I can't remember if this topic has been discussed or not, but it came up on the Blind Guardian forums, and I thought it might be fun to see what you all think here. 60's, 70's, 80's, 90s, and 2000's if you please...
60's: The Beatles. Obviously, the revolutionized the music scene and introduced the first real Rock element. An extreme honorable mention goes to The Rolling Stones, who made it OK to be very, very underground, and still have a very large following. One of these bands is still touring, the other's members are mostly dead...
70's: Black Sabbath. They took what the Stones did to the next level, with Randy writing 'horror' music, as it were, it was dark and creepy and caused the entire lead in to the metal 'rebel revolution'. For indeed, they were the fathers of a new, darker side of music, daring to not make pop. Honorable Mention to Judas Priest, who I believe are the true fathers of Metal. While Sabbath laid down the sound, Priest laid out the style that would catch on and become 80's party like glam, eventually evolving into the Metal we hear today. I wanted to say Priest was the most important band of the 70's, but realistically, Sabbath edges them by a hair.
Speaking of Hair:
80's: Iron Maiden. The 80's was about Metal, no doubt about it, there can be no arguments, it's simply what it was. Kicking off in 1980 with Iron Maiden and closing in 1988 with Seventh Son of a Seventh Son. They were the undisputed champions of the genere and the decade. Honorable Mention to Metallica, who continued on the underground yet, hugely famous, tradition of the Stones.
90's: This is difficult. Alternative or Grunge rock was definitely THE in thing of the 90's. I don't think any band really stood head and shoulders above any other band in this time frame except maybe Nirvana. And even then only because they, like Sabbath and the Beetles, were the pioneers of their sound. Do I think they were the most important band of the 90's? Maybe, but only because they got the jump and did it first. It could've easily been Bush. On the other hand, there was a surprising resurgance of Hard Rock, expemlified and headed by Pearl Jam's release of 10, their reluctance to actually release videos, and high energy concerts. Nirvana was good, but Pearl Jam of the 90's is the stuff of Legends. Honorable Mention to the Smashing Pumpkins. My affinity for them has been made known already.
2000's: Blink 182. Every Decade seems to usher in a new style and sound, and Blink 182 brought in some originality, taking the best elements of Punk and Rock and not creating so much "Punk Rock" as something completely different. Their goal seems to be to make music fun again, and there seems to be quite a fair number of 'Blink Clones' out there in the Pop world. Sadly, for Blink 182, Travis..who is a phenominal drummer, especially, I believe they opened the flood gates for these awful EMO bands' sound, like them or not, they are predominant in today's highschool generation. Without Blink 182's sound, these bands would probably be very different.
60's: The Beatles. Obviously, the revolutionized the music scene and introduced the first real Rock element. An extreme honorable mention goes to The Rolling Stones, who made it OK to be very, very underground, and still have a very large following. One of these bands is still touring, the other's members are mostly dead...
70's: Black Sabbath. They took what the Stones did to the next level, with Randy writing 'horror' music, as it were, it was dark and creepy and caused the entire lead in to the metal 'rebel revolution'. For indeed, they were the fathers of a new, darker side of music, daring to not make pop. Honorable Mention to Judas Priest, who I believe are the true fathers of Metal. While Sabbath laid down the sound, Priest laid out the style that would catch on and become 80's party like glam, eventually evolving into the Metal we hear today. I wanted to say Priest was the most important band of the 70's, but realistically, Sabbath edges them by a hair.
Speaking of Hair:
80's: Iron Maiden. The 80's was about Metal, no doubt about it, there can be no arguments, it's simply what it was. Kicking off in 1980 with Iron Maiden and closing in 1988 with Seventh Son of a Seventh Son. They were the undisputed champions of the genere and the decade. Honorable Mention to Metallica, who continued on the underground yet, hugely famous, tradition of the Stones.
90's: This is difficult. Alternative or Grunge rock was definitely THE in thing of the 90's. I don't think any band really stood head and shoulders above any other band in this time frame except maybe Nirvana. And even then only because they, like Sabbath and the Beetles, were the pioneers of their sound. Do I think they were the most important band of the 90's? Maybe, but only because they got the jump and did it first. It could've easily been Bush. On the other hand, there was a surprising resurgance of Hard Rock, expemlified and headed by Pearl Jam's release of 10, their reluctance to actually release videos, and high energy concerts. Nirvana was good, but Pearl Jam of the 90's is the stuff of Legends. Honorable Mention to the Smashing Pumpkins. My affinity for them has been made known already.
2000's: Blink 182. Every Decade seems to usher in a new style and sound, and Blink 182 brought in some originality, taking the best elements of Punk and Rock and not creating so much "Punk Rock" as something completely different. Their goal seems to be to make music fun again, and there seems to be quite a fair number of 'Blink Clones' out there in the Pop world. Sadly, for Blink 182, Travis..who is a phenominal drummer, especially, I believe they opened the flood gates for these awful EMO bands' sound, like them or not, they are predominant in today's highschool generation. Without Blink 182's sound, these bands would probably be very different.
