The critical consensus based on year end critics list, best of all time list, for songs and albums, ranks U.S. born artists and bands like this by the way:
1 Bob Dylan
2 Bruce Springsteen
3 Elvis Presley
4 The Beach Boys
5 Prince
6 R.E.M.
7 The Velvet Underground
8 Jimi Hendrix
9 Marvin Gaye
10 Nirvana
11 Kanye West
12 Miles Davis
13 Stevie Wonder
14 Madonna
15 Talking Heads
16 James Brown
17 Michael Jackson
18 Aretha Franklin
19 Tom Waits
20 The Byrds
21 Public Enemy
22 Jay-Z
23 The Doors
24 Pixies
25 Beastie Boys
26 Chuck Berry
27 Beck
28 Lou Reed
29 Johnny Cash
30 Creedence Clearwater Revival
31 John Coltrane
32 LCD Soundsystem
33 Sly and the Family Stone
34 Sonic Youth
35 Simon and Garfunkel
36 Otis Redding
37 OutKast
38 Ramones
39 The White Stripes
40 Ray Charles
Sure, there's tons to pick away at but this tries to included thousands of sources from around the world
Link:
http://www.acclaimedmusic.net/Current/USA.htm - if you go there and click on the band, you can see where their songs/albums rank yearly, decade, etc.... and if you click from there you can actually see all the lists that they have input in their database to establish these rankings. It's a fun site.
Also, in before the freakout over Kanye's ranking.
