by Sweetch

Created on: September 01, 2007

The best rock band in the world.

Is there ever/always one?

It depends on where you are (when you see it happen).
It depends on what time it is (when it happens).
It depends on who's doing it (when you watch them play, and how proficient they are).
It depends on which song is being played (when they play it and what the songs comprise).
It depends on how it is (when they play it, what it sounds like).

It depends on why they're the best rock band in the world (when they're playing something and you just happen to be there thinking the same thing......)
It depends on WHAT your definition of "the best rock band in the world" is!

Seven degrees of separation.
Rhythm and timing.
Melody and harmonium.

All bound together in a comfortable package, one can expect the finished product to have great effect on the listener(s). Essentially, the greatest band in the world can only be capable of quality output on all levels mentioned above. When citing examples of bands considered to be top of the heap at the time they existed, a few common themes arise.
A great band will tap into the mass psyche, and thus be able to sway more than a few people. Such influential tools as political lyrics, punchy chorus lines, high quality sound production and an all-round polished composition (and performance) all tend to be hallmarks of a deservedly successful band. This is true in cases where a band can effectively carry and convey feelings and messages of the times. Conversely, a band can be totally foreign to the times and environs, and start a whole new movement.
The seemingly benign attitude of a majority of the population to broadly accept commercial charts and ranking tables for contemporary music and musicians, is a notable sideshow to the reality of judging bands on their merits. Indeed it is often a band's commercial success (over its artistic and creative merit) which results in it being considered as "great".
A band such as U2 exemplifies a spectrum of success. Early successes (both popular in and alternative circles) via raw, energetic albums like War and October brought the band deserved global recognition. After massive popular chart success with following late 80s/early 90s albums(eg. Joshua Tree), the band tended to change musical direction. Releases such as Zooropa, movie soundtrack scores and later Zoo-TV live shows brought U2 their greatest amount of criticism. Nonetheless, their commercial success remained intact, until they disbanded breifly at end of the century. Since their reformation,

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