The Best American Band?

[speed]

You know a friend of mine last night asked me the penultimate question; " What is your favorite american rock band?" As I was thinking about it, I realized the beauty of his question, as I went down the list of great rock bands, I was shocked at how few were American. My eventual answer was Slayer or the Allman Brothers. Still, its amazing how few really large and influential rock bands America has produced. I guess Nirvana was the last big influential band, but man, now we dont have anything worth mentioning.

 

[Tranquillian]

I'm nominating Agalloch and Nevermore.

 

[Erik]

Most definitely Agalloch, excepting all thrash metal which is sort of in another league altogether.

 

[speed]

Yeah but I was thinking, as was my friend, that rock bands should be the focus, not underground metal bands. But when you go down the list from The Stones, to Led Zeppelin etc, they are all British, or Australian, or whatever, just not American.

 

[Demonspell]

No question or at least popular consensus that the most influential American metal band has been Metallica. As for the broader genre of rock, I'll have to think about that one...The Doors? Hendrix?

 

[matt99_crew]

The Doors is a good one. As for current rock bands, I'd have to say Pearl Jam.

 

[Erik]

Yeah but I was thinking, as was my friend, that rock bands should be the focus, not underground metal bands. But when you go down the list from The Stones, to Led Zeppelin etc, they are all British, or Australian, or whatever, just not American.

American bands have pretty much invented (or innovated greatly) a lot of genres -- thrash metal, death metal, fucking ROCK'N'ROLL, blues, fucking rap, eh, you know... [insert other non-metal genres I don't know much about]

Some concepts thought up in the USA originally have been perfected elsewhere, and the other way around. I will say this, USA certainly has a disproportionately small amount of decent bands considering its population and relative cultural similarity with other Western countries like Sweden, Norway, England or Germany. Bomb the MTV HQ

 

[Erik]

Here are some fun statistics for you:

There are 1187 metal bands from Sweden
There are 3654 metal bands from the USA*

There are roughly 9,000,000 inhabitants in Sweden
There are roughly 293,000,000 inhabitants in the USA

If the USA had as many metal bands per person as Sweden, the USA would have 38643 bands, more than ten times as many as it currently has.

Make of that what you will


* According to metal-archives.com

 

[General Zod]

I guess Nirvana was the last big influential band, but man, now we dont have anything worth mentioning.

Although they had more commercial sucess, to my ear, Alice in Chains has been far more influencial. I hear very little Nirvana influence in today's music, but I hear a ton of AiC.

As for the best current American rock band, the answe to that question would be Nevermore, followed closely by Iced Earth and Symphony X.

The most influencial American bands of all-time? The Doors, Aerosmith, Van Hallen (pre-Sammy).

Zod

 

[Doom]

Agalloch, most definately (and one of the best bands from anywhere). I don't really like that many American bands though.

 

[speed]

Yeah the Doors and Van Halen are both excellent choices.

 

[J.]

Neurosis, no doubt. Rarely does any single band create a genre by themselves, and continue to create revolutionary music in a world of followers and wannabes, which is something Neurosis has managed to do. Name me another American band that managed to do this.

As far as rock, Alice in Chains, Soundgarden, and Jeff Buckley.

 

[MFJ]

Agalloch, Absu, Leviathan, or Noctuary.

If you haven't heard Noctuary... IM me (Marksveld on AIM or marksveld@hotmail.com) and I'll send you some songs. Premium stuff.

 

[NAD]

Many great ones to choose from, and as much as I'd love to pick Alice in Chains, Kyuss, Pearl Jam, the Velvet Underground, the Ramones, or countless others, I'm going with The Doors. Nobody sounds like the Doors, except of course the Jim Morrison influence.

 

[MajestikMøøse]

The first thing that came to mind when I saw this thread was Agalloch. J. also makes a good point with Neurosis as well.

 

[JayKeeley]

Ever? Impossible to say. Hendrix was probably the most influential, but Metallica were the most dominant. You have to hand it to Metallica. Up until "One", they had no MTV exposure, no radio, no internet, etc, and yet they took the world by storm on their own terms.

Now? Hammers of Misfortune. On the verge of being incredible, and only two albums in. Just cannot fathom the genius to come. Or it might all turn to shit, who knows.

I might have agreed to Agalloch, but again, I don't know what to expect next. I think their third album is going to be all post-rock bollocks with dashes of electronica and noise, and that gives me an upset stomach.

 

[JayKeeley]

I'm going with The Doors. Nobody sounds like the Doors, except of course the Jim Morrison influence.

That is an excellent point. For all the Stones rip-offs (Aerosmith), Beatles rip-offs (Monkees, Beach Boys), and whatever else, The Doors were entirely unique.

Has anybody mentioned Bob Dylan?

 

[MFJ]

Bod Dylan, holy shit yes. How could I forget.

Great songwriter, horrible performer. Ever seen him live? I have. Don't.

 

[NAD]

Great songwriter, horrible performer. Ever seen him live? I have. Don't.

Dude Dylan rocked my socks off in concert! I know a lot of people that like his songs but not him though. I used to think that way, then I realized how wrong I was.

 

[Demilich]

Uh..
I like Leviathan, Wraith, The Lord Weird Slough Feg, Agalloch, Rwake, Khanate...

a bunch of others, but I don't remember.