[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.