r/musicsuggestions • u/RRE4EVR • 4d 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

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u/gallan1 4d ago

Talent, diversity, longevity...has to be R.E.M.

3

u/LowerObject2985 4d ago

Love me some R.E.M, but I think longevity is a negative for them.

5 IRS albums - excellent and innovative

First 5 Warner bros albums - good and transitioning towards commercial success

Last 5 Warner Bros albums - not good and should’ve never been recorded

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u/gallan1 4d ago

Ya. R.E.M. is my favorite band but I can't get into anything after New Adventures. Not a big fan of Monster either. Still the rest of the catalog elevates them to greatness.

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u/LowerObject2985 4d ago

To be fair, most bands (even great ones) have perhaps 5 to 8 great albums in them.

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u/Raggeddroid85 4d ago

True. And R.E.M. front-loaded theirs. Their debut EP and first four albums are brilliant.

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u/LowerObject2985 4d ago

Couldn’t agree more. These days, I rarely listen to anything but the IRS albums.

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u/Similar_Tie3291 4d ago

I agree with this. Although for me personally, the middle 5 are my top 5. Then all the early albums, except I have Up rated slightly higher than Document (I may need to reassess).

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u/LowerObject2985 4d ago

I lived the IRS years so that may influence me a bit as well

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u/Similar_Tie3291 4d ago

Yeah, Out of Time was one of the first four albums I ever owned, so that checks out.

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u/nirvana454 3d ago

Totally agree on the last 5 albums

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u/nwbeeceefriend 11h ago

I couldn't agree more! Im also gonna hold back on supporting the "diversity" claim. I assume he wasnt referring to race. I just wouldn't say that REM showed diversity as far as a range in styles. I don't hold that against them though.