r/musicsuggestions • u/RRE4EVR • 5d ago

Best American rock band of all time

This is obviously a subjective post. As post suggest “all time” so feel free to go back to to the 50’s and please consider that bands from this millennium may not hold up in a couple decades. Also genre blending bands welcome.

Greatful Dead my answer

172 Upvotes

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192

u/DreamZebra 5d ago

It's the Beach Boys. They're not my favorite band but they laid the foundation for American rock for decades.

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u/IndependentSun9995 5d ago

I would call them the best live band ever. Their shows were true experiences!

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u/portablemustard 4d ago

Brian Wilson was an amazing songwriter and their recording techniques were way ahead of their time.

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u/IndependentSun9995 4d ago

But what makes them special is how memorable their music is. You go to their live show, and EVERYONE knows the words to ALL their songs, and sings along with them!

The only thing I can compare a Beach Boys show to is "Rocky Horror Picture Show". It's a gathering where a large number of people get together and share an experience.

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u/Defiant_West6287 3d ago

Not even close to the best live band ever. They were much more known as a studio band, layering those harmonies.

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u/IndependentSun9995 2d ago

Did you ever go to one of their shows?

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u/daveescaped 4d ago

I’d say the same. I enjoy REM more. B-52’s as well. But The Beach Boys are the best. Most innovative and foundational.

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u/mccannrs 4d ago edited 4d ago

This is the correct answer. They may not always have been your typical rock band, but you cannot deny their massive influence on the genre. Plus, they were the biggest thing around until the Beatles came and took the spotlight. Love me some Beach Boys.

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u/Redmen1212 5d ago

My answer is the same. Although my personal choice is Talking Heads, it’s hard to pick a band other than The Beach Boys for greatest American band.

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u/heffel77 4d ago

The Talking Heads and Television are the smartest, tightest best imo bands to come out of the CBGB/Mudd Club NY punk scene.

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u/daydr3am_b3li3v3r 5d ago

Exactly what I came here to type 😜

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u/t_whocannotbenamed 5d ago

Kinda has to be....

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u/ancisfranderson 4d ago

Literally the bridge from doo wop groups to rock groups and beyond

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u/TheForce_v_Triforce 3d ago

Considering the Beatles considered them to be the best American songwriters, and actively competed with their releases says it all. Pet Sounds inspired the White Album.

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u/JuliusDiamond 2d ago

Not hard rock

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u/NewCaptainGutz57 5d ago

God, it's like nails on a chalkboard to me.

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u/Royal-Tumbleweed7885 5d ago

No they did not! Rock n roll is the blues sped up basically; the Beach Boys didn't get down like that.

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u/ChuckoRuckus 1d ago

The Beach Boys style is surf rock. They also used a lot of pentatonic and blues scales in their songs, as well as 1-4-5 chord patterns.

If they aren’t rock, what are they?

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u/cerpintaxt33 5d ago

Check out the album Wild Honey. They actually did get down like that. 

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u/Practical_Estate_325 5d ago

This isn't what they are known for.

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u/Royal-Tumbleweed7885 5d ago

Bro.

The Beach Boys did not lay down the foundation for American rock music and they did not lay down the foundation of American rock music with Wild Honey. I have no idea what you're talking about...

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u/aasasss32 4d ago

Sure, hand that to Chuck Berry or something, but The Beach Boys completely reshaped and redefined that California sound and shaped a huge chunk of music that came after it. And when Pet Sounds dropped, the whole game changed. And Smiley Smile was what I’d consider to be one of the first “punk” moves in music. Not because it’s a punk album, but because it was a complete middle finger to the musical trends of the time and everyone pressuring Brian and the boys.

Plus I think he’s just saying “Wild Honey” is a cool rocking album (which it totally is)

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u/Royal-Tumbleweed7885 4d ago

Are we talking about the foundation of American rock or are we talking about American pop? For example, Pet Smiles is a (gorgeous) bedroom suite that definitely impacted pop music but to suggest that the Beach Boys laid down the foundation of rock n roll America style is patently stupid.

Chuck Berry. Bo Diddley. Buddy Holley. These guys are responsible for rock n roll and predate Brian Wilson et al. Cerpintax is out of their gourd 🙄....

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u/Deepforbiddenlake 4d ago

Reddit has a massive hard on for the Beach Boys, I also find it baffling.

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u/aasasss32 4d ago

For good reason. Not enough people actually appreciate the band, I’ve only met like 4 people irl who have even heard the name “Pet Sounds”

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u/aasasss32 4d ago

I didn’t say they laid down the foundation for Rock and Roll, I said they helped shape and change American music

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u/cerpintaxt33 4d ago

I never said they laid any foundations with that album, I just said they “got down” like that. 

And, no, they were not pioneers of original “rock and roll” from, say, the ‘50s, but their music is definitely foundational to a lot of rock music of today. 

Everything I said makes sense. 

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u/Royal-Tumbleweed7885 3d ago

Not everything you said makes sense: I never said that YOU said that The Beach Boys laid a foundation for American rock music. I was responding to the parent comment that makes that ridiculous claim.

And, just because The Beach Boys have an album that's "rock" like Wild Honey doesn't mean that's what they are known for, and it doesn't mean they contributed to American rock music to justify being mentioned as "the best American rock band of all time". They are a (sophisticated) pop band, not a rock band.

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u/Pretty_Newspaper_353 5d ago

You're okay with the Wrecking Crew playing the instruments on some of their most seminal albums, namely Pet Sounds?

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u/daydr3am_b3li3v3r 5d ago

Brian orchestrated the music though, so it still counts as his own music. It’s not like Brian could play all of those instruments at once. He needed help 😆

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u/Pretty_Newspaper_353 5d ago

That's all well and good, and I do not discount his genius; he was one. They absolutely contributed to the American story, no doubt. But a band is a stretch for the Beach Boys in this instance, per the topic of the question.

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u/daydr3am_b3li3v3r 5d ago

They didn’t always use the Wrecking Crew. It was just them in their first few albums. So I’d say they’re a band because they didn’t always need the help of others with their music. And they’re still fully capable of making music with just the 6 of them. But yeah I see what you mean. But there are so many bands who used the Wrecking Crew and got help from others that I feel like the Beach Boys would count

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u/tickingboxes 5d ago

Of course.

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u/Practical_Estate_325 5d ago

I don't even consider them a rock band. They are so overrated that it's comical.

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u/aasasss32 4d ago

They’re definitely a rock band, in the same way The Beatles were a rock band. Listen to their albums after “Pet Sounds” and see if they’re “overrated”

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u/Practical_Estate_325 4d ago

You have an opinion. I have an opinion. My opinion is that they were highly overrated.

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u/aasasss32 3d ago

There’s no such thing as overrated, especially when it comes to a band that’s literally shaped music as a whole and influenced countless of artists who are considered to be some of the greatest of all time.

You may not like them, and you can say that, but you can’t call them overrated, because subjectively, you’re wrong.

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u/Practical_Estate_325 3d ago

Calling them ‘immune to being overrated’ is just fanboy code for ‘I can’t handle criticism of my favorites. Their influence is historic; their music is still hit-or-miss. Both things can be true. They are 100% overrated. Get over it.

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u/aasasss32 3d ago

You’ve missed the whole point and read that wrong completely. You can’t call a band who has had one of the biggest musical impacts “overrated” as if everyone is just making a big fuss over nothing. It’s the same as calling The Beatles “overrated”, sure you might not like their music, but you can’t call them overrated just because you don’t like them, when subjectively, they influenced nearly all music after them, and paved the way for new genres.

I don’t think bands who have done this much, deserve a title boiled down to a simple “overrated”just because of your taste. I mean they’re clearly not overrated when almost everyone agrees they’re not 🤦‍♂️

There’s plenty of artists I don’t listen to/care for, but I don’t call them overrated, because that just shuts down everything they’ve done for music. Instead, I just say “they’re not my thing”

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u/Practical_Estate_325 3d ago edited 3d ago

Influence and innovation don’t erase the concept of overrated; they just prove historical importance. Overrated means the praise outweighs the actual experience of the art, and that’s 100% unavoidably subjective. Pretending it’s impossible is just you confusing consensus with truth. And you are, quite simply, very confused here.

The. Beach. Boys. are. overrated. I adamantly and full-heartedly believe this as much as I believe just about anything else in life.

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u/aasasss32 3d ago

I know what you’re saying, but overrated is simply the wrong term. You don’t like them, that’s what it is. It’s kind of a disrespectful (and wrong) term to use when they have kinda proven not to be overrated. If a vast majority of people from the past 50+ years have praised how amazing they are, who are you to just knock them down with “nah they’re overrated” as if everyone has been wrong this whole time?

The term overrated is such a stupid term to use. Just say you don’t like them, and maybe say why you don’t? Then move on, instead of trying to hint at people that they’re making a big deal over nothing, that’s not what music should be about.

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u/Practical_Estate_325 1d ago

Majority praise doesn’t make something immune to being overrated, it’s exactly how something becomes overrated in the first place. ‘Overrated’ doesn’t erase their influence or history, it just means the pedestal they’re put on is higher than the art justifies. Saying the word is no more ‘disrespectful’ than saying a legendary player is still overhyped. It’s a judgment, not a denial of their impact.

My friend, learn when you have lost the argument. And then move on gracefully. You lost the argument, and you are just embarrassing yourself.

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