Best Avant Garde Rock Bands

The Top Ten
1 King Crimson King Crimson were a British progressive rock band that was formed in 1969. While the band has had numerous lineup changes, the head of the band has always been Robert Fripp (guitar). However, the most notable lineup is between 1972-75, consisting of Fripp, John Wetton (bass/vocals), Bill Bruford (drums), and David Cross (strings/keyboard). The band is most well-known for their debut album "In the Court of The Crimson King", with which they made a large impact on the progressive rock genre.

King Crimson are usually underrated but surprisingly they appear twice in the top 10 of this list (at # 6 and #9).

Take an aqualung my friend and it'll take you in the beyond with a locomotive breath

The most prophetic band ever

2 The Velvet Underground The Velvet Underground was an American rock band, active between 1964 and 1973, formed in New York City.

I don't know how Pink Floyd is considered Avant Garde in anyway. Most of their albums were commercial music well suited for its time, regardless of quality

I am sure these rock artists are avant-garde: The Velvet Underground, Roxy Music, Captain Beefheart, The Residents.

Lou reed and nothing else
Psychedelia and poetry at it's best
My personal favorite band
Certainly the best American band

Why is this not #1?

3 Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English progressive rock band formed in 1965 in London, England. They achieved international acclaim with their progressive and psychedelic music. The band consisted of 5 members - David Gilmour (Vocals and Guitar), Syd Barrett (Vocals and Guitar), Nick Mason (Drums), Roger Waters (Vocals and Bass), and Richard Wright (Vocals and Keyboard). Barrett was replaced by Gilmour in 1968. ...read more.

Seems some people here do not understand the meaning of Avant Garde rock, lol. And, if you think Pink Floyd was commercial or main stream for their time you weren't even close to being born much less a twinkle in your daddies eye!

This list is a joke. Bands like Pink Floyd, The Beatles, and The Who aren't even avant garde. If you want some real avant garde rock then I recommend you check out Buckethead.

The high priests of music

Not even avant garde

4 The Beatles The Beatles were an English pop rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The members consisted of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They were soon known as the foremost and most influential act of rock era. Rooted in skiffle, beat, and 1950s rock and roll, the Beatles later experimented with several genres, ranging from pop ballads and Indian music to psychedelia and hard rock, often incorporating classical elements in innovative ways. ...read more.

How are they avant garde they only did two avant garde songs and one of them is one the anthology

From 1967 to 1969 there were avant garde

5 Frank Zappa Frank Vincent Zappa was an American musician, songwriter, composer, record producer, actor and filmmaker.

Imma move to Montana soon! I'll be raisin' my lonely... Dental floss...

6 Mr. Bungle Mr. Bungle was an American experimental rock band from Northern California. Known for a highly eclectic style, the band often cycled through several musical genres within the course of a single song, including heavy metal, avant-garde jazz, ska, disco as well as funk.

My namesake and favorite band. I even have the officlal $150 Mr. Bungle clown mask. A perfect reimagining of quirky prog acts like zappa.

This and Zappa is the only avant-garde band of this list, the rest is NOT avant-garde

The band with Mike Patton, the guy with a vocal range of over 6 octaves.

This is just one of Patton's bands that is recognized.

7 Captain Beefheart Don Van Vliet was an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and visual artist best known by the stage name Captain Beefheart.

A squid eating dough in a polyethylene bag is fast and bulbous. Ya got me?

One of the only bands on here that could be considered avant garde rock

8 The Who The Who is an English rock band formed in London, England in 1964. The most recognizable lineup was Roger Daltrey (lead vocals), Pete Townshend (guitar), John Entwistle (bass guitar), and Keith Moon (drums). They are best known for their live performances and hit songs Baba O'Riley, My Generation, and Won't Get Fooled Again. Some noted achievements were their rock operas, Tommy (album), Quadrophenia (album), and A Quick One, While He's Away (song). ...read more.

Not the generation
But gems like pinball wizard and baba o riley

9 The Residents The Residents are an American art collective best known for avant-garde music and multimedia works. Since their first official release, Meet the Residents, the group has released over sixty albums, numerous music videos and short films, three CD-ROM projects, and ten DVDs.
10 Sonic Youth Sonic Youth was an American rock band from New York City, formed in 1981. Founding members Thurston Moore, Kim Gordon and Lee Ranaldo remained together for the entire history of the band, while Steve Shelley followed a series of short-term drummers in 1985, and rounded out the core line-up.
The Contenders
11 Radiohead Radiohead are an English rock band from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, formed in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke (lead vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards), Jonny Greenwood (lead guitar, keyboards, other instruments), Colin Greenwoood (bass guitar), Phil Selway (drums), and Ed O'Brien (guitar).
12 Swans Swans are an American experimental rock band formed in 1982 by singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Michael Gira.
13 Bjork Björk Guðmundsdóttir, (born 21 November 1965) is an Icelandic singer, songwriter, composer, record producer and actress. Over her four-decade career, she has developed an eclectic musical style that draws on influences and genres including electronic, pop, jazz, experimental, trip hop, alternative, classical, and avant-garde music.

Part of her music is really avant-garde but it's not rock.

14 Can Can was a German experimental rock band formed in Cologne, West Germany in 1968 by the core quartet of Holger Czukay (bass), Irmin Schmidt (keyboards), Michael Karoli (guitar), and Jaki Liebezeit (drums). The group cycled through several vocalists, including Malcolm Mooney ('68–70) and Damo Suzuki ('70–73), as well as various temporary members. Drawing from backgrounds in the avant-garde and jazz, Can incorporated minimalist, electronic, and world music elements into their often psychedelic and funk-inflected music. They have been widely hailed as pioneers of the German krautrock scene. ...read more.

What the Beatles and Pink Floyd aren't even avant garde lol

15 Cream Cream were a 1960s British rock supergroup power trio consisting of bassist/vocalist Jack Bruce, drummer Ginger Baker, and guitarist/vocalist Eric Clapton.
16 Butthole Surfers Butthole Surfers is an American rock band formed by Gibby Haynes and Paul Leary in San Antonio, Texas in 1981.
17 Roxy Music Roxy Music were an English rock band formed in 1970 by Bryan Ferry, who became the band's lead vocalist and chief songwriter, and bassist Graham Simpson.

I am sure only about these 4 bands (that they play avant-garde 'rock music in the strict sense).

18 The Dillinger Escape Plan The Dillinger Escape Plan is an American mathcore band from Morris Plains, New Jersey. The group originated in 1997 after the disbanding of Arcane, a hardcore punk trio consisting of Ben Weinman, Dimitri Minakakis, and Chris Pennie.
19 System of a Down System of a Down, formed in 1994, is an Armenian-American alternative metal group from Glendale, California. The band name is sometimes shortened to System or SOAD. They've always been a very political band since their inception. Often being against genocide and war most notably in songs like: Pluck, Holy Mountains, and BYOB (Bring Your Own Bombs). Serj is an active activist who wants to change the... read more

How is System of a Down an avant-garde band? There legitimately like every other Nu Metal, or aggro-metal, band out there.

20 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.
21 Meshuggah Meshuggah is a Swedish progressive metal band from Umeå, formed in 1987. They are often considered the fathers or founders of the djent metal sub genre due to their use of downtuned guitars. They are also known for their song “Bleed”, which is known for its extremely complicated instrumentation, ...read more.
22 Celtic Frost Celtic Frost was a Swiss extreme metal band from Zürich. They are known for their strong influence on the development of extreme metal. Formed in 1981 as Hellhammer, the band became Celtic Frost in 1984 and was active until 1993.

They are a good band

23 Agalloch Agalloch was an American black/folk metal band from Portland, Oregon. They were formed in 1995 by frontman John Haughm. They released five studios albums, four EPs, two singles, one split single, two demos, four compilation albums, and one live video before disbanding in May 2016.
24 The Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American pop rock band formed in Hawthorne, California in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and their friend Al Jardine.
25 Twenty One Pilots Twenty One Pilots is an American musical duo that is originally from Columbus, Ohio, who are best known for their songs "Stressed Out", "Heathens" and "Ride". Currently there are two members, Tyler Joseph (lead vocals, piano, keyboards, synthesizers, ukulele, bass and guitar) and Josh Dun (drums and ...read more.
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