Top 25 most important bands of 1981-2006

[Red Baron 0]

Dude, stop.

 

Bon Jovi did fucking nothing to add music. He made catchy songs to get you fucking laid in a back of a Tempo back in 88. That is his importance.

 

Besides, Winger, Warrant, Cinderella...Why don't you throw in Kix, Faster Pussycat, Nitro in there as well.

 

Dude, Poison got signed before Bon Jovi broke big. Motley Crue was really the first band in heavy metal to put in a ballad which Bon Jovi capitalized on his success.

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

Dude, stop.

He made catchy songs to get you fucking laid in a back of a Tempo back in 88. That is his importance.

 

So where were you before I had the 18 and Life Wheeler?

[Guest wahoo]

There is no argument, only people that don't understand basic music history that establishes Bon Jovi as an important band. I don't own one of their albums, nor Lionel Richie or Madonna, but I'm not going to live in fantasyland and say they are not important, just because there are more talented artists out there that I like better.

 

Kix's first album came out in 1981 and they have more in common with AC/DC than Bon Jovi.

 

And it's KERRANG!

All capital letters and then an exclamation point!

Muahahhaah!

 

[SuperJerk 0]

You really had us convinced you were serious for a couple of pages, there.

[Guest wahoo]

Oh, I'm serious about them being important.

 

Now though I'm trying to figure out who is the most IMPOTENT. Probably someone in Black Sabbath or Motorhead or maybe Dio. Ozzy's on viagra I know.

[C Dubya 04 0]

Bon Jovi was quality. And so what if they made music for chicks with big hair in high school, they don't deserve to listen to what they want because some hipsters don't think it's cool enough? Fuck that noise.

 

Anyone over the age of 25 knows that Bon Jovi was an important band. And fuck it if arena rock isn't cool enough for you. Doesn't make it less fun for the rest of us. Sometimes music isn't about being deep or playin in 7/8 time. Sometimes music is about having fun.

[Black Lushus 0]

"Wanted Dead Or Alive" is an awesome track...fuck the haters!

[Guest Felonies!]

Bon Jovi was quality. And so what if they made music for chicks with big hair in high school, they don't deserve to listen to what they want because some hipsters don't think it's cool enough? Fuck that noise.

 

Anyone over the age of 25 knows that Bon Jovi was an important band. And fuck it if arena rock isn't cool enough for you. Doesn't make it less fun for the rest of us. Sometimes music isn't about being deep or playin in 7/8 time. Sometimes music is about having fun.

They'r eno more important than Boston or Foreigner.

 

EDIT: I'm leaving that typo there, because yes, Eno more important. I'm listening to Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy) right now.

[The Man in Blak 0]

Bon Jovi paved a big chunk of the road for future hard rock bands. The labels wouldn't have signed as many bands like that if they hadn't existed. No Bon Jovi = no Nirvana unplugged.

 

[The Man in Blak 0]

Seriously, explain to me why Bon Jovi has more impact on the hair metal genre (let alone rock and roll in general) than Van Halen or Def Leppard. Especially since Bon Jovi came around after both of them.

[Guest mrz3r0]

Seriously, explain to me why Bon Jovi has more impact on the hair metal genre (let alone rock and roll in general) than Van Halen or Def Leppard. Especially since Bon Jovi came around after both of them.

 

 

MTV.

 

Korn brought tons of new fans to metal at a time when it had been declared dead. And even if they really did "set metal back for years" that in itself would make them important.

 

While I can’t discredit Korn to much, I can certainly say that Korn was not responsible for the movement. MTV, was responsible for the movement and I think that is what a lot of journalist fail to mention. It could have been any band from that time frame or sooner that MTV pushed out there and we would be saying something different. Korn was shoved into the limelight and MTV told us “Here, this is hot, and this band is original and take it and like it and buy it up. We are going to be playing it 24-7”. Bands like; Rage Against the Machine, Urban Dance Squad, Incubus, Snot, could have been Korn, but MTV didn’t pick them so we credit Korn as the fathers of the movement and nu-metal. There were bands doing it long before Korn was, but Korn was more “rap” and more “image” than the others, so MTV was able to sell it. Linkin Park is the best selling nu-metal act ever, why are they not credited with being influential? I mean if influence is success, then obviously bands are being forgotten.

 

Having said that, the same can be said for Nirvana. There were a slew of bands that were doing what Nirvana was doing. Sound, style, image, etc, before Nirvana was doing it. But right time, right place, and MTV ushered in the movement for us. A lot of bands that are mentioned are in this position. They would not be in the position they are without MTV. MTV helped usher in a lot of bands and music. Take Quite Riot for example. They got famous on the song “Cum on Feel the Noise”. The song was made popular by Slade but it didn’t hit well stateside. So Quite Riot are told by their group to record the song, and they didn’t even take it seriously and boom, it airs on MTV and it is a HUGE hit.

 

There are a lot of examples where we, as a collective, credit bands for their influence when their were other bands working harder and doing it longer, but didn’t get played on MTV so we forget about them. A lot of "influential bands" are only that because of MTV.

[Big McLargeHuge 0]

By that logic, before MTV, alot of influential bands are influential because of radio play.

 

Plenty of British bands tried to make in big in the States before the Beatles. Do we discredit their influence because radio 'chose them' over others who came before?

[Slayer 0]

Korn brought tons of new fans to metal at a time when it had been declared dead.

[Guest wahoo]

Like I said before, an MTV Exec got the idea for Unplugged after Bon Jovi decided to play acoustic at an awards show. I would agree that Def Leppard and Van Halen had more an impact, but Bon Jovi took it more pop and brought in more females.

 

Boston and Foreigner may be more important, but both of their huge popularity went down fast after six years or so. They started in the late 70s rock radio world and didn't adapt as well to the glossy 80s MTV world. They did have some MTV hits though and both are probably still touring.

 

MTV pushed Rage's "Freedom" heavily in 1992 before Korn.

 

MTV did used to have massive power and control over the music industry. People are like sheep and take whatever is fed to them.

 

Pantera and some other metal bands were selling a lot of albums, but it was mostly with no MTV or radio play. Metal was never dead, even if it had been declared that by some. MTV and radio picked up Korn and brought in a lot of new 14 year old kids that probably didn't know who Pantera were.

[Slayer 0]

Pantera and RATM did a lot more for metal in the early-mid 90's than Korn ever did.

[Special K 0]

Anyone over the age of 25 knows that Bon Jovi was an important band.

 

Oh, OK. I'm exactly 25. That must be why I think Bon Jovi sucks.

 

Pantera and RATM did a lot more for metal in the early-mid 90's than Korn ever did.

 

Quoted for truth.

 

 

The whole 'fuck the hipsters' argument is so silly. Don't like Britney Spears? Or ICP? Fuck you hipster! Let the teenyboppers and juggaloes enjoy their music!

[Guest]

That must be why I think Bon Jovi sucks.

That's different from importance.

[Special K 0]

Look, the list is obviously bollocksed, as it includes random genres, veering from influential cult bands with little commercial success (Fugazi) to bands that were extremely popular, but did nothing particularly new or innovative (Bon Jovi, Blink 182)

 

I don't pretend to know a thing about metal, but this list is trully bizarre.

[2GOLD 0]

I like Bon Jovi and even I don't think they are important to the music world.

[randomguy 0]

The list makes sense overall. (Givent he source) Since I know a lot about the history of metal I will help educate.

 

25. Motorhead

One of the first and most successful punk/metal bands.

 

24. Rage Against The Machine

I'm assuming they are on here as rap/metal guys.

 

23. Emperor

Black metal band on the leading edge of the whole "gloomy scandanavian music" genre. I assume they are on here representing doom/black metal.

 

22. Marilyn Manson

Should not be on this list. Period. Musically not important in the least. MM is just Alice Cooper for the next generation.

 

21. Def Leppard

Super-successful British import. Part of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal. Essentially the glam-rock equivalent of Iron Maiden. Probably on the list becaue Kerrang is a British publication.

 

20. Slipknot

No idea why these guys are on the list.

 

19. Soundgarden

Ditto. Good band but don't deserve to be here.

 

18. Black Flag

Sort of a prog-punk band. "Hardcore."

 

17. Napalm Death

Grindcore originators. Expect songs 2 minutes or less. This is basically the opposite end of the metal spectrum with progressive metal on the other. The members of Napalm Death have also been in a lot of other pretty important bands.

 

16. Fugazi

I don't know shit about Fugazi.

 

15. Nine Inch Nails

Ministry or KMFDM (or Fear Factory, or a bunch of others) would have been much better choices. NIN is on the list representing industrial metal.

 

14. Blink 182

Person who added them was drunk.

 

13. Judas Priest

Generally considered THE first metal band along with Deep Purple.

 

12. Korn

Bleah

 

11. Bon Jovi

Bleah

 

10. Nirvana

We all know why this is here.

 

9. Pantera

Trash metal and "groove metal" pioneers. (Had to look that one up)

 

8. Faith No More

Generally considered the originators of rap metal.

 

7. Slayer

Speed metal/thrash metal guys.

 

6. Ozzy Osbourne

Let's just pretend this says "Black Sabbath."

 

5. Green Day

Does not belong on this list, period.

 

4. AC/DC

The ultimate cock-rock band.

 

3. Metallica

Duh

 

2. Guns'n'Roses

Managed to "keep it real" when metal was going to hair hell with a mix of metal, blues, rock, etc. One of the few rock bands in their time that wasn't a hair band, super-cheesy, fantasy obsessed or anything like that. Basically the definition of rock.

 

1. Iron Maiden

Member of the NWOBHM. Melodic, complicated metal. Long songs, dueling guitars, harmonizing, interesting tempos, etc. Basically the opposite of cock-rock. Musician's metal. These guys became huge with basically no radio and no TV play. They are the clear choice for #1 and anyone who doesn't understand that doesn't understand the genre. Iron Maiden IS metal, period.

 

 

 

Some thoughts on the list:

 

No Black Sabbath and no Deep Purple? Those are huge omissions. DP along with Judas Priest are often considered the first metal band. And Ozzy instead of Sabbath on the list is a joke. Not only should Sabbath be on the list, they should be top 5.

 

NIN as industrial/electronica choice is odd. Ministry or KMFDM or a bunch of other bands would be far better choices. Probably Ministry. (But the KMFDM fan in me says KMFDM)

 

Power Metal and Progressive Metal probably deserve representatives - say Helloween and Queensryche/Dream Theater.

 

An important thing in this list is drawing lines from bands that originate in other bands.

 

For example if you start at Deep Purple you can draw a line to Iron Maiden then to Queensryche and Dream Theater and then on to Stravarious, Symphony X and a bunch of other bands. Basically all the more technical, clean-sounding progressive-ish metal starts with Purple and Maiden. Maiden was more metal while Purple was a mix of metal, rock, southern blues, etc.

 

If you start at Black Sabbath you can draw a line to all doom metal and most down-tuned bands including things like Alice in Chains and grunge in general. Anything that sounds sludgy basically started with Sabbath.

 

If you start with Helloween you can draw lines to all sorts of power-metal including Gamma Ray, Blind Gaurdian, Hammerfall and a bunch of other Euro bands, as well as bands like Savatage to some degree.

 

A list like this should be heavily biased towards older bands, as it is easier to gauge their importance and the metal/hard rock genre has been around for a while now.

[Big Ol' Smitty 0]

No Saigon Kick?

[Henry Spencer 0]

"randomguy" doesn't quite seem to understand "1981-2006."

[snuffbox 0]

AC/DC doesnt like being considered a heavy metal band.

[Toshiaki Koala 0]

16. Fugazi

I don't know shit about Fugazi.

 

You should. I like them better than every other band on this list, not that it really matters what I think. Maybe Special K agrees with me.

[randomguy 0]

"randomguy" doesn't quite seem to understand "1981-2006."

 

 

Sure I do. Some of those bands started out before 1981 but were still major by 1981. I don't think any of them had fallen off the map by then.

 

Later bands don't really belong, as the list is obviously geared towards hard rock/metal and late 70s to late 80s was when most of the important developments there happened.

[Guest wahoo]

13. Judas Priest

Generally considered THE first metal band along with Deep Purple.

 

Maybe the first "all-out" metal band, if that makes any sense.... , but Sabath and Zeppelin get credited a lot here.

 

8. Faith No More

Generally considered the originators of rap metal.

 

not that allmusic.com is some kind of authority, but this is worth quoting :

Prior to the initial emergence of rap-metal, there had been several successful fusions of rap with hard rock guitar -- Run-D.M.C.'s collaboration with Aerosmith on a remake of the latter's "Walk This Way," the Beastie Boys' Licensed to Ill -- but the true birth of rap-metal was Anthrax's comic 1987 single "I'm the Man," which combined a heavy guitar riff (actually the melody of "Hava Nagila") with full-fledged, surprisingly competent rapping. Funk-metal outfits like the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Faith No More dabbled in the style, but the intense hardcore tone commonly associated with '90s rap-metal was established by another Anthrax record, a 1991 remake of Public Enemy's "Bring the Noise" that featured members of PE itself. Some metal bands had come to associate hardcore rap with the street-tough urban attitude they wanted to project, and after "Bring the Noise," they suddenly found it possible to experiment with fusing the two.

[pochorenella 0]

No Kiss on the list makes me kinda sad, although I can understand it somewhat given the time period. I know they were at their biggest and most influential in the 70s, but they did release best-selling albums and had successful tours in the 80s and had a monster comeback in the mid-nineties back in makeup with their Reunion Tours.

 

No Saigon Kick?

 

Most likely you're joking, but I think The Lizard is a terrific album. I have no problem suggesting people to give it a fair listen.

[Special K 0]

I don't know shit about Fugazi.

 

You should. I like them better than every other band on this list, not that it really matters what I think. Maybe Special K agrees with me.

 

Pretty much....

 

But come on. I'm a 25-year-old Seattle boy. I <3 Nirvana.

 

Out of all those metal bands, I probably like Pantera the best. I dunno, I like Pantera and Sepultura quite a bit, but I'm not big into metal. I couldn't tell you a single Iron Maiden song.

[Henry Spencer 0]

Please. What did Black Sabbath or Deep Purple do that had any importance whatsoever after 1981?

[randomguy 0]

They existed. Which is really good enough.