Which Band Contained The Most Great Musicians?

Question

I would have to say it's either
Yes Rush or Led Zeppelin
Yes has the phenomenal Keyboards of Rick Wakeman, the Bass of Chris Squire and the guitar of Steve Howe...all virtuosos of their respective instruments
Rush had Geddy Lee and Neal Peart..considered by many to be the best Bassist and Drummer in all of Rock
And of course Zep has the guitar wizardry of Jimmy Page and John Bonham's amazingly intricate and brutally powerful drumming

But it's your opinion I want....
What Band has the greatest collection of virtuos musicians in it in all of Rock? And Why?

Answer 1

Won't rehash any previous answer, but Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, if this is about pure technical virtuosity, are a pretty good left-field choice: they can play.

Some other less obvious ones:

Weather Report (Joe Zawinul, Wayne Shorter, Jaco Pastorius, a host of top-notch players like Chester Thompson etc. Only problem is, they were so unstable, it seems like everyone played for them : )

King Crimson (Robert Fripp, Adrian Belew, Tony Levin - all highly respected "musician's musicians")

Parliament / Funkadelic (Eddie Hazel, Bootsy Collins, Bernie Worrell etc - some pretty serious talent)

Rainbow (over their whole messy history, at least 4-5 names, besides RB himself)

And any musician who's been in a Frank Zappa backing band should feel pretty secure about his skills, given the notoriously tough auditions, complexity of the music, and the demands of the composer himself.

Answer 2

I agree with you on Led Zeppelin and Rush.
Led Zeppelin had Jimmy Page, one of the greatest guitarists of all time. They had John Paul Jones who played like... every instrument known to man? Keyboards, bass, mandolin, geesh. What else? Robert Plant, I've never seen anybody play the tambourine like him, haha! And who could forget the sonic boom drumming of John Bonham. 2 words explain that, Moby Dick.

Rush, oh man, Rush. Geddy Lee is a masterbasser for sure. Neal Peart? I am a drummer and to see that guy solo... wow. Jealous.

I would also have to say the Traveling Wilburys. Bob Dylan, Jeff Lynne, George Harrison, Tom Petty, and Roy Orbison, with all them in a room, you're bound to have magic.

Merry late Christmas Darth!

Answer 3

You wanted an opinion? Watch out.
Hope your Holidays have been sweet so far, man.
Your question brought to my mind something just a bit different; I was thinking about the bands that have had many members go through their ranks while recording. The first one that came to mind was the Yardbirds. Just the guitarists alone reads like a Who's Who of Rock: Jeff Beck; Jimmy Page; Eric Clapton. Then there's The Bluesbreakers: the list continues to grow. My special nod goes to what may be considered the best non-band ever for talent, and that would be Steely Dan. Besides the principals Becker and Fagan, they have enjoyed the talents of Denny Dias; Jeff "Skunk" Baxter; Larry Carlton (my pick for best studio axeman); and Rick Derringer, to name a few. As far as the drummers, to steal a liner note from one of Traffic's early albums, even the sweat dropped off most of their drummers in time to whatever cadence was being delivered. Anyway, that's my two cents for subsequent dissection.

Answer 4

The Beatles-Self explanatory quite. They replaced previous all acceptance from the clean confronted pop stars who sang approximately desirous to hold your hand into the experimental 4 who gave us 'an afternoon interior the life'. thinking they have been released their first studio album in 1963 and their final in 1970 and adjusted the international of music perpetually,no band has got here close to to emulating their repute and commericial fulfillment. The Smiths-yet another band with an stunning music writing duo-Morrissey and Marr,they have been the perfect indie band and the blueprint for different,much less proficient bands to attempt and replica,i.e. Interpol, The Killers, Suede. the hardship with those bands grow to be/is they have not got a songwriter of the calibre of Morrissey.he's the final lyricist the united kingdom has ever produced, the massive apple Dolls-The band The intercourse Pistols needed they could nicely be. humorous,clever,and floor breaking. The Ramones,The intercourse Pistols, conversing Heads and a lot of greater owe a extensive debt to The Dolls

Answer 5

Hey Darth. Happy Holidays, man!

Both Iron Maiden and Metallica come to mind for me. Iron Maiden has phenomenal musicians in every category. Metallica does as well.

The drummers from both bands are great. The bass player from Maiden, Steve Harris, is amazing. Kirk Hammett has played some of the most remarkable leads in metal history, as have Adrian Smith and Dave Murray of Maiden.

For some strange reason, most of the modern metal and rock bands can't compare.

I wonder why this is. Is it because we are growing more lazy as a society? It takes hard work and perseverance to play really great guitar leads.

Answer 6

I was gonna start with Led Zeppelin, but I see you've already talked about them. :)

The Beatles, for their unique compositions.. No two Beatles songs are alike.. Paul McCartney and John Lennon, the two main singers and songwriters were equally talented. The lead guitarist was great as well. And Ringo Starr's drumming, which helped to give the Beatles their very distinct sound..

I am tempted to say Pink Floyd, except i am not really a fan of Rick Wright.. aside from him, I think Floyd has the greatest collection of virtuous musicians.. Waters, Guilmour, Barrett and Mason.

Answer 7

For the MOST (6) great musicians that is easy!

The Plastic Ono Band with:
John Lennon
Eric Clapton
George Harrison
Alan White
Ringo Starr
Keith Moon
I left out Yoko for good reason (you did say Great musicians).

For the most at one time I would say The Traveling Wilburys:
George Harrison
Bob Dylan
Tom Petty
Jeff Lynne
Roy Orbison

Answer 8

This is such a subjective thing that there really isn't any right or wrong answer here. And this might sound even more insane but I'm not sure what difference it makes. I'm not necessarily picking my favorite bands out because of their individual members qualifying for some sort of rock skills all star team. I could just as easily claim NIN has had the greatest assortment of musicians, despite the fact that the members are constantly in flux.

Answer 9

I'll agree with you on Led Zeppelin, Darth, but I would also have to say :~

Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac / Fleetwood Mac

Right from the start they have had they wonderful, solid rhythm section of Mick Fleetwood & John McVie. From '69 onward they were blessed with the piano / keyboard / organ talents of Christine McVie, who actually thinks of herself as part of the rhythm section. And then there's the guitarists : Blues expert Peter Green, {whose tenure in the Blues Breakers spawned the legend "Green Is God" on walls all over London, before he was superceded by Eric Clapton}, Jeremy Spencer & Danny Kirwan, and finally the very under-rated Lindsey Buckingham ~ a self-taught guitarist who can't read music.

And Dire Straits are bloody good, too!

Answer 10

I have three answers for this. Iron Maiden, Metallica, and, Rush.

I think Iron Maiden because they have the singing of Bruce Dickinson, the basslines of Steve Harris, and the guitar of Dave Murray.

I said Metallica because they had the masterful bass of Cliff Burton, the memorable riffing and singing of James Hetfield, the great soloing of Kirk Hammett, and the powerful drumming of Lars Ulrich.

I think Rush because of the basslines of Geddy Lee and the drumming of Neil Peart.

Happy Holidays!