Top 10 Most Revolutionary Rock Bands

The Top Ten
1 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... read more

They were part of the Merseybeat explosion which was in the north of England but in London at the same time there was another music explosion. Groups like The Rolling Stones, The Kinks, Them, The Downliners sect, The Pretty things, The Yardbirds etc... were mainly influenced by the raw sounds of fifties Rock and Roll and Rhythm and Blues. They were really different groups than The Beatles. The Beatles were the first to get big success in the United States. Other " different groups followed the " British invasion " but had also a bigger influence than The Beatles over there. Just listen to mid-sixties US Garage punk rock and it's obvious that groups like Them, The Yardbirds, The Animals, The Kinks were bigger in influence than The Beatles. What in fact did The Beatles exactly ever do during the British invasion? They started by finding a new form of American music to imitate ( Motown, Chuck Berry, Everly Brothers, Elvis Presley... ) which they combined with a little harmonica and some voice harmonies. All they did was actually update a traditional mentality with their looks. Saying that The Beatles did influence all other British acts is really a overrated statement. Every " British invasion " group had their unique sound and all contributed to the so-called revolution in rock music. Their later work ( after 1966 ) were signs of originality but it influenced rock music just for some years and certainly didn't change it. More heavy, hard rock music ( the real instigators were groups like The Who, Cream... ) did change rock music in the late 60's / early 70's and a group like The Beatles could not keep up with those changes. There were many reasons for their break-up but the heavy music changings were one of them.

2 Deep Purple Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in Hertford in 1968. They are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal and modern hard rock, although their musical approach changed over the years. Originally formed as a progressive rock band, the band shifted to a heavier sound in 1970. Deep Purple,... read more

Ritchie Blackmore did something revolutionary: he first created rock songs based on scales typically used in classical music. All other rock bands used mostly blues scales to create rock/hard rock, or - in the case of Black Sabbath (70s) - to create heavy blues rock.

This was the biggest invention in the 20th century music because it was the pattern of metal music as we know it now. Heavy metal is a non bluesy genre.

Deep Purple first used double bass drumming on an early metal song. They were also the loudest band of the 70s. And last but not least - the most talented band, a band of masters.
Conclusion: Deep Purple is the most revolutionary rock/metal band.

3 Queen Queen are an English rock band formed in London in 1970. The original lineup was Freddie Mercury (lead vocals, piano), Brian May (guitar, vocals), Roger Taylor (drums, vocals), and John Deacon (bass guitar, vocals). Before forming into Queen, Brian May and Roger Taylor had played together in a band... read more
4 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... read more
5 Black Sabbath Black Sabbath were a Heavy Metal band formed in Birmingham, England in 1968 by guitarist and songwriter Tony Iommi, singer John "Ozzy" Osbourne, bassist and main lyricist Geezer Butler and drummer Bill Ward... read more

Deep Purple introduced some aspects of heavy metal such as fast tempos, classical-influenced guitar solos, and operatic vocals, but it was Black Sabbath that truly invented the genre. Their first three albums had the heaviest music at the time. They brought darkness and occult themes into metal. Like Deep Purple, Sabbath was a pioneer of extreme metal with songs like Paranoid, Children of the Grave, and Symptom of the Universe. It all comes back to Black Sabbath.

6 Nirvana Nirvana was an American grunge band that was formed in Aberdeen, Washington in 1987. Nirvana disbanded after Kurt Cobain committed suicide in 1994. The drummer of the band, David Grohl, went on to start the Foo-Fighters, an alternative rock band... read more

After the Beatles, they were the most revolutionary band. They brought alternate rock to the spotlight, they popularised heavier sounds. They brought meaning and depth and sadness into music. The changed the whole definition of rock and music.

Smells like teen spirit, but not just that song. All the sounds they made in their songs changed the interests in music over the globe.

They basically made Grunge awesome.

7 The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. The first settled line-up consisted of Brian Jones (guitar, harmonica), Ian Stewart (piano), Mick Jagger (lead vocals, harmonica), Keith Richards (guitar), Bill Wyman (bass) and Charlie Watts (drums)... read more
8 The Kinks The Kinks were an English rock band formed in Muswell Hill, North London, in 1964 by brothers Ray and Dave Davies. They are regarded as one of the most important and influential rock bands of the 1960s.

The Kinks revolutionized the rock sound (early 60s). They experimented with louder rock sounds and made pioneering contributions to the field. Dave Davies became bored with the traditional "clean" guitar style of the period and in search of a louder, more biting sound, he famously split the speaker cone of his Elpico amplifier:

"I got a single-sided Gillette razorblade and cut... [from the centre to the edge of the] cone... so it was all shredded but still on there, still intact. I played and I thought it was amazing." The jagged sound of the amplifier was replicated in the studio;
The Elpico was plugged into a larger Vox AC30, and the resulting effect became a mainstay in The Kinks' early recordings - most notably on "You Really Got Me" and "All Day and All of the Night".

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... read more
10 Ramones The Ramones were an American punk rock band that formed in the New York City neighborhood of Forest Hills, Queens, in 1974. They are often cited as the first band to define the punk rock sound.
The Contenders
11 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... read more
12 MC5 MC5 was an American rock band from Lincoln Park, Michigan, formed in 1964. The original band line-up consisted of vocalist Rob Tyner, guitarists Wayne Kramer and Fred "Sonic" Smith, bassist Michael Davis, and drummer Dennis Thompson.
13 The Doors The Doors were an American rock band formed in 1965 in Los Angeles, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger and drummer John Densmore.

Jim Morrison is the prototype of the rock band frontman even to this day.
Everyone from Axl Rose, to Steven Tyler, to Anthony Kaedis clearly followed in Jim's footsteps, as is just about every modern hard-rocker wearing leather pants.

14 Red Hot Chili Peppers The Red Hot Chili Peppers is an American funk-rock and alternative rock band, that was founded in 1983.

The band's members are Anthony Kiedis (Vocals), Michael "Flea" Balzary (Bass), Chad Smith (Drums) and numerous guitarists, most well-known being John Frusciante.

The band is among the... read more
15 Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin was an English hard rock band formed in London in 1968 as the New Yardbirds. The group consisted of Robert Plant (Vocal), Jimmy Page (Guitar), John Paul Jones (Bass, Keyboard) and John Bonham (Drums) and was very much the child of Jimmy Page who even financed their first tour. He had tasted... read more
16 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... read more
17 The Velvet Underground The Velvet Underground was an American rock band, active between 1964 and 1973, formed in New York City.

They get too much credit and are for that matter overrated. Pop-Art mixed with music was before them already in groups like " The Who ", " The Creation "... and monotone singing style techniques were also before them used by groups like " The Deep ", " Question mark & the mysterians ", " The Seeds "... Their originality is in more soft songs, but then again, is this revolutionary in Rock?

18 Rage Against The Machine Rage Against the Machine is a rap metal band formed in Los Angeles, California. The band consists of vocalist Zack de la Rocha, bassist Tim Commerford, guitarist Tom Morello and drummer Brad Wilk.

They're not un-metal... Anyway, they revolutionised what you could write about when producing music. Writing about complex and specific political concepts, stories of the lesser fortunate and rebellions against. Morello developed techniques that changed the way people looked at the guitar and both Commerford and Wilk were real virtuosos. Rage deserve to be higher on this list.

19 Foo Fighters Foo Fighters are an American alternative rock band, formed in Seattle in 1994. The band was founded by Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl after the death of Kurt Cobain and the dissolution of his previous band. The band consists of Dave Grohl (lead vocalist, rhythm guitar, main songwriter), Pat Smear (rhythm... read more
20 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,... read more
21 Iron Maiden Iron Maiden are an English Heavy Metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. The most critically acclaimed period for the band was from 1983-1989. With vocalist Bruce Dickinson, bassist Steve Harris, lead guitarist Dave Murray, rhythm guitarist Adrian... read more
22 Linkin Park Linkin Park is an American alternative rock band formed in Agoura Hills, California, in 1996. The current members include Mike Shinoda (vocals, keyboards, rhythm guitar), Brad Delson (guitar), Dave "Phoenix" Farrell (bass), Joe Hahn (DJ), and Rob Bourdon (drums). Linkin Park is associated with a mixture... read more
23 The Smiths The Smiths were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1982. The band consisted of vocalist Morrissey, guitarist Johnny Marr, bassist Andy Rourke and drummer Mike Joyce.

Amazing band that brought new sounds to the rock genre.

24 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”... read more
25 The Stooges The Stooges, also known as Iggy and the Stooges, are an American proto-punk band from Ann Arbor, Michigan, first active from 1967 to 1974, and later reformed in 2003. Although they sold few records in their original incarnation, and often performed for indifferent or hostile audiences, the Stooges are... read more
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