Who do you consider to be the most individually talented group?

Good point... however I saw the farewell tour and lemme tell you..Alex was definitely the hero of the night!

 

CSNY.

 

Shirley you joke

Jagger isn't remotely as talented a singer as John Lennon (or Paul for that matter)

 

Gort, Klaatu Barada Nikto....

Great avatar, Phil147. Nice to see GAC on the forum

 

It was Steven Wilson's 'Raven...' band!

SW
Marco Minnemann
Guthrie Govan
Nick Beggs
Theo Travis
Adam Holzman

Absolutely stunning band in every department.

 

Genesis
This band is a sum of impressive talents, not only as performers but as composers. All the members are first class composers. Whether you like the music of these guys or not, there is no doubt that there are few bands with this kind of talent.

The Police is a similar case but not on the same level of Genesis at least as composers.

 

Every band that has been mentioned is the winner, IMO.
I'm gonna throw in my vote for The Band...

 

The live album "Shadows and Light" boasts an incredibly talented band, overflowing with skill, with the amazing Jaco Pastorius, Pat Metheny, Lyle Mays, Don Alias, and Michael Brecker.
Led by Joni Mitchell.

The line-up on "Shadows and Light" delivers Joni’s music ambitiously, it’s served grand and cinematic.

That is due to the always inventive bass work of the great Jaco Pastorius, cinematic guitar of Pat Metheny, and the rich coloring of Lyle Mays.
The whole ensemble makes her songs come to life; adding a sumptuous layer of melodic flavor to her music.
The sheer talent is astounding and gorgeous.

It's a great example of how her studio work can be successfully elevated and magnified to an epic scale.

I always wonder what a studio album, by the same talents, would sound like...

 

If songwriting counts (and shouldn't it?), then the obvious answer is the Beatles

If its pure musicianship, skill at their instruments - The Wrecking Crew

 

Booker T. and the M.G.’s

Sonic Youth

 

It's hard to argue with Cream or the Who or several of the great fusion bands but I think an argument can be made for Yes as well. Bruford, Wakeman, and Squire stack up well against anybody. Howe is certainly credible (and fits perfectly) and Jon Anderson is a talented and distinctive front man. IMO they are also the perfect example of the whole being greater than the sum of the parts.

 

I get jokes.

 

Chemistry is the vital aspect. There have been some lame super groups.

 

Utopia's 1976-86 lineup:

Todd Rundgren - We all know how talented he is. He's a friggin virtuoso!
Kasim Sulton - A great tenor singer and bassist as well!
Roger Powell - A wizard on the synthesizer! Singing isn't exactly his strength, though.
Willie Wilcox - Hmm... let me think about that one!

 

Agreed and agreed

 

The Who always comes to mind first. Keith, John and Roger are all top 5 at their respective spots and Townshend is at worst criminally underrated as a guitarist but probably highly regarded as a song writer.

My under the radar nominee would be Jefferson Starship during the Aynsley Dunbar years.

 

I second Rockpile - Dave Edmunds, Nick Lowe, Billy Bremmer, and Terry Williams. All are top notch musicians.

 

A very difficult question for me to answer.
Depends completely on the genre; different criteria for different genres.
How can you can compare The Who,, Beatles etc. to the Miles Davis, John Coltrane 1960 combos? And then there's the Mahavishnu Orchestra and the various Zappa bands.
While all had incredibly talented individuals, some had amazing song writing; others instrumentalists, improvisation, etc. So not sure how to pick one objectively.
Subjectively, I'd pick the late 60s Miles Davis Quintet. Off the scale talent all round.

 

Beatles & Yes are the two that come immediately to my mind

 

That early Tangerine Dream line up with Edgar Froese, Conrad Schnitzler and Klaus Schulze all in the same band was pretty decent.

 

First one popped into my head was Cream.
Also thought of the Allman Brothers.

 

So, so many! I'll add an angle...
Best way for me to tell; is look at the work individual members have done outside the group in question.

Example:
Benny Goodman Quartet.
Each member had an amazing career outside that group.

 

Third World

 

Queen