The Smiley Smile Message Board

Imo

1. The Beatles
2. The Rolling Stones
3. The Beach Boys
4. Genesis
5. The Kinks
6. Pink Floyd
7. Led Zeppelin
8. The Doors
9. Radiohead
10. The Who

Sounds like you could use a little Stone Temple Pilots in your life.

i love stone temple pilots :) have u ever heard this amazing smooth song by them? (the chorus is so dreamy)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odJuNyfteQg

Awh yeah. I've got pretty much everything I can by them. They'd either go right over or right under The Beach Boys for me, depending on what day it is.

As for the other 8 I haven't a clue.

The first time i heard stp it was because my dad made me listen to them after i said nirvana was the best grunge band. I was so wrong :p lol..stp changed their music genre quite a few times but every album by them was amazing. :)

You need some Weezer in your life son!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENXvZ9YRjbo&ob=av2e (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENXvZ9YRjbo&ob=av2e)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFFgayhYnXI (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFFgayhYnXI)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCoGkMlfz9I (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCoGkMlfz9I)

Also some Byrds and Monkees

I'mma check out Weezer's music. :)
The Byrds are ok i just hate how they changed the sound and made it country. Gram Parsons really influenced them to make that change. smh :/
The Monkees were a gimmick band as much as people will try to deny it. they had a few hits my favorite of their singles is "A little bit of me, A little bit of you".

The Monkees started out as a manufactured pop band - in much the same way the Beach Boys started out singing songs about surfing and girls. Their run of albums from Headquarters through Head, though, is as good as any other four-album run in history. Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones, Ltd, in particular, is as good as any album I've ever heard.

I checked out their discography and was dissatisfied :/..

Gram Parsons is cool, though, although Sweetheart of the Rodeo is a pretty limp album. If you want to see what the fuss is about, try listening to The Flying Burrito Brother's 'The Gilded Palace of Sin' for the real 'country rock' sound. Rocks harder. Better songs. Gram is actually present.

dont wanna seem rude but i wish gram never collarborated with the byrds he ruined their ultimate folk/pop sound :/.

I'm not one to profess what the greatest bands are, but according to last.fm, here are my most listened-to artists:

1. The Beach Boys
2. John Denver
3. The Misfits
4. Brian Wilson
5. T. Rex
6. The Beatles
7. Bright Eyes
8. Animal Collective
9. Modest Mouse
10. Sunset Rubdown

They were going away from it anyway - Have you heard The Notorious Byrd Brothers? Definitely more psychedelic/country, and in 1968 the band were kinda in crisis - No Crosby, no Gene Clark, and McGuinn couldn't carry it alone. Also, it wasn't just Gram pushing them - Hillman was also advocating the country direction. But yes, it's a definite change. I like the later ones, as they slot into the Laurel Canyon style music that I'm digging presently.

I would just like to throw in that Sweetheart of the Rodeo is not the first ever country rock album. It's a rock band playing straight country music - there is a difference. Only the last Dylan cover sounds remotely rockish. I do think if the original Byrds lineup had stuck together they would have been the best group of the 60's, that's right, even better than The Beach Boys!!

Too FM Radio for me in spots, I'm afraid. Apart from a few songs, not a fan of The Doors, Zeppelin or Pink Floyd save the Syd Barrett era and while I do love the Stones, I wouldn't put them ahead of The Kinks or The Who or several other bands for that matter.

Yeeeeaahhh!! I went through that last year. It was helped by that boxset Where the Action Is.

Its a miracle that "notorious" was finished, and an even bigger miracle that it was one of the best Byrds albums ever made.

most people don't even know who brian wilson is.(excluding from bb fans) lol..
so thats a load of bs. and i'm glad they added t-rex :)

better than the beach boys? wow thats crazy...i think if the zombies would've stuck 2gether and released more albums they would be top 5 of all time in everybody's eyes.

what order would u put it in? :)

This is my Top 10 that I listen to the most. I take no stock in magazine lists, except if I see a name that intrigues me to give a listen.

1. The Beach Boys
2. Electric Light Orchestra
3. Steely Dan
4. The Beatles
5. The Who
6. The 4 Seasons
7. The Rolling Stones
8. Chicago
9. Cream
10. Daryl Hall & John Oates

I have a top 16 that never wavers. This isn't in any order really ranking wise, these are just my very favorites
Elvis Presley
Jerry Lee Lewis
The Beach Boys
Jan and Dean
Bob Dylan
Ike and Tina
James Brown
The Jackson 5
The Beatles
The Rolling Stones
The Who
The Pink Floyd
The First Edition
The Small Faces
Charlie Rich
Buddy Holly

You should try some Bob Dylan too.  Check out his albums Time Out of Mind or Modern Times!

 :smokin

Don't worry about being rude -- but Roger McGuinn and Chris Hillman would disagree with your opinion about Gram!

Man, that boxset is insane. I love it. I've been reading a Barney Hoskyns book about the scene (Hotel California, which seems to posit all was cool until David Crosby stopped sharing his cocaine and The Eagles showed up) too and connecting the dots - Judee Sill, Joni, The Byrds and assorted branches, Little Feat, Randy Newman, VDP....So much good stuff. Although I'm worried it'll get me listening to The Eagles.  :lol

he's an amazing wordsmith i just can't get past his horrid voice it makes me shiverrrrrrrr lol

Jesus NewGuy - get the Other Side of the Mirror (Bob Dylan live at Newport) DVD - his duet with Joan Baez singing 'With God On Our Side' is one of the most beautiful things I've ever heard.

And no offense, but half your posts piss me the hell off.

i'll check them out right now :)
lol why?

No, these are the Top 10 Greatest Bands of All Time -

1. The Beach Boys
2. The Moody Blues
3. Os Mutantes
4. The Doors
5. Pink Floyd
6. The Who
7. Bee Gees
8. The Velvet Underground
9. Weezer
10. Galaxie 500

It's fantastic. For some reason though when my iPod is on random, that one with the bagpipes always comes on. It was cool at first but now I'm a bit mcpissed.

And that's funny because the boxset also made me reconsider my hate for The Eagles. But that passed.

Well, I am wary about making a list that I would call the greatest but I can make a list of personal favourites, but I would have to add solo artists. This is by no means permanent but it is something like this:

1. The Beatles
2. The Beach Boys
3. Neil Young
4. The Kinks
5. Bob Dylan
6. The Band
7. The Who
8. Oasis
9. Stevie Wonder
10. Simon & Garfunkel
11. The Monkees
12. The Rolling Stones
13. Marvin Gaye
14. Otis Redding
15. Randy Newman
16. Harry Nilsson
17. Rheostatics
18. The Zombies
19. The Small Faces
20. Pulp

A bit gender partial but what can you do.

I also disagree with your point that "if the zombies would've stick 2gether and realesed more albums they would be top 5 of all time in everybody's eyes." Honestly, by the time they broke up it was 1968 and there weren't many bands that started producing records in the early 60s who held on to make great records after the 60s were over. Like almost everyone else, they would have been pressured to keep up with the times, or change their sound and something would have been inevitably lost, surely.

1. The Beach Boys
2. The Ramones
3. The Beatles
4. Rolling Stones
5. The Moody Blues
6. The Velvet Underground
7. The Kinks
8. Pink Floyd
9. The Who
9. The Bee Gees
10. The Grateful Dead

Runner-up: Fairport Convention

(next 10)

11. Black Sabbath
12. AC/DC
13  Zappa: Mothers
14. The Clash
15. Radiohead
16. The Byrds
17. The Doors
18. Zeppelin
19. Small Faces
20. Buddy Holly/Crickets

1. The Beach Boys
2. The Beatles
3. The Byrds
4. The Rolling Stones
5. The Who
6. The Band
7. The Doors
8. Pink Floyd
9. Led Zeppelin
10. The Grateful Dead

I think Steely Dan, The Ramones and The Stooges get honorable mention

it's like we all  have similar taste as far as rock goes :) but what about top 3 solo artists?
1. Marvin Gaye
2. Prince
3. Michael Jackson
4. Elvis
5. Chuck berry

Solo artists?

1. Chuck Berry
2. Elvis
3. Marvin Gaye
4. Neil Young
5. James Brown
6. Bowie
7. John Cale
8. Lou Reed
9. Peter Gabriel
10. Kate Bush

Solo artists -

1. Frank Sinatra
2. Elvis Presley
3. Serge Gainsbourg
4. Tom Waits
5. James Brown
6. Leonard Cohen
7. Johnny Cash
8. Bob Dylan
9. Prince
10. David Bowie

Combining bands and solo artists, since those are largely artificial differences anyway. The list sort of averages my thoughts with respect to pinnacle of product (counts for a lot) and average quality of product (avoiding sh*t counts for something). Obviously all filtered through my taste, because why the f*** would I bother ranking what someone else thinks?

1. Beatles
2. Beach Boys
3. Bob Dylan
4. The Velvet Underground
5. Frank Zappa/Mothers
6. Tom Waits
7. Queen
8. Led Zeppelin
9. Prince
10. Marvin Gaye

Big fan of Belle & Sebastian, Radiohead, Elvis Costello, Of Montreal, Paul Simon/S&G, Captain Beefheart, Public Enemy, Michael Jackson, Jackson 5, NMH, Wilco, Zombies, Kinks, Buddy Holly, and frankly enough other artists to make any list useless.

1. Bob Dylan
2. Tom Waits
3. David Bowie
4. Elvis Presley
5. Leonard Cohen
6. Neil Young
7. Joni Mitchell
8. Paul McCartney
9. Frank Zappa
10. Michael Nesmith

Just some personal faves, as always, subject to change.

They just do. Your comment to a fellow poster about how he takes the board "too seriously" was the icing on the cake:

Many here have great stories about personally being with The Beach Boys. Other members here have spent decades researching the Beach Boys. Some here have incredible knowledge in the field of recording. Others here have written books/bios on The Boys/Brian Wilson. Some here have even proffesionally worked for the Boys themselves. And many of us add laughs and, from time to time, have intelligent things to say.

A certain level of maturity is expected from each of us for the good of the board - without it people lose interest/respect for this place...thus jeopardizing the wealth of knowledge we have here. Some here have already talked about leaving (and have possibly left) due to the declining maturity level around here.

Yes, it's just a messageboard - but to many of us it's a place to learn about our favorite band. It's a place where I learned to enjoy The Beach Boys that much more. I don't mean to be a prick, I've just seen this place go downhill the last few months and comments like yours set me off. I do enjoy many of your posts and I'm glad you're among us fellow young fans. Keep posting, but remember who else reads this board.

I never say anything rude, complain or pick fights with any of you.
I enjoy listening to your experiences and learning new things about the beach boys.(music in general)
I might seem hard to understand(immateur) but we've all been that way once in our life so take it easy on me lol.
Thats the only reason why i post is to see  all of your opinions/comments and listen to what you all  have to say, to be honest that's the only reason why i even have an account.

Anyone who doesn't say Prince in their solo artist list is insane, imo

His singing from The Basement Tapes 1967 to Desire 1975 is pretty good. He sounds much more traditional in this period.

i agree with u ..he's so diverse,mysterious and creative.. :) he's like a mad scientist.

I guess I can do this for my favourites. In some sort of order....

1. Spiritualized (although not sure if he counts as a 'solo' act...)
2. The Beach Boys and assorted...
3. The Beatles
4. Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
5. The Stooges
6. Super Furry Animals
7. Daft Punk
8. The Velvet Underground (and assorted solo projects, especially Cale)
9. NEU!
10. Kraftwerk

Solo Artists

Nilsson
Randy Newman
Todd Rundgren
Aretha Franklin
Judee Sill
Van Dyke Parks
Daniel Johnston
Sinatra (If only for In The Wee Small Hours, my sad-bastard album of choice)
Prince (if you ignore the 90's stuff...)
Johnny Cash.
 



Honourable mentions,

Duke Ellington, Every band on the Nuggets album, every artist on the Life is a Problem compilation from Mississippi Records, every artist on Stax and Motown, Lorraine Ellison, Rufus Wainwright, Cat Power, Ivor Cutler, Phil Spector, Isaac Hayes, Jack Nitszche, Jellyfish, and every doo wop band ever, but with special reserve for The Flamingos, The Ink Spots, and The Fleetwoods for their version of Unchained Melody.

Will put my top ten for Last.Fm too because, well, sh*t.
1. The Beach Boys
2. Spiritualized
3. The Beatles
4. Nilsson
5. Bob Dylan
6. Brian Wilson
7. Daniel Johnston
8. Er, myself  :-[  :lol
9. John Lennon
10. Van Dyke Parks.

no, you don't understand. this list is made up from my personal listening statistics. I listen to Brian Wilson a lot which is why he's so high up on my list.

Oh alright :) i thought this was a list from a magazine or website lol

lmfaoooo we all should ignore prince's 90's music :) lol

1. The Beatles
2. The Beach boys
3. U2
4. The Who
5. Michael Jackson
6. Oasis
7. Megadeth
8. Guns n Roses
9. Bob Dylan
10. The Libertines

You have excellent musical taste.

Top 5 for 1950's
1/ Elvis
2/ The Coasters
3/ Chuck Berry
4/ The Chordettes
5/ Ray Charles

Top 5 for 1960's
1/ Beach Boys
2/ Frank Zappa & Mothers
3/ The Byrds
4/ Bob Dylan
5/ The Monkees

Top 5 for 1970's
1/ Beach Boys
2/ Genesis
3/ David Bowie
4/ Pink Floyd
5/ Judee Sill

Top 5 for 1980's
1/ The Cure
2/ Kate Bush
3/ Fleetwood Mac & Lindsey Buckingham Solo
4/ Siouxsie & The Banshees
5/ The Stranglers

Top 5 for 1990's
1/ Smashing Pumpkins
2/ Pearl Jam
3/ The Cocteau Twins
4/ Stone Temple Pilots
5/ Radiohead

Lifetime achievement award MUST go to WISHBONE ASH.

At the moment my list would go like this:

1. The Beatles
2. The Beach Boys
3. Genesis
4. Neutral Milk Hotel
5. King Crimson
6. Daniel Johnston
7. The Doors
8. Pink Floyd
9. The Residents
10. Frank Zappa
11. David Bowie
12. The Who
13. Led Zeppelin
14. Iron Maiden
15. Yes
16. Jethro Tull


That's all I got.

Nice to see another Mike Nesmith fan here!!  He'd be on my list too.

Papa Nez has been and still is an undisputed renaissance man producing brilliant songs with The Monkees and of course The First National Band which is an important player in creating the country rock genre. Magnetic South, Loose Salute and Nevada Fighter are all incredible albums.

Have any of you heard this song before?(I'm sure some of you have.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKTZhyY5-VM

HELL YES.

This ain't Wishbone Ash! Get the hell outta here!  :lol

Classic or flop? :)

All subjective to taste I guess, but consider - Notorious Byrd Brothers is probably the best psychedelic album ever. The album before that Younger Than Yesterday is also fantastic. Now imagine if Gene Clark had never left after the second album, what he could have added to two already classic records. If you haven't checked out his solo stuff I strongly urge you to do so. He's easily the best songwriter who never 'made it', up there with Dylan as a composer.
Then factor in what Crosby wrote with CS&N after he left, if they had been Byrd songs. Chris Hillman wasn't too shabby a songwriter either. Throw all that into the melting pot, factor in that the sum total would be greater than the individual parts, and yes, I don't believe I made too outlandish a statement in saying that they could have surpassed the Beach Boys.

Your right, the 5 Byrds at their best were truly a force in the music industry. The Byrds are my 2nd favorite band after the BBs because of the awesome albums the original group made.

He's not wrong, especially with regards to Gene Clark. The man was such a gifted songwriter. And to be undone by Tom Petty is no way to go out.

Gene was such a fragile soul from what I read in "timeless flight"

Disagree here. To me that's a little bit like putting down Beach Boys surf (or post-Pet Sounds) music, '70s Elvis, post-Beatles Macca, etc. The popular consensus might be that he was done--and what went from consistently great certainly became less so--but there are a lot of great things Prince did in the '90s. They were just different than what he had been doing before. Really, though, from Thieves in the Temple, Diamonds and Pearls, Get off, Cream, Sexy MF, 7, and a number of others, there are some cool things going on. Just a lot of drama and filler mixed in.

thieves in the temple? yikes :/ ..horrid.
diamond and pearls? i forgot about this gem :) lol niceeee..
get off? corny hip-hop influenced sh*t.
sexy mf? sounds more like a james brown song smh.
7? is a really good song :)


These are my examples of his good 90's work.
Money Don't Matter 2 Night*
Goodbye
Damn U
Come
Let's Have A Baby
Shoo-bed-Ooh

Should I apologize, then, or what?

Forgive them, Captain. They know not what they do.

I know it's a blanket statement, and certainly the consensus. I just find those albums harder to listen to than, IDK, Parade or Around the World, or even stuff like For You. I am fond of 3121, in some respects (Black Sweat is the obvious choice, but it's so amazing and should have been HUGE), and some of the other 21st century efforts. His prolific nature doesn't help in digesting them, you have to admit, I never know which one to start with! I'll check them out, though.

parade and around the world are both good albums :) around the world is my 2nd favorite right after "purple rain"
i'm not 2 fond of 3121 it's like prince was trying so hard 2 sound "black" and see how big he can get with an r&b album smhhhhh..it didnt have that natural feel that most of his albums have.

1. The Shaggs
2. The Velvet Underground
3. The Beach Boys
4. The Stooges
5. ABBA
6. The Who
7. Queen
8. The Kinks
9. Funkadelic
10. Sex Pistols

f*** me, how on earth did I forget The Mothership! Parliament and Funkadelic were a massive part of my formative years. Think I'm going to spin The Clones of Dr. Funkenstein now, brb.

Have you heard 'A Blow For Me, A Toot for You' by Fred Wesley and The Horny Horns, perchance? Serious Clinton involvement therein. It's great.

In a lot of ways you're right, of course. And part of me is always just trying to be difficult. But dismissing some of those things like the D&P or symbol albums, for example, is just silly. Those were albums with hits. And for whatever else we're going to talk about, hits count. Popular matters. A record is good if it is enjoyed (because what the f*** else do you think most people are doing?). There are other metrics, obviously. But let's not discount the big one, you know? Hit singles are hit singles. You can dismiss them as too this or too that or chasing such-and-such fad, but if it's a hit...

Whether he knows it or not--or agrees with it or not, actually--I think Ian taught me that. Which is weird.

Do you listen to old school motown? The backing tracks and singing from groups like the "four tops" made by Holland/Dozier/ Holland are amazing.

(http://www.sitcomsonline.com/photopost/data/1194/Starsky_Hutch5.jpg)

Damn straight I have, and it is quite an album indeed, you are right.

The temptations & the miracles :)

Oh, you bet! Love it. Every single bit. Smokey Robinson is the pinnacle, in my eyes.


Another one to dig out today - I am lucky in that my dad gave me all his old P-Funk albums.... If I have time, will have to get out some Bootsy too.


Luther - whilst you're obviously right, I was but a nipper when those songs were hits, so that context isn't really as clear. I also listened to Graffiti Bridge quite early on in my discovery of Prince, and that kinda slowed my roll on getting into his later material - talk about patchy, imo. Listened to Come yesterday, but I wasn't particularly enamoured with the production for some reason.... Nevertheless, I will make some time for Prince.

And all this talk of Prince makes me want to find the Sign O' The Times concert film again. That reduces me to a gibbering wreck of happiness.

1. The Who

2. The Who

3. The Who

4. The Who

5. The Who

6. The Who

7. The Who

8. The Who

9. The Who

10. The Who

 :lol

Not a greatest ever list, but my personal, most listened to bands:

1. The Beach Boys
2. Jan & Dean
3. The Beatles
4. Nirvana
5. Foo Fighters
6. Brooks & Dunn
7. Wings
8. Three Days Grace
9. Coldplay
10. Backstreet Boys

backstreet boys? lmfaooooo  :lol
foo fighters are amazing :) ever heard of a song by them called "floaty"? one of my all time favorites.

Yeah, I love the way the vocals are done and the general feel on that song!

As corny as many people see Backstreet Boys, they are very talented singers and great harmonizers. Its worth a listen to some of their a capella or acoustic (I think AOL Sessions, but not sure!) songs on youtube. Brian Littrell's solo acoustic take on Tim McGraw's "Don't Take The Girl" is also very moving.

I have to admit when I was younger I listened to The Backstreet Boys a lot.

Even today if I hear one of their more popular songs I'll whistle along with it. I remember them having great voices and the vocal arrangements were very good.
_____

You've got some good diversity in your list positivemusic - A few years ago after some terrible relationship problems I listened the hell out of Three Days Grace's One-X.

In no particular order (and not of "all time", just the "rock era":
The Beach Boys
Barenaked Ladies (They were/are unfairly maligned due to their goofy image. Sound familiar?)
Wings (Yes, Wings! Not the Beatles.)
Neutral Milk Hotel
The Flaming Lips
Buddy Holly and the Crickets
The Drifters
Booker T. and The MGs
Queen
The Clash

Honorable mentions: Elvis Costello and the Attractions, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, The Temptations, The Supremes, The Cure, Hall and Oates, Duran Duran, 60s-era Who, 60s-era Rolling Stones, The Beatles, The Coasters, The Del-Vikings, The Crows, The Robins, Bill Haley and His Comets, Gerry and the Pacemakers, Dave Clark Five, ? and the Mysterians, The Bee Gees, Chicago, 90s-era Radiohead, 90s-era Weezer, The Killers, The Ramones, The Monkees, Syd Barret-era Pink Floyd, The Kinks, Big Star, The Knack, Fountains of Wayne, My Bloody Valentine, The Jesus and Mary Chain, The Kingsmen, The Sex Pistols, The Dead Kennedys, Bad Religion, The New York Dolls, The Velvet Underground, UB40, The Specials, The Gap Band, The Dazz Band, Chic, Daft Punk, Oasis, Blur, Suede, Pulp, CSNY, The Byrds, Buffalo Springfield, Rick Nelson and the Stone Canyon Band, Animal Collective, Of Montreal, Camera Obscura, The Smiths, The Jackson 5, Bikini Kill, and so on and so forth...

Great choices, all (although New Kids, John Denver and Weezer were kinda left field  ;D)

Thought I'd offer my listing which includes a couple of acts from the southern colonies (Australia and New Zealand that is, I'm not across the Faulklands scene), check 'em out, I was astonished not to see them listed numerous times before!

The Beach Boys
They Might be Giants
The Chills
The Go-Betweens
The Triffids
The Db's
Camper Van Beethoven
Pixies
The Who
The Clean
Harry Nilsson (new to list)

I'm glad I'm not the only one who remembers that about the Backstreet Boys. I think people associate them to much with their precursor 80's boy bands, where talent wasn't necessarily needed.

And thanks, I appreciate it! I grew up with mostly country music being played, so I like to branch out a lot more than my parents did. Seal and U2 were early favorites of mine after hearing their respective songs in Batman Forever. So, musically, I'm all over the place.

And One-X is definitely a great album for times like that! "Never Too Late" is one of my all-time favorites by anybody. I like the recurring theme of "you're not the only one" that plays throughout several songs like "Pain," "Riot" and the title track. A very real album, but very consoling in many ways.

Well hey listen, if there was one band that could challenge Beach Boys and Beatles it was The Who. Not Rolling stones or Led Zeppelin  :P

Rock/Pop category:
 
The Beatles
The Beach Boys
The Rolling Stones
The Kinks
The Byrds
The Wrecking Crew
The Thirteenth Floor Elevators
The Yardbirds
The Velvet Underground
The Ramones

Honorable mention: The Move, Spirit, The Small Faces, Paul Revere & The Raiders, The Jimi Hendrix Experience; Love

In no particular order:

The Beach Boys
The Rolling Stones
Pink Floyd
The Beatles
The Who
The Doors
The Jimi Hendrix Experience
Queen
The Animals
Cream

Honourable Mentions: Fleetwood Mac, The Bee Gees, The Kinks, The Zombies, Led Zeppelin and The Yardbirds.

This list excludes solo artists or artists that were never in bands

U2
Talk Talk
The Band
The Sonics
Tubeway Army
The Beach Boys
The S.O.S. Band
Captain Beefheart & His/The Magic Band
Spiritualized (on the strength of one album)
The Kingsmen (on the strength of one song)

The Beach Boys
Split Enz
Bee Gees
The Stranglers
The Hollies
ABBA
XTC
ELO
Mental As Anything
The Who

Beach Boys
Ramones
Beatles
Rolling Stones
Pink Floyd
Led Zeppelin
Velvet Underground
Electric Light Orchestra
Queen
Strokes

  Groups only

  The Beach Boys
  The Rolling Stones
  The Who
  The Beatles
  Moby Grape
  The Byrds
  Dinosaur jr
  Oasis
  ELO
  The Spinners

In no order but with favorite album in parenthesis

Beach Boys (Pet Sounds)
ELO (Out of the Blue)
The Band (Live at the Academy Music (totally counts))
Sly and the Family Stone (There's a Riot Goin' On')
The Doors (L.A. Woman)
Talking Heads (Stop Making Sense)
The Second Great Miles David Quintet (E.S.P)
The Magnetic Fields (69 Love Songs)
King Crimson (Discipline)
The Velvet Underground (VU + Nico)

Tough list. It's essentially incomplete cuz I'm always looking for more stuff.

Harry Nilsson
The Beach Boys/Wilson brothers
Big Star/Alex Chilton/Chris Bell
The Velvet Underground/Lou Reed/John Cale
The Beatles/Paul/George
The Kinks
Bob Dylan
Captain Beefheart
Marvin Gaye
Nick Drake
Lee Hazlewood

Special mentions to:
Tom Waits, Chuck Berry, Talking Heads, Syd Barret, Scott Walker (& the Walker Brothers), Neil Young (& CSN&Y), The Mothers of Invention, and the Three O'Clock.

In no order:
The Beach Boys (Obviously)
The Beatles
The Mothers Of Invention (1965-1969, 1973-1975)
Led Zeppelin
The Kinks
Capt. Beefheart and The Magic Band
Can
Miles Davis' band from 1973-1975
Creedence Clearwater Revival
The Residents

 1.  The Beach Boys
 2.  Billy Joel
 3.  John Mellencamp
 4.  Los Lobos
 5.  Elvis Presley
 6.  G. Love
 7. The Beatles
 8.  Stray Cats
 9.  Alejandro Escovedo
10. Oasis
11. Tom Petty
12. The Monkees
13. Cadillac Tramps
14. Beck
15. The Blasters
16. Van Halen
17. Eddie Cochran
18. Arcade Fire
19. The Fratelis
20. The Kinks

Why isn't Ken on this list?

Ha ha, great  question. I think he might be in a league of his own. Inspired by Tattertotten as well I decided to add my favorite albums of the listed artists in parentheisis.  Ken (By Request Only)

(In no particular order)
The Beach Boys
The Velvet Underground
The Beatles
The Who
The Flaming Lips
The Rolling Stones
Big Star
Pink Floyd
The Byrds
The Clash

(Several) Other bands/artists that are among my favorites:
Randy Newman, Harry Nilsson, Beck, Neutral Milk Hotel, Led Zeppelin, Bob Dylan, Marvin Gaye, Talking Heads, Guided By Voices, Olivia Tremor Control, Super Furry Animals, Nick Drake, The Doors, The Ramones, Sex Pistols, The Zombies, Jimi Hendrix, The Turtles, Sonic Youth, Pixies, Nirvana, My Bloody Valentine, Love Battery, and Derek and the Dominoes... I could go on, but I'll just stop here.  :-X

Top Artists in no particular order...

Beach Boys
Warren Zevon
Beatles
Everly Brothers
Fleetwood Mac
Lovin'Spoonful
Linda Ronstadt
The Who
Randy Newman
Abba (guilty pleasure)

NRBQ...  I know I've seen their albums in the racks back in the late '60s while looking for new US stuff. I may even have given them a listen and thought "not for me"----i really can't remember. I tried them (again?) just the other day, to no avail----maybe I was listening to the wrong album but it just didn't grab me. RR, what would you suggest as the one album of theirs I should hear (life being short)? If I don't like that, then I'll know for sure that they are not for me.   

01  The Doors
02  The Beatles
03  The Beach Boys (1964-66)
04  Blue Oyster Cult (with the Bouchard brothers)
05  The Rolling Stones (with Mick Taylor)
06  The Who
07  The Moody Blues (with Pinder and Thomas)
08  The New York Dolls
09  Slade
10  KISS (the original four)

bonus band

11 Sparks (for that glorious 1973-74 period with Adrian Fisher, Martin Gordon, and Dinky Diamond)
 

Like The Who at 06 and 08. :=)

Whoops... :-[

This is tough.

1. The Beach Boys
2. Bob Dylan
3. Simon & Garfunkel
4. The Beatles
5. Neil Young
6. Sufjan Stevens
7. Nickel Creek
8. Nirvana
9. Nick Drake
10. Fleetwood Mac

1) the Beach Boys
2) Todd Rundgren
3) Procol Harum
4) Spirit
5) Family
6) Love
7) Buffalo Springfield
8) David Bowie
9) Brian Eno
10) Velvet Underground

My favorite band of all time is the Rolling Stones during their brief psychedelic era (1966-67), but I don't love their earlier and later more bluesy sound -- thus they don't make my list.

.

Tough to pick only 1 album as I love almost all of their canon but anyway, the one I think would be worth checking out by non-fan is "Grooves In Orbit" (1983). It is imo their most accessible record (close 2nd "Wild Weekend"), with some quirky moments to top it off. Though NRBQ is generally notable for its live shows, humorous stage banters etc., knowing that most folks aren't into live stuff, I decided to advise you a studio LP. But if you actually ARE, then "At Yankee Stadium" is a must-listen. Good luck, john!

Thanks for the tip, RR. I did my best, but it's exactly as i feared----it's not my kind of music. Oh well... 

That's O.K., john. Can't win 'em all, I suppose.

Groups:

1. Beatles
2. Rolling Stones
3. Radiohead
4. Beach Boys
5. Kinks

Artists:

1. Prince
2. Marvin Gaye
3. David Bowie
4. Michael Jackson
5. Bob Marley

I've revamped my list and focused on my current 10 favorites, not necessarily who I think is the greatest.
Here they are in the order in which they came into my mind:

1. XTC ( & The Dukes)
2. Big Star
3. The Kinks
4. Harry Nilsson
5. The Velvet Underground
6. The Beach Boys
7. Captain Beefheart
(I began to feel less sure about these)
8. Tom Waits
9. Bob Dylan
10. Marvin Gaye

Astrud Gilberto, The Kinks, Bowie, Dylan, The Beatles (especially John, as well as his solo career), Lou Reed + The Velvet Underground, Sly and the Family Stone, of Montreal, AC...

I'm not really as much of an albums or bands guy as some of you. Most of the music I listen to is on Youtube by artists I don't really know much about. Lots of random disco and bossa nova artists.

 

Same here, it's great fun to randomly discover new artists, mostly psychedelic & surf (instrumental) bands. San Francisco got the most number of those. Cali rules, in general.

oooh, fun but hard topic. I could say my favorites, but I doubt others would consider these the best of ALL TIME.

My current top ten bands that I'm digging is always changing. Pretty consistently, #1, 2, and 3, at least for the past year, have been The Beach Boys (a given?), Vampire Weekend (there's not a bad song by them), and Two Door Cinema Club (made me obsessed with music in the first place).

4 will have to be the Shins, simply because they have probably saved me/helped me through from severe anxiety multiple times. I literally do not know what I would do without them.

5. Billy Joel? I mean I cried at his concert, so I guess he means a lot to me :P. I highly value his piano skills, although I know I'm outnumbered by Elton John fans.

At this particular moment, I guess the rest of list would be:
6. Sufjan Stevens
7. Tame Impala
8. Simon and Garfunkel
9. Bread
10. The Rolling Stones, I guess?

I could make a list that's more objective and takes into account influence, popularity, and pure talent... I feel like I talk about the above bands too much on here, anyway. I swear I have a diverse music taste, I just go through music phases and obsessively listen to bands :P.

Well, other member Rab2591 is a big fan as well.

1.  Pink Floyd

2.  Iron Maiden

3.  The Beatles

4.  Black Sabbath

5.  Deep Purple

6.  Rainbow

7.  The Beach Boys

8.  Queen

9.  The Who

10. Judas Priest

Why is it that the Beach Boys seem out of place on that list? Or the Beatles, for that matter - unless they did an entire album of Helter Skelter-like tracks I am unaware of.

All great bands.  Some just heavier than others. 

1. Beach Boys

2. Who

3. Beatles

4. Pink Floyd

5. Bob Dylan

6. Band

7. Velvet Underground

8. Oasis

9. Ramones

10. Kinks

1 -  Zeppelin
2 -  Floyd
3 - AC/DC
4 - the Stones
5- U2
6- Herman's Hermits
7 - Skynyrd
8 - Tull
9 - Priest
10 - Sabbath

1. Beatles

2. Beach Boys

3. Rolling Stones

4. Moody Blues

5. ELO/The Move

6. Four Seasons

7. The Who

8. The Alan Parsons Project

9. Neil Young and Crazy Horse

10. Bob Dylan

11. Pink Floyd

12. The Temptations

Edit adds:

13. The Hollies

14. Ten Years After

15. The Mighty Zep

16. The Doors

17. Colin Blunstone

18. Wings

19. CSN & Y

20. Yes

At this point I'd change it to (again in no particular order):

The Rolling Stones
The Animals
The Yardbirds
The Easybeats
The Beach Boys
The Beatles
The Zombies
Downliners Sect
Pink Floyd
Jefferson Airplane

Beatles
Beach Boys
Kinks
Bob Dylan
Doors
Four Tops
Talking Heads
The Who
Warren Zevon
Bruce Springsteen


(lots more  :P !)

#1 The Beach Boys

And then in no order
The Band
The Beatles
The Who
The Velvet Underground
The Shins
The Doors
Morphine
Pink Floyd
Frank Zappa

Bands and artists:

Beach Boys
Steely Dan
Dylan
Paul Simon
Randy Newman
Paddy McAloon/Prefab Sprout
Paul Buchanan/Blue Nile
Joni Mitchell
Tom Petty
Loudon Wainwright

But that's not getting in to jazz and its fringes, which would knock out most of the above

The best Bands... as in "Rock" bands, not individuals.

The Beach Boys
The Earth Wind and The Fire
The Pink Floyd
The Zed Leppelin
The Rolling Stones
The Doors
The Creedence Clearwater Revival
The Cream
The Velvet Underground
The Band

Honorable mention:  The Beatles.  A lot of people like them and they were great as a result.

Groups only -

1- The Beach Boys
2- The Mothers of Invention
3- Queen
4- Genesis
5- The Kinks
6- The Cure
7- King Crimson
8- Chicago
9- The Carpenters
10- The Stranglers

Groups only, huh?  That's tough...

1. The Beatles
2. The Beach Boys
3. Led Zeppelin
4. Fleetwood Mac
5. Creedence Clearwater Revival
6. Buddy Holly and the Crickets
7. Aerosmith
8. Metallica
9. Chicago
10. The Rolling Stones

You know, I'm not even sure Tom Petty should be on here. I mean, I like his stuff but not consistently enough to warrant a top ten. Maybe The Band? Probably Van Morrison. Yeah: Van the Man instead of Tom. Or Marvin Gaye. Or Stevie Wonder...

AS for groups only, I'm not sure I like enough - or not at that level anyhow. In most cases, it's on a greatest hits level (Stones, for instance); others, not even that.

Didn't hear of them - what album-song to check 1st? You found them via other 60s band, correct? At least that's how I discover new bands - by quick reference in a book/article dedicated to other band.

1 Beach Boys
2 Monkees
3 Bread
4 10cc
5 Eagles
6 Moody Blues
7 Poco
8 Toto
9 Association
10 ... the rest

I like this list - you have good taste, my friend!

It's funny, but I discovered them when I was in Japan. I was at an op-shop there, and among the CD's that were there was The Sect, which was the first album by the Downliners Sect. I had never heard of them before, but I thought it looked pretty interesting, and plus it was really cheap. So I got it, and when I got back to Australia I listened to the CD and immediately loved it. I'd say check out their first album yeah, I think it's brilliant. Apparently, Van Morrison, Rod Stewart and Steve Marriott were big-name fans, and at one point Marriott and Stewart even tried to audition for the band. Unfortunately though, they weren't one of the bigger bands commercially from the British Invasion era, definitely under appreciated.

The Beatles
The Moody Blues
Steely Dan
Chicago
XTC
Electric Light Orchestra
The High Llamas
Stereolab
Hall & Oates
Queen

this is always changing.
As of right now?

The Shins
Tame Impala
Fleet Foxes
Vampire Weekend
Mac Demarco
Sufjan Stevens

And then I guess I've been listening to some Bob Dylan, Parquet Courts, Broken Bells, and of course the Beach Boys. Lately, though, it's most the first four I listed...

1. Beach Boys
2. Who
3. Beatles
4. Pink Floyd
5. Bob Dylan

6. Band
7. Velvet Underground
8. Ramones
9. Oasis
10. Kinks

I think it's interesting to chart the changes over time.

Here's an unranked, updated list:

Protomartyr
Swans
Big Star
Kate Bush
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds
Bob Dylan
Pavement
Kendrick Lamar
Nick Drake
Joanna Newsom

This list was difficult to make due to reconciling the differences between old, established favorites and what I'm listening to now. I was surprised by some of these choices. It seems the only constants have been Bob Dylan and Big Star.

Hm, not sure. I guess for now...

1. Beach Boys
2. Animal Collective
3. Beatles
4. Todd Rundgren
5. Harry Nilsson
6. 10cc
7. Millennium
8. Erykah Badu
9. Monkees
10. Van Dyke Parks

The Beach Boys
The Byrds
Velvet Underground
Yo La Tengo
Fleet Foxes
Nirvana
Beastie Boys
Calexico
Gillian Welch & David Rawlings
Beck
The Beatles
Simon and Garfunkel

1. The Beach Boys
2. The Kinks
3. The Rolling Stones
4. Van Morrison
5. The Velvet Underground
6. The Who
7. The Beatles
8. Bob Dylan
9. Neil Young
10. The Byrds
10 1/2. Fleetwood Mac & Bruce Springsteen

Thanks for the write-up, I'll definitely check it out. Gotta say, I never understood people who buy an album by a band they never heard of without 1st having a quick listen online. I mean, you pay money - what if you don't like it? Is it possible to return it back & take money? It isn't judgment, just sth. I wouldn't do.
Any other 'rare' bands to recommend, Rei?

Well again it was very cheap, so I thought what the hell, I'll check it out.

As for other rare bands/artists, I'd suggest The Easybeats and Russell Morris. Though by no means rare or obscure in Australia, they are each largely obscure internationally bar a single hit each.

But if we're talking just what we're really digging right now that's quite up there:
(I won't name any from previous list)

1. Harry Nilsson
2. Van Dyke Parks (Discover America is brilliant)
3. Caravan
4. Derek & The Dominos
5. XTC
6. New York Dolls
7. Flamin' Groovies
8. Dino Valente
9. Flying Burrito Brothers
10. Judy Henske & Jerry Yester

Way cool choice!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pX0EH2ZU2k
This video is reason #43 why Sufjan is on my list. I just cried so much but it is O. K.

not of all time, but right now i can't get enough of:

Beach House (Victoria Legrand's voice is so dreamy)
Talking Heads (the '70s stuff)
and Tame Impala (but that's to be expected)

Beach Boys (up to "Love You", after that they are replaced by Brian Wilson)
Chieftains (always)
King Crimson (particularly the first 4 albums, but more or less always)
Moody Blues (up to "Long Distance Voyager", with an unexpected revival in "Strange Days")
Soft Machine (first 6 albums)
Jethro Tull (up to "Thick As A Brick")
Doors (with Jim Morrison)
Ekseption (more or less whole career)
Gentle Giant (up to "In a Glass House")
Golden Gate Quartet (in the 1930's and 1940's)

For this list, I disqualified all pseudo-bands of the "King Awesome and and his negligible minions" type. ;D

I know I did a list when this thread began, however many years ago. Odds are my bands haven't changed all that much, but let's find out. Here are the 10 I'd list now--in no order, because if nothing else, I've become more firmly in the camp of not ranking things if I can help it--including bands and solo artists.

Beach Boys, Beatles, Queen, Zeppelin, Dylan, Prince, Zappa, Waits, Joanna Newsom, VU. That's 10? OK.

Then there would have to be Aretha Franklin, Radiohead, Joni Mitchell, Of Montreal, Hendrix, Mountain Goats, Herman Dune, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Neutral Milk Hotel, Buddy Holly, Wilson Pickett, Otis Redding, Sly Stone, Willie Nelson, Loretta Lynn, Kacey Musgraves, Wilco, Earl Sweatshirt, David Bowie, Leonard Cohen... Yeah, it's hard to make a short list.

Now I'll see what I said way back when.

OK, not so different in the top 10. And the also-rans are ones I ought to add to my newer list: it isn't that I discarded anyone, I just keep adding.

The Top 2 are The Beatles & The Beach Boys. Though if you put a gun to my head I'd say the Beatles, I think the best Beach Boys is better than any Beatles. Pet Sounds is better than any Beatles record.

Looking back pages, this thread was at its coolest when Newguy was around. :3d

The BBs
NRBQ
The RS
Sun Ra
The Velvet Underground (including Doug Yule's "Squeeze")
Manfred Mann
Spike Jones with City Slickers
The dB's
The Residents
Hot Hot Heat

Can't come up with an order.

Beach Boys
Beatles
BeeGees
Pink Floyd
Los Lobos
Bela Fleck and the Flecktones
Earth Wind and Fire
Moody Blues
Led Zeppelin
Simon and Garfunkel

Solo artists would include: Irma Thomas, Bob Dylan, Carole King, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Neil Young