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Led Zeppelin and Rolling Stones, in no particular order, are number 1 and 2 seeds. If you feel different you best visit another thread.

One rule is it must be a complete band, and not a performer like Hendrix or Jethro Tull. Bands will be considered at their peak, so no need to still be touring or alive.

Who are number 3 and 4?

My thoughts in no particular order:
AC DC? Always awesome.   Agreed
Aerosmith? They had a nice run.  Meh
Ozzy Osbourne? With his band, Black Sabbath, or a hybrid entry?    My favorite
Judas Priest? Enough said for the metal heads.   Awesome
Eagles? Not me, but a friend of mine would be offended if it was not discussed.  Gay
Rush? A personal favorite. Up tempo gay
Montrose, the album Montrose? It was a monster and I would consider Ronnie Montrose with Sammy Hagar a contender on that album alone. Who ?
Lynyrd Skynyrd? Hell yea  Meh
Beatles? GTFO and find a geezer thread elsewhere. Agreed
Boston? Maybe if you're wanting to get laid, but they get spanked in the first round. Gay-up tempo gay
Kiss? Not my favorite but definitely a pioneer with legs. Better than most of your pics
Molly Hatchet? Just a joke unless you still have a mullet and live in Florida. Still better than most of your picks especially the stones

Post your bracket if you can. Me, I've been thinking about this for several years and still can't pin down my final 4.

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One rule is it must be a complete band, and not a performer like Hendrix or Jethro Tull.

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Pink Floyd

Queen

This should have been obvious.

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Point has been addressed and no one yet has named who played in Tull other then Ian Anderson,

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You missed my point. Ian Anderson was "Jethro Tull" (the band) and most fans cannot name who played bass, drums, etc.

Sorry my post was not more clear.

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So who was better, Tony Iommi, or Martin Barre as a Guitarist in Tull?  

Was John Glasscock really a BDSM aficionado?  

None of these things really have anything to do with the fact that Tull, The band, not the Farmer was in fact a band, not just Ian Anderson.  

Quoted:
<--Graduated HS in 1986.

If you grew up in that era I think that there was probably quite a bit of variation depending on where you lived.

When I was in jr. high and HS in the first half of the 80s, the "big four" were generally considered to be:

The Beatles
The Rolling Stones
The Who
The Kinks

Led Zeppelin was a band that was listened to by the guys smoking pot in the bathroom. Same for Iron Maiden. Black Sabbath was just scary. Weird kids listened to punk, mainly The Clash.

The Doors were still very popular. The biography of Jim Morrison, "Noone Gets Out of Here Alive" was popular when I was a freshman in HS.

Yes's 90125 was huge in 1983 - 84. Deep Purple's Perfect Strangers was big in 84 - 85.

VH of course was big and listened to by pretty much everyone.

When The Who reunited and toured in 1989 (I was already in college) it was FUCKING HUGE. Pete's solo stuff in the 80s was also really popular.

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Eric Clapton

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Uhh, Jethro Tull was a band

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Who played drums for Hendrix?

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Trying to refrain but the Kinks? They had a few good songs but no where close to a top 4. Doors... too early in rock most of their songs have no legs. Deep purple, VH, the Who, all had good runs (VH) but don't seem top 4 seed bands to me. YMMV