Jiggyfly
Banned
- Joined
- Apr 8, 2013
- Messages
- 9,220
I included Prince and yes The Grateful Dead is a huge omission but like I said 10 is hard for me because I don't have a lot of exsperience with somebody like Metallica and others.It all depends on the criteria, and by the criteria you are using many of those bands you named in another post—Aerosmith, Bruce Springsteen, Beach Boys, Van Halen, et al—probably belong on the list. I wouldn't put any of those bands as among my personal favorites but or count them among the "greatest" but that's me.
By the criteria of influence, success, longevity, etc., you have to start looking at a lot of bands for consideration. What about the Grateful Dead? Didn't sell a ton of records but created an entire subculture and also more of less single-handedly founded the whole "jam band" scene. Toured for decades and millions and millions of people came out to see them, including a percentage of the fan base that would "follow the Dead" for parts of their tours. I'm not a huge fan (went to a few shows in the 90s but moreso for the parking lot/campground experience and the hippie chicks) but they truly are an American institution.
Metallica probably has to be in there at this point, right? Again, not a big fan but they have had a tremendous amount of success and influence over 3 decades.
I think Kiss is pretty lame (I thought they were awesome when I was 8 and they had yet to ditch their makeup) but that is another band that is simply legendary and deserves consideration if you are talking about the overall scope of their career.
Do you not count someone like Prince because he usually isn't followed by "and the Revolution"?
Could probably go on and on along these lines and would still miss some I'm sure. Like I said, few of these bands would make my personal all-time top 10 American bands (a list I have never and probably will never attempt to put together), but all of them have had a lot of success and have influenced bands for decades.
But I think that's what makes EWF pretty easily top 10 they fit the bill of all of that and did it in both R&B, rock and pop.