Top 10 best American bands/artists in the last 50 years?

I was sitting here listening to some old sh** and wanted to know who you think were the best TWO bands from each Decade ie two from the sixties, two from the seventies, two from the eighties etc.
They must be American and maybe it will give us an inspiration on who to check out
If a band / artist spans more than 1 decade, feel free to multiple use or just tuck them in while they were at their best.
Here are mine

60s The Doors, Velvet underground
70s Jefferson Airplane, Dead kennedys
80s The Cramps, B52s
90s Sublime, The Violent Femmes
2000+ Dr Dre, The Thievery Corporation.

I´m not from here, so I guess you may have some better suggestions, so go for it baby.

 

60's
Not much of a Beatles fan. I love the Rolling Stones! I suggest "Sticky Fingers." Great songs that are not regular play on the radio are "Can't You Hear Me Knockin" and (my personal favorite) "Dead Flowers."




70's
I'm going to get ridiculed for this but I LOVE old Aerosmith! I'm talking their first few albums. OK screw that, get their FIRST one and just listen to how f'n talented they were! GREAT songs that you will NEVER hear on a "Classic Rock" radio station- "Walkin' The Dog" and "One Way Street" are staples on my iPod.



Another gem from the 70's is Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers. This album L.A.M.F is one of my favorites ever! I've had the cassette, the album and the CD. Now it's on my iPod. Punk rock at its finest, IMHO.



Geez, do ya think that I like musical junkies? All of the above mentioned bands have/had heroin addicts in 'em!

OK, so there you have two decades to work on. I want a full report and it on my desk in the morning! We'll get to the other decades later. I'm tired!

EDIT!
I failed to see the "American only" request in the first post. My bad. Whoops.

 

60's - Hendrix (Jimi man, come on.)
Beach Boys (Pet Sounds was a seminal album in rock history and was the impetus for many great albums from other including the Beatles Sgt Peppers.)

70's - Aerosmith (Get Your Wings is a classic)
Iggy pop ( Another ground breaking artist)

80's - FEAR ( Lee Ving was everything Jello Biafra and Ian MacKaye weren't which is why he is so cool)
Metallica (not much to say here except "Jump in the Fire")

90's- Uncle Tupelo/Son Volt/Wilco (Tweedy and Farrar are two of Americas greatest song writers)
Beck- (Amazing artist)

EDIT; Yep meant, FEAR..... brain fart, never was a Black Flag fan, Henry is annoying.

 

Lee Ving was in Fear.

 

I think he meant Henry Rollins???:bang:

I prefer Fear :bang:

 

2000s - Kamelot. If you like power metal :bang:

 

Yea, I just f'n HATE Henry. He was the lamest singer the mighty Black Flag ever had. I tend to like Chavo (Ron Reyes) the best. Henry ruined Black Flag.

 

I saw El Duce from The Mentors get his ass handed to him by Lee Ving at Al's Bar (Downtown LA) once. El Duce was DRUNK and walked up to Lee and said over and over and over "are you leaving, or are you LEE VING?!?!" Finally, Lee just decked him and walked away to thuderus applause.

Classic.

 

Only ten? That's gonna be tough. I'll leave off Hendrix, since purists may consider him borderline UK.

No particular decade or genre, the latest is pre-80s:

Frank Zappa & the Mothers of Invention
Velvet Underground
Harry Partch
The Doors
Bo Diddley
Bruce Haack
Captain Beefheart
The Residents
Steely Dan
The Germs

Germs, Fear, The Screamers, and Mau Maus (in that order)... Black Flag was best with Dez, then Keith Morris IMO

 

Good God - just reminded me that I own 2 Mentors albums. True american classics! Ok, not classics, but who can resist 'rape rock'? Ah, yes, the good ole days when coming home from a gig with a bloody lip and a torn shirt meant it was an awesome time.

 

60's = The Beatles/The Doors
70's = Aerosmith/Black Sabath/ACDC
80's = U2/Pearl Jam
90's = Nirvana/Foofighters
2000 = Soundgarden/Creed

 

Fock, I'm old!

 

60's-The Doors, Hendrix, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.
70's & 80's- The Allman Brothers Band, Dead Kennedies, Blag Flag, The Ramones, Talking Heads, Stevie Ray Vaughn
90's- RATM, Tool, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Jane's Addiction
Current - Tool, Weezer.

 

This is true. Go ahead and list Glenn Miller and Tommy Dorsey anyway, though... they are classic.

 

Some GREAT suggestions here! This album is another that I have listened to most of my life, some freakin' awesome guitar work and soulful singing. A TRUE American classic, for sure!

Allman Brothers, live at the Fillmore East

Duane Allman and Dicky Betts are simply magical on this recording...
:clap:

As far as 80's punk rock, I've always like this one by the Descendents. Many fantastic tunes to sing along to!

 

Fugazi!!! no other band needed.

 

Everyone knows all the good bands are British.... :lol: :lol:

 

As far as Rock 'n Roll goes, USA isn't too high on the list, it's true (although we are when it comes to 60s Psychedelic). I agree there are far more classic Brit groups.

There is fantastic rock music from Sweden, Finland, Norway, France, Germany, Spain, Greece, Italy, Eastern Europe, Japan, and South America too.

 

60s: Hendrix, Janis Joplin
70s: Springsteen, Iggy Pop
80s: Ramones, Pixies
90s: Nirvana, Tool
00s: Modest Mouse, Interpol

edit: And where do you put Johnny Cash? In every decade, I guess

 

Got to hang out with Lee Ving and Philo a bunch of times back in the day, intelligent folks, and they really like beer!
60 - Henry Mancini/Blue Cheer
70 - Crimson/Mahavishnu
80 - NWA/Madonna
90 - Pantera/Slipknot
00 - Miley Cyrus/Gridlok:bang: