I apologise for closing the other long related thread on 'Who is the best band ever?' (http://www.sciforums.com/showthread.php?t=25005). It however hasn't been closed to stop discussion, which is why this thread has been started up in it's place to take over from it.

As for my pick... well 'Madness (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madness_(band))' was good for it's time and still great now.

Why did you lock it, out of interest? At 20 pages it wasn't that long, so.. ?

Ah well. Can everyone try to name the best band ever. Not just shout out the name of whichever bunch of scruffy, long-haired chancers you happen to have taken a bit of a fancy to this week? Cheers.

New thread so I change my answer - Jethro Tull.

I'm not sure that that's permitted.

The E Street Band. Roy Bittan on piano, Max Weinberg on drums, Gary Tallent on bass, Danny Federici on organ, Clarence Clemons on sax, and Stevie Van Zandt (and/or Niels Lofgren) on Guitar. Helluva band to back up Bruce the Almighty.

In the 40's........

Glenn Miller

by Carroll Gambrell

In an era of blaring brass, rinky-dink pianos, and throbbing drums, a young orchestra leader named Glenn Miller was seeking ways to keep his head above water, his band together, and a unique sound. He found sound and salvation by muting the brass, featuring the mellow sound of the trombone, and turning the lead over to the reeds. By creating the unmistakable "Glenn Miller' sound, he lifted himself and his orchestra to an exalted position among the finest groups of the Big Band Era.

The career of Captain Glenn Miller ended in 1944 when his plane went down over the English Channel, but his musical heritage and memory lives on. Thursday night, under the musical direction of Larry O'Brien, those same sounds came alive and reverberated throughout the Walhalla Civic Auditorium before a packed house of enthralled, enthusiastic music lovers. For many a gray head, the years rolled away to the tune of Moonlight Serenade, Perfidia, Jukebox Saturday Night, and Little Brown Jug among scads of other immortal favorites from the Glenn Miller Library. For the younger generation, it was a new experience.

One of the most arresting pieces was the mellow sound of O'Brien's trombone as he re-created in the Miller style the haunting strains of Danny Boy, a famous Irish tune, written by an Englishman, about a father's love for his son. It evoked many a wet cheek and a standing ovation. Miller's music is powerful.

The talent of the orchestra and singers under the direction of Larry O'Brien is truly remarkable. WCA continues to bring outstanding performances to the area.



In the 50's......

Little Richard.

Richard Penniman has had one of the longest and most bizarre careers in rock and roll history. He invented uptempo rock and roll in 1955 with "Tutti Frutti" and almost immediately every would-be hip singer was covering his every single (the Beatles recorded "Long Tall Sally" and "Kansas City/Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey," and played "Ooh! My Soul" in live shows). But the cover versions always fell flat because the songs were designed especially for Richard's 12-cylinder vocal delivery, wild-eyed outrageous persona, the joyful abandon of his piano playing, and his top-flight backing band, the Upsetters. But fifteen frantic months after hitting it big, he quit the devil's music for gospel. After getting kicked out of the seminary, he started a comeback effort that's lasted nearly forty years, scoring one hit in the early 70s ("Freedom Blues") and one in the mid-80s ("Great Gosh A'mighty") but never again coming close to his former glory.
All of Little Richard's original records are out of print: pick up the excellent compilation 18 Greatest Hits if you can find it. Whatever you do, don't buy any of the many rerecordings he made of his hits: if it doesn't say it's the original Specialty masters, leave it on the shelf. I only know of one book about Little Richard, and I've reviewed it on our book reviews page. You better believe there's a fan site, complete with many of his best quotes. (DBW)

Little Richard released four singles on RCA in 1951 and 1952; they didn't chart. "Taxi Blues" and most of the other tracks are in the smooth jazz/R&B style of Bobby Short, or maybe Cab Calloway meets Nat King Cole; "Get Rich Quick" is a bit livelier but with the same basic approach. Richard seems to be affecting a Northern urban accent, and the effect is bizarre enough that most fans should hear this material at least once. He cut two singles for Peacock in 1953 and 1954, and they didn't chart either.

http://www.dogpile.com/info.dogpl/clickit/search?r_aid=AF499A0DC29C4871978D006AEC3C3040&r_eop=1&r_sacop=2&r_spf=0&r_cop=main-title&r_snpp=1&r_spp=1&r_wsm=0&qqn=w%2BP4CYqZ&r_coid=239138&rawto=http://www.warr.org/littlerichard.html


In the 60's.....

The Beatles.......

Source: http://people.whitman.edu/~beanjj/beatles/bios.html
FORMED: 1960, Liverpool, England
DISBANDED: 1970

Inspired by the "skiffle boom", a student at Quarry Bank School in Liverpool named John Lennon decided to form a group in 1957 which laid the foundation to what was to become the most famous rock band of all time. John's original name was "The Blackjacks". However, this name only lasted a week and John used the school name as inspiration for the later name "The Quarry Men" in March 1957. John sang and played guitar, Colin Hanton played drums, Eric Griffiths on guitar, Pete Shotton on washboard, Rod Davis on banjo and Bill Smith on tea-chest bass. Bill was soon replaced by Ivan Vaughan.

John was inspired by "Heartbreak Hotel" and became a fan of American rock 'n' roll music. He introduced songs by Buddy Holly , Carl Perkins, The Coasters, Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis and Gene Vincent into their repertoire. On July 6, 1957, Ivan Vaughan invited Paul McCartney to see their gig at The Woolton Parish Church Fete. The fifteen-year-old McCartney was introduce to sixteen-year-old Lennon and a unique song writing partnership began.

The line-up of The Quarry Men increased to seven with Paul on guitar and vocals, John Lowe on piano and George Harrison on guitar and vocals. Soon Griffiths and another member would leave, leaving a five-piece band. The group appeared at several local talent contests but had very few gigs. By January 1959, the group wasn't operating. Although John and Paul kept in touch, George had joined the Les Stewart Quartet.

Their first single "Love Me Do" was issued on October 5, 1962, and was a modest hit. 1963 and 1964 proved to be the most important years in their careers. In 1963 the "Beatlemania" craze had started in Britain and The Beatles were no longer support acts at concerts. Now they were starring in the Royal Variety Show and the highest rating TV show "Sunday Night At The London Palladium".

Their biggest year was 1964 when they conquered the biggest record market in the world - America. The group became symbols. America was mourning the death of President John F. Kennedy and The Beatles appeared on the scene to bring them fun and excitement and end their mourning. They also brought back rock 'n' roll to America. After Elvis had join the army, he lost much of his early rebelliousness. Jerry Lee Lewis and Chuck Berry were rocked by scandals and their careers suffered. Buddy Holly, The Big Bopper and Ritchie Valens had been killed in an plane crash. The American media was promoting what The Beatles called "One-Hit-Wonders" such as Frankie Avalon, Tab Hunter, James Darren, etc.

I'm curious why it was locked too...?
Seems kinda... dumb?

Can't think of one single band, but here are a few of the best bands ever.
(I'm not going by popularity. I'm going by quality of music)
-Led Zeppelin
-Grateful Dead
-Doors
-Eagles

Unfortunately, I am not at liberty to discuss why it was locked (Even if you thought it 'pretty dumb') however there is a rational reason, it's just the reason should remain hidden from the public eye (however it wasn't the thread length and I'm not playing 20 questions, that's another thread altogether.)

Ooh. A mystery.

Was it the illuminati?

Still the Rx Bandits! Flaming lips rock too!

It's a toss up between Disturbed and Metallica.

Mashina Vremeni (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7512135951956031649&q=%D0%9C%D0%B0%D1%88%D0%B8%D0%BD%D0%B0+%D0%92%D1%8 0%D0%B5%D0%BC%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B8&total=202&start=20&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=3)

...but noone besides me would know what it is

It's gotta to be 'Deathfromabove1979', the coolest band in existence.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzNrYRqH35Q

The oldies probably won't think so, but that's their loss

What exactly constitutes classification as a band?

List of musical band types
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
• Interested in contributing to Wikipedia? •Jump to: navigation, search
In music, a musical ensemble or band is a group of musicians that works together to perform songs. The following articles concern types of musical bands:

Big band
Boy band
Church band
Concert band
Cover band
Dansband
Garage band
Girl group
Jam band
Jazz band
Jug band
Marching band
Military band
Orchestra
Organ trio
Rock band
School band
Supergroup (music)
Tribute band
Worship band

List of musical band types
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
• Interested in contributing to Wikipedia? •Jump to: navigation, search
In music, a musical ensemble or band is a group of musicians that works together to perform songs. The following articles concern types of musical bands:

Big band
Boy band
Church band
Concert band
Cover band
Dansband
Garage band
Girl group
Jam band
Jazz band
Jug band
Marching band
Military band
Orchestra
Organ trio
Rock band
School band
Supergroup (music)
Tribute band
Worship band

So they don't have to play an instrument(since I don't think boy bands play an instrument)? Then Bone Thugz and Harmony would have to be my pick, back when Bizzy was with them.

Nirvana, closely followed by Pearl Jam

http://paparoach.fc2web.com/backwall/papa-top.jpg

nirvana sucks, papa roach for the rule

Was it the illuminati?

More like the "Stoopiderati"...
:grumble:

So they don't have to play an instrument( since I don't think boy bands play an instrument)? Then Bone Thugz and Harmony would have to be my pick, back when Bizzy was with them.Hmm. So a band is any group of musicians, which for the purpose of this definition includes singers. (The same definition used in music schools and the Musicians Union, BTW, so we should probably adopt that standard.) That means it can be just about anything except a solo performer.

My top twenty (today):

Alice in Chains
BeBop Deluxe
Black Sabbath (the Ozzy decade)
Blue Oyster Cult (pre-Reaper)
The Cult
Filter
Garbage
Genesis (immediately pre- and post-breakup)
Led Zeppelin
King Crimson (especially the Discipline era)
Pink Floyd
Quicksilver
Renaissance
Roxy Music
Sisters of Mercy
The Strawbs
Television
Tool
Type O Negative
The Who (1970s)

No disrespect for the swing bands, just not my cup of tea. I'd be more likely to nominate, say, the Philadelphia Orchestra under Eugene Ormandy or the L.A. Philharmonic under Andre Previn.

I got silence on my radio Let the air waves flow,
Let the air waves flow
for I'm sleeping under strange strange skies
just another mad mad day on the road
My dreams are fading down the railway line
I'm just about a moonlight mile down the road.

That gets me every time, every time.

Sticky Fingers - Exile on main street....thats all you need to know