Are the Eagles the greatest band of all time?

[Delilah]

What I will say next is why questions like this are hard: I would also put Black Sabbath somewhere near the top of that list. They are to heavy metal what the Bible is to Christianity. However, they are the polar opposite end of the rock scale to the Eagles, yet both arguably contributed to the same wider topic: how do you critique and contrast?!

Who is Black Sabbath influencing now? I’m asking b/c I honestly don’t know—how popular is heavy metal these days? There’s no question that the Eagles have had a big influence on today’s country music, which is a very popular genre at least in the U.S.

It's very hard to compare bands as there are different ways of measuring. I wouldn't want to define bands based on sales, which is the only objective way of comparing bands that I can think of.

Clearly in terms of making a big splash, influencing other bands, being talked about, having a large and enduring fanbase, and being remembered long after their heyday, Eagles are up there with the best of them. I'm not sure Eagles are as innovative as other bands. I can't think of an Eagles album where you can say 'This album changed music'. It's more that they wanted to aim for maximum quality over doing something truly new.

I would add Google trends, # of streams/YT views and books published/sold as possible objective measures of popularity and influence.


As for the OP’s question, it’s difficult to pick just one “greatest” band. If absolutely forced to I’d say Led Zeppelin, not b/c they’re my favorite (they’re not) but b/c their music was so different and innovative. They probably influenced hard rock/heavy metal as much as anyone. They were still being discussed and listened to by my high school and college friends long after their hey-day. How many of their peers had their music featured as cool date songs in movies like Fast Times at Ridgmont High, an 80s movie?

[Freypower]

Who is Black Sabbath influencing now? I’m asking b/c I honestly don’t know—how popular is heavy metal these days? There’s no question that the Eagles have had a big influence on today’s country music, which is a very popular genre at least in the U.S.



I would add Google trends, # of streams/YT views and books published/sold as possible objective measures of popularity and influence.


As for the OP’s question, it’s difficult to pick just one “greatest” band. If absolutely forced to I’d say Led Zeppelin, not b/c they’re my favorite (they’re not) but b/c their music was so different and innovative. They probably influenced hard rock/heavy metal as much as anyone. They were still being discussed and listened to by my high school and college friends long after their hey-day. How many of their peers had their music featured as cool date songs in movies like Fast Times at Ridgmont High, an 80s movie?

The origignal Ridgemont High soundtrackt did not feature any Led Zeppelin songs. (It did have four tracks by ex-Eagles, though).

https://www.allmusic.com/album/fast-...4/user-reviews

However I see that another version was released featuring Kashmir.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083929/soundtrack

There is no question that the Eagles influenced country music in the US, but if we are talking about the greatest band of all time worldwide, that isn't a factor. We have a very minor country music industry here in Australia & that's it.

[thelastresort]

Who is Black Sabbath influencing now? I’m asking b/c I honestly don’t know—how popular is heavy metal these days? There’s no question that the Eagles have had a big influence on today’s country music, which is a very popular genre at least in the U.S.

Metal certainly isn't as mainstream as it used to be (sadly both the US and UK now feel much more comfortable with totally inoffensive hogswash like Taylor Swift or Coldplay as popular music), but the odd new act does still surface where you can hear Sabbath in them - Royal Blood and Inglorious are two which crop up on the radio a bit. Modern US country in all honesty isn't really a thing in England at least - whilst you will find hoards of people who love the 'classic' country-based artists such as the Eagles, Poco, Johnny Cash or Elvis; you would be hard-pressed to find similar awareness of the likes of Brad Paisley or Miranda Lambert. Scotland or Ireland are generally different to be fair, there country music is much more mainstream.

Anyway, back to Sabbath. Where their primary accolades lie is the list of bands of the earlier bands whom they influenced: Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Metallica, Anthrax, Alice in Chains and Megadeth for example. Their style of play also invented doom metal, which in turn spawned several dozen other bands and god only knows how many subgenres. The exact reason I used the Bible analogy is because I believe it true - though we will never see a New Wave of British Heavy Metal-type invasion again, practically every last heavy metal band can be traced back to what Sabbath did in their first five albums. It really is impossible to overstate their influence on hard rock, heavy metal and its now numerous subgenres.

[chaim]

I wasn't trying to look at it from a "totally objective, evidence gathered and examined" point of view. I was just saying what I personally think is the greatest band ever. Not the same as my favorite band. Greatest. I don't think this thread needs to be dead serious. I'm not sure what exactly the OP meant though.

[YoungEaglesFan]

I wasn't trying to look at it from a "totally objective, evidence gathered and examined" point of view. I was just saying what I personally think is the greatest band ever. Not the same as my favorite band. Greatest. I don't think this thread needs to be dead serious. I'm not sure what exactly the OP meant though.

This could be taken anyway one wants it to, I was just curious to see if anyone actually believed the eagles were the greatest band of all time