What exactly makes The Rolling Stones "the greatest rock and roll band in the world"? Is it the record sales? How many women Wyman has slept with? Don't get me wrong, I love the Stones, but there's got to be something deeper than that. My theory is there is NOBODY that is the greatest, but what The Stones did excel at was marketing. Would you still think they were the "greatest" if every article or book you've read about them omitted that description or if there wasn't that intro on Get Your Ya Ya's Out and other concerts. I believe they have brainwashed us, or we've done it to ourselves, into THINKING that they are the greatest rock and roll band. Is it the songs? What exactly makes their songs greater than others? Is it the chemistry? Surely lots of bands have chemistry. Is it the clothes they wore? I really feel like this would make a great thesis for university or something. If that phrase that some of you hold near and dear to your hearts did not exist, would you still think they were the greatest? An intellectual conversation about this topic is needed, not just a simple "stones rule, everyone else sucks" comment.

It's just that old Straycat that does it for me

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2009-10-08 22:40 by NICOS.

my immediate response is always that rock'n'roll ain't a contest, so there is no greatest. we all have our faves...the stones are one of mine and prolly one of yours, too.

The Stones are probably the "greatest"(most successful) liveact ever. Otherwise the great, greater, greatest blah blah is marketing. What makes the Stones unique is their groove, you like it or you do not. If somebody does not like the Stonesgroove it is pointless to try to convince him. There is another thing only the Stones managed to create: A charismatic mixture of the power of american blues, sex, and english decadence.

"the greatest rock and roll band in the world"

A combination of a fantastic, raw, dark, sexy, devilish rock / blues music played by a great band with a very good chemistry that could care less about any other than themselves.

And of course, the cream of the cream that lifts them to the very best is their front man - then king of the king, the best perfomer: Mr. Jagger.
No one better than him, no one equal to him - the very basic truth.

Fandom is a funny thing. Many people latch on to various pop culture things due to push out their own projected images. When it gets to the point where one's own identity takes a backseat is where you get the probelms.

Anytime I hear (or read) people frothing at the mouth in anger over anyone dissing what they've attached themselves too, be it music, movies, tv, I kind of feel sorry for them.

You see it everywhere, but the net is an espcially brutal place for this, namely in forums like this one. So much arguing and debate is to be expected... but when it gets ugly or personal it's only a sign of other peoples' over-compensation for not valuing themselves as a whole.

I mean really... for example, the only person who should have any emotional reaction or concern to someone slamming Keiths' playing in the last 10 years should be Keith himself, or other people directly involved with him or the band.

Getting hot under the collar over what does or doesn't get re-released or remastered... really??

My point is... measuring The Stones against other bands is going to happen. That kind of discussing can be enjoyable. But when people fight and get all personal about it, that`s more than being brainwashed by The Stones Mythos, that`s letting it take you over until you`re soulwashed.

[thepowergoats.com]

Well the marketing has always exceeded the record sales!

I'm not brainwashed,just prefer my rock and roll like this...

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still ill
Well the marketing has always exceeded the record sales!

I'm not brainwashed,just prefer my rock and roll like this...

And playing Let It Rock on top of that!

CBII

That's an easy one...There is no better RnR band!!

You wanna challenge that statement izzy??

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dewlover
That's an easy one...There is no better RnR band!!

You wanna challenge that statement izzy??

i'll challenge it. based on what criteria?

I'm still waiting for a name...

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CBII

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still ill
Well the marketing has always exceeded the record sales!

I'm not brainwashed,just prefer my rock and roll like this...

And playing Let It Rock on top of that!

The funny thing is,though it's your dads song,i think i was to pick a performance that defined what makes or made them great i would pick that one.Just a relentless rocking swinging groove topped off by a swaggering Jagger vocal.Rock with the Roll.

pouring out this avalanche of glorious raunch,
"they gave everybody courage for years and years and years"

in the evenings and in the mornings,
when we set out on our journeys and when we return home,
we shall speak of them

Greatest front-man + Greatest rhythm guitar player + one of the greatest drummers (who with BW makes superb rhythm section + many of the greatest songs written in rock + amazing live performances + doing it when rock counted most (60s and 70s)= Greatest band

i think there's a tendency to confuse the terms "greatest" with "favorite" - the latter doesn't need qualification, the former does and nobody's doing good job of that....

just compare them with anybody else and the answer is easy. They ARE and will forever be The greatest!!

the intellectual discourse on this site truly astounds....

It´s just a label which developed and created the myth...

Wasn´t it Muhammad Ali (probably as Cassius Clay) who created the term and personnel
connection to perfection probably first ?

Not sure about it and whether there might be any "term connection" (the greatest this and that...)or link to Ali,but for sure the myth is still cultivated nowadays.

Greatest ........ Well if The Stones ain't then who is ??



ROCKMAN

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Rockman
Greatest ........ Well if The Stones ain't then who is ??

Help.....Rockman is brainwashed...

.........Have been for years..........



ROCKMAN

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Rockman
.........Have been for years..........

Right, there you go. Plus, you got to just have the balls to call yourself "The Greatest" to begin with, and carry yourself as such. That IMO is the only way to be "The Greatest" because otherwise it is just like T&A says: there only is "The Favorite".

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T&A
the intellectual discourse on this site truly astounds....

so you don't have an answer? T&A you're ready to stur the S*** Pot aren't you?

Sure, it's marketing - a slogan someone came up. But that does not answer @#$%&'s question. After all, innumerable bands have been labelled "the greatest", and the label has not sticked. So it's not enough to come up with a title, and it's not enough to publish it endless times; somehow, it must meet something in the mind of the receiver.

I think the relevance of the title now is due primarily to longevity.

The Beatles stopped too early, and the reformed bands come accross as a bit of has-beens; regardless of the drop in quality, the Stones have enough continuity and consistency to go directly back to the birth of rock n'roll. That sets them beyond the bands that retired, and out of reach of the young ones, just as bluesmen who are born today will never equal the prestige of those from the forties.

Any new band will be measured against the Stones, but the very fact that the Stones are the standard means they cannot be beaten, if that makes sense.

In paris, there is the standard metre; no piece of metal in the world can be closer to a meter than the standard meter. The Stones are the standard rock band, therefore the 'best', in the sense that everybody MUST be compared to them, but they can't be compared to anyone.

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More Hot Rocks

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T&A
the intellectual discourse on this site truly astounds....

so you don't have an answer? T&A you're ready to stur the S*** Pot aren't you?

i gave you mine - this ain't a contest - therefore there ain't no greatest. that's as intellectual as i'll get - don't wanna elevate the level beyond others' ability to comprehend.

they are the greatest for me... I just know it, it's chemistry... ;-) love affair, we're all brainwashed in this or that way.

Don´t wanna insist on my theory,just watch if you´re interested...




...some call it chemistry,or charisma combined with certain abilities,
but interesting enough the term connected with The Stones appeared for the first
time when they started to perform live seriously after almost three years,if I´m not wrong.

A certain self-consciousness seems to be very helpful sometimes...

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T&A
i think there's a tendency to confuse the terms "greatest" with "favorite"

I think you're onto something there.
Let's say there's two roads in your town. One road has a beautiful view of a lake or whatever, it holds a special meaning to your life, maybe you saw a parade on this road honouring your father who just came back from the war. BUT, the road is full of potholes and it's rather difficult to drive on. Then there's another road that is perfectly paved and it provides easy access to the necessities of life, such as groceries and gas and whatnot. The person in question could consider the first road their favourite, but is it the best road in town? No. But, psychologically, that pothole-filled road would register in that person's mind as the greatest. Now, this person spreads the word all over town that this pot-filled road is the best in town and people start to believe it and they spread it themselves to more people, that is brainwash. That is my point. That it is easy to sway a person's opinion by telling them something over and over again. I'm obviously not a psych-major, so don't blame me if I'm not making any sense

No, I think it's a good analogy.
So we have all been down that pothole filled road with our bag full of memories, and love the road. Lots of other folks whizzing by on the new super highway shaking their heads at the idiots on the cobblestones.

<<just compare them with anybody else and the answer is easy>>

You can't. There's no relevant measure(s) that makes the set of r'n'r bands totally ordered - not even partially ordered
...all this comparing, ranking bands/artists is just pure nonsense