Rock 'n' Roll, UK or USA?

[LoneCrusader]

Which nation has (or had) better bands? Just some examples.. USA: Aerosmith, Guns N' Roses, Metallica, The Eagles, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Stevie Ray Vaughan, The Doors, Van Halen, etc.. UK: The Who, Queen, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Rolling Stones, Ozzy and Black Sabbath, The Beatles, etc.. or in other words, which nation has contributed more to rock (or basically classic rock)?

[Chic Freak]

I've voted UK as it's where punk originated, the genre most dear to my heart. I'm guessing I will shortly regret my vote though as almost all my favourite bands are actually American: Marilyn Manson, Dead Kennedys, Pantera, Nirvana, Sleater-Kinney, NIN and Le Tigre. However; I am also very fond of David Bowie, Sex Pistols, X-Ray Specs, Black Sabbath, The Cure, Queen and Garbage. Tough call.

[ProfessorChaos]

uk, and pretty handily, too. there are plenty of good bands from the us, but plenty of great bands from the uk.

[SRP76]

U.S.A. Never liked any of the "OMGTHEYRESOAWESOME" bands (like The Beatles or Zeppelin) out of the U.K. They may have "opened the door" or "paved the way" or any other cliche you want, but I just don't enjoy listening to them.

[krakenslayer]

I can count on one hand the number of American bands I listen to. That said, I don't like a great many British bands either. I do, however, listen to a disproportionate number of bands from Finland. So yeah, neither. Finland's where it's at nowadays. Sonata Arctica, Turisas, Ensiferum, Wintersun, Finntroll, Korpiklaani, Moonsorrow, (early) Nightwish, Norther, Stratovarius, Apocalyptica, Hanoi Rocks, Battlelore... etc. etc.

[Mike70]

the US, easily. i cannot stand the "classic rock" bands from britian aside from black sabbath. as for my two fav forms of music: american punk crushes british punk and it's no contest. i find british punk (aside from the clash) to be ridiculous, unmelodic and angry in a way that leaves me bored. american punk - the ramones, the misfits, circle jerks, 7 seconds, the minutemen, bad religion, etc. are much more fun. as far as metal goes, it is even more lopsided. aside from iron maiden and black sabbath, i really cannot think of more than a couple of other british metal acts that are even remotely worth a shit in my view. as for the beatles and led zeppelin paving the way for anything, that is a complete and total crock of shit. the beatles wanted to be like buddy holly and chuck berry and led zeppelin fancied themselves as a sort of rock version of muddy waters. so where did it all ultimately come from? the US. period. end of discussion. now mike settles back and waits for the shitstorm to begin.

[Tricky]

At the end of the day people from both sides of the pond are going to defend music from their place!But for arguments sake i prefer UK bands to US bands for the same reasons i prefer a good british film to a hollywood block buster.Im more into indie bands than brash american stuff though,and we've got that nailed over here. Oz is where real rock comes from though

[blind2d]

Why has no one mentioned Japan? - Noodle Gotta say US. - Big Fat Russel UK, okay? - 2D Err... Sabbath is the greatest band ever. Satan told me to say that, but I stand by it nonetheless. - Murdoc

[MoonSylver]

as far as metal goes, it is even more lopsided. aside from iron maiden and black sabbath, i really cannot think of more than a couple of other british metal acts that are even remotely worth a shit in my view. You better tell me Judas Priest makes the cut, or you n' me got a scrap on our hands....

[EvilNed]

Why has no one mentioned Japan? - Noodle Argh! Thanks for reminding me of some of the most horrible musical experiences I've ever had... Songs in Engrish! Anyway, I vote for the UK. I really love Led Zeppelin, and besides that Queen is awesome. I like Black Sabbath alot, too. The Alan Parsons Project is another favourite of mine. I'd have to agree with ProfessorChaos. Most great bands come from the UK, but the US has alot of good ones.

[clanglee]

I've voted UK as it's where punk originated, What What What?!?!? The punk movement in Britain never really started until the Ramones toured there. Come on now!! New York Dolls were the band to finally kick off the punk movement. . although they were a little glam. . .they were the granddaddies of the New York punk scene. Which predates the Uk's scene by a bit. And to answer the question. . .while a lot of my favorite bands are British. All of my very favorite are American. . .so U.S.

[DjfunkmasterG]

USA, we have way more heavy rock than you all aross the pond. No offense, you gave us Sabbath, but we gave you Metallica, Megadeth, and a few other beasties.

[_liam_]

Uk is good at taking leaps forward & the US is good at putting interesting spins on it/streamlining it. We give you industrial music & you gave us Ministry, Nine Inch Nails, Marilyn Manson, we gave you NWOBHM & you gave us Thrash (and Norway gave us both Black Metal). But yeah I think it's about even to be honest. America perhaps has marginally more bands, but considering how microscopically small the UK is, the US underachieves a bit IMO These are bands that are both - Huge in sales terms - Influential UK Black Sabbath Led Zeppelin Beatles Joy Division The Cure Motorhead Iron Maiden Judas Priest Cream Deep Purple Sex Pistols Damned Clash Godflesh Napalm Death Cradle of Filth Arthur Brown The Jam Queen Yes David Bowie Pink Floyd King Crimson The Who Venom Def Leppard Killing Joke Hawkwind Radiohead Oasis US KISS Frank Zappa Alice Cooper Metallica Hendrix Slayer Megadeth Ramones Misfits Black Flag Patti Smith Group The Stooges Velvet Underground Morbid Angel Death Nine Inch Nails Pantera GBH Discharge Nirvana New York Dolls The Strokes Korn Faith No More The Doors Dead Kennedys re: punk thing Never mind the Ramones, it was The Stooges, MC5, Patti Smith et al that started Punk as a musical force, & The Ramones that polished & defined it. BUT The UK defined punk as an ethic & aesthetic - safety pins, spiky hair & politicised lyrics were the UK scene's innovation. Also mike I have to say I'm not sure what you mean about UK punk being all aggression & less melodic, because I feel that's really more applicable to USHC sort of stuff, GBH/Discharge/Black Flag sound much more angry (and similar to each other) than say, X Ray Spex, Stiff Little Fingers & The Sex Pistols do. I find the early UK punk scene to be a bit more eclectic than the US one, which I do also love, but it becomes very HC centric. In any case there's only 4 bands that ever understood punk properly or did it truly effectively - Sex Pistols - Ramones - Dead Kennedys - Stiff Little Fingers In liamland anyway

[3pidemiC]

I'm going to go with the USA. I do have a handful of bands that I like from the UK, but they are grossly outnumbered by US bands. I prefer modern American punk (late 80's to present) over anything the UK has produced in that genre. I'm not a big fan of early punk, although I do respect it. I'm a huge ska fan, which again to my preference, contains more American bands that UK bands.

[bassman]

I can't choose one. Good choices on both sides. The origins of rock come from the US so that gives it a bit of an edge, imo. But still can't decide...