Top 10 Most Influential "Rock" Bands

[Professor S]

... of all time.

Keep in mind, my category is influential, not "best", and I'm sure many of you will disagree with more than one of my picks and given this is all off the top of my head, I'll probably disagree with some of my picks when all is said and done. Please feel free to criticize and post your replacement picks.

10: King Crimson

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9: Glenn Danzig/Various

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8: Iggy Pop/The Stooges

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7: Talking Heads

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6: MC5

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5: Motorhead

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I know "Ace of Spades" is the true choice, but I couldn't resist...


4: Parliament

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3: Bob Marley and the Wailers

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2: Led Zeppelin

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1: The Beatles

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[Bond]

Why no The Who love?

[Professor S]

I thougth about that, but since it's influential, I picked the best out of The Who, Rolling Stones and Zeppelin.

Zep won.

[Swan]

Do you mean influentual to me or just to music in general?

[Fox 6]

uh...... The Clash?

[Jason1]

I will try this...a very quickly compiled list...

1. The Beatles
2. Pink Floyd
3. Led Zeppelin
4. Nirvana
5. The Rolling Stones
6. Talking Heads
7. Bob Marley
8. Blink 182
9. David Bowie
10. Hannah Montana/Miley Cirus

[KillerGremlin]

no love for Black Sabbath, the band that single-handedly influenced basically ALL metal? yeesh...

1. The Beatles
Arguable to a point, I suppose. But really, the Beatles did for rock what Nirvana did for grunge. They brought a sound to the mainstream, improved on it, and did better than the competition. You can't argue with results. They also tried new things, had a slew of awesome albums, and made the first music videos.

2. Black Sabbath
The forefathers of Sabbath are probably the prog bands like King Crimson, and I will give King Crimson recognition as they are highly influential. Ozzy sucks now, mostly thanks to his solo career, but Sabbath's first few albums are simply untouchable and incredibly influential in ALL modern metal.

3. The Ramones
Let's give some credit to The Ramones. These guys are pretty much the number one most influential punk band. How you can have a list without them is craziness. I know the Sex Pistols are right behind them and definitely deserve credit, but if we are going by influence then the torch goes to the Ramones.

4. Jimi Hendrix
The man did things to guitar that no other person ever has. Stylistically, he was miles ahead of the pack. He revolutionized guitar and set standards for the future. His music still sounds cutting edge and quite abstract.

5. Nirvana/The Melvins
Both bands came from Seattle. In fact, they came from the same school...the impact Nirvana has had is still heard in music today. Nu Metal is the post-grunge aftermath, totally shit music with flares of metal and stylistic touches of grunge. Grunge was mostly raw, at least the good bands (ie; pearl jam, local h, soundgarden, the toadies, catherine wheel, hum), and metal is metal, but nu metal is derivative crap. Sorry Nickleback fans, you suck at life. Anyway, Cobain was a huge Melvin's fan and he worked with them a little bit, so when people call Nirvana a Melvins rip-off they're kind of being a little unfair. What Cobain did was channel the energy of bands like The Pixies, R.E.M., Sonic Youth and The Melvins into one beautiful sound. This is a tie for various reasons, but mostly because Nirvana is more influential to grunge, and the Melvins were more influential to Nirvana themselves. The Melvins also had an impact on Mike Patton (imo) and they were influential to some of the 90's stoner bands.

6. Elvis Presley
I like Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan a lot, and they both fall right behind Elvis. But Elvis was the big guy, highly influential, and huge.

7. The Grateful Dead
These guys pretty much set the standards for "jam bands," and can be heard in an array of music today, including Widespread Panic, Dave Matthews, O.A.R., and even in less jammier musicians like Jack Johnson. Basically, the Dead is responsible for all those hippy jam fests that Cartman hates oh so much.

8. Black Flag
Someone had to lay the framework for the post-punk and hardcore music I'm sure very few people here listen to. Converge, Today is the Day, and The Dillinger Escape Plan all owe a little to bands like Black Flag.

9. Slint
Slint is a band I doubt most people here have had the pleasure of listening to. And, it was a tough call between them and the Velvet Underground. Slint has had a pretty epic impact on the post-rock genre (or bands like Earth, Godspeed! You Black Emperor, Explosions in the Sky, etc.). I wanted to include Tortoise, because I love them dearly, but Slint influenced a whole array of post-rock style bands, not just the quiet ones.

10. King Crimson
Before Sabbath, there was Crimson. Crimson was widely influential, and they did stuff that other bands didn't. They are, in my opinion, the fathers of Prog-Rock. Pink Floyd is overrated, and bands like The Bryds and The 13th Floor Elevators aren't influential enough.

Anyway, that would be my list, but I won't strictly stick to it. I think 10 bands is somewhat limited, as you could easily define at least 10 genres of rock. And while 60's and 70's music is pretty easy to classify, stuff got weird in the 80's and the 90's. Now we have crossover bands that combine rock and rap, we have all sorts of flavors of metal which yields the question "is metal rock?" and so forth. Music is endlessly complicated but that's why I love it.

And while Zeppelin, The Who, Pink Floyd, and even The Rolling Stones might be great bands, they aren't as influential as a lot of people make them out to be. I maintain that Zeppelin, The Who, and Floyd are way overstated when talking about influence. Not overrated, just a little overstated.

[Typhoid]

I'll do this in no order, and not really give any reason.



10. Elvis Presley.
9. The Clash.
8. The Who.
7. The Beatles.
6. Nirvana.
5. The Foo Fighters.
4. Led Zeppelin.
3. Metallica.
2. The Rolling Stones.
1. The Ramones.

[Bube]

Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix and Nirvana deserve to be on that list.

[Professor S]

In resonse to a few notable objections, and to explain my thought process:

The Clash/Ramones

Iggy Pop and MC5 essentially created punk, and so I believe them to be the most influential. All are born of Iggy's denim clad loins.

Hendrix, Elvis, etc.

People aren't really a "band" per se. Danzig was associated with bands when his influence was truly made evident, thats why he is an exception.

Metalicca

Were born of Motorhead, as was most metal that became popular in the 80's and 90's, if you ask them. They took the place of Black Sabbath in influence, if not talent.

Black Sabbath

See above.

Nirvana

They are my truly noteable exception, but I wouldn't put them on this list, because I believe they are a collection of influences more than anything. Also, listening to music that came out after them, they didn't influence music all that much. Or maybe thats just wishful thinking considering all the absolute SHIT that has come out as Rock and Roll post 1995. They influenced a generation, but I don't think they had enough time to infleunce music (and NO, they did NOT create grunge). Also, putting Nirvana on the list would open a whole can of worms including Faith No More and the Melvins, as KG said.

The Foo Fighters

You gotta be fucking kidding me...

Black Flag, Velvet Underground and Pink Floyd are all great picks, IMO. I really struggled with not having Pink on the list. Looking back on the lst, I think it suffers from trying to have too many influences on it, rather than just the MOST influential.

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And people, lets not just post the names, LETS GET SOME YouTube vids up in this piece!!!

[Perfect Stu]

I don't need to rank my top 10 as most on my list have been said numerous times (Beatles #1), but I will share a couple that have been (at least for the most part) excluded.

Michael Jackson (King of Pop, evolutionized music videos, made dancers out of singers).

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Chuck Berry - "If rock 'n' roll had another name, it would be Chuck Berry." - John Lennon

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[Professor S]

I excluded them both as they are not bands, but I do recognize their influence.

[Perfect Stu]

I excluded them both as they are not bands, but I do recognize their influence.

Yeah I didn't really care to stick to the band thing, or 'rock' per se...just modern music.

[KillerGremlin]

I think it's safe to say that the majority of "influential bands" all predated 1990, and only a few jems were rolled out in the 80s. Hindsight is 20/20, but as of right now, it doesn't seem like music has the power it did during the 60s and 70s. We'll see how the critics reflect on the 1990-2010 stretch in 20 or 30 years.

[Swan]

I don't know about anyone else but one band that has always influenced me with music and made me strive to play my bass is Cream.


Jack Bruce, Eric Clapton and Ginger Baker made an amazing trio. There music still sounds great and....I think I must listen to some right

[Typhoid]

Strangler, what you have to factor in, is that to be influential, one doesn't only need to "create" a genre, sound, song etc. But also has to create a buzz around that genre, and sound.

Iggy Pop was first, yes. But the splash he made for punk to bring it to the mainstream wasn't nearly as big as what The Ramones or the Clash did. Look at the staying power of the Ramones and the Clash. Both bands were barely around, and there are handfuls of songs still played by both on modern radio stations. All Iggy Pop gets is Lust for Life.


For Nirvana, you're right. They did not create grunge. Arguably, The Pixies Did. However, what Nirvana did was bring grunge into the limelight, and especially Seattle. Making a name for bands like Soundgarden, Temple of the Dog, Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam, The Screaming Trees, Hole, and Stone Temple Pilots.


Also, Danzig is a band. Just because it's the last name of the creator, doesn't mean it isn't a band. It's not him sitting solely there with a guitar doing everything by himself. Glenn Danzig is a man. Danzig, is a band.

[Fox 6]

Just wondering, would do you consider The Cure to be the foremost "grandfathers" of todays emo rock?

[Typhoid]

Just wondering, would do you consider The Cure to be the foremost "grandfathers" of todays emo rock?

I personally, wouldn't.
I'd say Jawbreaker and Rites of Spring.

And for the "newer" wave, it would be Sunny Day Real Estate, and Jimmy Eat World.

But then it spun off into that total whiny teenage-pop-rock.

[Professor S]

Also, Danzig is a band. Just because it's the last name of the creator, doesn't mean it isn't a band. It's not him sitting solely there with a guitar doing everything by himself. Glenn Danzig is a man. Danzig, is a band.

Yes, but I didn't say Danzig... I said Glenn Danzig/Various. That includes Danzig the band, The Misfits and Samhain.

On another note since emo was brought up, I'd include Glenn on those lists for his influence on AFI and H.I.M., amongst others.