Who was the most average successful rock band in history?

Wow - excellent call! I don't dislike them, they've been around for 2 decades or so, they've had lots of success - but damned if they've penned one memorable melody in all that time...

 

Seldom have there been any statements more IMO!

 

One big flaw with this argument is the riffs. All those friggin' primordial riffs weren't random coincidences.

 

The odd thing is I think he is far from an 'average' guitarist. He seems to want to play down his ability as a soloist for some reason. He's phenomenal when he wants to be.

 

Heard another band that fits this thread on the radio today:

Loverboy

 

Nazareth
Uriah Heep

Very average....love them both

 

Kings of Leon. Not bad, not good, not fire, not ice. Lukewarm water.

 

Matter of opinion I guess. To me those riffs weren't that special...just average.

 

Blue Öyster Cult

 

Counting Crows

 

I would say two with some downtown hipster cred and two mainstream artists with virtually no hip factor. I did that intentionally.

 

Except for all the unbelievably great songs and the spectacular singing.

 

For me personally, my idea of an average band is one that could play and write music, had a few hits, maybe an album that even went gold or platinum, but never really pushed the envelope and at the end of the day NOBODY selects them as a musical influence. They follow trends. They certainly don't create them.

Using this definition, a lot of the bands that have been listed don't qualify as "average". You personally may not think bands like the Beatles, Ramones, or AC/DC had much in the way of musical skill, but they must have something about them to excite their fans the way they do. You just don't become legends by being average.

 

Aerosmith

 

Yes, influence would factor into averageness. Some bands are competent and influence no-one, even if they have some hits.

 

U2

 

This is the first response that came close to making me mad. Almost. CIZIN, YOU BASTARD!!!

 

I dislike Bono to the core, but they're pretty influential. They certainly influenced average band Coldplay, for one.

Has anybody mentioned Incubus yet?

 

Exactly there is nothing average about the musicianship at a Springsteen concert. People have strange ideas about what counts as musicianship in this thread

 

Wasn't Love & Fiber the title of the last Springsteen album?

 

It's a one hundred way tie starting with

• Journey
• Toto
• Asia
• Foreigner
• Kansas
• REO
• etc, etc

 

Every band. Ever.

 

Genesis, post-Peter Gabriel.
Molly Hatchet
38 Special
John Cougar Mellencamp
J Geils Band

 

+1 on the Foo Foghters. A handful of great songs, wouldn't shut them off the car radio, but rarely better than "OK". The very model of a 6.3 rock band.

 

No band. Ever.
Every band was a special little snowflake.