Greatest British bands of all time?

Yeah I gotta say the Beatles too! So influential. And the songs are still good today.
so many good bands to come out of the UK, hard to pick "the greatest" though.

IMO, there is little doubt that The Beatles are the Greatest British Band. They have influenced rock music more than any other rock band in history. As much as I love Kiss (an American Band), I would have to say The Beatles are the greatest rock band in history.

Originally Posted by Moz

Fleetwood Mac, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, and I gotta say the Beatles. Some other favourites are Emerson, Lake & Palmer and Electric Light Orchestra.

Click to expand...

Is Fleetwood Mac considered a British Band? I know there might be one or two British membors of Fleetwood Mac, but there are a lot of American members of that band as well. I thought they were more of an American band.

I voted other and I choose Queen!

Originally Posted by HopeHacker

Is Fleetwood Mac considered a British Band? I know there might be one or two British membors of Fleetwood Mac, but there are a lot of American members of that band as well. I thought they were more of an American band.

Click to expand...

Well, it was originally a British blues band. The first American joined 5 years after the band began in 1967. There have been 16 members in Fleetwood Mac's history: 10 Brits and 6 Americans. As of right now, there are 2 Americans and 2 Englishmen. So, I consider it an English band with American members.

what happened to The Beatles???

I just could not vote with out the Beatles. From the past post I think they may win even though they are not an option.

What about..
The Who
Pink Floyed
Led Zeppelin

Just to name a few

The Beatles, of course! Followed by the Stones, with the Police and Queen not too far behind.

None of the above! Oh, and The Beatles are so overrated!

OASIS
followed by...
Joy Division
New Order
The Smiths
Stone Roses
Happy Mondays
Suede

black sabbath! i also love ozzy

That's funny that you mention Oasis when they are well known for ripping off the Beatles.

Originally Posted by MissKitties

None of the above! Oh, and The Beatles are so overrated!

OASIS
followed by...
Joy Division
New Order
The Smiths
Stone Roses
Happy Mondays
Suede

Click to expand...

there definatly is far too many great bands to name but in my lifetime, personally, i think the Libertines are amazing as is Morrisey and the Smiths. However, you cannot beat a bit of Beatles or Kinks.

Why not the Beatles or the Rolling Stones?

I suspect if you went by albums sold (on an adjusted basis for the differences in population/time), the top five would be:

The Beatles
The Rolling Stones
Pink Floyd
The Kinks
And for pure entertainment value, Herman's Hermits.

Oh, there are plenty more, and every generation thinks the bands they listen to are more relevant, more skilled, more popular, more whatever than the previously popular bands.

But no one in their right mind could deny the effect the first two of that list had on music around the world. Listening to music released before their appearance and after their appearance would tell the whole story.

Pink Floyd was a barrier-crashing act, with great aspirations to "significance." Some say that they, like Queen, were so concerned with that that they left good music behind.

The Kinks also eventually went for "significance." Some think that they have an answer for every problem. Others say they have a problem with every answer.

And Herman's Hermits were third in financial success after The Beatles and the The Stones. In fact, in 1965, they outsold the Beatles in the U.S! But they never took themselves too seriously.

Virtually every British band after 1965 owed heavy debts to four of those five. Pink Floyd didn't attain their full popularity until a little later than the others.

I pretty much agree with the above post. The top two would have to be The Beatles and The Rolling Stones.

I don't think anyone had a bigger influence on music than the British, especially when it comes to my favorite genre- METAL! Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, and even Deep Purple paved the way for metal, which was underground due to the popularity of punk in the late 70's. With the New Wave of British Heavy Metal bands like Judas Priest, Iron Maiden (my fave), Motorhead, Saxon and Def Leppard (they were awesome before they got all "pop" orientated) paved the way for the emergence of many sub-genres during the 1980's to present day.

Pink Floyd, baby!

Definitely Queen..I love Freddie Mercury the best entertainer of all times...
Led Zeppelin comes second...
then the beatles- I know we all love them and so do I but they're just too slow for me to be placed higher up...

Yeah, shocked that The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Queen, The police....none of them were on the list .......

I'd have to agree with those that say The Beatles and Queen.