Top 10 US bands VS top 10 UK bands

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Acrobat_Al

Acrobat_Al

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Share your lists, mine in no particular order:

UK
The Beatles
Led Zeppelin
The Cure
Stone Roses
The Smiths
Pink Floyd
Rolling Stones
Oasis
Radiohead

US
The Doors
Stone Temple Pilots
Nirvana
Guns N' Roses
The Ramones
Slayer
Kiss
Metallica
RHCP
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club

I need more slots for UK bands, maybe I can take a couple from US' list

Thoughts??
 
Obviously when it comes to rock bands from the UK and ones from the USA it is no contest. The UK beats any country hands down!

The Beatles
The Rolling Stones
Led Zeppelin
Pink Floyd
The Kinks
Queen
Black Sabbath
The Clash
The Sex Pistols (only one proper album BUT what an album it was:heart:)
Public Image Ltd.
The Police
The Cure
Depeche Mode
The Cult
The Smiths
Joy Division/New Order
The Buzzcocks
Iron Maiden
Judas Priest
Echo & The Bunnymen
Dire Straits
Fleetwood Mac
Genesis
Tears For Fears
Duran Duran
Def Leppard
The Pretenders
Pet Shop Boys
Oasis
Radiohead
The Stone Roses
Blur
The Verve
Elbow
The Chemical Brothers
The Prodigy
Coldplay
Kasabian
Florence + The Machine
Keane
Bloc Party
Muse

.......and many more. The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, and Pink Floyd combined album sales alone could trump most of the US output. Clearly the UK is the superior in this contest. Selecting just 10 bands as a result is quite a challenge. Cheers.
 
In no order:

UK

The Beatles
Led Zeppelin
Pink Floyd
The Rolling Stones
The Kinks
Radiohead
The Clash
Blur
Fleetwood Mac
The Cure

US

R.E.M.
The Byrds
Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band
The Flaming Lips
Pavement
Big Star
The Velvet Underground
The Replacements
Talking Heads
The Stooges

US rock is better right now though and has been for a good 15 years. The UK rock scene has been churning out boring dreck since Damon Albarn himself decided he found more inspiration in Guided By Voices than anything happening in Britain at the time. After Britpop died, the Strokes and the White Stripes swooped in and defined what rock would sound like for the next five years. Meanwhile, Travis and Keane were legitimately considered "good" by the UK press. Today, forget it. One of their own heroes, Arctic Monkeys, has been taking inspiration from Queens of the Stone Age for years now. Muse has become absolutely terrible. Same for Coldplay.

Honestly, Canada has a more intriguing rock scene than the UK at this point, though again I'm only speaking about the last two decades or so. The UK killed it for a long time.
 
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Is Fleetwood Mac British? I had no idea, as they sound drowned in Americana to me.
 
They formed in Britain and their three longest-tenured members are British. However, their two most well-known members (Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks) are American.

I could take them out and put in Joy Division, they were #11 for me.
 
LemonMelon said:
In no order:

UK

The Beatles
Led Zeppelin
Pink Floyd
The Rolling Stones
The Kinks
Radiohead
The Clash
Blur
Fleetwood Mac
The Cure

US

R.E.M.
The Byrds
Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band
The Flaming Lips
Pavement
Big Star
The Velvet Underground
The Replacements
Talking Heads
The Stooges

US rock is better right now though and has been for a good 15 years. The UK rock scene has been churning out boring dreck since Damon Albarn himself decided he found more inspiration in Guided By Voices than anything happening in Britain at the time. After Britpop died, the Strokes and the White Stripes swooped in and defined what rock would sound like for the next five years. Meanwhile, Travis and Keane were legitimately considered "good" by the UK press. Today, forget it. One of their own heroes, Arctic Monkeys, has been taking inspiration from Queens of the Stone Age for years now. Muse has become absolutely terrible. Same for Coldplay.

Honestly, Canada has a more intriguing rock scene than the UK at this point, though again I'm only speaking about the last two decades or so. The UK killed it for a long time.
Click to expand...

I think that the last great english album was In rainbows, and that's 2007, so yeah, there aren't great english bands right now, or maybe I'm wrong?? Are there any decent post 2008 albums from the UK??
 
Acrobat_Al said:
I think that the last great english album was In rainbows, and that's 2007, so yeah, there aren't great english bands right now, or maybe I'm wrong?? Are there any decent post 2008 albums from the UK??
Click to expand...

Yes. The Horrors' Primary Colours immediately springs to mind.
 
Acrobat_Al said:
I think that the last great english album was In rainbows, and that's 2007, so yeah, there aren't great english bands right now, or maybe I'm wrong?? Are there any decent post 2008 albums from the UK??
Click to expand...

Oh sure, there are plenty. PJ Harvey puts out great records all the time, The Horrors are great, Steven Wilson's solo work, Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds are technically British even though Cave was born in Australia, Anathema, the last couple Kate Bush records...

You have to open it up beyond rock to really get to the UK's best music though. They've been pioneering new scenes in dance for a while now. Jon Hopkins, Four Tet, Andy Stott, Burial, all UK based.
 
Acrobat_Al said:
I think that the last great english album was In rainbows, and that's 2007, so yeah, there aren't great english bands right now, or maybe I'm wrong?? Are there any decent post 2008 albums from the UK??
Click to expand...

Let England Shake - PJ Harvey
Tomorrow's Harvest - Boards of Canada
Syro - Aphex Twin
The King of Limbs - Radiohead
The Next Day - Bowie
Chasing Yesterday - Noel Gallagher
m b v - My Bloody Valentine (Irish band though...)
More Light - Primal Scream

all spring immediately to mind, but there are more. I hope!

British Bands

the Beatles
Rolling Stones
the Kinks
Led Zeppelin
Boards of Canada
The Clash
My Bloody Valentine (Irish, but long-time Londoners)
Verve
Spiritualized
Blur

American

REM
Velvet Undergound
Jane's Addiction
Smashing Pumpkins
Television
Sonic Youth
Pavement
Sly & The Family Stone
Animal Collective
Talking Heads
 
LemonMelon said:
In no order:

UK

The Beatles
Led Zeppelin
Pink Floyd
The Rolling Stones
The Kinks
Radiohead
The Clash
Blur
Fleetwood Mac
The Cure

US

R.E.M.
The Byrds
Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band
The Flaming Lips
Pavement
Big Star
The Velvet Underground
The Replacements
Talking Heads
The Stooges
Click to expand...


Did you not include Steely Dan because you don't consider them a proper band, or do you actually prefer The Stooges?
 
lazarus said:
Did you not include Steely Dan because you don't consider them a proper band, or do you actually prefer The Stooges?
Click to expand...

I skimmed over their name on my last.fm. They're one spot below Velvet Underground and after I typed them in I must have just kept going.

I also missed The Who.
 
Well there's also the fact that a fair number of Bruce's releases aren't even with the band. And even the ones that are don't include them on the official album listing/cover, aside from the live boxed set.


Is Neil Young a solo artist? Or only on his albums that don't feature Crazy Horse? Tom Petty? There are other solo artists who played with the same musicians for many years.
 
lazarus said:
Is Neil Young a solo artist? Or only on his albums that don't feature Crazy Horse? Tom Petty? There are other solo artists who played with the same musicians for many years.
Click to expand...

Seems like you could throw Dylan in there as well.
 
lazarus said:
Well there's also the fact that a fair number of Bruce's releases aren't even with the band. And even the ones that are don't include them on the official album listing/cover, aside from the live boxed set.


Is Neil Young a solo artist? Or only on his albums that don't feature Crazy Horse? Tom Petty? There are other solo artists who played with the same musicians for many years.
Click to expand...

They're still the same band, have been for decades with some losses because of deaths in the band. It's not like "E Street Band" is a blanket term for anyone that's played beside Bruce. He even formed a second band in the 90s that were specifically not labeled the E Street Band.

The E Street Band is a singular unit. Crazy Horse is as well; they even have their own albums.
 
Except that many of his live albums over the course of his 40 year career have been credited to the E Street Band. Do they only exist outside of the studio? Obviously not, but even if that were the case, they would deserve a spot in any US top 10 based on their live reputation alone.

To label a band that has more or less held together for 40 years, had live album credits and consistently bolstered Bruce's sound not "legit" is ridiculous. But I doubt I'll change your mind, so I'd rather just drop it.
 
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I will never get this argument, and I think it's one of the most pedantic things to bring up. Every album of significance in his career was made with the E Street band. He tours with them. They are the reason why his music sounds the way it does. They are a band.

And for the purposes of this thread, the best band from the U.S.
 
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