Top Ten Rock and Metal Bands That Deserve More Attention

The Top Ten
1 Rush Rush was a Canadian progressive rock band that was formed in 1968. The band has had an iconic lineup since 1975, which included Neil Peart (Drums, Percussion), Geddy Lee (Vocals, Bass, Keyboards), and the guitarist, Alex Lifeson. Peart passed away after a 3 year battle with brain cancer in January of 2020. Because of this, Lee says there are no plans to keep the band going, so Rush is most likely defunct. The band has become one of the most well-known progressive rock bands in the world, with such albums as "2112", "Hemispheres" and "Moving Pictures". More than half of their albums have gone gold or platinum, as certified by the RIAA (Recording Industry Association Of America).

What do you get when the 3 greatest Canadian musicians in the same band? Rush. I am shocked they aren't a supergruop!

2 Mastodon Mastodon is an American heavy metal band from Atlanta, Georgia, formed in early 2000 and composed of bassist Troy Sanders, guitarists Brent Hinds and Bill Kelliher and drummer Brann Dailor.
3 Judas Priest Judas Priest are a British heavy metal band that formed in Birmingham, England, in 1969. They are often referred to as one of the greatest metal bands of all time, and are even commonly called “The Metal Gods”, after one of the songs on their 1980 album “British Steel”.

They are known for several of their hit songs, which include “Painkiller”, “Breaking The Law”, You’ve Got Another Thing Coming”, and “Turbo Lover”.
Their original lineup consisted of Al Atkins (vocals), K.K. Downing (lead/rhythm guitar), Ian Hill (bass), and John Ellis (drums). Atkins never recorded on any Judas Priest releases, but contributed to several songs. ...read more.

Bands like Omery Rising and The Raven Age are getting all the attention these days while underground bands like Judas Priest are trying to become popular. The clear number one here.

4 Kamelot Kamelot is an American power metal band from Tampa, Florida, formed by Thomas Youngblood and Richard Warner in 1991. The Norwegian vocalist Roy Khan joined for the album Siége Perilous, and shared songwriting credit with Youngblood until his departure in April 2011. On June 22, 2012, Youngblood announced ...read more.
5 UFO UFO are an English rock band that was formed in 1969. They became a transitional group between early hard rock and heavy metal and the new wave of British heavy metal.
6 Strawberry Alarm Clock Strawberry Alarm Clock is a psychedelic rock band formed in 1967 in Los Angeles best known for their 1967 hit single "Incense and Peppermints".
7 Big Star
8 Uriah Heep Uriah Heep are an English rock band formed in London in 1969 that was one of the top rock bands in the early 1970s. Twelve of the band's albums have made it to the UK Albums Chart (Return to Fantasy reached No. 7 in 1975). Uriah Heep's distinctive features include a massive keyboard sound, strong vocal ...read more.
9 Rainbow Rainbow are a British rock band led by guitarist Ritchie Blackmore from 1975 to 1984 and 1993 to 1997. They were originally established with Ronnie James Dio as the lead singer and lyricist. Rainbow were ranked No. 90 on VH1's 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock. The band has sold over 28 million albums worldwide. The band's early work primarily featured mystical lyrics with a neoclassical metal style.

First two albums are very good.

10 Blue Öyster Cult Blue Öyster Cult is an American rock band from Long Island, New York, whose most successful work includes the hard rock and heavy metal songs "(Don't Fear) The Reaper", "Godzilla" and "Burnin' for You".
The Contenders
11 Dream Theater Dream Theater is an American progressive metal band from Boston, Massachusetts. The band was formed in 1985 under the name of "Majesty", only to change its name to Dream Theater later.

The members of the band’s original lineup consisted of John Petrucci (Guitar), John Myung (Bass) and Mike Portnoy (Drums). The band had multiple keyboardists and singers, but as of and since 1991, the band's lead vocalist has been James LaBrie.

The band released their debut album "When Day and Dream Unite" in 1989, but only gained success and notoriety after the release of their second album, "Images and Words" in 1992. ...read more.

One of the greatest bands of all time and no one at my school knows about them. Not even my whole family knows about them!

The fact they are 21 proves they need more attention!

12 Rammstein Rammstein is a German Neue Deutsche Härte and Industrial Metal band consisting of Till Lindemann (vocals), Richard Kruspe (guitar), Paul Landers (guitar), Oliver Riedel (electric bass), Christoph Schneider (drums) and Christian Lorenz (keyboard), that formed in 1994 in Berlin . ...read more.
13 Buffalo Springfield Buffalo Springfield was an American-Canadian rock band, formed in Los Angeles in 1966. Their original lineup included Stephen Stills, Dewey Martin, Bruce Palmer, Richie Furay, and Neil Young.
14 Supertramp Supertramp were an English progressive rock band that was founded in 1969 in London, United Kingdom with members Roger Hodgson, Frank Farrell, Rick Davies, Kevin Currie, and Dave Winthrop. The band reached their commercial peak with 1979's "Breakfast in America" which sold over 20,000,000 copies worldwide.
15 The Yardbirds The Yardbirds are an English rock band formed in London in 1963 that had a string of hits during the mid-1960s, including "For Your Love", "Heart Full of Soul" and "Over Under Sideways Down".

Hard to understand how a band whose guitarists were Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, and Jimmy Page can be so unknown today.

Kickstarted 3 of the greatest guitarists ever, but barely gets attention by any people except for rock fans/ critics. What.

16 The Smithereens

Awesome Beatle-esque early-80's rockers, but with a little harder edge. They just were not very good looking, and the grossly inferior hair-metal bands got all the money and girls. "Video killed the radio star".

17 Alter Bridge Alter Bridge is an American hard rock/alternative metal band from Orlando, Florida, formed in 2004. The band consists of lead vocalist and guitarist Myles Kennedy, lead guitarist and backing vocalist Mark Tremonti, bassist Brian Marshall, and drummer Scott Phillips.
18 The Police The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. For the majority of their history, the band consisted of Sting, Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland. They are most known for their songs "Message In A Bottle", "Don't Stand So Close To Me", "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic", "Roxanne", And "Every Breath You Take" .

It was either going to be them or Jethro Tull, and seeing as the latter wasn't on the list (yet) I'll cast my vote here.

19 The Moody Blues The Moody Blues were an English rock band. They first came to prominence playing rhythm and blues music, but their second album, Days of Future Passed, which was released in 1967, was a fusion of rock with classical music and established them as pioneers in the development of art rock and progressive rock.
20 Three Dog Night Three Dog Night is an American rock band. They formed in 1967 with a line-up consisting of vocalists Danny Hutton, Cory Wells, and Chuck Negron. This lineup was soon augmented by Jimmy Greenspoon, Joe Schermie, Michael Allsup, and Floyd Sneed. The band registered 21 Billboard Top 40 hits between 1969 ...read more.
21 Love
22 Opeth Opeth is a Swedish progressive death metal band from Stockholm, formed in 1990 by David Isberg, who invited Mikael Akerfeldt into the band as a bassist. Isberg ended up leaving the band, which lead to Mikael becoming the band's vocalist, guitarist, principal songwriter, and driving force. Along with ...read more.
23 Yes Yes is an English progressive rock band formed in 1968 by bassist Chris Squire and singer Jon Anderson. They first achieved success in the 1970s with a progressive, art and symphonic style of rock music. Their best known song is their 1971 hit "Roundabout" off of their album Fragile.
24 The Mars Volta The Mars Volta was an American progressive rock band from El Paso, Texas, formed in 2001. The band's final lineup consisted of Omar Rodríguez-López, Cedric Bixler-Zavala, Juan Alderete, Marcel Rodríguez-López and Deantoni Parks. The band formed following the break-up of Rodríguez-López and Bixler-Zavala's previous band, At the Drive-In. They are known for their energetic live shows and their concept albums.
25 Korn Korn is an American nu-metal band from Bakersfield, California, formed in 1993. The band's current lineup includes founding members Jonathan Davis, James "Munky" Shaffer, Brian "Head" Welch, and Reginald "Fieldy" Arvizu, with the addition of Ray Luzier, who replaced the band's original member, David ...read more.
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