# Favorite Rock Bands



## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

Sufjan Stevens (all major releases except Enjoy Your Rabbit)
Radiohead
Rufus Wainwright
Frank Zappa
Tom Waits
Jeff Beck (If you consider him Rock, I consider him more Fusion, at least the three albums I love; Wired, Blow by Blow and There and Back) (I just typically find him in the Rock section at record shops)
Sylvan Esso


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Genesis (the Gabriel and/or Hackett years)
Peter Gabriel solo
Porcupine Tree
Steven Wilson solo
Pink Floyd
David Bowie
Kate Bush
Tori Amos
Dire Straits
David Sylvian
Roxy Music


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

With me it depends on when I was asked the question - there were bands which I was crazy about for a decade or so but hardly - if ever - listen to now. Based on that, I'll list ten acts which still I listen to more often than most, even though rock accounts for barely 25% of my listening these days.

The Beatles (anything from _Help!_ onwards)
The Kinks (nothing after 1978)
The Byrds (nothing after 1970)
The Who (nothing after the death of Keith Moon)
Jimi Hendrix (anything apart from poor quality live recordings/dodgy exploitation releases)
AC/DC (Bon Scott era only)
Black Sabbath (the first six albums plus the first two with R.J. Dio)
Mott The Hoople (anything)
Led Zeppelin (all bar _In Through the Out Door_)
Grand Funk Railroad (nothing after 1974)

Honourable mentions to the Clash, The Doors, James Brown, the Stones, Tom Waits and Neil Young.


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## bharbeke (Mar 4, 2013)

Brian Setzer Orchestra
Scorpions
KISS
ZZ Top
AC/DC
Journey
Bon Jovi
Eagles
Queen
Dream Theater
Trans-Siberian Orchestra


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## SalieriIsInnocent (Feb 28, 2008)

Too many to name, but best overall band for me would probably be Queen. Seemed like they dabbled in about any kind of popular music form you could think of and did it well. Freddie had such a powerful voice, and Brian May had one of the greatest guitar tones. There's a lot of great neo-classical shredders, but Brian May was something else. He played guitar more like a composer than a virtuoso. Amazing bass playing from John Deacon. Roger Taylor in addition to being a great drummer, was a great singer. There's a lot of times in live performances he took a lot of the load off of Freddie. I'm not as big of a fan of their mid 80s work, in comparison to what they did in the 70s, but I still think it's all quite good.

I like almost too many bands to name, but ones that I am a big fan of on an album basis:
Rammstein
Korn 
Dire Straits (Mark Knopfler is my favorite rock/pop guitarist of all time. Just tasteful playing with great tone)
Van Halen (Roth Era)
Ozzy (Randy Rhoads Era)
Cream
Pantera (I take my phases where I get obsessed with them. There's just something undeniable about how tight they played as a band.)


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## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

Fave bands that I like their overall output from:

Fab Four
Hendrix and the Experience
Love
Zappa and Mothers
King Crimson
Wire
Costello and the Attractions
Mekons
Ween


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

Here are some bands/artists who are not necessarily my favorites, though many are. But over the decades these artists have produced such long strings of fine songs that I can listen, via iPod, to hours of their work:

R.E.M.
John Mellencamp 
Bob Dylan
U2
Joni Mitchell
Neil Young
Rush

There are certainly more. But, perhaps curiously, only one of the artists/groups in the list here has one of my Top Ten Greatest Songs, and only one (other) has one of my Top Ten Albums. The takeaway? There are several ways by which we can evaluate this music, and likely all music.


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## Joe B (Aug 10, 2017)

I don't listen to much rock any more, but I've got to add this band to the lists above:

Steely Dan


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

The following all went beyond rock but I include them for their rock contributions:

Johnny Winter

Jimi Hendrix

Bob Dylan

Neil Young

Rock Bands:

Deep Purple

Stryper

Tom Petty


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## senza sordino (Oct 20, 2013)

At one time in my life these were considered my favourite rock bands

Led Zeppelin 
The Beatles 
Pink Floyd
Yes
The Who
Queen

You can take the boy out of England but you can't take England out of the boy.


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## Frank Freaking Sinatra (Dec 6, 2018)

Going to go All-American on this one...

Bob Dylan

The Byrds

Buffalo Springfield

The Doors

Jefferson Airplane

The Grateful Dead

The Beach Boys

Jimi Hendrix

Creedence Clearwater Revival

The Allman Brothers Band

The Eagles

Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band

Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers

Talking Heads

Frank Zappa & the Mothers of Invention


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## Mifek (Jul 28, 2018)

The Beatles
Led Zeppelin
Joy Division
The Doors
Pink Floyd
Radiohead
Jimi Hendrix and the Experience


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## philoctetes (Jun 15, 2017)

Zappa
X
Wire
Steely Dan
Spirit
Sonic Youth
The Smiths
Roxy Music
The Pixies
Pink Floyd
New Order
The Kinks
King Crimson
Fleetwood Mac
The Doors
The Cure
The Clash
Chrome
Bowie
Bauhaus


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## MarcoLusius (Dec 20, 2018)

Warhaus and Balthazar
Arcade Fire
Hozier
The Killers
Paolo Nutini


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## nenopro (Jan 26, 2019)

Steven wilson and porcupine tree.


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## BrahmsWasAGreatMelodist (Jan 13, 2019)

nenopro said:


> Steven wilson and porcupine tree.


Recommendations please? I've been meaning to get into them after hearing a couple of songs off of "The Raven that Refused to Sing"


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

Sabbath (Ozzy only)
Smiths
Volbeat
Spear of Destiny
Suede
Black Oak Arkansas
If these trees could talk
Pineapple Thief
Therapy?
Golden Earring
Joy Division
Maybeshewill
UFO
Scorpions
AC/DC (Bon only - not the cloth-capped idiot)
Neil Young
SOAD
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Slade
The Skids
Lynyrd Skynyrd
Ted Nugent
Sex Pistols
Van Halen (Roth but some of the Hagar wasnt too bad)
Manic Street Preachers 
Bowie (apart from the horrid Lets Dance phase)


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

BrahmsWasAGreatMelodist said:


> Recommendations please? I've been meaning to get into them after hearing a couple of songs off of "The Raven that Refused to Sing"


I cant get into Wilson's solo stuff but the Porcupine Tree albums 'Deadwing', 'In Absentia' and the tremendous Fear of a Blank Planet' are essential listening. If you like them them try Pineapple Thief. The last 5 albums are classics (especially Magnolia)


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

Merl, I agree with you about Bowie and avoiding the _Let's Dance_ etc era. What did you think of his output from, say, _Black Tie White Noise_ onwards? I thought Bowie underwent a quiet return to form from this point but on the whole the press seemed more polite than advocative. As I recall, only _Heathen_ from 2002 and the valedictory _Blackstar_ seem to really win them over.


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## Guest (Jan 31, 2019)

Hmmm, let's see:
The Beatles
Creedence Clearwater Revival
The Clash
Joy Division
New Order
Social Distortion
Die Ärzte
Elvis Presley
Foo Fighters
Fugazi
The Killers
Midnight Oil
The Pixies
Primus
Queen
Tiger Army
U2
Van Halen
The Velvet Underground

There are others I enjoy, but wouldn't put them in the favorite category.


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

elgars ghost said:


> Merl, I agree with you about Bowie and avoiding the _Let's Dance_ etc era. What did you think of his output from, say, _Black Tie White Noise_ onwards? I thought Bowie underwent a quiet return to form from this point but on the whole the press seemed more polite than advocative. As I recall, only _Heathen_ from 2002 and the valedictory _Blackstar_ seem to really win them over.


Tbh, I almost gave up on him after Black Tie (I found it pretty horrific) and things weren't helped by the quite awful Earthling or Hours. I liked Heathen and Blackstar though but I'm really a 70s Bowie fan.


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## Guest (Feb 8, 2019)

Pink Floyd 
Simple Minds.
Simon & Garfunkel.
Mike Oldfield.


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## jim prideaux (May 30, 2013)

The Band
Little Feat
Steely Dan
The Clash
Television
Wilco
The Beatles
Prefab Sprout
Scritti Politti
Yes
Traffic
XTC
Patti Smith
Graham Parker
Blue Nile
Todd Rudgren
Van Morrison

(so far!)


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## Malx (Jun 18, 2017)

jim prideaux said:


> The Band
> Little Feat
> Steely Dan
> The Clash
> ...


I am stunned Jim - I could have written that list, mine would be scarily similar. 
I am just about to post on the 'What are you listening to now' non classical thread my listening this evening has been XTC - English Settlement, Steely Dan - Alive in America and Todd Rundgren - Something/Anything.

I would add Grateful Dead, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Joni Mitchell and Zappa but then again the list could go on and on.
PS - Van de Graaf Generator cannot be excluded, and of course Fairport Convention but then again they may not be a rock band as requested by the opening post.

The only vinyl disc I played to the point of virtual destruction was Marquee Moon - one of the best albums of any kind ever released, an album (now CD) I still play at least once every month after all these years - a true desert island disc.

+ Dr Feelgood


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## haydnguy (Oct 13, 2008)

Just a few:

The Beatles
Uriah Heep
Wishbone Ash
Styx
Jimi Hendrix Experience


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## jim prideaux (May 30, 2013)

Malx said:


> I am stunned Jim - I could have written that list, mine would be scarily similar.
> I am just about to post on the 'What are you listening to now' non classical thread my listening this evening has been XTC - English Settlement, Steely Dan - Alive in America and Todd Rundgren - Something/Anything.
> 
> I would add Grateful Dead, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Joni Mitchell and Zappa but then again the list could go on and on.
> ...


Well Malx......I reckon I could have a good go at your DOB!

Marquee Moon is that good but you need to be aware of it in the first place-as I have mentioned on a number of posts one of my favourite all time gigs was Televsion and the Only Ones way back in the late 70's.....

the only reason I did not mention Joni Mitchell was because of the notion of 'rock band' but she also knew how to nail it in 3 minutes like all the other greats!

Fairport-I have always preferred the first two albums.....

and your mention of Feelgood is very relevant-there are 15 minutes of them on YT playing live in Southend-marvellous.

I have just realised-I left out Ry Cooder!!

Todd Rundgren-A Wizard a True star-there is a song on that album called 'Sometimes I don't know what to feel'-can barely listen to it these days as it brings one of the most optimistic stages in my earlier life right back-know it?

and with the passage of time-weekend after next-going to see the Dan as my son bought me tickets for my birthday-seems like only yesterday when I first heard 'Don't take me alive' on the radio when The Royal Scam was first released-even in my mid teens I knew how good it is!

Thoughts?


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## Malx (Jun 18, 2017)

jim prideaux said:


> Well Malx......I reckon I could have a good go at your DOB!
> 
> Marquee Moon is that good but you need to be aware of it in the first place-as I have mentioned on a number of posts one of my favourite all time gigs was Televsion and the Only Ones way back in the late 70's.....
> 
> ...


Well Jim, I'm happy to admit 1957 was my year of birth - no shame in that.

Yes Television were never as big as they deserved to be in the UK but that album for me is the greatest first album by any band - I don't even listen to their other recordings much because they just don't reach the same elevated level of inspiration and performance.

Edit: well maybe the Music from Big Pink comes close! or Astral Weeks! I'll just stop there lol.

Dr Feelgood again were very much an acquired taste, many of the guys I used to pal around with just didn't get what they were about - 'maximum R'n'B' (not the new use of R'n'B as you will appreciate). For me they were first and last a live band I rarely play their music on disc but I must have seen them live at least a dozen times, all during Wilko Johnsons time with the band.

I have that YT video of the Feelgoods Kursaal gig in my favourites, so yes I know it well.

I know the Rundgren song you mention - I always thought it not the happiest of his output, but I haven't listened to that album for a long time. I tend to gravitate towards Something/Anything or Utopia these days.

Give this a little listen, you may know the video - not Steely Dan as such but a mighty fine performance. Enjoy the gig when you go!






Also try this -


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## Kjetil Heggelund (Jan 4, 2016)

Here's something (a little) different:
Living Colour
Aerosmith
Satyricon
TNT
Def Leppard
Motörhead
Judas Priest
Napalm Death
Rainbow
...Slayer & Madonna


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