Top 5 Bands That Are Still Around

[EverythingChanges]

What are your top 5 favorite bands that are still around right now?  This does not include bands that disappear for 5 years and then come back with a sub-par album and tour.  The band still has to be going strong.

*EDIT* The criteria may seem a bit confusing, so let me make it simpler.  Pick your favorite bands that are touring regularly (has at least one tour in a 2-3 year time period) and has not had a gap of inactivity (meaning has not toured or made an album) of 3 years.

1. MMJ (Assuming a lot of you will say the same)
2. Explosions in the Sky
3. Wilco
4. Dr. Dog
5. John Butler Trio

Honorable mentions: Menomena, M. Ward, Jack White, Grizzly Bear and Bright Eyes

[EverythingChanges]

John Butler Trio - Ocean

That is one of the best instrumentals I have ever heard.  Check it out!

[weeniebeenie]

I remember when I first saw that on TV. It was so awesome. JB is an incredible guitarist.

[Jaimoe]

We need some timeline parametres on this one. However, off the top of my head:

The Brian Jonestown Massacre
The Pixies
Television (even without Richard Lloyd)
Wilco
Neil Young and Crazy Horse

[Shug]

MMJ
Wilco
Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers
The Allman Brothers Band
The Mother Hips  (they don't rock as hard as they used to and their live repertoire has shrunk due to new band members, but they are still very very good)

a couple years ago, the Black Crowes would've definitely been on my list, but they are on hiatus.

by these criteria, The Stones, The Who and the Allman Brothers don't qualify, right?

Rush and U2 don't make the cut for me because I didn't like their last albums/tours.

Other bands I like are probably too new to qualify, but like Jaimoe said, we need some time parameters.  How long do they have to have been around?  Since the 90s or earlier?  Does MMJ even make the cut?

I can't think of more than three right now.  The sun is definitely rapidly setting on what I consider the Golden Age of Rock.  Soon there won't be any bands that are as good as the Old Masters of the 60s and 70s.  It'll just be what you can watch on DVD or listen to recorded, nothing to go see live that is awesome.  But I'm weird in that I just don't like most of the bands talked about in the "Other Bands" section.  I'm sounding more and more like a grumpy old man.  I can't help it if I love classic rock.  I compare all new bands to the classics.  Most fall far short, IMO.

EDIT:  ok, with the new criteria, the Allman Brothers Band goes on my list

[buaawwww]

Just off the top of my head...

1- Pearl Jam
2- My Morning Jacket
3- Clutch
4- Wilco
5- Neil Young & Crazy Horse

[exist10z]

Ok, I love rating games, so I'll play.  But like Shug, I am a little queasy about the criteria, so I'll explain my choices. And I guess this is favorite, as opposed to 'best', though I suspect whatever one thinks are the best would also likely be their favorites.

**In no particular order (except that the top 3 are tied for 1st):

Radiohead
My Morning Jacket
Wilco
Jack White
TV on the Radio

**Also considered (and just missing spots 4&5)

Belle and Sebastian
Spoon
Jay-Z
Kanye West
The Flaming Lips (only not in because I haven't been thrilled with the recent direction)
Gillian Welch
The Roots
Phoenix

**Not considered ONLY because of limited output/track record:

Bon Iver
Fleet Foxes
Destroyer
Deerhunter
Grizzly Bear
Frank Ocean
The Weeknd
Dirty Projectors
Phosphorescent
The National
M83
Menomena

**Excluded ONLY because of questionable form/existence (any firm incarnation would have been top 5):

Damon Albarn (Blur/Gorillaz/GSTQ/solo)

**Classic, but not currently relevant for me (would be high/included in 'all-time' list):

Eric Clapton
Bob Dylan
The Rolling Stones
Neil Young

[Paulie_Walnuts]

The Gourds - ten albums in and still going strong!
Wilco
The Black Keys
Bonnie 'Prince' Billy
Midlake

[Jaimoe]

Totally forgot about Radiohead. Add Tool to the list too.

[EverythingChanges]

Edit your lists after looking at the OP again, I clarified the criteria.  Thanks!

[manonthemoon]

Red Fang
Mastodon
MMJ
Jeff The Brotherhood
TV on the Radio

[FiddleCastro]

Just off the top of my head...

1- Pearl Jam
2- My Morning Jacket
3- Clutch
4- Wilco
5- Neil Young & Crazy Horse

This wins. I may move pearl jam, but overall, pretty accurate :)

[Penny Lane]

MMJ
Drive-by Truckers
Jason Isbell
Ryan Adams
Deer Tick (McCauley Projects)

[Tracy 2112]

Rush (they still put on about a 3 hour show folks)
Wilco
Built to Spill
Neil Young
Sonic Youth

[Ruckus]

I can't think of more than three right now.  The sun is definitely rapidly setting on what I consider the Golden Age of Rock.  Soon there won't be any bands that are as good as the Old Masters of the 60s and 70s.  It'll just be what you can watch on DVD or listen to recorded, nothing to go see live that is awesome.  But I'm weird in that I just don't like most of the bands talked about in the "Other Bands" section.  I'm sounding more and more like a grumpy old man.  I can't help it if I love classic rock.  I compare all new bands to the classics.  Most fall far short, IMO.

That's why they are the classicsO0There are a ton of new bands that are revisiting the past but there just doesnt seem to be a market for it anymore.
Some if these bands have been mentioned in the Other Music thread but if you haven't checked them out yet, I'd recommend Howlin' Rain and Comets on Fire, The Sheepdogs' Learn and Burn, Wolf People's Steeple, Honey Island Swamp Band, Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears for some get down soul, either of the Rival Sons' first two albums, etc.  Maybe we should start a thread for new bands doing classic sounding stuff.:))

[Penny Lane]

I can't think of more than three right now.  The sun is definitely rapidly setting on what I consider the Golden Age of Rock.  Soon there won't be any bands that are as good as the Old Masters of the 60s and 70s.  It'll just be what you can watch on DVD or listen to recorded, nothing to go see live that is awesome.  But I'm weird in that I just don't like most of the bands talked about in the "Other Bands" section.  I'm sounding more and more like a grumpy old man.  I can't help it if I love classic rock.  I compare all new bands to the classics.  Most fall far short, IMO.

That's why they are the classicsO0There are a ton of new bands that are revisiting the past but there just doesnt seem to be a market for it anymore.
Some if these bands have been mentioned in the Other Music thread but if you haven't checked them out yet, I'd recommend Howlin' Rain and Comets on Fire, The Sheepdogs' Learn and Burn, Wolf People's Steeple, Honey Island Swamp Band, Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears for some get down soul, either of the Rival Sons' first two albums, etc.  Maybe we should start a thread for new bands doing classic sounding stuff.:))

add Nick Waterhouse and JD McPherson to that list.

[e_wind]

no specific order
I don't think I need to explain the first 3.

MMJ
Pearl Jam
Wilco
Lucero <-- personal 4th favorite band favorite
Radiohead <-- not a HUGE fan, but its hard to say that Thom isn't one of the most talented people in the music industry.  btw, has anyone ever seen the giant debate they had going on the in Inforoo forum about MMJ vs. Radiohead. There was a surprising amount of MMJ love, i'm not sure who won the poll though.

[Shug]

That's why they are the classicsO0There are a ton of new bands that are revisiting the past but there just doesnt seem to be a market for it anymore.
Some if these bands have been mentioned in the Other Music thread but if you haven't checked them out yet, I'd recommend Howlin' Rain and Comets on Fire, The Sheepdogs' Learn and Burn, Wolf People's Steeple, Honey Island Swamp Band, Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears for some get down soul, either of the Rival Sons' first two albums, etc.  Maybe we should start a thread for new bands doing classic sounding stuff.:))

Thanks for the suggestions, guys.  Some of those I have checked out and have liked pretty well, like Rival Sons and Howlin' Rain.  If I got to see them live, I'd have a better idea of how much they float my boat.  I'll check out the others, because I do want to find new bands that I love, like Heartless Bastards, Tedeschi Trucks, JJ Grey and Mofro, Lucero (with their new soulful horn-driven sound, thanks for the reminder e-wind!) etc. 

Hell, I felt the same way in the 90s when The Black Crowes came out.  I didn't think there were that many good real rock 'n' roll bands anymore and then they came along and blew me away.  Same thing with SRV in the 80s.   I guess I'm just waiting for another band that good to come around.  The more time passes, the more blown away I am that so many excellent rock bands were around all at the same time in just a few years back in the 70ss.  I mean think about how fucking awesome almost every band was in 1969-1972.  Zeppelin, Stones, Who, Sabbath, Grateful Dead, Pink Floyd, Humble Pie, Faces, The Band, Dylan, all arguably peaking in the late 60s to early 70s.  There must've been a cosmic harmonic convergence going on for there to be such a massive overload of creativity and brilliance in those years.  Holy shit!  Its unlikely to ever happen again, but perhaps time will prove me wrong.  I hope so!

[Jaimoe]

The Crowes went downhill pretty fast. I think real rock was around in the '90s in the form of grunge. Fucking rock was saved by grunge, and I'm not even a big fan of the genre.

[exist10z]

The Crowes went downhill pretty fast. I think real rock was around in the '90s in the form of grunge. Fucking rock was saved by grunge, and I'm not even a big fan of the genre.

Bleh, I am going to have to disagree with this almost completely.  Funny thing is, that was really my time period as well, the 90s were my twenties, which is usually when your musical tastes are formed and when you are most interested in music (although this is what separates 'real' music fans, from casual listeners, it never wanes for those who really love music), and I look back on the decade as pretty over-rated, derivative, and kinda hollow.  I don't think much of the music holds up all that well.

Especially 'grunge', which I was a huge fan of at the time, now sounds dated and dare I say 'lame'.  The over-emoting and pseudo sincerity eventually just got to be too much for me.  It all sounded the same, a lot of angst about bullshit.  At some point, and it was pretty early on, probably around the time of Cameron Crowe's Singles, in hindsight, the whole thing jumped the shark (and I love Cameron Crowe movies and enjoyed Singles at the time).  Sure, there was good music, some of which holds up, but I never play that music now.

Now the 60s, 70s, and even 80s are completely different.  I still go back to that music on a regular basis.  Maybe there's a burnout (not 'burnout', but that too) factor, having lived through it at such a formidable time and been inundated with those bands, but I really don't think I ever need to hear Jeremy or Fell On Black Days or Sex Type Thing or Cumbersome again, ever.  The put upon over-seriousness of the whole scene was tiring.  On the other hand, the Beatles, Stones, Zeppelin, Floyd, that never gets old, because it's truly great music, truly innovative and original.  Same for Rush, Talking Heads, The Smiths, The Police, and Joy Division in the 80s.  That's the music I still listen to and will intersperse with what is currently relevant.

Not that nothing from the 90s has held up for me, The Pixies, Blur, Pavement, The Beastie Boys, Rage Against The Machine, and even Beck had their heyday in the 90s, but I think the grunge movement itself, rather than elevating the 90s, almost casts a pall over the decade.  Rather than thinking back to the great bands (Nirvana, Pearly Jam, Soundgarden), the bands who got their start (Radiohead, Wilco, The Flaming Lips), I can't help but think of The Offspring, Live, Bush, or 'god' forbid Creed.  Even the great bands, I rarely go back to, because the 'sound' is so identifiable and dated - at least to me.

As for today, I think there is incredible music being made, and the best part is exactly what makes the 90s sound so pale in comparison. Diversity.  Even within the 'genre' of rock/alt/pop (excluding electronic and soul/hip-hop - where there is amazing music being made), there are a wide variety of styles being pursued. From The Avett Brothers and Tallest Man On Earth, to My Morning Jacket and Phosphorescent, to Grizzly Bear and Beach House, to Real Estate and Tennis, to Menomena and Dirty Projectors, all bands falling under the similar 'rock/alt/pop' heading, there is such a huge diversity of well made and interesting music.

So anyway, everyone has an opinion...