Was British Rock REALLY that much better back in the day?

[Speed King]

Posts #2 and #5 pretty much sum it for me,...agreeing with Vader once again.

 

[The Wanderer]

After voting and posting I realized that I had forgotten The Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin. Silly me.


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[AboutAGirl]

When I was a kid it was the british stuff that wowed me. Zeppelin, Floyd, hard to argue with the magnitude of those artists.

But over the long haul, I have a huge preference for American music. Tom Petty, The Doors, Hendrix, these are artists who started out lower on the ladder but over the years I've gotten much more from them than from anybody. And in the strictest sense of "America," Neil Young is worth a million Englands and a million USAs combined for me. Today almost all my favorite acts are from America, both rock & otherwise.

 

[Aktivator]

NYC, Detroit, San Fran, Seattle, LA ,Texas, Southeast Vs Scotland, Uk and Ireland?
Too close to call! I'll give it to the French.

 

[Lynch]

Without the early stages of rock in the 50's and early 60's in the USA (as well as their even earlier American influences), who knows what would have become of music. America gets my vote based on that very simple fact alone.

I don't consider the Beatles to be anywhere near the best band of all time, but I do consider them to be one of the single-most important bands of all time. The vast majority of their influences were American artists. Speaks volumes.

 

[TheGushinRussian]

To say it's easy is a matter of perspective. If you were to choose eachs top 5...

Brits: 1. The Beatles 2. The Stones 3. Led Zeppelin 4. Pink Floyd 5. The Who ( based on popularity ).

Americans: 1. Bob Dylan 2. Jimi Hendrix 3. The Doors 4. The Beach Boys 5. The Velvet Underground
Is that really an easy pick? Not as far as I'm concerned.

 

[Khor1255]

Americans invented rock. The British made it better. I'd love to be a cookie cutter patriot and vote USA here but other than the pioneers, Hendrix (James Gang, Allman Brothers, etc etc) I have to say for every genre of rock there is the British made it way better.

Ditto for the blues (even if it was transformed into a more rockish style).

 

[Jet]

I didn't really weigh up the pros and con's of both, because I voted British entirely due to the Beatles alone.

True, but didn't the Beatles say they got their name because of Buddy Holly And The Crickets? I feel it was kind of circular thing, in that a lot of the British bands were influenced by American R&B, and then a lot of American bands that came after the British invasion, took a lot of what the Brits did and experimented. I think both really worked off each other and we were blessed to be alive or born during the time when music and artists were giving us sounds that were new and nothing like we ever heard before. JMO

 

[Hurdy Gurdy Man]

Most of the better known American classic rock is rather plaintive in comparison to its British counterparts.Americans certainly laid the groundwork for genuine rock and roll,but the Brits came along with a certain unique flair to their approach.Of course in some cases,this lead to many songs not being true rock at all because the British were always so eager to improve on the genre,they'd often find alternate avenues of rock writing and production,but still would generally stay within the parameters of the genre.Got kinda six of one and a half dozen of the other here.The English may have technically improved on things but several American R&B influences provided them with templates to build on.Personally,I DO prefer the British,but a magnificently raucous truly bonafide rock and roll number complete with Guitar solos by either Chick Berry or John Fogerty will never fail to enthrall me.............

 

[Johnny-Too-Good]

The whole business is cyclical. It was certainly led by Americans until The Beatles came on the scene, and over the next 10 years there was an explosion of different expressions of the Rock ideal on both sides of the Ocean. American bands were influenced by British bands, and vice versa. Punk emerged in The States and was taken up big time in The UK for a couple of years. My own take on the current situation is that it is the American bands who are carrying the torch.