The Old Acclaimed Music Forum
Go to the NEW FORUM
1. The Beatles- YES
2. The Rolling Stones- agreed
3. Bob Dylan- 5th
4. David Bowie- to high
5. Led Zeppelin- 3rd
6. Bruce Springsteen- way to high
7. Prince- to high but is great
8. The Who- about right
9. Elvis Presley- Chuch Berry should be ahead of him
10. Jimi Hendrix- 4th
11. The Beach Boys- top ten
12. The Velvet Underground- about right
13. R.E.M.- out of there league
14. Marvin Gaye- I don't know
15. U2- the most overrated artists on this list.
16. The Clash- maybe
17. Neil Young- for sure
18. Nirvana- like them but were not around long enough
19. Radiohead- great band
20. Stevie Wonder- yes
1) Bob Dylan
2) Bruce Springsteen
3) The Who
4) The Rolling Stones
5) The Beach Boys
6) The Velvet Underground
7) U2
8) David Bowie
9) The Beatles
10) R.E.M.
11) Prince
12) Elvis Presley
13) Marvin Gaye
14) The Clash
15) Led Zeppelin
16) Neil Young
17) Stevie Wonder
18) Radiohead
19) Jimi Hendrix
20) Nirvana
Hm, that was quite tough.
Whoops, I mixed up Bruce and The Who.
1 The Beatles
3 Bob Dylan
2 The Rolling Stones
20 Stevie Wonder
9 Elvis Presley
11 The Beach Boys
17 Neil Young
8 The Who
7 Prince
10 Jimi Hendrix
14 Marvin Gaye
5 Led Zeppelin
6 Bruce Springsteen
12 The Velvet Underground
15 U2
16 The Clash
18 Nirvana
19 Radiohead
13 R.E.M.
4 David Bowie
1. The Beatles
2. David Bowie
3. Radiohead
4. The Velvet Underground
5. R.E.M.
6. Bob Dylan
7. Prince
8. Neil Young
9. The Beach Boys
10. The Rolling Stones
11. Neil Young- for sure
12. Bruce Springsteen
13. The Who
14. Jimi Hendrix
15. Stevie Wonder
16. Led Zeppelin
17. The Clash
18. Nirvana
19. U2
20. Marvin Gaye
21. Elvis Presley
14. Marvin Gaye- I don't know
15. U2- the most overrated artists on this list.
20. Stevie Wonder- yes
That's what you'd call poor cutting and pasting/ double checking.
Note the spacing:
1. Prince (duh)
2. David Bowie
3. Stevie Wonder
4. The Velvet Underground
5. U2
6. The Clash
7. Nirvana
8. Jimi Hendrix
9. Marvin Gaye
10. Radiohead
11. R.E.M.
12. Bruce Springsteen
13. Neil Young
14. The Rolling Stones
15. Led Zeppelin
16. Bob Dylan
17. The Beach Boys
18. Elvis Presley
19. The Who
20. The Beatles
1) Bob Dylan
2) The Beatles
3) Neil Young
4) Radiohead
5) Jimi Hendrix
6) David Bowie
7) U2
8) Stevie Wonder
9) Bruce Springsteen
10) The Rolling Stones
11) The Clash
12) Led Zeppelin
13) Nirvana
14) The Who
15) The Beach Boys
16) The Velvet Underground
17) Marvin Gaye
18) R.E.M.
19) Prince
20) Elvis Presley
1. Radiohead
2. The Beatles
3. Bob Dylan
4. R.E.M.
5. Jimi Hendrix
6. Led Zeppelin
7. The Clash
8. Nirvana
9. Stevie Wonder
10. The Rolling Stones
11. The Velvet Underground
12. U2
13. The Who
14. Marvin Gaye
15. David Bowie
16. The Beach Boys
17. Prince
18. Elvis Presley
19. Bruce Springsteen
20. Neil Young
1. The Beach Boys
2. The Beatles
3. The Rolling Stones
4. Neil Young
5. Stevie Wonder
6. Led Zeppelin
7. Marvin Gaye
8. Radiohead
9. The Who
10.U2
11.David Bowie
12.Jimi Hendrix
13.R.E.M.
14.Nirvana
15.Elvis Presley
16.Prince
17.The Velvet Underground
18.The Clash
19.Bruce Springsteen
20.Bob Dylan
1. The Beatles
2. David Bowie
3. Prince
4. Neil Young
5. Radiohead
6. Stevie Wonder
7. The Rolling Stones
8. Bob Dylan
9. The Velvet Underground
10. U2
11. Jimi Hendrix
12. Marvin Gaye
13. The Beach Boys
14. Bruce Springsteen
15. Elvis Presley
16. R.E.M.
17. Nirvana
18. Led Zeppelin
19. The Clash
20. The Who
1)Beatles
1)Bruce Springsteen
3)Neil Young
4)Bob Dylan
5) Jimi Hendrix
6) Stevie Wonder
7)Rolling Stones
8)Who
9)Led Zep
10)Bowie
11)Beach Boys
12)Marvin
13) Elvis
14) Prince
15)Clash
16) Radiohead
17) U2
18) REM
19)Nirvana
20) Velvet Underground
And I like them all
Blur goes above all these bands, but:
2. The Rolling Stones (my #2)
6. Bruce Springsteen (my #3)
16. The Clash (my #5 or 6, depending on the day)
3. Bob Dylan (my #5 or 6, depending on the day)
8. The Who (my #10)
13. R.E.M. (probably my #11 or 12, though rising)
1. The Beatles (#13 or #14, depending on the day)
11. The Beach Boys (#13 or #14, depending on the day)
14. Marvin Gaye (top 20)
12. The Velvet Underground (top 20)
4. David Bowie (top 25)
20. Stevie Wonder (top 25)
19. Radiohead (top 25, though In Rainbows might boost them)
15. U2 (top 30)
9. Elvis Presley (top 40)
17. Neil Young (top 40)
5. Led Zeppelin (top 75)
10. Jimi Hendrix (top 75)
7. Prince (top 100)
18. Nirvana (top infinity)
1) R.E.M.
2) The Beatles
3) U2
4) Neil Young
5) Bob Dylan
6) The Rolling Stones
7) Radiohead
8) David Bowie
9) Bruce Springsteen
10) Nirvana
11) The Beach Boys
12) The Clash
13) The Velvet Underground
14) Stevie Wonder
15) Led Zeppelin
16) Elvis Presley
17) Marvin Gaye
18) Prince
19) The Who
20) Jimi Hendrix
1. The Beatles
2. Bob Dylan
3. The Rolling Stones
4. David Bowie
5. Prince
6. Radiohead
7. The Who
8. Neil Young
9. Stevie Wonder
10. U2
11. The Velvet Underground
12. Jimi Hendrix
13. Bruce Springsteen
14. The Clash
15. Marvin Gaye
16. Led Zeppelin
17. The Beach Boys
18. R.E.M.
19. Nirvana
20. Elvis Presley
Looking forward to Acclaimed Music Forum Survivor so we can start knocking some of these guys down.
1. The Beatles
2. Neil Young
3. The Beach Boys
4. R.E.M.
5. The Who
6. The Velvet Underground
7. Stevie Wonder
8. Elvis Presley
9. Marvin Gaye
10. David Bowie
11. Led Zeppelin
12. Nirvana
13. Bruce Springsteen
14. Bob Dylan
15. U2
16. The Rolling Stones
17. Prince
18. Jimi Hendrix
19. Radiohead
20. The Clash
01 Bob Dylan
02 David Bowie
03 The Rolling Stones
04 The Beatles
05 Marvin Gaye
06 Bruce Springsteen
07 The Clash
08 Neil Young
09 Prince
10 Stevie Wonder
11 R.E.M.
12 The Velvet Underground
13 Jimi Hendrix
14 The Beach Boys
15 The Who
16 Led Zeppelin
17 Elvis Presley
18 U2
19 Radiohead
20 Nirvana
1. The Beatles
2. R.E.M.
Some might be surprised that I ranked my favorite band at #2. Sometimes you have to recognize a distinction between your personal taste and your critical awareness. So, even though I am much more fond of Berry/Buck/Mills/Stipe than John, Paul, George and Ringo, I cannot in good faith claim that R.E.M. are a "greater" band than the Beatles. I wish I could.
3. Bob Dylan
4. The Clash
5. Velvet Underground
6. Rolling Stones
7. Prince
8. David Bowie
9. Neil Young
10. Nirvana
11. Stevie Wonder
12. Beach Boys
13. Jimi Hendrix
14. U2
15. The Who
16. Bruce Springsteen
17. Marvin Gaye
18. Radiohead
19. Elvis Presley
20. Led Zeppelin
I have immense admiration and respect for everyone from #1-18. And I like Elvis.
1. The Beatles: took only 7 years to create their legacy as the greatest band in pop music history. No other group churned out more creative and stunning pieces of work in such a short period of time.
2. Bob Dylan
3. Radiohead
4. Stevie Wonder
5. U2
6. Jimi Hendrix
7. R.E.M.
8. David Bowie
9. Prince
10. Led Zeppelin
11. The Who
12. Neil Young
13. Marvin Gaye
14. The Beach Boys
15. Bruce Springsteen
16. The Clash
17. Nirvana
18. The Rolling Stones
19. The Velvet Underground
20. Elvis Presley
Beatles in #1: 9
Beatles in Top 10: 7
And then there’s Moonbeam.
I am not the biggest Elvis fan but he is doing poorly what is the reason. I notice this with today's musicians also always citing Beatles and even Dylan more than him.
Because he's not an artist, in the Dylan/Wonder/Bowie/etc. sense of the word. He was a singer who, as jonmarck says, got lucky one day.
Fun exercise
The Beatles
The Velvet Underground
Radiohead
The Clash
Neil Young
The Who
Bob Dylan
David Bowie
Jimi Hendrix
U2
Stevie Wonder
The Beach Boys
R.E.M.
Led Zeppelin
Nirvana
Marvin Gaye
The Rolling Stones
Bruce Springsteen
Elvis Presley
Prince
LOL- "And then there's Moonbeam".
The Beatles are the 'greatest' band ever - but the best ever? Far from it...
Well I guess if I have it in order of favouritism:
1)Bob Dylan
2)Neil Young
3)Bruce Springsteen
4)U2
5)Prince
6)Beach Boys
7)Jimi Hendrix
8)Radiohead
9)David Bowie
10)Stevie Wonder
11)Beatles
12)Rolling Stones
13)Marvin Gaye
14)The Who
15)Velvet Underground
16)Elvis Presley
17)The Clash
18)R.E.M.
19)Led Zeppelin
20)Nirvana
The Beatles are the 'greatest' band ever - but the best ever? Far from it... Well prove it. All I know is they have been the biggest impact on music the past 40 years. Dylan influence is mainly lyrics. The Beatles influence is so wide ranging everthing from power pop to progressive rock. They started classic rock. Wikipedia
The origins of the classic rock radio format can be traced back to The Beatles' groundbreaking album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, which would forever change several courses of the rock and roll format, especially with the slow rise of FM broadcasting, even though a majority of people were still listening to AM radio. Since Sgt. Pepper did not spawn any singles, both AM and FM stations began to play select tracks from the album in an attempt to retain listeners. Soon both stations and artists realized that album cuts rather than Top 40-oriented singles could be a major source of radio airplay and artist visibility.
OK - well by best,I didn't mean the greatest impact. My favourite bands are the likes of The Smiths,The Cure,Radiohead and Joy Division - the thing with those bands is there is so much more depth in their songs than those of the Beatles. Most of The Beatles' songs are catchy with little lyrical depth - they say nothing to me about my life. Morrissey and Ian Curtis were genius lyricists who wrote songs that speak to me - most of the Beatles stuff is so glib,many of the songs on the White Album,Sgt. Peppers and Abbey Road are so lame - Maxwell's Silver Hammer? What are they 12? The Smiths,The Cure those bands were on a different maturity level - not only better and more meaningful lyrics - also,the music behind them was so great,creating lush,atmospheric,textured sounds...
I think the Beatles wrote lame songs but so did everyone else. If you want deep lyrics then listen to the Inner Light, She Leaving Home or one of the early ones Theres A Place a very dark song for 1963. Listen to the guitar sound of Revolution that is basically punk or alternative music in 1968. I really could care less about lyrics, I care about the music and the sound.
The Beatles ended 50's rock and roll and started a new era and then Dylan became big. Those are the two artists who had the most impact on today's music. The early sound of rock and roll is dead you don't hear Elvis or Chuck Berry type of rock in today's music. They were not hard rock, progressive rock, power pop, folk rock and psychedelic rock. In Elvis case he was not even a songwriter. My choices are The Beatles, Dylan and Hendrix.
Bob Dylan
The Beatles
The Rolling Stones
The Beach Boys
The Who
The Clash
Elvis Presley
The Velvet Underground
Jimi Hendrix
Led Zeppelin
Radiohead
Marvin Gaye
Prince
Bruce Springsteen
R.E.M.
Neil Young
David Bowie
Stevie Wonder
Nirvana
U2 - The only one I actually dislike.
I have three categories:
I'm in love with these artists, and am familiar with almost all of their work (while of course being able to discriminate between their best stuff and their duds)
1.) The Beatles
2.) The Rolling Stones
3.) Bob Dylan
4.) David Bowie
5.) Led Zeppelin
6.) Stevie Wonder
7.) Neil Young
8.) The Velvet Underground
9.) R.E.M.
10.) Radiohead
11.) Marvin Gaye
12.) The Who
These artists made about 3 great albums (or 3 discs worth of great stuff), but either burned too short or too long!
13.) Elvis Presley
14.) Jimi Hendrix
15.) Nirvana
16.) Beach Boys
17.) The Clash
18.) U2
This two could get by on a two-disc greatest hits for me:
19.) Prince
20.) Bruce Springsteen
Final score
voters: 20
1 The Beatles 349
2 Bob Dylan 316
3 The Rolling Stones 265
4 David Bowie 255
5 Neil Young 253
6 Stevie Wonder 236
7 Radiohead 220
8 The Beach Boys 210
8 The Velvet Underground 210
10 R.E.M. 202
11 The Who 200
12 Jimi Hendrix 193
13 Bruce Springsteen 190
14 U2 188
15 Prince 182
16 The Clash 178
17 Marvin Gaye 169
18 Led Zeppelin 159
19 Elvis Presley 114
20 Nirvana 111
Interesting, people really like Dylan here. Radiohead over Nirvana. Elvis at 19. The Beatles over Dylan slightly considering the influence they have on the most current artists on this list, Radiohead, Nirvana and U2.The Velvet Underground over Led Zeppelin. Are we talking the quality of music, influence, enduring influence and innovations or ideas into rock music.
1 The Beatles 349
2 Bob Dylan 316
3 The Rolling Stones 265
4 David Bowie 255
5 Neil Young 253
6 Stevie Wonder 236
7 Radiohead 220
8 The Beach Boys 210
8 The Velvet Underground 210
10 R.E.M. 202
11 The Who 200
12 Jimi Hendrix 193
13 Bruce Springsteen 190
14 U2 188
15 Prince 182
16 The Clash 178
17 Marvin Gaye 169
18 Led Zeppelin 159
19 Elvis Presley 114
20 Nirvana 111
The criteris are up to you
Mine was : what artist do I like the most
I didn't took historical importance into account
It's the same in my top 100 : whay records would I take to an island ?
1) The Beach Boys
2) The Beatles
3) Bob Dylan
4) Prince
5) The Rolling Stones
6) The Who
7) Marvin Gaye
8) Stevie Wonder
9) Neil Young
10) The Clash
11) David Bowie
12) Led Zeppelin
13) The Velvet Underground
14) Jimi Hendrix
15) Elvis Presley
16) Bruce Springsteen
17) Radiohead
18) U2
19) R.E.M.
20) Nirvana
1) The Beatles
2) The Rolling Stones
3) The Who
4) Stevie Wonder
5) Radiohead
6) Led Zeppelin
7) Bruce Springsteen
8) Bob Dylan
9) Neil Young
10) Jimi Hendrix
11) David Bowie
12) Marvin Gaye
13) U2
14) Prince
15) Elvis Presley
16) The Beach Boys
17) R.E.M.
18) The Clash
19) The Velvet Underground
20) Nirvana
The top 7 is also my actual top 7 favorite artists of all time:
01. The Beatles
02. Bob Dylan
03. The Rolling Stones
04. The Velvet Underground (Would be #3 but not enough material)
05. David Bowie
06. Neil Young
07. Radiohead
08. Led Zeppelin
09. R.E.M.
10. Bruce Springsteen
11. Nirvana (Would be #5 if they had more albums)
12. Jimi Hendrix
13. The Clash (Top 2 albums go up against any artists, but after that, Most of their stuff kind of blows save some singles imo.)
14. Prince
15. Stevie Wonder
16. Elvis Presley
17. The Beach Boys (generally terrible lyrics + nothing that comes remotely close to the greatness of Pet Sounds.)
18. The Who (Always felt they were overrated. sort of a slick arena rock band that is credited with creating Punk.)
19. Marvin Gaye
20. U2 (let it go already; they haven't done anything good since George Bush Sr. was in office.)
It's a lot of fun to see these old threads resurfacing.
The most significant change to my list in the intervening 27 months is that I'd boost Radiohead from #18 up to #3. I'd also probably have the Who somewhere around #10 now.
1) Prince
2) David Bowie
3) The Beatles
4) Jimi Hendrix
5) The Clash
6) Radiohead
7) The Rolling Stones
8) The Velvet Underground
9) The Who
10) Stevie Wonder
11) Nirvana
12) Led Zeppelin
13) Marvin Gaye
14) Neil Young
15) R.E.M.
16) U2
17) Elvis Presley
18) The Beach Boys
19 )Bruce Springsteen
20)Bob Dylan
1. The Beatles
2. Jimi Hendrix
3. Radiohead
4. Bob Dylan
5. The Clash
6. The Velvet Underground
7. The Beach Boys
8. The Rolling Stones
9. David Bowie
10. Stevie Wonder
11. Bruce Springsteen
12. Neil Young
13. Nirvana
14. Marvin Gaye
15. Prince
16. R.E.M
17. The Who
18. Elvis Presley
19. Led Zeppelin
20. U2
The only two I actually am not a big fan of are Led Zep and U2. And I guess Elvis, but he's already at a disadvantage for not being an albums artist.
1. The Beatles
2. Radiohead (this is very close; #1 and #2 frequently switch around)
3. David Bowie
4. Led Zeppelin
5. Nirvana
6. Stevie Wonder
7. R.E.M.
8. The Rolling Stones
9. U2
10. The Beach Boys
11. Jimi Hendrix
12. Elvis Presley
13. Marvin Gaye
14. Neil Young
15. The Who
16. The Clash
17. Bruce Springsteen
18. Prince
19. The Velvet Underground
20. Bob Dylan
The bottom five I know far too little of to truly pass comment. Time for some education methinks...
1. The Velvet Underground
2. Bob Dylan
3. Bruce Springsteen
4. Rolling Stones
5. The Who
6. Radiohead
7. The Clash
8. The Beatles
9. Jimi Hendrix
10. Nirvana
11. Led Zeppelin
12. Neil Young
13. Beach Boys
14. David Bowie
15. REM
16. Stevie Wonder
17. U2
18. Prince
19. Marvin Gaye
20. Elvis Presley
1) The Beatles
2) R.E.M
3) Prince
4) Stevie Wonder
5) U2
6) Bruce Springsteen
7) Radiohead
8) The Beach Boys
9) The Clash
10) The Rolling Stones
11) Elvis Presley
12) Bob Dylan
13) Nirvana
14) The Velvet Underground
15) Marvin Gaye
16) The Who
17) David Bowie
18) Led Zeppelin
19) Jimi Hendrix
Don't know enough material to decide: Neil Young
1. The Beatles
2. The Rolling Stones
3. Radiohead
4. Bruce Springsteen
5. David Bowie
6. The Velvet Underground
7. Stevie Wonder
8. The Beach Boys
9. Marvin Gaye
10. Bob Dylan
11. The Clash
12. Led Zeppelin
13. R.E.M.
14. Neil Young
15. The Who
16. Prince
17. U2
18. Nirvana
19. Jimi Hendrix
20. Elvis Presley
Elvis is the only one of these artists that I haven't gotten into much so naturally he is at the bottom. I guess I have something else to do this month.
All the others I can see where their acclaim comes from.
In terms of personal preference:
20. Velvet Underground
19. Neil Young
18. Led Zeppelin
17. Jimi Hendrix
16. The Clash
15. Radiohead
14. Nirvana
13. David Bowie
12. Elvis Presley
11. Marvin Gaye
10. U2
09. R.E.M.
08. The Who
07. Stevie Wonder
06. Bob Dylan
05. Bruce Springsteen
04. The Beach Boys
03. The Rolling Stones
02. Prince
01. The Beatles
This top ten follows my personal top ten with the exception of U2. For them, I would substitute Elvis Costello. He would come in at #8.
In terms of artistic merit/musical influence/cultural impact:
20. Neil Young
19. The Clash
18. Radiohead
17. Nirvana
16. R.E.M.
15. U2
14. The Who
13. Velvet Underground
12. David Bowie
11. Marvin Gaye
10. Bruce Springsteen
09. The Beach Boys
08. Jimi Hendrix
07. Prince
06. Stevie Wonder
05. Led Zeppelin
04. Rolling Stones
03. Elvis Presley
02. Bob Dylan
01. The Beatles
For the top ten, if I could pick any artists, I would add Chuck Berry and James Brown. I would place Brown at #4 and Chuck Berry at #7.
1- The Beatles
2- The Rolling Stones
3- Bob Dylan
4- Elvis
5- Led Zeppelin
6- Jimi Hendrix
7- Chuck Berry
8- The Who
9- David Bowie
10 Beach Boys
11 Bob Marley
12 Prince
13 Neil Young
14 Bruce Springsteen
15 Velvet Underground
16 U2
17 Stevie Wonder
18 Marvin Gaye
19 The Clash
20 Radiohead
Artists I addded: Bob Marley. Chuck Berry
Artists I excluded: REM, Nirvana
1. The Beatles
2. Radiohead
3. The Rolling Stones
4. David Bowie
5. Bob Dylan
6. Led Zeppelin
7. The Clash
8. The Beach Boys
9. The Who
10. Bruce Springsteen
11. R.E.M.
12. The Velvet Underground
13. Prince
14. Jimi Hendrix
15. Nirvana
16. U2
17. Elvis Presley
18. Marvin Gaye
19. Stevie Wonder
20. Neil Young
1. Beatles
2. Bob Dylan
3. Radiohead
4. Bruce Springsteen
5. Led Zeppelin
6. The Who
7. U2
8. Rolling Stones
9. Velvet Underground
10. Prince
11. R.E.M.
12. David Bowie
13. Clash
14. Neil Young
15. Beach Boys
16. Jimi Hendrix
17. Nirvana
18. Marvin Gaye
19. Stevie Wonder
20. Elvis Presley
1) Beatles
2) The Who
3) Led Zeppelin
4) Radiohead
5) U2
6) Rolling Stones
7) Jimi Hendrix
8) Nirvana
9) Stevie Wonder
10)The Clash
11)David Bowie
12)Bob Dylan
13)Velvet Underground
14)Bruce Springsteen
15)Prince
16)REM
17)Beach Boys
18)Elvis Presley
19)Neil Young
20)Marvin Gaye