OK FINE!

Yes, yes I burned everything and anything I owned of Albert Belle the day he signed with Chicago. I don't like giving in but I cannot combat my own hypocricy. I was really mad and now I apparently have done a 180. Or 360 to be more accurate.

You have to admit though.....a warm summer night at Jacob's Field. Bottom of the ninth with 2 outs. Tribe down 2 runs. 2 runners on. From the batter's box comes Albert Belle. The intro of "Hell's Bells" by AC/DC playing with the ominous bells ringing. The target in left field displayed on the scoreboard. The pitch....DEEP fly ball to left center field and over the wall. The place goes crazy! Flashing lights, fireworks, people cheering and the exhilerating feeling racing through your body as the Tribe wins another!!

That was so awesome and he did it so often. I miss it. But despite that I should stay true to my actions and statements. Maybe I should replace it with a Brook Jacoby pic. Or Omar. Or my fantasy team namesake, Joe Charboneau.

And my bad on Radiohead being American. I heard someone else reference them as American during a bar conversation regarding this same topic. So I should blame my source. Not me. I have always been indifferent regarding them anyway. I just figured they were good based on what I have heard and in an effort to be objective.

Greatest American Rock Band

I am sure you have had this discussion before. Who is the greatest American rock band of all time? At first the question seems easy enough but as you think back through all of the greatest bands you soon realize just how many were NOT from America. Wasn't the U.S. the birthplace of Rock 'n Roll?

First, a set of criteria needs to be set because this can be very opinionated and one's taste could vary drastically from another's. Hence Brittney Spears sells billions of records. (Isn't it funny that we all refer to Spears as a bad music example? Poor thing.)

This is a quick and general set of standards to start us off. A "great band" has to:
1) Have music considered to be of good quality to the masses or reliable critics
2) Remain successful for an extended period of time
3) Sell a significant amount of their work
4) Be well known and recognizeable
5) Be within the genre of Rock (R&B, Soul, Rap, Electronica etc are a different topic)

This could lead to some great debate so let's have at it. Before long my criteria may change drastically due to apsects I am missing and so on. I eagerly await my Indie expert to chime in.

So who are the greates rock bands? The Who? Beattles? Rolling Stones? Led Zepplin? Pink Floyd? U2? AC/DC?

I deliberately named those first since they are not American but generally though of as great.

Who can America contribute? Aerosmith? Metallica? Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers? Are they considered a band like the others? The Beach Boys? Are they rock? The Eagles? Blondie? The Cars? They are American right? Does Punk Rock count? If so, there are more great British Punk Rock bands aren't there?

What do you guys think?