Well I have been thinking about this for a while and I do have a top 10 but im not happy with it so here is my top 5...

5.Nirvana
4.Led Zeppelin
3.Red Hot Chili Peppers
2.ACDC
1.Tie-Metallica and Beatles

Even though Metallica and Beatles are very different, they are my two favorite bands ever! O and if your wondering, I'm talking about old Metallica!!!

Are we talking about artists in general, or just "bands"? If artists in general i would say:

1. Rolling Stones
2. Bob Dylan
3. The Beatles
4. David Bowie
5. Radiohead

If we're limiting it to just "bands", I'll say:

1. Rolling Stones
2. The Beatles
3. Radiohead
4. The Clash
5. U2

How strictly are we defining 'rock' here? Rock the subgenre or rock the supergenre?

Assuming you mean rock the supergenre..

(Oh, and I'm also assuming artists count, because..well, it's a bit silly if I could include 'The Jimi Hendrix Experience' and not 'Bob Dylan'.)

Bob Dylan
The Beatles
Joni Mitchell
Nirvana
JImi Hendrix

#1 The Beatles

the other four:

Bob Dylan
Velvet Underground
Radiohead
Pixies

If you meant "bands", which you probably did, I guess in place of Dylan I'd go with the Who...or the Kinks...or the Clash...or the Band...or Guided by Voices...or...

If you need to make Dylan a band, you can just say 'Bob Dylan and the Band' which he released a couple albums as.

And if you need to make Neil Young a band, just say 'Neil Young and Crazy Horse'.

Everyone plays with a band. Just, sometimes the head performer tours with just his name, and sometimes he tours with a band name. Heck, the Eels only have one permanent member. Yet we would call them a 'band' just because they don't name themself after that one permanent member.

In no order:

The Kinks
Black Sabbath
Can
Captain Beefheart & the Magic Band
Hawkwind (or) Blue Oyster Cult

quote:

If you need to make Dylan a band, you can just say 'Bob Dylan and the Band' which he released a couple albums as.

Calling The Band Dylan's backing group is one of my big pet peeves. The band were already an established group long before dylan was doing anything at all, and they released several of the best rock records ever on their own.

Oh, I agree. They're in my top 30. Just, it's a loophole you could use to call Dylan a 'band' for the purposes of this excersize.

1. The Beatles
2. Led Zeppelin
3. Queen
4. Pink Floyd
5. Radiohead

In no particular order really...

Roxy Music
Wire
The Clash
Joy Division/New Order
Kraftwerk

i really dont know how can you compare metalica to the beatles, and by the way metallica sucks man. and also i dont know how everyone forgot about bowie... i cant imagine what rock would have been without him.

my top 5 are

the beatles
radiohead
david bowie
talking heads
pink floyd

quote:

Originally posted by william G.:
i really dont know how can you compare metalica to the beatles, and by the way metallica sucks man. and also i dont know how everyone forgot about bowie... i cant imagine what rock would have been without him.

my top 5 are

the beatles
radiohead
david bowie
talking heads
pink floyd

I mentioned Bowie. It's tough to narrow it down to 5 artists though. I could probably do 20 off the top of my head.

No order:

The Rolling Stones
The Beatles
Jimi Hendrix
Led Zepplin
Pink Floyd

Honorable mentions:
The Doors
AC/DC
Metallica
The Eagles
Nirvana
Black Sabbath
Queen

The Beatles
The Clash
Velvet Underground
Sonic Youth
Sleater-Kinney

very subjective topic.

anyway.

1. Q and Not U
2. Radiohead
3. Rage Against the Machine
4. Soundgarden
5. Broken Social Scene

Bob Dylan
Metallica
The Eagles
Kraftwerk
Can...none of these are a rock band (though I suppose you could make an argument for The Eagles as they are technically soft-rock...though I would consider them easy listening).

1. James Taylor
2. Slipknot
3. Elton John
4. 2 Unlimited
5. Miles Davis

...are also not rock bands. And U2 is a merketting-tool brand name plundered by vain whores, not a band. They gave up being a rock band in the early 90s...Metallica following suit in the latter half. Brutal. I love RATM but they're totally metal too.

Some Of The Most Influential Rock Bands
1. The Beatles (obviously)
2. Rolling Stones (showed how you could turn ripping off the Beatles into a 40 year career)
3. Velvet Underground (at least people say they were influenced by them...Sonic Youth?)
4. Cream/The Jimi Hendrix Experience (don't forget Mitch Mitchel and Noel Redding, you guys)/Pink Floyd (/ELP/Yes...the progression of prog-rock)
5. The Doors (Mark McGrath or whatever from Sugar Ray has a Morrison tattoo on his shoulder...ewwwww)
6. The Byrds (Country-Rock among others)
7. The Beach Boys (though they were the figureheads of surf-rock, it was Wilson's work in the studio to make the rest of the Beach Boys sound way better and more intelligent than they ever could've without him that made the most impact. "Good Vibrations" changed peoples' lives)
8. Frank Zappa & The Mothers (who pioneered jazz-rock and discovered Alice Cooper who then, with Sabbath, influenced Kiss: all took the theatrics of rock to new levels)
9. Black Sabbath (with Blue Cheer, basically invented metal but were themselves mostly rock)
10. Iggy Pop & The Stooges (still gods in some circles. Punk before punk had a name)
11. MC5 (SOAD and RATM both owe John Sinclair a pack of smokes)

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Filmore Mescalito Holmes,

quote:

Originally posted by Filmore Holmes:
Bob Dylan
Metallica
The Eagles
Kraftwerk
Can...none of these are a rock band (though I suppose you could make an argument for The Eagles as they are technically soft-rock...though I would consider them easy listening).

1. James Taylor
2. Slipknot
3. Elton John
4. 2 Unlimited
5. Miles Davis

...are also not rock bands. And U2 is a merketting-tool brand name plundered by vain whores, not a band. They gave up being a rock band in the early 90s...Metallica following suit in the latter half. Brutal. I love RATM but they're totally metal too.

I would say you're right about Miles Davis, but the rest of those artists would definitely fit under the supergenre of rock. Go to your local record store and that's the section under which you'd find any of these artists.

quote:

2. Rolling Stones (showed how you could turn ripping off the Beatles into a 40 year career)

Aside from the early parts of their careers, when both the Beatles and the Stones were ripping off any number of American Rock and R&B artists, these two bands have completely different sounds. Do you honestly think "Exile on Mainstreet" sounds even remotely like "Sgt. Peppers..."?

quote:

3. Velvet Underground (at least people say they were influenced by them...Sonic Youth?)

Listen to "Sister Ray" on White Light/White Heat and you'll see the Sonic Youth connection.

quote:

Originally posted by ericg75:
Go to your local record store and that's the section under which you'd find any of these artists.

So everything is rock then. BBC Halloween Sound Effects 3 is now a rock album because Futureshop couldn't care less about music. I was still running under the assumption that the "Rock" forum was "for classic rock or mainstream rock bands only" but I guess if Bill's Department Store has Aphex Twin under rock, he must be rock.

quote:

Originally posted by ericg75:

quote:

2. Rolling Stones (showed how you could turn ripping off the Beatles into a 40 year career)

these two bands have completely different sounds. Do you honestly think "Exile on Mainstreet" sounds even remotely like "Sgt. Peppers..."?

No, but "Their Satanic Majesties Request" does. Fuck the Rolling Stones. I've got interviews where Lennon talks about how the Rolling Stones coppied their career path until the Beatles broke up when Mick decided to run around bashing the Beatles to anyone in the press who'd listen. That guy's a total whore of a tool. Have you seen that pathetic insurance company concert commercial with 40 year olds crowd surfing? DIE ALREADY!!!

quote:

Originally posted by Filmore Holmes:


[QUOTE]
No, but "Their Satanic Majesties Request" does. Fuck the Rolling Stones. I've got interviews where Lennon talks about how the Rolling Stones coppied their career path until the Beatles broke up when Mick decided to run around bashing the Beatles to anyone in the press who'd listen. That guy's a total whore of a tool. Have you seen that pathetic insurance company concert commercial with 40 year olds crowd surfing? DIE ALREADY!!!

"Their Satanic Majesties Request" is also probably the Stones album that's least representative of their sound and generally regarded as a misstep among fans. However their next albums "Beggar's Banquet" and "Let it Bleed" don't sound very Beatlesque, and they're widely considered two of the best rock albums of all time. And please don't make a "Let it Bleed"/"Let it Be" comparison to prove your point.

quote:

So everything is rock then. BBC Halloween Sound Effects 3 is now a rock album because Futureshop couldn't care less about music. I was still running under the assumption that the "Rock" forum was "for classic rock or mainstream rock bands only" but I guess if Bill's Department Store has Aphex Twin under rock, he must be rock.

Well it's pretty difficult to pidgeonhole every band making music. Where do you stop? Are the Talking Heads rock? new wave? punk? Is Wilco alt-country? alternative rock? folk rock? Obviously neither of them are rock, since you don't even consider Elton John to be a rock artist, despite the fact that he's in the freaking "Rock and Roll" Hall of Fame. Should we make seperate lists for Southern Rock, Folk Rock, Jazz Rock, Alternative Rock, Math Rock, etc. Why don't you go through the entire history of American music and generate a list of bands and artists that are acceptable to talk about in this forum. As Billy Joel said: "It's Still Rock and Roll to Me."

This message has been edited. Last edited by: EricG75,

quote:

I've got interviews where Lennon talks about how the Rolling Stones coppied their career path until the Beatles broke up when Mick decided to run around bashing the Beatles to anyone in the press who'd listen.

Are you sure it wasn't Yoko Ono in a John Lennon mask?