly listed solo acts. Secondly as much as I respect the for runners to rock and roll music, I really love rock and roll music. I love jazz, I love blues, I love oldschool hillbilly/country, all of which contributed to rock and roll as a genre....but I REALLY love rock and roll music. And in the end, everyone's pick is going to be subjective.

I personally would've picked Chuck Berry or Bob Dylan if the question was "favorite band and/or musician/singer/songwriter". The one guy basically solidified what we know of as rock and roll and the other completely revolutionized folk.

But with respect to the thread, I'll go with The Beatles. As a band, their influence is far and wide, and few bands have been so prolific or consistently genius in their output.

 

[MelasZepheos_v1legacy]

Best band of the entire 20th century? Picking from all the dozens of genres of music, the multiple incredibly gifted performers, the ones who aren't gifted but gave the best live shows, the ones who had so much feeling it oozed from every pore, the ones who gave birth to rock and roll, the ones who drove it into the ground, the ones who perfected it, the ones who brought metal to us, the ones who unleashed pop upon the world.

Man, this choice should be easy, I mean there was Blind Lemon jefferson, wait, Queen, wait, Marc Bolan and T-Rex, wait, Bruce Springsteen, wait, Led Zeppelin, wait, Greenday, wait, Howling Wolf, wait, Elvis...

You know what, this is one of the worst questions ever. There is no way to choose th greatest single badn from such a massive period of history. This is one hundred years after all, and in that time even the definition of "Greatest" has changed.

 

[DEFMan316]

U2...by the slimmest of margins over the Beatles. Because they still have the original lineup AND manage to stay relevant 30 years later, something no other band has done on the same level.

 

[whycantibelinus]

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band

/thread

 

[Arkhangelsk]

Ah, so many. The Beatles, Elvis, Johnny Cash, etc. The ones that formed the form that formed rock. Then we moved on to the new genres derived from rock, the punk movement (Sex Pistols), the heavy metal genre (Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Metallica etc.), and so on. But all seems to come from the source, which is the original genre of rock, or rock 'n roll to be more specific, which all started with Elvis and Cash and all those cool cats. We could go further back into 19th century with the blues and the sorrow and the baritone, but if we are to stay on the 20th, I'll have to say the original rollers and country hillbillies with straw hats.

...Sorry, what were we talking about? Ah yes, the best band of the 20th century. Subjectively, I can't come to a decision, as my favorite bands aren't nearly as influential as the other artists, so in terms of 'greatness', I'll go with Elvis, The Beatles, and for personal preferences, Metallica.

Oh, and Stevie Wonder, let's not forget about him and his beautiful voice. Won twenty-two Grammies, made music since he was eleven (that's almost 50 years!), plays piano and sings, and all that with no eyes. Try to accomplish that!

 

[HonorableChairman]

Sort of on the defensive right off the band aren't you? To be fair, the question is "bands" and you mostly listed solo acts. Secondly as much as I respect the for runners to rock and roll music, I really love rock and roll music. I love jazz, I love blues, I love oldschool hillbilly/country, all of which contributed to rock and roll as a genre....but I REALLY love rock and roll music. And in the end, everyone's pick is going to be subjective.

I personally would've picked Chuck Berry or Bob Dylan if the question was "favorite band and/or musician/singer/songwriter". The one guy basically solidified what we know of as rock and roll and the other completely revolutionized folk.

But with respect to the thread, I'll go with The Beatles. As a band, their influence is far and wide, and few bands have been so prolific or consistently genius in their output.

I do admit that lumping together bands and solo acts is a bad habit of mine.

It's just I find it strange that basically all of the purported best bands of the 20th century are from the second half.

 

[sagonas123]

...You really expect me to decide?!
Led Zeppelin, in my eyes are the Gods of Rock, but Queen was simply amazing.
Black Sabbath of course revolutionized rock, with Metal... but...
Pink Floyd was so unique and just made me feel like I was on drugs, but without the bad side effects! *_* So difficult.
Then of course, there was the Ramones, the Sex Pistols, and The Clash with the Punk movement, and they are all so kickass.
ACK!

 

[Just_A_Glitch]

By greatest, does it mean just the best band from a musical standpoint, or most revolutionary?

Musical Standpoint:Queen, Iron Maiden, Trans-Siberian Orchestra

Revolutionary Standpoint: The Beach Boys, Nirvana, or, if I can use solo artists, Elvis.

 

[icypenguin117]

Elbow

 

[Breaker deGodot]

The Beatles

 

[Dark Knifer]

System of a down. I can't help myself I must say system of a down for any questions like this.

 

[Purple Shrimp]

the Zombies

Beach Boys. Without them, The Beatles are just another pop band that never revolutionizes music. No Pet Sounds, not Sgt. Peppers. No Sgt. Peppers, no Rock n Roll as we know it.

sgt peppers wasn't that good and they revolutionised music even without it. ever listen to Revolver?

 

[CivilWar]

Led Zeppelin, Metallica, The Beatles.

 

[Mechanix]

Obviously Metallica is my favorite band, but it's only proper to say Led Zeppelin. A very very very very close second is The Beatles.

 

[GammaZord]

Gotta go with Radiohead,

Dylan if you count an individual artist