Top 10 Best German Bands According to Songtexte.com
Okay, first of all, let me tell you one thing because I need to get it off my chest: this list is garbage. In more than one way. But I'll get to that later.
Songtexte.com is a German website that mainly offers song lyrics. It also has a small community, iTunes charts, brief music news, and quizzes. It's one of the first websites to pop up when you are searching for song lyrics.
The website also created a list of the 15 best German bands without any further text explaining the reasons why they included these artists. There is just a short introduction saying these are "the really big ones" and the plain list without any pictures or short texts. They don't even say how the list was compiled, and it doesn't state that these are the most popular on the site. It is implied that these are supposed to be the greatest German bands overall.
The list is the following:
1. Scorpions
2. Die Ärzte
3. Silbermond
4. Böhse Onkelz
5. Fettes Brot
6. Scooter
7. Puhdys
8. Die Fantastischen Vier
9. Tokio Hotel
10. Alphaville
11. Spider Murphy Gang
12. Sportfreunde Stiller
13. Juli
14. Herbert Grönemeyer
15. Modern Talking
This must be the single worst list about this topic I have ever read. First of all: Herbert Grönemeyer!? He is a solo artist, not a band. He is the best-selling German music artist of all time and one of the greatest and most recognized lyricists, so if the list compiled the best German artists, he would definitely belong on it. In fact, he should rank higher than 14. But the list specifically says "bands."
Secondly, there are three extremely important bands missing: Rammstein, Kraftwerk, and Die Toten Hosen. Not only were the first two internationally successful, but they are also huge in their home country, and both the public and critics regard them as the absolute best the country has to offer. Fun fact: Rammstein are mentioned in the short introduction text that basically just says what's listed are the "big ones."
Die Toten Hosen have made several widely recognized, great German albums that are classics every music fan owns. They have had several chart-topping records and are still hugely popular after more than 30 years of existence. Their most recent album in 2017 still topped the charts. Also, they and Die Ärzte (number 2 on the list) are like Nirvana and Pearl Jam, Tupac and Biggie, The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, Michael Jackson and Prince. You always include both of them on a professional list. They are the two biggest German punk bands and two of the country's most loved artists.
I personally prefer Die Ärzte, though both are really good. But such lists need a bit of neutrality, and personal opinion shouldn't matter unless it's a blog post by one specific staff member of the site. Of course, several other important bands such as Nina Hagen Band, Ideal, Ich + Ich, Einstürzende Neubauten, and Nena (before the lead singer pursued a solo career under that name) are missing. But they only had 15 spots and had to exclude some artists. However, they should not have excluded the three I mentioned before. That's like excluding The Doors, Nirvana, and Guns N' Roses from a professional, non-subjective list about the best American bands. Not stylistically, but in terms of importance and standing.
Thirdly, the inclusion of Fettes Brot. I have nothing against them, but they lack the significance to be included in such a list. They were a kind of popular alternative pop rap group in the 90s and 2000s, but they were never "the biggest" and never received universal praise, just solid reviews.
Also, Modern Talking and Tokio Hotel, despite having sold extremely well and having had huge hype, didn't have such positive public or critical reception to make the list instead of more legendary groups. Instead of these three artists, they should have included Rammstein, Kraftwerk, and Die Toten Hosen, who have had both commercial and critical success while being loved by the public as well.
That being said, I can live with the three top spots. The Scorpions are legends on a worldwide scale and are among the best-selling artists of all time. Die Ärzte have released what is probably the most acclaimed German song of all time with "Schrei nach Liebe" and have had numerous other chart toppers. Silbermond are on their way to becoming the most popular band of the 21st century. Out of the 15 they have chosen, those three are truly the most worthy of the throne.
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Scorpions
Scorpions are a German rock band formed in 1965 in Hanover by guitarist Rudolf Schenker. Vocalist Klaus Meine and guitarist Michael Schenker joined several years later. Michael Schenker was succeeded by Uli Jon Roth, while Matthias Jabs became the band's lead guitarist in 1978. The band first gained... read more
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Die Ärzte
Die Ärzte, German for "The Doctors," is a German rock band formed in West Berlin in 1982 by Jan Vetter (Farin Urlaub), Dirk Felsenheimer (Bela B), and Hans Runge (Sahnie). The current lineup features Farin Urlaub on vocals and guitar, Bela B on vocals and drums, and Rodrigo González on vocals, bass,... read more
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Silbermond
Silbermond is a German pop-rock band formed in Bautzen in 1998. Its members are Stefanie Kloß on vocals, Thomas Stolle on guitar, Johannes Stolle on bass, and Andreas Nowak on drums.
Their 2004 debut album, Verschwende deine Zeit, became a breakout hit in Germany. Several of their albums have... read more
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Böhse Onkelz
Böhse Onkelz is a German rock band formed in 1980. They began in the punk rock scene but eventually shifted toward a broader hard rock and heavy metal sound.
The band has faced criticism for its involvement in the skinhead scene and its shift toward the political right during the early 1980s,... read more
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Fettes Brot
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Scooter
Scooter is a German dance music group that was founded in Hamburg in 1993. The group has sold over 30 million records and earned more than 80 gold and platinum awards. Known for their energetic performances and electronic hits, Scooter remains a staple of the European dance scene.
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Puhdys
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Die Fantastischen Vier
Die Fantastischen Vier, also known as Fanta 4, is a German hip hop group from Stuttgart, Germany. The group's name references the German title of Marvel's Fantastic Four. They are considered pioneers of German-language rap and achieved mainstream success in the 1990s.
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Tokio Hotel
Tokio Hotel is a pop rock band from Magdeburg, Germany, formed in 2001. The group consists of Bill Kaulitz on vocals, Tom Kaulitz on guitar, Gustav Schäfer on drums, and Georg Listing on bass and keyboards.
They rose to fame in Germany with their 2005 debut album, Schrei, while the members were... read more
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Alphaville
Alphaville is a German synth-pop and new wave band that gained popularity in the 1980s. The founding members were lead singer Marian Gold, Bernhard Lloyd, and Frank Mertens. They are best known for hits such as Forever Young and Big in Japan.