Greatest Bands

The greatest bands make the greatest songs. It doesn't matter how they do it, it doesn't matter how they look doing it. As long as they have a place in your heart, they have a place on this list. Don't agree with the list? Vote for an existing item you think should be ranked higher or if you are a logged in, add a new item for others to vote on or create your own version of this list.

 

1
ABBA

ABBA has sold nearly 1/2 BILLION record units making them the second highest selling group in the history of music, The Beatles are number on in sales. Agnetha Faltskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad have incredible voices.

ekos

ABBA is the greatest band ever. Will always cherish the band.

You stupid monkeys who say other bands are 10 or 100 times better than ABBA, this is only in your fantasy. Let the statistics speak for themselves: ABBA is 5 times better than Led Zeppelin.

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2Jackson 5

LOVE

OlgaLJ

Pure brilliance!

Pure brilliance!

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3The Beatles

100 years from now people will still be listening to them

WesternMustang

As The All Music Guide says in their excellent Beatles biography "That it's difficult to summarize their career without restating cliches that have already been digested by tens of millions of rock fans, to start with the obvious,they were the greatest and most influential act of the rock era and introduced more innovations into popular music than any other rock band of the 20th century."


"Moreover they were among the few artists of *any* discipline that were simultaneously the best at what they did *and* the most popular at what they did." THey also say as singers John Lennon and Paul McCartney were among the best and most expressive in rock.

Also on an excellent site,The Evolution of Rock Bass Playing McCartney Style by Dennnis Alstrand,Stanley Clarke,Sting,Will Lee,Billy Sheehan,George Martin and John Lennon are quoted saying what a great,melodic and influential bass player Paul has always been'


And Wilco's John Stirratt was asked in Bass Player which bass players have had the most impact on his playing and the first thing he said was, Paul McCartney is one of the greatest bass players of all time,if you listen to what he was tracking live in the studio it's unbelievable." "With his tone and musicality he was a huge influence,he covered all of his harmonic responsibilities really well but his baselines were absolutely melodic and inventive."

And in an online 1977 Eric Clapton interview,ERic Clapton In His Own Words he says that there was always this guitar game between John and George,and he said partly because John was a pretty good guitar player himself.He played live with John as a member of John's 1969 Plastic Ono Band.

And there is a great online article by musician and song writer Peter Cross,The Beatles Are The Most Creative Band Of All Time and he says that many musicians besides him recognize Paul as one of the best bass guitar players ever.He too says that John and Paul are the greatest song composers are among the 2 greatest singers in rock and that John,Paul and George were all excellent guitarists and that George is underrated by people not educated about music but that Eric Clapton knew better,he also says that both John and Paul played great leads as well as innovative rhythm tracks.


John Lennon co-wrote,sang and played guitar on one of David Bowie's first hits Fame in 1975.Brain May,Ozzy Osbourne,and Liam Gallagher and many more call The Beatles The Greatest Band Ever.


Also on MusicRadar Tom Petty,Joe Perry and Richie Sambora in What The Beatles Mean To Me all say how cool and great they thought The Beatles were when they first saw them on THe Ed Sullivan Show in Februar 1964 when they were just teen boys,Richie was only 5.Tom Petty said he thought they were really really great.


Robin Zander of Cheap Trick said he's probably one of the biggest Beatles fans on the planet.Brad Whitford of Aerosmith said that a lot of that Beatles influence comes from Steven Tyler's collaborartion with Mark Hudson both whom are absolute Beatles freaks and he said I guess the goal is to try and emulate probably some of the best music of the last 50 years which has to be The Beatles.

lucyinthesky

Beatles Are The Best

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4Led Zeppelin

GREAT! #1

ABBA? What the F is that? Never Heard of it. Long live the best. LED ZEP!

stairway to heaven? come on. jimmy page? come on. not #4, no, #2 at least!

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5Queen

One word,
Floorgasmic

Queen show they could write and sing music from pop to rock to opera, they are the best. R.I.P Freddie Mercury.

iloveviolence

had to pick queen... they had the best frontman of all time freddie mercury... look up their performence at live aid if you need proof

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6Linkin Park

They know how to play with music

Siam021394

Deserves to be #1

No o n e c a n be e a t L I n k I n P a are k

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7Heart

Of course!

Definitely top 5 at least.

8Metallica

Every Song was a hit!

They are in the Rock in Roll Hall of Fame and they are still relevant with their new album going number 1.

Its a no-brainer.
guns n' roses could of been it if it weren't for the band imploding.

Metallica has inspired all of modern metal and is the best selling metal act of all time. their classics are examples of truly inspired music.

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9Pink Floyd

Greatest band.. nough said

chriskurtz

Hands down greatest band of all time with landmark records like Dark Side of the Moon and Wish you were here their sound and legacy will go on forever.

Floyd wrote stonkers. You slit your bloody wrists to write some of the stuff they wrote.

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10The Bee Gees

pure talent... without a doubt they're one of the best bands of all time... Gibb brothers rocks!

no matter how yiu try you will never beat them they're LEGENDS!

 

11AC/DC

Why do they even need to ask, AC/DC changed the world, simple as that

best band with the greatest hard rock songs even today.

Because there true rockers, and back in black kicks so much ass!

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12Nirvana

Changed my life, just an amazing band in so many ways.

of course! Smells Like Teen Spirit is one of the best song they are freaking awesome no doubt 1 of the best!

Nirvana was litterally the greatest rock band of the 90's. Kurt Cobain had an amazing voice. And They've wrote some of the greatest and most well known songs of all time.

13Green Day

Green Day is the most amazing band ever... and they started out in a little club, where they were shunned for having a hit. Haha, I'd love to see where those losers who banned them are now! Green Day changed my life, honestly. KEEP ROCKIN, GREEN DAY!

BulletproofHeart

greenday's my favourite band billy voice is awesome i have had a great time listening to them. There songs good riddance when its time r best

naveep3

39 smoothed, Kerplunk, Dookie, Imsomniac, Nimrod, Warning, American Idiot, and 21st Century Breakdown has sold in total 62 million copies and Green Day is number 17 of all albums sold worldwide ever

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14The Rolling Stones

mick and the boys 13? come on, at least top 5. it don't get much better than this. they have outlasted them all, and still going strong.

The stones, amazing, probably the best there has ever been, number one with no doubt, a classical, long lasting band

15Dave Matthews Band

Carter is the best drummer. That guy is unbelievable. Nucking futs...

move em up!

number 1

16The Who

ADMIRED AND RESPECTED BY OTHER MUSICIANS. CREATIVE AND UNIQUE ONSTAGE

The Who were the founders of hard rock. You can make a list of bands that would not exist if it wasn't for the who from led zeppelinto the jonas brothers

The drummer was arguably the best ever. Pete's in at least the top 20 guitarists. Roger is one of the best vocalists. They were one of the first big bands, and one of the last to truly incorporate blues timing and notes into their music. Also phenomenal live.

17Rush

The musicianship is incredible, from Geddy's screaming vocals and bass lines to Peart's drum solos. Definitely the most underrated of all rock bands.

There is no band like Rush. Original lyrics, original concepts and sound, and it's crazy that so much sound comes from only 3 guys. INSANE!

THEY DESERVE TO BE IN THE ROCK N ROLL HALL OF FAME

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18Bon Jovi

Truly amazing, they kickass when it comes to music

Bon Jovi, Awesomeness.

simple cause they are

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19System Of A Down

Greatest band of all time, every single song is amazing

out of all 5 albums I can only say about 4 songs are boring, I can literally just listen to them all day and never get tired of listening to their music. I'd have to say the first album was and is the best album out of the 5

they just plain out rock
and have great guitar licks
and have a very different
twist in lyrics in just about
all of their songs

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20Creedence Clearwater Revival

How many of their songs play on radio and movies?

Best ever. Period.

21Radiohead

radiohead is the last prophet of rock!

they've changed and progressed with each album as they've seen fit. it's hard to argue against a band that has never traded their interests for commercial success. which is why they remain revelant everywhere except in the mainstream media. that's probably a blessing though, haha.

Amazing Lyrics, Great Vocals. Their songs are always packed with emotions whether it's love, hatred, Anxiety, Sadness or Fear.

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22Guns N Roses

gnr was the most influential and broke the most barriers of then entire decade for the 80's! def should be higher than linkin park.

aw come on gnr should be higher, they were the most influential band of the 80's! gnr is perfection

Slash's riffs are amazing and coupled with Axl's voice makes for a great band

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23Eagles

The best overall talent of any band, with each member bring versatility with playing, songwriting, singing. No overall band can match with the talent The Eagles have.

Great individual talent that blends as one.

The greatest Country Rock band of all time.

24Tool

Maynard is the Bob Dylan of Rock! It's not even close.

absolutely the greatest band of all time.

25Red Hot Chili Peppers

They have the best vocalist, guitarist and bassist in the world.

rock on

RHCP is way better than Soad

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26Van Halen

Van Halen is the greatest rock band ever! Eddie Van Halen is a guitar God! Roth, greatest frontman!

Van Halen is definitely the greatest band of all time.

Jump... Panama... Eruption... Come on they've got to be the best... EDDIE VAN HALEN!

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27Wings
28My Chemical Romance

I love this band they are the best

29Kiss

kiss should be way up there. in the 80s everybody was talking about them

Must be lamos on here voting because 90 of the bands ahead of kiss wouldn't be around if werent for kiss

They are awesome. Not to mention a lot of the band son this list got inspiration and motivation from them!

30Pearl Jam

Pearl Jam is definitely one of the pioneers of Grunge music.

31Jonas Brothers

No matter how big they get, they'll always stay grounded. Love them!

32Aerosmith

best band ever

my all time favorite band.

33Coldplay
34The Jimi Hendrix Experience

No other guitarist has left such a mark on modern music. It's difficult to think of what modern music would be like without Jimi Hendrix. Damn good composer, as well.

35Iron Maiden

Maiden should be number 1.

Iron Maiden is the greatest band ever to walk the planet!

Iron Maiden is the greatest band ever to walk the planet!

36Disturbed

Disturbed is one of the greatest bands ever because there song leaves a msg that no other band has dared to venter to like inside the fire no band has ever gone as far as them into suicide

37Evanescence

Good singing, and the band has experienced a lot of hardships over the years.

she has the most beautiful voice I've heard go evanescence

38The Velvet Underground

created punk music. also influenced bowie, sex pistols, R. E. M. , Talking heads, and u2

39Def Leppard

4 defenite, the LEP'S shall be ranked among at least the top 20 bands of all times, inspite of being my favorite band of all times, because I really love the way they made the magical blend between metal anthems and catchy pop sound of the mid eighties, I won, t give them the top notch, but those guyz were really brilliant and innovative in the eighties era, the way they were dressed up, their great riffs, sure if Steve Clarke was still alive, this band would have built it up more than they really are nowadayz, he was the master of riffs, besides their drummer is a real phenomena that won't happen to be repeated for at least the next 30 years to come.

40The Clash
41Wilco
42Boston

Should be in the top ten. One of the best bands of all time!

43Slayer
44Fall Out Boy

plain and simple FOB rocks should be farther ahead than radiohead at least.

plain and simple FOB rocks should be farther ahead than radiohead at least.

45Electric Light Orchestra

evil women is the best song alive yeeawwww!

They created a completely new sound based on the Beatles but not simply copied them. Jeff Lynne is the greatest producer of all times!

46Bruce Springsteen
47Scorpions
48Megadeth

My greatest influence! Along with Led Zeppelin, Michael Jackson, and Judas Priest!

49Westlife

yes it is true! I really love love them since I was in kinder until now Footloose!

Influenced by Michael Jackson heavily, this band would surely remain one of the most successful bands ever. Go Westlife!

50Oasis
51AFI
52The Kinks

Rock on Ray!

53Glen Miller

Many hits and great music. Goes back a few years.. Greatest real band, not a singer with back ground music.

54Blue Oyster Cult

One of the most underrated bands of all time. Not the best, but they rival Black Sabbath for ability;

(Don't Fear) the Reaper is better than Paranoid

Godzilla is BOC's Iron Man

Astronomy is BOC's War Pigs
(The live version from 'A Long Days Night, not the original)

And that's just to cover Black Sabbaths bases. Golden Age of Leather and Stairway To The Stars are 2 other faves of many!

55KoRn
56Slipknot
57Dazz Band
58Switch
59Average White Band
60Black Sabbath
61Pantera
62Motorhead
63Killswitch Engage
64Venom
65The Stooges
66David Bowie

1969 to 1980 genuis, from alter image Ziggy to Thin White Duke. Saw the future of Music in the present

WesternMustang

67The Smiths
68The Doobie Brothers
69Santana
70Black Oak Arkansas
71The Good Rats Radio
72Kamelot

Simply awesome, I think they should be top, but they're not as known as they must be. :(

TheViikT0r

73Biffy Clyro
74Neil Young

No other Artist has been as great for such a long period of time. The driving influence of Buffalo Springfield, the leader of CSNY, and as diverse a catalog as any artist ever. From 1966 to 1994 he was superb with a 8 year down period from 1980 to 1988. Still putting out quality albums today and as big an influence on artists as anyone else

WesternMustang

75Bob Marley

The King, show me one person who does not love Bob

WesternMustang

76New Order
77R.E.M.
78Foo Fighters
79U2
80The Beach Boys
81Pink
82Fela Kuti
83Avril Lavigne
84Paramore
86Evan Taubenfeld Listen to sample
87Simple Plan Listen to sample

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List Info

This list was created on May 13, 2008 and has been voted on over 2,000 times.