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Stop arguing everyone: behold, the ultimate rock band

freddie mercury

Do you ever find yourself discussing who rocked more, Freddie Mercury or Kurt Cobain? Perhaps you find yourself sweating and raising your voice as you constantly become embroiled in debates about whether it was Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page or Slash who could shred the hardest? They’ve been doing just that over at Gigwise.com, where they’ve conducted a poll to find the quartet – vocals, guitar, bass and drums, of course – who’d comprise the ‘ultimate rock band’. Rockin!

Queen frontman Mercury came out on top in the singers' poll, beating Rolling Stone Mick Jagger into second and Cobain into third. Jimi Hendrix won out in the guitarists category, while reports indicate that Flea of Red Hot Chili Peppers was very gracious for the chance to rock the low-end. "Dude, this fuckin' rocks," the rock legend was heard to say.

Keith Moon of The Who’s on drums. More quandaries to have faced real hardcore rockers over the years were finally put to rest – remember when Ozzy Osbourne bit the head off that bat?!?! Yeah, pretty gross! Yeah, that was the most outrageous stunt ever pulled in the history of rock music. The best ever gig to have ever taken place was Queen’s performance at Live Aid.

Anyway, now that’s out of the way we can get down to the root of the matter – who’d be in your ultimate rock band, readers of DrownedinSound? There won’t be a poll ‘cause we can’t be bothered to count it up, but victors should emerge clearly enough from the comments left below. Personally, DiS reckons John Maus, Jamie T, Daniel Treacy and that guy from Tokyo Police Club could do something great together. That'd rock. Rock. Rock?



  • How come DiS likes Jamie T so much?

    He's like a solo version of every irritating indie accent band lingering around right now.

    • He swallows his word

      Apparently he's an incredible lyricist but I can't understand what the fuck he's going on about.

    • does it need to be said

      that some people who sing with accents do actually have accents.

      and anyway, he doesn't sound like any band around.

  • flea

    :((((

    • jamie t

      is soooooo bad

    • Flea

      is my least favourite musician alive.

      • Nearly Mine Too

        Although Les Claypool takes things up a notch in the "woo look at me, I can make a bass sound slappy and shite" stakes.

        Slap bass. It's just wrong.

        • Flea is shit

          Les Claypool however is not
          to be able to play slap bass on a 6 string fretless is no mean feat

          Best bassist is Cliff Burton easily

          • Flea is Not Shit

            Yes, Burton,Claypool, King, Pastorious etc are loads better than him, but that don't make him shit. But I guess an opinion like mine aint controversial enough for DIS

  • I just don't get jamie T

    ignoring his irritating accent he still talks shit and makes crap music.

    • Remeber the topic on here

      about fantasy bands. That was way cooler than this list

      • that was my thread!

        i said Thurston Moore, Stephen Malkmus and J Mascis should have a project together.

        i still cream my pants thinking about how amazing that would be.

    • True!

  • My Fantasy Band...

    Frontman... Freddie M.
    Lead Guitar... Johnny Marr
    Rhythm Guitar... Prince
    Bass... McCartney
    Drums... Keith Moon

    • I've tried to do this before

      I was struggling to get beyond:

      D. Boon; vocals and guitar
      Mike Watt; Bass
      George Hurley; Drums

  • vocals:

    jamie stewart

  • best band ever

    vocals: oli sykes
    Guitar: elliot smith
    Bass: les claypool
    Drums: rick allen
    piano - yann tiersen

  • i never get tired of this

    vocals - bjork
    keyboard - rick wakeman
    piano - matt bellamy
    lead guitar - guthrie govan
    rhythm guitar - jack white
    drums - roget taylor
    bass - Jesse F. Keeler

    MAD BAND

    • yes

      in every way that would be amazing

  • Vocals: Fred Durst

    Guitar: Wes Borland
    Bass: Sam Rivers
    Drums: John Otto
    Decks: DJ Lethal (bring it on)

  • Mine would just be

    An epic, fast-paced electronica album mixed by Burial and The Avalanches.

    Featuring original samples by loads of musicians including Regina Spektor, Matt Stanier, Chuck D, Jamie T, Devendra Banhart and Fionn Regan.

    It would also include samples from various styles of world music.

    ...it's ideas like this that are making me fail history.

    • (I know it's not strictly a rock band

      I just wanted to share that idea)

  • imagine if you will...

    Conor Oberst (Bright Eyes) - Vocals, Acoustic Guitar
    Nick Zinner (Yeah Yeah Yeahs) - Guitar, keyboards
    Russell Lissack (Bloc Party) - Guitar
    Kapil Trivedi (Mystery Jets) - Drums
    Carlos D (Interpol) - Bass
    Owen Pallett (Final Fantasy) - Violin
    Gareth Campesinos! (Los Campesinos!) - Glockenspiel
    Sam Scott (Youthmovies) - Trumpet

    • but

      surely zinnera and lissack would clash horribly as they arent that different in style?

  • my fantasy band:

    the guy from a hawk and a hacksaw playing accordion and the health drummer, with panda bear doing vocals. safe.

  • Mike Watt - Bass

    Jaco Pastorius - Rhythm Bass
    Charles Mingus - Lead Bass
    Tom Jenkinson - Lead Bass 2
    that dude from Chic - Bass Bass

    • you forgot Fieldy.

      FAIL.

  • I'd go for

    Vocals: Frank Black/Patti Smith
    L Guitar: Keith Richards
    R Guitar: George Harrison
    Piano: Thom Yorke
    Drums: John Bonham
    Bass: Entwhistle

    Maybe Bez to gurn and jig about...

  • Er ...

    Vox: Nick Cave
    Guitar: Roland S. Howard
    Bass: Tracey Pew
    Drums: Mick Harvey

    NEXT!

  • Fantasy lists

    are really for people like reading Mojo, surely?

  • best have a crack at this i suppose

    This would definitely be a pretty heavy one. Fucking ace mind:

    Vocals: Kurt Cobain (Nirvana)
    Lead Guitarist/backing vox.: Josh Homme (QOTSA)
    Rhythm Guitar: Rob Flynn (Machine Head)
    Bassist: Jess F. Keeler (DFA1979)
    Drums: Steve Hewitt (Placebo)

  • definately

    juanita stein
    hayley williams
    m.i.a.
    karen o
    mary-beth from brs
    jemina pearl

    i don't care who plays what

  • Jamie T can fuck right off

    But regardless of that...

    Vocals: John Garcia (Kyuss)
    Guitars: Matt Pike (Sleep/High On Fire etc)
    Bass: Mike Dean (Corrosion of Conformity)
    Drums: Dale Crover (Melvins)

    Honourable mentions would go to Juan Montoya (Torche) on guitar and Dave Lombardo on drums.

    • fantasy band...

      Vocals: Robert Plant
      Guitar: Jack White
      Guitar: Johnny Greenwood
      Guitar: Prince
      Bass: Peter Hook
      Keyboards: Ben Folds
      Drums: Dave Grohl
      Backing vox: Beth Gibbons / Feist
      Triangle / Cowbell: Me

      yep...THREE guitarists..it's my band, I make the rules.

  • QUEEEEEEEEEEEEEN

    WOOOOOOO!!!

  • vocals.....

    ... bill hicks.

  • House of the Dead

    band?

    Biggie Smalls, Kurt Cobain (bass), Freddie Mercury, Marc Bolan? Add on John Bonham...