Having a discussion with a mate one boozy Sunday evening whilst watching a doco on U2 on Foxtel. Now I'm not the biggest U2 fan, but whilst watching the doco, hit after hit after hit spanning over 20 years just kept coming and coming (most of them pretty good songs) which led me to declare that U2 were definately in the Top 5 biggest/ greatest bands of all time. Now biggest/ greatest is an ambiguous word but to put it in some sort of context it includes such things as popularity, record sales, influence (at the time and ongoing) longevity, classic/iconic albums etc.
We discussed it and came to the conclusion that the top 5 bands of all time were:
The Beatles
The Rolling Stones
Led Zeppelin
U2
Pink Floyd
On the first 4 we were rock solid. The last one there was some debate over. Interesting though, that all 5 we agreed on were from the UK/ Ireland and no American representation.
We also came to the conclusion that it is very doubtful that this list would ever change. Why? Because 4 of these bands started in the 1960's when popular music/ Rock music was at it's zenith in terms of popularity and hysteria. It was the number one thing the kids were into and this popularity was still very high in the 1970's and into the 1980's. In my lifetime I have seen the decline of the popularity of pop music simply for the fact that there are so many more choices for the younger generations and going out and buying the latest record is not as high a priority as it once was. U2 are the only ones slightly different as they were a product of the 1980's but they were able to ride the wave and constantly reinvent themselves to remain relevant (as well as consistently putting out good material). I just can't see any band in todays environment be able to garner the popularity over an extended period of time like the bands listed above.
Interested to see differences of opinion on this and reasons why.
We discussed it and came to the conclusion that the top 5 bands of all time were:
The Beatles
The Rolling Stones
Led Zeppelin
U2
Pink Floyd
On the first 4 we were rock solid. The last one there was some debate over. Interesting though, that all 5 we agreed on were from the UK/ Ireland and no American representation.
We also came to the conclusion that it is very doubtful that this list would ever change. Why? Because 4 of these bands started in the 1960's when popular music/ Rock music was at it's zenith in terms of popularity and hysteria. It was the number one thing the kids were into and this popularity was still very high in the 1970's and into the 1980's. In my lifetime I have seen the decline of the popularity of pop music simply for the fact that there are so many more choices for the younger generations and going out and buying the latest record is not as high a priority as it once was. U2 are the only ones slightly different as they were a product of the 1980's but they were able to ride the wave and constantly reinvent themselves to remain relevant (as well as consistently putting out good material). I just can't see any band in todays environment be able to garner the popularity over an extended period of time like the bands listed above.
Interested to see differences of opinion on this and reasons why.
