Is American Classic Rock underrated?

Nowadays, when I hear people talk about classic rock, The only bands they seem to mention are The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Queen, The Doors, Led Zeppelin, U2, and The Who. Completely ignored are The Eagles, Chicago, The Doobie Brothers, Three Dog Night, Steely Dan, Bruce Springsteen, Journey, Billy Joel, Jackson Browne, Boston and so many others. Why is British classic rock more famous than American classic rock? Please understand that I love those British bands. I just think that there are a lot of great artists that don't get the respect they deserve. (edited)

edited 11th Feb '14 4:44:39 PM by batfan

I recognize almost all of those bands as HUGE successes, at least in the states.

I suppose the very biggest names are from the UK but the idea of Bruce Springsteen and Boston being ignored is very new to me.

edited 11th Feb '14 4:04:39 PM by DrStarky

I based most of this on what I read online. I guess I mean ignored by the internet. And maybe ignored wasn't the right word. I'm mostly speaking comparatively. Compared to The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, even The Boss can get sidelined. Basically what I mean is that I have yet to see a list of the greatest rock bands ever that included The Eagles, Chicago, and yes, even Sprigsteen. I'm glad you agree with me. I'm talking more wide scale than that.

edited 11th Feb '14 4:13:30 PM by batfan

Those bands are still huge though. Sure they might not be as big as the brits but on the overall scale of rock stardom they're still giants in their own right.

I think this has less to do with American bands being under appreciated and more to do with those British bands you mentioned being just that big.

One of the biggest reasons I started this thread was to see if I was crazy for even thinking about it. Of course I think those bands are huge. From where I'm standing, though, they're severely underrated. Underrated being the key word here. Not "Are they still big names?" Instead, it's "are they given the respect and recognition they deserve?" My question is whether the greatnes if those Brittish bands swallowing the American Bands?

edited 11th Feb '14 4:22:25 PM by batfan

Not really. Even non-elitists of music appreciation tend to viciously mock both Journey and The Eagles, I'm not exactly sure why. They're still fondly remembered and are played up in pop culture that throws back to their respective decades, but they aren't taken nearly as seriously as the Brit bands you listed, which I think's a pretty big shame.

As for the others, it varies I think.

Yes, that's what I mean! I consider The Eagles to be one of the greatest rock bands ever. In pop culture, though, they're laughed at. Is it a style thing? Also, I'm afraid that those other bands like Chicago and Jackson Browne are just going to fade into obscurity. Which, like you said, is a shame.

edited 11th Feb '14 4:35:06 PM by batfan

Eh, Jackson Browne was a pretty huge singer-songwriter, one of the first huge successes in that department, so I doubt he's gonna be forgotten anytime soon. As for Chicago, their early (read: only good) hits still get tons of airplay and respect.

Honestly, you really need to just keep in mind that when it comes to music, Fan Myopia cones into play 100x stronger. There are tons of people who hate The Beatles and disrespect their contributions, just as there are tons of people who would probably argue that the 1901 Fruitgum Company are the true musical legends of the '60s. Even music critics are inconsistent. Just gotta roll with it.

Classic Rock is underrated?

I'm sorry, have I stumbled into some kind of alternate universe?

edited 12th Feb '14 5:22:03 AM by Jinxmenow

Not all classic rock. American classic rock. And maybe a more accurate word is underappreciated. The why I see it, modern society tends to view most of them as old fossils; great in their time, but all but irrelevant nowadays. The music industry and pop culture has changed so much in the past decade. I'm talking about a much larger phenomenon.

edited 12th Feb '14 5:50:16 AM by batfan

Just because it kind of bugged me, I have to mention that one of the bands in the OP's first list are American: The Doors. Arguably an odd mistake to make too, as they're heavily associated with Los Angeles - It's not "London Woman", after all. At any rate, I'd be willing to wager that The Doors and Bruce Springsteen are probably the two American acts who get the most play on American classic rock radio.

Dang, how can I miss that? Despite being on the airwaves a lot, The Doors has only little discography due to how short-lived the band was. From what I hear, they get the least radio time compared to the other bands mentioned.

My answer to the thread name: if you look in the right places, it can be anything.

I'd argue that classic rock before the Beatles is even more underrated, and that was mostly Americans!

edited 13th Feb '14 7:02:30 AM by Aldo930

Eh, considering how revered the names of Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Buddy Holly, and others are, I'd say rock 'n roll gets some pretty good love.

Now, doo-wop, there's a genre that gets too much flack.

Yeah, this is true enough. It feels like The Doors get a lot of airplay relative to their output, but there's only six studio albums to choose from ^note  technically nine, but it's not like you're ever gonna hear something from the three albums from after Jim Morrison's death, being two The Band Minus the Face albums and one Posthumous Collaboration, with the self-titled album probably having the highest concentration of classic rock radio staples.

edited 13th Feb '14 11:05:06 AM by MikeK

Yeah it was honest mistake, I though the Doors were British. But still, modern pop culture tends to remember The Does more fondly than Eagles. To me, The Doors and Jimi Hendrix are outliers.

Doowop doesn't get enough love, I agree.

A lot of people seem to have the notion that so-called "frivolous" stuff like that is a waste of time. Far from it. It's incredibly fun stuff, as is most pre-Beatles rock (and some after, like Frank Zappa).

In fact, the concept of incredibly fun music is itself underrated.

edited 13th Feb '14 12:03:15 PM by Aldo930

Wait, six albums is too little in terms of discography?

New York Dolls and Sex Pistols laughed.

And all those too.

edited 13th Feb '14 10:27:09 PM by Quag15

And The Velvet Underground, NEU!, The Dead Kennedys, My Bloody Valentine, Nirvana, The Stooges, Magazine, Sleep, Young Marble Giants, This Heat, Rollerskate Skinny, Medicine, Xanopticon, Fall Of Because, Ludus...

And Simon And Garfunkel.

^note (Though they made it to 5 albums, I suppose.)

And Rage Against The Machine

And any of the bands listed in One-Book Author's music section.

Go on. Go on. I'm reading. I'm still interested.

Damn, that reminds me that Rob Dougan is probably never going to make another album.

I am sad.