Opeth. Mikael Akerfeldt must be one of the greatest songwriters of all time. They don't have even one bad song. They're also very skilled at their instruments, the ultimate band from my point of view.
I find it odd people can say bands like Linkin Park and Three Days Grace. Both of whom, over 75% of the songs follow the same exact structure. Pretty un-creative. Also doesn't help that you can pretty much learn and play through each song on an instrument with little effort, as there was little effort put into them. I think a real 'best band of all time' needs to have a lot of musicianship, both in creative songwriting and skilled instrumentation.
I would probably say At The Gates, for a number of reasons. They were a huge influence (if not perhaps the founders or creators) of the melodic death metal genre in the early 90s. They were all extremely talented and diverse musicians (see songs from The Red In The Sky Is Ours compared to Slaughter of the Soul, quite different) who retained the same lineup (minus one guitarist) throughout their career.
When Anders decided to call it quits, they didn't try to replace him. There was such a comradeship between them all, they decided to end it there. They knew what they accomplished was special and couldn't be topped without Anders, as one tight-knit group. Even with their reunion as of last year, they are the same five guys as it was back in 1996.
That's something very rare, and the music they've created is among some of the most catchy, yet most technical, and heavy, unique style of music I've heard. I'm not even a huge fan of the first two albums they put out, but in terms of bands I've ever listened to, I'd consider them among the best...
Unbiasdley (though I like them alot) The Beatles are the best band most popular, most succesful, very unfluential etc. However my favourite "Best Band of ALL TIME" has to be The Who 4 members who are up there as the best at what they do. Certainly Entwistle and Moon asre the best at their respective instruments. And they have some great songs that are still popular as well as being hugely influential.
I just have to say that hend6 is so right. I totally agree with him and though I've have never listened much to At The Gates I think we agree on what good music is.
*clears throat* I realize what I did before was kind of spamming. Now I'll give the reasons why Disturbed is the best band ever. It's really long, so if you need to use the bathroom, do it now, before reading this. Or if you don't feel like reading all this, skip to the very bottom and you'll get the basic thrust of this whole thing. They've really evolved. From the metal of their first album, The Sickness, to the softer, more rock-like sound of Believe, to the hard rock/alternate metal of Ten Thousand Fists, finally to the nu metal of Indestructible, I really do think that they've evolved as a band and aren't just one genre with all their albums sounding the same, which is a problem for several other bands. Let's cover the members separately.
David Draiman(vocals/lyrics): Draiman is truly a brilliant singer. From the passionate staccato displayed(in varying degrees) on The Sickness, (less so) on Ten Thousand Fists, and (making a comeback) on Indestructible. He can also deliver melodies really well. Beautiful voice. So he can do both metal(if you doubt me, check out Down With The Sickness), and soft, melodic music(if you doubt me, check out Darkness). And let's definitely not forget his signature OWAHAHAHA! The lyrics are really good. Not only do they always go with the flow of the song and compliment it well, each and every one of them has a hidden meaning underneath the surface,from politics to religion to war to mental illnesses to deaths in the family to cheating girlfriends. They're delivered passionately and with thought behind them. And they're also something that you can just bang your head to if you want.
Dan Donegan(lead guitarist): Donegan is an excellent guitarist. There are several guitarists who can play faster than him, but his notes are never slurred, they're always clear and go with the song. And he too, can do any and all genres, following Disturbed. He's a very good solo artist and brilliant at devising notes, from the brutality of The Sickness to the softer Believe to hard rock Ten Thousand Fists to nu metal Indestructible. And once again, let me say that his solos are brilliant.
John Moyer(bass guitarist): He may be a replacement for former bassist Fuzz but he is pretty good(even though Fuzz was, in my opinion, better =[ )I truly have nothing good to say about him, so I shall say nothing at all.
Mike Wengren(drummer): He truly is a good drummer. You can't hear about half of his work in the songs, but he's evolved with the band and supports the songs very well, with cymbals in some places, drumrolls on a regular basis, snare, bass, and the rest of things you can't hear, without which the songs would be much more boring.
That's a pretty shitty support. . . . Having technical skill doesn't make a good band. Disturbed shows that well. Your 'logic' is missing several critical pieces. The members don't make the band- the songs make the band, and Disturbed's skill is wasted most of the time with their crappish songs.
oh, about the eternal disturbed analizing review, they lyrics in down with the sickness are... you know... an awesome part where... oh the lyrics are the most violent thing ever. It is awesome though.
Led Zeppelin. C'mon now. Robert Plant has one of the most memorable voices, John Bonham, one of the greatest drummers of all time along with Neil Peart and Alex Van Halen, John Paul Jones, a musical deity, and Jimmy Page, who is one of the greatest guitarists of all time. Great songs like Kashmir, Whole Lotta Love, Good Times Bad Times, Stairway to Heaven, Since I've Been Loving You, Moby Dick, Bron-Yr-Aur Stomp, the list could go further, but that's where I'll end it.
In conclusion to what? You can't even keep the genres of their albums straight. You say that 'The Sickness' is metal where as 'Indestructible' is nu-metal? I lost interest in Disturbed after 'The Sickness', when they got soft and generic, but it was definitely more nu-metal then than it is now.
David is an okay vocalist, but I've heard far better vocalists. Their lyrics aren't that fantastic either (see Down With The Sickness for some pretty bland, thoughtless junk).
Dan is nothing special in a guitarist. Pretty much anyone who puts enough work into a guitar can play a solo, but he doesn't have any feeling to it. Nor do the songs he and the rest of the band write have much substance. It's typically a verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus pattern, like any other pop songs out there.
The bass just follows the guitar most of the time, it's hardly even worth noting that they have a bassist.
Mike is a standard drummer, just like many others. He doesn't really stand out to me. He doesn't have the melody or the intricacies of say, the Erlandsson brothers, nor the intensity of perhaps Derek Roddy or Gene Hoglan.
Really, I think Disturbed is an abomination of the genre they try to emulate. They want to be a heavy, hard hitting rock band with poppy song structures and generic songs. Sure, they're popular, but best band ever? I definitely disagree.
Nickelback is a great band. They have a lot of awesome songs that I listen to a lot!
