By Mary Whitfill
Staff Writer
This 6 weeks, my blog will have a theme. The best ______ of all time. This week, I have undergone the tedious task of defining the “5 best rock bands of all time”. For your listening pleasure, this post will outline the best rock bands EVER, dating all the way back to the 60s. If you haven’t even heard of them, take my word for it, you’re missing out.
1. The Beatles.See my previous blog here.
2. The Rolling Stones.
When the Beatles fell in 1970, their title of “World’s Greatest Rock ‘n’ Roll Band” was threatened by the Rolling Stones, who were hitting a creative peak. Most famous members and childhood friends, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards formed the first version of the Rolling Stones in 1962. Their first single, a cover of Chuck Berry’s “Come On” went No. 21 in the UK. The Stones continued to improve and in the 90’s took in a $750 million from three tours. Watching shows broadcasted live confirm that while these men are near 60 years old, their talent hasn’t threatened to leave them. The band is better now than they were in the 70s when their lives were a mixture of sex, drugs and alcohol. Age has focused them but hasn’t taken away any of their energy. AND Keith Richards is still the greatest rhythm guitarist who ever lived.
3. U2
This Irish band is the most influential and important of the post-punk era. Bono (Paul Hewson) has held this band together from the beginning when they formed in Dublin in 1976 as a Beatles and Rolling Stones cover band. (They knew the best music, huh?) U2 was the leading rock bang of the ‘80s because its members still believed rock ‘n’ roll could save the world and they had the talent to make that notion not seem hopelessly naïve. Their excitement and love for what they do led to high achievement and made them the best band of the 90s. U2 is an over confident, yet mature and high quality, band that doesn’t have all the answers but isn’t afraid to keep asking the right questions.
4. Led Zeppelin
Over a 10 year career, Led Zeppelin was the most popular rock group of the world, selling over 50 million records in the US and developing the band in multiple directions. Jimmy Page, who has played guitar for Who, Kinks, Them and Donovan, began the band in 1968 with bassist Paul Jones and 19-year-old singer Robert Plant. One of the best rock bands of all times even seems to amaze me in their slower, acoustic covers. Proving their lasing popularity, the band’s like two-DVD set “Led Zeppelin” has sold more than 600,000 copies since last may.
5. Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd is the most eccentric and experimental band of the rock era, creating an exceptional and unique sound that has survived the band. Their most famous albums “Dark Side of the Moon”, “Wish You Were Here” and “The Wall” can still be found in any music store and even in stores that just have a small section devoted to music. They are that awesome. Beginning in the ‘60s as a R&B rock band, they quickly turned into a strange combination of British psychedelic music and long-form instrumental space rock. Bass player and vocalist Robert Waters went solo in the ‘80s and although the band has periodically reunited without him, they haven’t been the same since.
See my top 15 guitarists of all time: here.
