Three out the gate...

1970's style...KISS, Aerosmith Rush, Skynyrd, & Nugent

KISS, Hotter Than Hell, Dressed To Kill
Aerosmith, Get Your Wings, Toys In The Attic
Rush, Fly By Night, Caress Of Steel
Pronounced..., Second Helping, Nu thin' Fancy
Ted Nugent, Free For All, Cat Scratch Fever

The skinny.
KISS-1974 (GOLD RIAA) My favorite song on album is "Black Diamond"
Hotter Than Hell-1974 (GOLD RIAA) My favorite song is "Parasite"
Dressed To Kill-1975l (GOLD RIAA) Favorite song is "Love Her All I Can"

Aerosmith-1973 (2X PLATINUM RIAA) Favorite is "Movin' Out"
Get Your Wings"-1974 (3X PLATINUM) Favorite is "Pandora's Box"
Toys In The Attic-1975 (8X PLATINUM Favorite is  "No More No More"

RUSH-1974 (GOLD RIAA) Favorite is "Working Man"
Fly By Night-1975 (PLATINUM RIAA) Favorite is "Rivendell"
Caress Of Steel-1975 (GLOD RIAA) Favorite is "Lakeside Park"

Pronounced...-1973 (2x PLATINUM) Favorite is "Simple Man"
Second Helping-1974 (2X PLATINUM) Favorite is "Ballad Of Curtis Loew"
Nuthin' Fancy-1975 (PLATINUM) Favorite is "Am I Losin"

Ted Nugent-1975 (2X PLATINUM) Favorite is "Strnglehold"
Free For All-1976 (2X PLATINUM) Favorite is "Free For All"
Cat Scratch Fever-1977 (3X PLATINUM) Favorite is "Cat Scratch Fever"

At some time or another, any of the choices could have been my favorite three pack.  Today it is Lynyrd Skynyrd

I'll vote for Ted Nugent. Otherwise, the first three Black Sabbath albums.

KISS by a fair margin. I do like the first three Aerosmith albums quite a bit as well. As for Nugent, Rush and LS, I'm not a big fan of these bands so I have only heard select tracks off of their first three albums.

I would have said KISS years ago, but when you factor in how those songs sound on Alive compared to their studio versions, I then have to go with Aerosmith and Rush over both.

Those three bands are very close though...

Aerosmith > Rush > KISS >> Lynyrd Skynyrd >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Ted Nugent

KISS for me. They're my all-time favorite band.

Aerosmith followed by KISS. Kiss to me has some less memorable (but still good) non single tracks. I'd follow those with Rush and then Nugent. I don't have any of the older Skynyrd albums, just a best of.

Of these choices, gotta go with KISS followed by Aerosmith and Rush. Those early KISS records are just packed with great, memorable tunes. Rush is my favorite band of these choices, but this is not my favorite era for them. I'm not a fan of Ted Nugent and I don't know much Skynyrd beyond the hits.

RUSH by a w-i-d-e margin.

Aerosmith by a large margin. Those first 3 albums have slowly weaved themselves into my DNA.

I don't even own any of the KISS, Rush or Skynyrd albums mentioned. Ted would be the only other one in the running, but I only got those albums in the last year or so. Some day I'll get all those old KISS albums, but I'm in no hurry.

Nugent/Aerosmith/Skynyrd/Kiss - Rush = no thanks.

Nugent was great right out of the gate - of course Terrible Teddy had been around a long time by that point.

Aerosmith was excellent in this period, but I favor some of the albums after this more.

Skynyrd is excellent, but I like Nugent and Aerosmith better.

Kiss is another favorite of mine, but they didn't hit their stride until Alive! came out.

I can't stand Rush so I wouldn't pick anything by them.

Good idea for a thread and I had to think about it for a bit. I ended up going with Rush. I'm not really a fan of the first one but I love Caress Of Steel and Fly By Night.

I have to go with KISS. Lots of great songs on those first 3 albums.

KISS! Love all three of those albums, though I don't listen to the first much anymore because I'm sick of most of those songs, save for "Black Diamond" because it is my favorite KISS song.

Rush

Rush!!!

The Nuge. Not much of a fan of the other bands anyway.

Gotta go with KISS

Good to see another James B poll ! This is a great one !
I'm a New England guy...I HAVTA vote for Aerosmith's 3 - killer lyrics -
then they had ROCKS as the follow - and so drug drenched - Joe Perry riffs -
that's what it comes down to for me - a bottle of whiskey, beer, pot -
I'd go for that pile of cds -
Nugent - he had some great material - but not rowdy enough -
KISS - the s/t cd is thee worst cd from them easy - horrible -
Skynyrd would be a real fun 2nd - they were a rowdy band too - great lyrics -

Went with Aerosmith. They were my first introduction to harder music and I have to give them the nod. As much as I love Kiss, the first album I was familiar with was Destroyer, not any of the first three. Rush was later also and for the longest time I only knew the hits of Skynyrd and Nugent.

Glower wrote:

KISS - the s/t cd is thee worst cd from them easy - horrible -

I voted for Aerosmith as well, but this comment is straight up blasphemy! I've never heard anyone call that album horrible.

I picked Aerosmith, but it was a tough choice, Rush probably showed the most growth as a band during these era, but voted for Aerosmith because those first three albums I listened to constantly as a teenager

I was listening to this song today....and the lyrics ARE kinda funny -
but at the same time, sad as hell.....drin king and drugging.....
Please - I just got to talk to you -
Please - get your head out of the loo ( toilet )
Please - your the only friend I got -
What's your story ????? ( guy runs to bathroom )
Cat got your tongue ???? ( as unanswerable guy is puking his guts out )

Rush is one of my favorite bands, but if all we knew were the these albums and only these albums I'd have to go with Aerosmith, Rush, Ted Nugent, and then Kiss. I've owned all of the albums listed at some point and yet the only ones I've repurchased are Rush

I have no familiarity with Pronounced, and only loose knowledge of The Nuge, but of the remaining three, I have to go with Kiss. I think those albums still yield up treasure even after all this time.