Greatest band of all time?

What is the greatest band of all time?


  • Total voters
    57
I voted for Zep but thinking it thru; I'd have to say the Beatles although I don't intentionally listen to them. But if you look at the body of work and who they influenced, it's pretty astonishing. Then again they're creating records, writing songs. If you put Zep up against the Beatles in a live show, Led Zep would crush them.
 
No way to choose just one......

Beatles
Zep
VanHalen

They all made a huge impact.

Then you have to include Rush on pure musicianship alone.
 
Maybe scratch the top 5. Maybe...

1/2: Beatles/Stones (interchangeable)
3: The Who
4: Pink Floyd
5: So many to choose from. I'd probably go with Jethro Tull over Zep here. :)
 
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I'd place Pink Floyd lightyears ahead of Led Zeppelin, also in influence, as the genres they influenced spanned more then just hard rock. In which Black Sabbath was Led Zeppelin's Overlord. The mighty Floyd was also relevant for at least 2 times as long, mid 60's until Waters left the band. And even though I don't like the Beatles at all I'd say they were the greatest band of all time, for the sheer amount of influence they had over all others. Just think about it, without the Beatles Jimi Hendrix would never have been inspired to dream up Electric Ladyland.
 
Beatles and Zeppelin both endure for me because of their eclectic body of work. I love how the Beatles catalogue ranges from fun Beatlemania like Hard Days Night, to psychedelic Strawberry Fields, cheeky rockers like Taxman, epic pop of Hey Jude etc. There is no other band I can think of that developed and explored such a range of styles and sounds... except maybe Led Zeppelin. On their end you’ve got the heavy blues rock of the first two albums, which even then had layers of “light and shade” (to use Page’s term) in songs like What Is... and Ramble On. The fourth album opens with Black Dog, which is blues rock, but isn’t really in a classic sense with its crazy timings. Songs like Battle of Evermore and No Quarter have an epic prog tinge to them. My band currently plays Dancing Days and I can’t think of another rock song quite like it.

That was a long ramble on! I keep coming back to both those bands because they draw upon so many different styles and create music that is a synthesis of those different styles.
 
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