Best rock act?

[XemaSab]

1950s: Elvis
1960s: The Beatles
1970s: David Bowie
1980s: U2
1990s: Pearl Jam
2000s: Radiohead

Let the arguing commence.

[Adsos Letter]

1. What, no Jethro Tull in the 1970's?!

The concert I saw at the Olympic Stadium in Munich in 1975 was certainly impressive. What I remember of it, that is...

[Sky Masterson]

2. Here is mine

1950s: Little Richard
1960s: Beatles
1970s: Steely Dan
1980s: Queen
1990s: Greenday
2000s: Foo Fighters

I really hated U2 in the 80's
I was in to all the 80's metal back then and I thought U2 was simple and boring.
Now My opinion is completely different.
I can barely listen to some of the stuff I listened to back then
Yet I love U2.

[taterguy]

3. Grand Canyon

Those rocks are awe inspiring

[HopeHoops]

4. Early 70's Genesis - any show.

[Burma Jones]

5. Allrighty, this being opinions and all that.......

1950's - Chuck Berry
1960's - The Beatles
1970's - Pink Floyd
1980's - The Ramones
1990's - Nirvana
2000's - Foo Fighters

And then for sheer longevity, The Grateful Dead and the Rolling Stones.

[geardaddy]

19. You win for putting the Ramones in

[Burma Jones]

22. Maybe the best show I ever saw was The Ramones in early 1980

The energy blew me away.....

[meegbear]

6. FLOYD!!

[CreekDog]

7. .

[MrCoffee]

8. I love you forever for putting Pearl Jam on that list

[RZM]

9. Some of my favorites

1950s: Eddie Cochran
1960s: The Beatles
1970s: Led Zeppelin
1980s: Van Halen (not Van Hagar)
1990s: Smashing Pumpkins
2000s: Arcade Fire

[Doc Holliday]

32. "1980s: Van Halen (not Van Hagar)"

My sentiments exactly, Joe Dirt. I wouldn't go to see Hagar for free.

I also agree about Zeppelin. Saw them at the Capitol Center in Largo, MD in '77, and with the exception of Zappa it was the most awesome show I've ever seen.

[ohiosmith]

10. The most memorable of those I actually saw live:

50s: Jerry Lee Lewis

60s: Beatles

70s: Donovan

80s: tie between George Thorogood and Bruce Springsteen. Honorable mention to Tina Turner.

90s: opening night of The Eagles Hell Freezes Over Tour.

00s: Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young.

[KamaAina]

12. Think you could get Thorogood and Springsteen to perform together?

They could even make an album called "The Delaware Memorial Bridge"!

[ohiosmith]

14. How awesome would that be?!

[MrCoffee]

13. Alerting: The Eagles in a thread about rock? Clearly this poster is depraved.

[ohiosmith]

15. It's my gift. Depravity that is.

[deutsey]

18. I like Springsteen but I'm not a big fan

Still, I went to see him at RFK Stadium in the '80s with some friends and have to say it was the best show I've been to.

Not only did he play for something like 2 hours straight (maybe even longer), he had tens of thousands of people dancing at the finale to a bunch of classic rock-n-roll songs.

It was a great experience.

[rufus dog]

27. Dude, you were messed up

It was likely 4 hour in the 80's.

[deutsey]

30. That's actually what I remembered but I thought maybe my memory of that

had become exaggerated over the years.

[guitar man]

11. Mine

1950s: Buddy Holly
1960s: The Beatles
1970s: Pink Floyd
1980s: Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers
1990s: Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers
2000s: Govt Mule

[dana_b]

16. you and I are close

1950s - Elvis OR Jerry Lee Lewis
1960s - The Beatles
1970s - The Who
1980s - U2 or Queen (edit to add Queen)
1990s - Pearl Jam
2000s - The White Stripes

[wysimdnwyg]

17. Any list that does not include Led Zeppelin as the best ROCK act of the '70s is flawed

'50s - Elvis
'60s - Beatles
'70s - Led Zeppelin
'80s - The Police/U2 (tie - The Police for the first half, U2 for the second half)
'90s - Pearl Jam
'00s - This is a difficult one. The biggest selling rock act of this decade is arguably one of the most hated: Nickelback. Because I'm firmly in the "hate" camp for Nickelback, I'll go with Linkin Park here.

[deutsey]

20. I saw U2 in '87 at RFK Stadium

It was a pretty good show until Bono slipped on the stage and dislocated his shoulder.

I initially thought he was doing something theatrical like Jim Morrison used to do (flailing himself around before collapsing on stage), but it had been raining all day and Bono had apparently hit a slick spot on stage and popped his shoulder out of its socket.

When he finally got up he muttered into the mic: "Thank you, goodnight!" and scurried offstage.

This was about halfway through the timeframe for a regular concert. I remember thinking: "That's it? I slept out overnight on a sidewalk to buy tickets for that?"

To Bono's credit, he came back out onstage with his arm in a sling and, after explaining to us what happened, sang another few songs before ending with "40".

[Canis Mala]

21. Don't jump on me

because I left out the Beatles. I just don't think of them as a live, touring band.

1950s: Chuck Berry
1960s: The Doors
1970s: Led Zeppelin
1980s: Violent Femmes
1990s: Alice in Chains
2000s: Linkin Park

[Burma Jones]

23. Fair enough, anyway, all you could hear was screaming.....

[HughBeaumont]

24. Mine.

1950s: Ray Charles
1960s: Mothers of Invention
1970s: Black Sabbath/Pink Floyd (tie)
1980s: Husker Du
1990s: Neurosis
2000s: Godspeed You! Black Emperor

[bluesbassman]

25. 50's - Link Wray

60's - The Yardbirds

70's - Humble Pie

80's - Dire Straits

90's - The Black Crowes

00's - Don't really have an opinion on this era.

[ddeclue]

26. no Rolling Stones? no Pink Floyd? no Eagles?

[Populist_Prole]

28. Ramones

Rescued the mid-70's from the moribund hell of corporate rock. Yeah, their music is somewhat...simple. There's just something about a combination of early-mid 60's bubblegum played at 90 miles an hour, and as hard as a cement pie in the face.

[Canis Mala]

31. They rescued all rock-n-roll from corporate malaise. n/t

[Systematic Chaos]

29. Let's see....

1950s: John Cage
1960s: The Beatles
1970s: Gentle Giant
1980s: XTC
1990s: Stone Temple Pilots
2000s: Dream Theater
2010s: AWOLNATION