Bands that Changed Music
 

This thread is intended to start conversation on Bands that Changed Music.

The 50's had Elvis Presley... The start of Rock n Roll
The 60's had the Beatles... Brit Rock has changed American Rock n Roll
The 70's had Pink Floyd and Zepplin... Rock that was Emotional
The 80's Sucked nothing good here except maybe the Eagles??
The 90's The single most imortant band since Floyd... Nirvana... need I say more???

So now the Melinium Band??? who will the Rock Band Be?

Van Halen...before Eddie no one played a the neck with both hands. The Who were probably the earliest influence on Punk Rock music. Funk bands like Parlimant/etc. greatly influenced Hip-Hop music.

Asta!!

Late 70's early 80's did not suck. You had The Cure, Talking Heads, R.E.M. all bands that greatly influenced emo/indie rock. Korn changed metal (for the worst probably but changed it none the less). Black Sabath just about started metal. Lets not forget about all the bluesmen who influenced rock.

Asta!!

U2 have influenced a lot of bands as well.

Asta!!

Political bands...started on protest/politcal music. Bruce Sprinsteen and the E Street Band were pretty political..made songs for the working man...He didn't start it but just putting the example out there so someone with more knowledge can remember who started the political/protest rock thing. Probably The Beatles/John Lennon/George Harrison right? Not sure anymore.

Asta!!

50's - birth of rock 'n' roll, black crossover - Bill Haley & the Comets, Chuck Berry, Fats Domino, Elvis, Little Richard
60's - British Rock, psychedelic music - Beatles, Stones, Beach Boys, Hendrix, Jefferson Airplane
70's - more 60's stuff, disco, raggae - Eagles, Moody Blues, Pink Floyd, Bee Gees, Bob Marley
80's - boy groups, MTV - New Kids on the Block, Huey Lewis, Madonna, Michael Jackson
90's - rap, grunge - Ice Cube, Tupac, Snoop Doggy Dogg, Dr. Dre, Nirvana, Pearl Jam

Most significant: Chuck Berry, Elvis, Beatles, Nirvana

haha, I think K-Wise definately handled that question. I dont have any more ideas. All I can say is progressive rockers who pushed the envelope on what was actually POSSIBLE to play on thier respective instruments.

Definitely Prog rock...ya gotta love the fact that there were people out there who didn't feel the need for many lyrics if any at all....just music. That has also inspired a lot of all instrumental bands..Do Make Say Think, Explosians In The Sky, Godspeed! You Black Emperor, etc. Hmm what else is there? I don't think it should be limited to just "Bands" really because individual people have inspired a lot of these "bands" as well. Like Bob Dylan.

Asta!!

The 50's had Elvis Presley... The start of Rock n Roll
The 60's had the Beatles... Brit Rock has changed American Rock n Roll
The 70's had Pink Floyd and Zepplin... Rock that was Emotional
The 80's Sucked nothing good here except maybe the Eagles??
The 90's The single most imortant band since Floyd... Nirvana... need I say more???

OH dear.... Does anyone here actually KNOW about music?
1) It seems we are only talking about 'rawk' here
2) Shoving aside a complete decade seems to show nothing but a lack of knowledge
3) Nirvana? Sorry? What?? Not even the best band off Sub-pop. Nor the most important in showing major labels how to make money off out of the mainstream. All Nirvana have given us is a couple of good songs, a lousy spin-off band, a generation of doomed-goth-teen-I-love-kurt idiots who never saw them play nor would be likely to seek out modern equivalents AND (and this is probably the only good bit) added another paragraph to Steve Albini's autobiography.

^ Ya know saying "does anyone" is a pretty general statement buddy. Especially since your only example of someone not "knowing" music is the thread starter. Try not to offend people in the future k? But yeah like I said it shouldn't be limited to just "bands" and rock...it should be all kinds.

Asta!!

more punk metal influences in the 70s- Motorhead and 79-now for political we have Bad Religion
I would also agree on Parliament,
I cant wait until im 21 to actually go and see the Pfunk
80s also was the start of the big metal time and the start of raprock (anthrax/public enemy, Beastie Boys, Aerosmith/Run DMC)
Without these guys there wouldnt be near as many Linkin Park type bands
Oh and then theres the Sugarhill gang also David Bowie with Ziggy to help with some of the Industrial as well as 89-present a Mr Trent Reznor (Nu metal anyone?)
thats all i can think of for now

^ Very true. Also a lot of people credit The New York Dolls and MC5 with the beginings of punk music. Sonic Youth were a very important band...Pixies...Misfits...etc.

Asta!!

Let's not forget the Grateful Dead. Love 'em or hate 'em, they fused a jazz sensibility with blues and country to create a strictly American style of Pychadelia that later went on to influence the Allman Brothers and all of Southern rock, as well as the Eagles, Little Feat, Bruce Hornsby, Phish, Widespread Panic, and every other jam band out there.

Another one I don't see mentioned, because it's kind of hard to trace their influence, is Talking Heads. Perhaps bringing polyrhythmic percussion into pop music, starting off the sort of softer punk style, and influencing some of the quirkier bands out there: They Might Be Giants and Cake spring to mind.

Of Course, the history of Rock and Roll really begins and ends with Blue Öyster Cult. Tounge and cheek though I am, you can sometimes pick up little bits of Buck Dharma in almost any hard rock guitar solo. Whether it's direct influence or a more esoteric emanation of greatness is an open question, but he is clearly responsible for 90% or hard rock guitar in this day and age.

Seriously, though, ask yourself where Tool would be wihtout BÖC opening the mainstream ear to weird. And they're not the only ones, it's just that, it is so patently obvious to me that BÖC is the finest Rock and Roll band ever that the influence they have on the music of others is either irrelevent or embarrassing. (Skid Row? Cinderella? Autograph? Hair metal was DOA without BÖC preparing the ground.)

as far as rock music goes, I have reiterate flstf's comment that Chuck Berry was extremely important. the guy pretty much single-handedly made playing electric guitar cool. without him, John and George would have never even picked up a guitar, let alone start a band.

The 80's had Guns and Roses and Metallica (the actually didnt suck back then). Many of today's artists had a big influence from those guys. I grew up on GN'R...

I mentioned Talking Heads. Forgot Grateful Dead though...definitely an important one. Co-sign on BOC and CB as well. Queen I've noticed have influenced many people. Not specifically their playing but name another band that touched on as many styles of music as Queen? We're talking rock, metal, pop, swing, anthems, ballads, big orchestral arrangements(Choral), humorous, jazz, disco, etc. and to put the icing on the cake they did them all well too.

Ya think The Cars changed music? I know I love em and I'd like to think they inspired a lot of musicians. Again I think we should mention individuals as well...Jimi Hendrix? Love him or hate him he changed it.

Asta!!

How the ufck could I forget Metallica?

Asta!!

Gil-Scott Heron anyone?

*clears throat*

Hendrix

nuff said about missing names.

Haha well, it's not as mainstream or obvious, but anyone who's a fan of Mike Patton knows that Faith No More (or Mr. Bungle) has had a very strong influence on most modern bands (aka Nu Metal). Most of them have one of those two bands of his as an influence.

Incubus is one... Deftones is another. CKY, Korn.. There's a few others I can't think of.

Of course, Nirvana is what did it for the 90's, but there's a LOT of influence coming from Patton's arena, as underground as he may seem.

Even Tool claims he's an influence on their work.

There was an interview with King Buzzo of the Melvins and he was saying:

"Yeah, we make fun of Patton. See, we (The Melvins) are proud to have influenced bands like Nirvana, while Mike (Patton) has to live with the fact that he influenced Nu Metal." I can't find a link, but it was hilarious.

Needless to say, he's amassed quite a following (very odd how he isn't mainstream being as popular as he is) and you'll be seeing a lot more avant-garde/experimental type music in the coming years.

Yes... how dare I forget Hendrix... Imagine what it would be like if the Paramedics had only rolled him over for the Ambulance ride...

i am not sure i understand the claim being made about any particular pop band in this context. what does it mean to "change music"? is music one thing? is thre somekind of zeitgeist idea underneath it?

i think the development of magnetic tape changed most music. folk still havent quite caught up with what it means, for example in scoring (now just an option--if repetition is the function of scores, the tape does it better), on performance (why bother to tour as a copy of yourself if people can just play the recordings over and over?) etc.

radio too---cant really imagine contemporary music, with all the genre blurring that goes on within it, without radio having made such blurring not only possible but ordinary.

but maybe i am too old to be able to imagine a band like the deftones changing anything--this despite the fact i still really quite like "shut up and drive"....

Wow... glad to see exactly how eclectic the tastes runs here....

I started this thread to have other opinions on What bands were thought to be influential / important... I didnt really mean to rule out inportant single acts such as Dylan, and Springsteen (although The "Boss" does absolutely nothing for me) I could spend an entire afternoon talking on this subject.... but some other Important Bands..

The Clash... influence is still being felt
The Ramones... Punks stand up and be counted
Nine Inch Nails made "strange" music acceptable to the mainstream
U2... great band up until Rattle and Hum
ABBA... yuk Disco... but hey lots of people liked it!
Metalica... Gods of Metal
Tu Pac... The greatest rapper ever... sorry but its true
on and on and on and on

Please people, I don't mean to offend but Ministry was doing Nine Inch nails before Nine Inch Nails was. They're just a rip off and put more of a Nu Metal sound than an industrial sound.

Nirvana is to the 90s as Van Halen was to the 80s. Where is post-grunge now? It's practically non-existent in any major circle. Remember, back in the 80s people thought hair metal would live forever, and that Eddie Van Halen would always be acknowledged as the best ever? Now he makes 70 in top 100 guitarist lists.

i thought about putting Jorgenson and ministry up there , but i decided Reznor specifically brought the genre to a much wider audience, Ministry is still quite underground, which is confusing considering they tromp all this newer "heavy" trash.
I wanted to add a lot of the old Jazz musicians too but all i could think of was Chuck.
Another misser i think would have to be the Yardbirds, from clapton to Beck to Page that is a hell of a line up considering all but beck are incredibly famous and he is still doing alright for himself.
Nirvana should not rule the 90s exclusively either, ther are sublime and Greenday and Pearl Jam and to a lesser Extent Alice in chains and Soundgarden. all these guys were in the same time period and i think have definate influences for todays current music.

I guess Big Star should qualify as an influential band

most people brush off the 80s as unimportant. but it was easily one of the most important decades.

why? just LOOK at it. visually even.

so much of the 70s was discarded, a very new, very loud, very bombastic thing was the 80s. it seemed like a time of purging. there was a big loud, confused, but powerful force that seemed to erase everything before it.

and things slowly started to change.

music is completely cyclical. everything moves and changes, but it goes in a predictable forula. to find out what's coming next, simply look to the past.


i had to sound like a snob or some "i heard them first" kinda person, but for the last 2-3 years, i've been almost bang on with the bands that get popular. i'll push and push a band to my friends and such, see them in tiny clubs and bars, and boom. big money. maybe i shouldbe a record exec.

but i grow weary of all these nu-wave "indie" bands (*independent means on an independent label!*) with all this 'retro' throwback.

i really detest mainstream music, but on that note, i detest people who say there is no good modern music.

go out, go to a club, a bar, listen to college radio, start exchanging mix tapes/cds, the best music has always come from people who are willing to make it, despite money, fame or labels.

I just remembered. Duran Duran was the 80's look how many of the new bands coming out they've influenced.

Asta!!

Overall I understand what you are saying but I wouldn't compare Nirvana to Van Halen. Van Halen had talent. Nirvana had shock value, albeit somewhat prescribed which is ironic since it tried to be antithical to the mainstream commercial sell out,...which in fact they were..And as bad as the Sex Pistols minus the self mutilation and heroin banging on stage.

Influences as those mentioned do change the course of music. But music is music. Everyone likes something different. I agree with lots of names mentioned so far and can add The Beach Boys, David Bowie, Kiss, Genesis and on and on.

As much as todays music kills me to listen, ..and even despise,..what about Britney Spears. Lets name some of the followers in her footsteps. Christina, Hillary Duff, Lindsey Lohan, Vanessa Carleton, Michele Branch, Alicia Keys.,...This isn't to say Britney is responsible for all of them, since some are better and different,...but she re-opened the door and spotlight on female singers to the forefront again.

you know, weve had a lot of talk so far, but what about stage acts?
Ozzy, Alice cooper paved the way for guys like GWAR or marilyn manson to do what they do
oh and Somehow everyone has seemed to miss the Godfather himself James Brown (unless its on the first page and i just dont remember him being there)

I see what you're saying about Britney Spears but she did not inspire any of those people nor did she change music. Madonna was around long before her As were Debbie Gibson and Tiffany(of course those 2 didn't last as long). The only people Britney inspired were record label owners looking for "The Next Britney" so they can cash in on em before someone else does. More like brought it back to our attention but change? Nope I don't see anyone really following in Britney's footsteps that isn't being told to by their label. Christina wants to be the next Mariah Carey. Putting the spotlight on female singers again is not a change...The change he's talking about is something that hadn't happened before that started happening because of a single band/artist.

These days Record Companies "change" music more than the artists do...it isn't necessarily because any of the artists are doing anything new it's just that it's had an audience that wasn't known about for so long and one record label guy signs one artist and he's all over MTV then WOW 5 more similar artists show up outta nowhere..Thats why. The Strokes? Good band....Doing anything different? Nope...Change music? You might think so since they're one of the key bands that sparked the whole indie faze thats happening right now but no they didn't change anything.

How many white women did you see singing soul music before Janis Joplin? I can't really think of one myself(I'm sure there could be one though). Now you see em all the time. She didn't invent soul but she opened eyes to the fact that you could sing it regardless of your color.

Mary J. Blidge changed music. If ya don't like her thats cool but before Mary what female vocalist mixed R&B/Soul & Hip-hop together? She kinda started it all. I guess Puffy is kinda responsible since he produced that album but I don't think Puffy's done anything new all he does is sample his ass off..and not random sounds & horns & noises like people like Timbaland & Rza do...He sampled damn near the whole fuckin song...the hooks, the beats to them, only thing he sacrificed were the rest of the lyrics and he maybe sped up the beat a little and added a drum machine effect to it or some shit like that.

Rakim...Big Daddy Kane..they Changed music. Wu-Tang clan changed music. Public Enemy changed music, etc.

Asta!!

I know what you're saying K-Wise, but really it is all horses for courses. People mention the Beatles as changing music and in varying contexts they did. But the 2 minute pop song rooted in the 1-4-5 chord progressions preceded them with the likes of Paul Anka, Elvis etc,.. so they to could be seen as just a natural progression from what preceded them also.

And record companies didn't just start cloning acts recently like those after Britney to follow and to capitalize on her successes. Dick Clark was doing that in the 50's with the help of record companies and usually on a weekly basis. When music is static and gets to saturated it has a shelf life. As someone said before music is cyclical, it all comes back. You're right enough though for me to give you points. Britney didn't really change music but was at the starting gates to get the teen thing going again just like I can argue the Beatles didn't change music but was the natural progression from those preceding them.

It is interesting that no one mentioned (I don't think) Les Paul, Charlie Christian or even Robert Johnson. But did they really change music or just add to it?

edit;

Or how about Shoenberg and his 12 tone series? Now that changed a couple of hundred years of 1) introduction 2) development 3) recapitulation and 4) conclusion in the standard form of classically based music.

And I don't want to offend. This is a good topic to see a variety of artists that have influenced the world of music but in the end it shouldn't be seen as something as banal as,...who is the best guitarist, or drummer or whatever,...ever.

Velvet Underground
Ramones
Sex Pistols
MC5
Iggy and the Stooges
XTC
Elvis Costello
Neil Young

What? Did you suddenly stop listening after Rattle and Hum? Because if you did you missed several GREAT albums--different, yes, but GREAT. Granted, if you didn't like the direction U2 went with their new sound, of course you'll dislike their work in the 90s, but it still doesn't make it bad. Critically speaking it's much better than anything they did in the 80s, clearly more groundbreaking, and everything down to the songwriting had improved. In my opinion, Achtung Baby is their best album, and Pop has to be the most underrated album of their career.

They're still a great band, 25 years after they started as a punk outfit in Dublin.

Great point. Touche! :hmm:

What about Iron Maiden and the NWOBHM? They pretty much got the wheels of heavy metal turning in the 70's and 80's

Elvis Presley
Chuck Berry
Led Zeppelin
Pink Floyd
The Who
Black Sabbath
Neil Young
Faith No More
The Ramones

Nirvana didn't change music... there were a million other bands from the grunge movement that were much better than they were... they were simply the first to get a single out onto MTV. It's hard to say that one band changed music during that time period... it was more like one CITY changed music.

Korn changed music as well, to an extent... at least more recent music.