It has to be muse!

1. led zeppelin
2. ac/dc
3. oasis

For me i'd say:

James *sits down*

Personal feelings aside. If we are talking pure rock bands and not bands like The Beatles:

1: AC/DC
2: Led Zep
3: Foo FIghters (ok some personal feelings got in the way )

For me, Pearl Jam... no question!

xx

For true rock bands you have to go back to the late 60's (post Beatles) right through the 70's and 80's. Unfortunately we now have pop (f)rock bands that are soft and squishy like Stereophonics, Muse and Coldplay trying to slime their way into the genre.

So on that basis bands I think that have had a big influence to the rock genre. (in no particular order)

Led Zeppelin
Rush
Cream
Yes
The Who
Pink Floyd
Iron Maiden (technically Metal, but some rock)
The Ramones
AC/DC
Whitesnake
Deep Purple
Queen

I agree with your comments, but I would substitute the Sex Pistols for the Ramones - and Pink Floyd and the Rolling Stones for AC / DC and Maiden.

A pity some of the new bands can't come up with a Spirit Of The Radio or a Kashmir

As soon as I saw the title of this thread I knew there would be a myriad of opinions, mostly because there is such a variety of rock music. From soft rock Meatloaf to the hard punk rock of the Pistols, it is perhaps the widest genre in terms of taste.

In between there is bands that don't quite fit into a pigeon-hole and cross several genre's like Rush, though they have kind of stayed with their Prog Rock roots.

The top 3 for me are

1) Pink Floyd
2) The Who
3) Led Zeppelin

just put on the beatles' white album and had to track down a thread to comment on.

the beatles are the greatest of all time.
followed closely by led zeppelin

Thinking with my head I'd say Led Zep (was listening to a particularly good recording of Stairway To Heaven performed live in LA this morning).

Thinking with my heart I'd say Smashing Pumpkins. I don't expect anyone to agree with me but they've been my favourite rock band since 1992 so I'm biased.

I rate the best bands of all time on two things: Studio output and Live performances. In that case I have to rule out the Beatles and put Pink Floyd, The Who, Led Zeppelin and Queen above them.

Agreed. The best bands are those that are able to improvise and don't mind experimenting. Studio output is all very well but if their live performances are carbon copies of it then it just gets stale.

Guns N' Roses.... 'nuff said.

led zep, end off..... no other band has defined the genre in such a way... but on a personal level, well that could be anyones choice.

beatles?...lol.. as was pointed out, they were always a pop group.

but the ramones didnt 'take off' over here, in fact their uk output was distinctly bland (their cover of 'baby i love you'...lol.. c'mon, twas pop!) the sex pistols, like them or not, were the ones who spearheaded punk over here, it was the pistols take on the punk sound that got punk recognised.

and punk created so many sub genres of rock....

This, especially the bold

I wouldn't class The Beatles as a rock band, tbh. Even if they were they DEFINITELY do not deserve #1 best rock band. They are unbelievably overrated.
I think Metallica and Aerosmith should be higher than #9 and #16.

1) U2

2) Led Zeppelin

3) Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band

I've seen all the bands listed above and I would've picked Zeppelin if I had never seen U2 live.Bono is the best frontman I've ever seen and he has the charisma to have the audience in the palm of his hand every night!

Led Zeppelin have tons of incredible songs (Kashmir, In My Time Of Dying, Achilles Last Stand being three of my favourites) but U2 also have an amazing back catalogue and they're still capable of turning out a great album.Can't wait to see them in Rome next October

According to Wiktionary, rock music is;

1. (music) Any of various genres of popular music employing electrical amplification

"Rock" is far too wide a genre to be able to collectively explain any of it, and the generally accepted rule that the higher the din, the more rock is wholly untrue.

As far as I'm concerned The Beatles are just as rock as Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, The Who, etc.

The same goes for Queen, even in the sense of making a lot of noise, Queen were (and are) very much one of the heaviest bands going. Yes, they came out with tracks like I Want To Break Free and A Kind Of Magic, but in the early days they were referred to by the major publications as a heavy metal band. Check out Liar, Stone Cold Crazy, Sheer Heart Attack, Brighton Rock, It's Late and Death On Two Legs (Dedicated To...

With regards to The Beatles, Ticket To Ride may be mild by comparison now, but back in 1965 that was about as cutting-edge as a track could get, with it's very unique and exciting percussion. Helter Skelter, Revolution, I Want You (She's So Heavy), Tomorrow Never Knows, Rain, the list goes on and on.

Queen are most definitely a rock band, especially with their first 4 albums. Like the above poster said, they made some really naff pop songs like Seaside Rendezvous, Radio GaGa and everything off Hot Space, but a bit of ambition (which Queen had in droves) hardly disqualifies you from a genre of music. Queen released some bloody heavy songs in the 70's. Stone Cold Crazy is borderline thrash metal. Even in the 80's they had I Want It All, Hammer to Fall and (in 1991) Innuendo.

The Beatles definetley, oh and they were mainly rock but they did loads of different genres!

Pink Floyd
Led Zeppelin
AC/DC
Guns N' Roses

I second that. The Kinks were the biggest influence for Hard Rock aswell.

Otherwise:

Faith No More
The Who
Led Zepellin
The Rolling Stones
T-Rex
The Doors
Queen
Pink Floyd
Grateful Dead
Fleetwood Mac
The Beach Boys

how tf can the most innovative group ever be 'overrated?.,.


why dont you listen to the people who were there?... the beatles were never considered rock, that tag emerged after the beatles had split. the beatles were the greatest ever pop group...

there were far 'heavier' tracks then those around... the kinks 'you really got me', rolling stones 'paint it black', yardbirds 'happenings ten years time ago' and 'over under sideways down', hell even dave dee, dozy, beaky, mick and tich had 'hold tight', far far rockier/heavy then the beatles.. but they were never called 'rock'.

They are top choices, Iwould inclued the Rolling Stones.