EWB's Top Fif -- er, Thirty-Three Influential Artists: THE RESULTS

[thuganomic]

From wikipedia, Skummy:

Anthrax, Dream Theater, Bang Camaro, Ben Folds Five, Boston, Blind Guardian, Kurt Cobain, Def Leppard, The Darkness, Extreme, Foo Fighters, The Germs, The Go Go's, Davey Havok, My Chemical Romance, Jeff Scott Soto, The Killers, Green Day, Guns N' Roses,Helloween,Iron Maiden,Judas Priest, Kansas, Manic Street Preachers, Metallica, George Michael, Marilyn Manson, Kaiser Chiefs, Muse, Mika,Nine Inch Nails, Panic at the Disco, Radiohead, The Smashing Pumpkins, Switches, Max Cavalera,Styx, Sweet, and Cesare CremoniniThreshold keyboardist Richard West; amongst others.

I'm sure you can find some decent bands in there. >_>

[Guest Dr. Potato Head]

Although they might be cancelled out by Extreme.

[gunnar hendershow]

I don't see any of those groups being more controversial than REM. If anything The Ramones are too high, specifically being above The Stooges. Pink Floyd influenced just about every pretentious prog band of the mid-to-late 70's on a level perhaps even greater than Zeppelin. This pretension and the reaction to it then caused The Clash to come into existence.

Edited May 27, 2008 by damshow

[RPS]

R.E.M., what the fuck? From what I can understand, they influenced "college rock", which seems to be a purely American phenomenon, as I have no idea what that actually means. They've had a handful of good songs, none of them musically especially groundbreaking, I fail to see how they can be considered influential on any real scale, certainly not more influential than those that have come before them in this list.

I voted for R.E.M [in fact, I might have put them number one of the list...] and I will back up this nomation.

I think R.E.M take a lot of flack for their 1990-early 2000 work which was LESS than stellar. Before that, R.E.M was the KINGS of alternative rock. Without them, THERE would be no alternative rock. They were, in the eighties, the most interesting band releasing music regularly. I think putting "they influenced" is doing them a great disservice. Them, along with a couple of other bands, PIONEERED alternative rock. Not just in terms of musical style, but in terms of how they approached the music business. R.E.M were not only important in helping to foster alternative rock on the underground scene in the eighties, but bringing it to the mainstream in the nineties and hugely influencing alternative rock and grunge movements. [Heck, without R.E.M I think Kurt Corbain said there would be no Nirvana].

To say that R.E.M had no songs that were ground breaking is ludcrious. In fact, its completely ass backwards! R.E.M released six of the greatest albums of the eighties. They released six amazing and ground breaking albums. One simply has to go back and look at reviews for albums such as Murmurs and Reckoning. Murmur which is widely recongised as one of the greatest alternative rock albums of all time, let alone probably the best CD of the eighties. Not only that, although they weren't necessarily the best band in the nineties, they still released a hell of a lot of good singles. Losing My Religion, Man on the Moon, Whats The Frequency Kenneth?, and their entire new CD is class.

Great songs by R.E.M? Gardening at Night , Begin the Begin, Radio Free Europe, Talk About The Passion, Don't Go Back To Rockville, The One I Love, Can't Get There From Here, So. Central Rain, 7 Chinese Bros., Fall On Me, Drive 8, It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine), Man On The Moon, All the Way to Reno, The Great Beyond, Losing My Religion, Stand, Living Well Is The Best Revenge, Man-Sized Wreath, Supernatural Superserious, Houston.

I think that R.E.M in the current climate is just as relevant as others on the list, if not more than others who have placed higher, but whatever...

[GoGo Yubari]

Right right I didn't forget this, no no.

10. The Velvet Underground (45 points)

9. Black Sabbath (46 points)

8. Chuck Berry (48 points)

7. Bob Dylan (50 points)

[Sousa]

Black Sabbath higher than the Velvet Underground.

Black Sabbath higher than the Velvet fucking Underground.

Sousa am cry.

[GoGo Yubari]

On the plus side, the Velvets were just barely higher than Nirvana. Even as someone who likes Nirvana, had they finished ahead of the Velvet Underground I would have facepalmed really hard.

[MalaCloudy Black]

Holy shit Chuck Berry in an EWB top anything list.

[gunnar hendershow]

Great grouping there. Surprised Sabbath are so high though, but this is an EWB list.

[Gene Kiniski]

Black Sabbath higher than the Velvet Underground.

Black Sabbath higher than the Velvet fucking Underground.

Sousa am cry.

Great grouping there. Surprised Sabbath are so high though, but this is an EWB list.

I don't understand the questioning in that placement. It's Black Sabbath. Nearly everyone who has picked up a guitar withing the last few decades (rock influenced) has probably tried to play Iron Man or Crazy Train, to play the least. Electric Wizard anyone?

Ozzy ALONE could top that list.

Remember guys (not the the 2 I quoted, I'm talking to everyone in general) - these list are supposed to be an unbiased outlook, not a personal preference in what has influenced your personal collection on iTunes.

[VerbalPuke]

Black Sabbath higher than the Velvet Underground.

Black Sabbath higher than the Velvet fucking Underground.

Sousa am cry.

Black Sabbath > Velvet Underground by a wide margin.

But fucking yeah, Chuck Berry and Black Sabbath? Man, this is the best list of music EWB has ever put together. I think some people forget that Black Sabbath's influence goes beyond just being a metal pioneer. Their sound was fucking ground breaking for the time, cases can be made for bands like Iron Butterfly or Blue Cheer, but Sabbath was heavy, loud, macabre, and Ozzy's voice was absolutely haunting. Not too mention that the other three (Geezer, Tony, and Bill) were great musicians in their own right. Black Sabbath did for metal what the Stooges did for punk, they set a groundbreaking tone that perfectly laid the foundation for bands of their ilk to follow up with. They are the epitome of a band being ahead of it's time, and thank god they were around when they were because a lot of music in their era was insipid bullshit.

If you guys don't believe me, watch this. War Pigs This is the absolute best version of War Pigs I've ever heard. This is what I mean when I say they were re-defining rock and roll and the way it should sound.

[METALMAN]

I don't particularly rate Nirvana or the Ramones though their influence is undeniable I suppose.

Clash - good but overrated.

Queen were always a singles band for me. I can see how they would be an influence but I can't imagine them influencing bands I like.

Pink Floyd - bit wank after Barrett left. David Gilmour is a bit of a prick.

Velvet Underground I like. Very influential indeed.

Black Sabbath are undoubtedly a big influence to metal bands and the like but I'm not really a fan of them or that kind of music. I always enjoy Paranoid though.

Chuck Berry is good fun. Good guitarist.

I expected Bob Dylan to be much higher than this. I haven't really been a Bob Dylan fan for a while. I only got into him last year but that's plenty of time to be able to justify why he was such an incredible influence.

Then again I can't remember who I even voted for. I might even have voted for some of the bands I criticised.

[Skummy]

Honestly, the Velvets and Sabbath are pretty equal, both in terms of being two of my favourite bands, and in terms of influence. Sabbath = heavy metal, and Velvets = any halfway intelligent take on rock music, any "darker" take on rock music, and generally alternative rock through and through. Sadly Sabbath were let down by...well, everything they did post-Ozzy (not that much of Ozzy's work post-Sabbath is any better, mind), but any band that could produce Masters Of Reality, Black Sabbath and Paranoid, three of the greatest heavy metal albums of all time, that an entire genre (Doom) basically exists solely to emulate...they're doing pretty well, I'd say. Chuck Berry and Bob Dylan should go without saying.

I could wax lyrical on the influence The Velvet Underground had on music, and on myself, and on pop culture, but I think I over-exerted myself on The Smiths.

I don't see the whole R.E.M. influence. I think it must be an American thing, because nothing about them sounds especially interesting or unique, even their '80s stuff, they just seem like a solid if unspectacular alternative rock band. To say alternative rock wouldn't exist without them is absurd. They've had some good tracks, but great? Nah, only "The One I Love".

As far as shaping alternative music goes, again, I'm looking from an English perspective, but as far as I can see they haven't had much impact on anything other than the American indie of the early '90s - early Flaming Lips, Lemonheads et al. A footnote in musical history, if anything. "Alt-rock" is basically an extension of the more radio-friendly end of post-punk anyhow, and if R.E.M. hadn't done anything, it would have come about from anywhere - the C86 scene, Sonic Youth, The Cure, The Smiths, Television Personalities, pretty much anything out of Scotland or Olympia WA during the '70s and '80s - there were hundreds of bands making "alternative" rock music with jangly pop guitars, and most of them doing it a damn sight better than R.E.M. I really genuinely don't see how they can be considered influential on such a grand scale, certainly not anywhere near the top fifty.

Edited May 29, 2008 by Skummy

[VerbalPuke]

It's nothing personal with the Velvets, they deserve their place on the list, I just don't see them above Black Sabbath. A lot of the Velvet's stuff I've heard sounded more like a continuation of psychedelic and garage, where as I saw Black Sabbath as completely reinventing the wheel musically speaking.

Like you said about the Smiths, they are your Beatles. The same can be said for Black Sabbath and myself.

Edit - And from an American perspective, R.E.M. is extremely fruity garbage. I can't understand how a song like "Shiny Happy People" can constitute a hit. They are just silly.

Edited May 29, 2008 by VerbalPuke

[DMN in the House]

When No Doubt (and I LOVE No Doubt) does your biggest hit better, you don't belong on this list.

[Iain76er]

Not sure who you're on about (I'll presume R.E.M. as they're receiving a kicking) but on a list of most influential bands, No Doubt doing a good version of your song would lean more to belonging on the list than not. 'cos they're covering your song. You influenced them.

[DMN in the House]

I am referring to REM, and I'm being a jackass, because I don't consider them overly influential.

[GoGo Yubari]

As for the "without REM there would be no Nirvana" sentiment? I doubt it. I can't find the interview where Kurt would have said that, and without REM there still would have been The Beatles, Sabbath, the Velvets, The Melvins, and the Pixies; no doubt Kurt was a fan, I can find that by searching, but I don't think they were crucial to Nirvana's existence.

6 - 4 coming once I'm not at school or at work. SEE YOU IN LIKE SIX HOURS, EWB.

[RPS]

Kurt Cobain has made it very clear in many interviews that without R.E.M, he wouldn't be a musician. I believe he stated it in a Rolling Stones article. I have it in a book, so I can cite it later.

And I still lay to my claim without R.E.M, no alternative rock. I mean, to say that R.E.M isn't influencial is one thing, but to ignore the blatant fact that R.E.M was alternative rock in the eighties is ludcrious. We aren't just talking musical style, but their early approach to DIY and in constructing an image of the band. Without R.E.M there there would be no Sonic Youth, no Grunge, no alternative rock of the nineties.

Sure, they released some major crap in the nineties, but to deny their existence as the one of the most (if not, the most) important alternative rock groups is ludcrious considering many music critics, journalists and historians would disagree.

But hey, just one opinion...

[Guest Dr. Potato Head]

R.E.M.'s popularity in England would be akin to most of those bands Skummy mentioned in England, and vice-versa.

Also, Great Big Sea has the best cover of any R.E.M. song ever.