What was the best "era" of your favorite bands?

Coheed and Cambria-In keeping secrets-good Apollo one era. They got lumped in with a lot of mtv emo bands, but they were doing their own thing. Also classically the best line up(Josh on drums and Mic on Bass)

Megadeth-Rust in peace era. They were delivering heavier and more technical music compared to the other thrash bands(including mettalica). Marty Friedman, David Ellefson, and Nick Menza are the golden trio of the band. The fact that dave ran them off, is his biggest mistake rivaled only by his perpetual rage over not being in Metallica

The cure- Early 90s

The Smiths- 1985-86 when they dropped meat is murder and the queen is dead. Two classic albums imo.

Judas Priest- After they let rob halford go, the band was never the same. Even when he came back.

3 specific years. 1973, 1997, 2014

@coldcaseluke: Which band?

Powerman 5000, shyne, vitamin c

Too many to name, I may return to this topic later, so I'll just do some 60's now:

The Beatles middle period (1965 - 1966) includes Rubber Soul and Revolver along with the brilliant non-album singles We can work it out/ Day Tripper and Paperback Writer / Rain . The impact this period had on Rock music is enormous and is taken for granted now.

Bob Dylan marries abstract thought-provoking lyrics with Rock and Roll to create Rock music (1965-1966): Bringing it all Back Home, Highway 61 Revisited, and Blonde on Blonde are 3 of the greatest Rock albums ever....period.

The Rolling Stones welcome Mick Taylor into their lineup and make their best albums (1968-1972): Beggars Banquet, Let it Bleed, Sticky Fingers, and Exile on Main Street were the Stones at their best. Not to mention the non-album singles of this period: Jumping Jack Flash and Honky Tonk Women.

I feel The Kinks deserve some mention here, they had some great albums then.

Haven't heard powerman in awhile. I almost saw them, but then wayne static died RIP :(

@AFBrat77: List them all, list them ALL

@Mercenary848: The wrestler? Or the guy from powerman.

Static X

Probably the 90's. Verve - Urban Hymns is my favorite album, although by the end of it you'll be looking for pills and a looped rope;.

80s for some Huey Lewis and the News, Guns N Roses, Bon Jovi, Metallica, Police, Queen etc.

90s for some Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, Soundgarden, Radiohead, Nine Inch Nails, Pearl Jam.

Its really a tough choice between these two decades when it comes down to bands. I'd say the 80s slightly edge it out, not by much though.

Best era of Jay Z?

Megadeth - Rust in Peace. That album is such a technical powerhouse and it was the best lineup for the band ever.

Iron Maiden - Number of the Beast to Seventh Son. I think this period was the band at its best.

Black Sabbath - I'm a bit torn on this one as I have two periods where I felt this band was pretty equal in excellence. First was the band's initial period with Ozzy and the second was the first few albums with Ronnie James Dio.

Late 90s into early 2000s. Of course if we're talking about rap, the 90s will always take it followed closely by the early 2000s.

Tool, Periphery, Enigma.

I don't hear screams like the 2000's anymore. Yeah Metallica and others did it first and other bands do it now but not like the 2000's. Even bands that survived like The Used, Taking Back Sunday, Jimmy Eats World, they don't have that style anymore.

Classic Rock and Alternative Rock. Mostly 80's, 90's, 2000's, current decade. A few from the 60's such as Hendrix. Nope. Not much of a Beatles fan, although my dad was. There's a few 70's as well. But, disco made it suck.

The 90's have the most I still listen to. I spent much of the 90's living in California. Bands like Counting Crows, Toad and the Wet Sprocket, and Social Distortion figured into many concerts I attended.

Anything from AC/DC,Iron Maiden,Ozzy,Ramones,basically most Classic Rock.For some reason I have a problem getting into Iron Maidens new album The Book of Souls?

My go-to answer would probably be late 80's/early 90's, but I think in all honesty maybe I'm biased because I was born in the late 80's and grew up in the 90's, so a lot of both familiarity and enigma surrounds that time period for me. I still feel like that was kind of a giant leap forward for music though, those years.

I don't really like to look at it this way though. I mean yeah the times have a lot to do with the music being created, but if you look at any period in time you'll see good music and crap music - just some times have more crap music or more good music. And a lot of it depends on your mood at specific times anyways.

The thing is, any music that is already created and out there, people can become a fan of. So even if the quote-on-quote "best" period for some band or musician you love has passed, there is still a good chance that someone out there will be a fan of them and take inspiration from their works when creating new music.

I like em all really. I'm typically more into the Tool, Orgy, NIN, white zombie kind of sounds but all the decades have quite a few notable tunes for me.

Aww man, for me it's Metallica, Iron Maiden, Guns N Roses, Nirvana and Ozzy were some of the best Bands I love listening to, even my Mother loves those Bands as well when I be riding in the car with her. Classic Rock is always good.

Dae

Hawthorne heights had amazing screams. Silverstein is still around too!

Darkthrone - Tr00 Kvlt Transilvanian Hunger years!

The 90s. Best era in hip hop. De La Soul, Tribe Called Quest, Wu-Tang Clan. Hell, most of the hip hop bands I listened to back in the 90s were affiliated with Wu-Tang Clan to some degree.

Probably 2003-2006. Franz Ferdinand, The Killers, Keane, Strokes, Arctic Monkeys, Interpol, Bloc Party... absolutely monstrous time period if you liked postpunk/revival bands.