Top 10 Psychedelic Rock Bands

For all you non-Floyd listeners out there thinking, "What, another brick in the whatsit isn't psychedelic?" Just so you know, there are more albums than this. Listen to The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, an album fronted by my dear friend Syd Barrett. And those of you who want to talk to me about him, please don't try to contact me. Yes, I knew him, but so did a lot of people.

Man, I owe this band my life. I have tried to commit suicide multiple times, and when I started listening to Pink Floyd, I felt a natural high in my whole body. This made me realize if I can feel high from a song, then why can't I feel high about life? This feeling gave me hope.

The only band to combine blues, psychedelic, and acid rock to create a one-of-a-kind psychedelic feel.

If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear to man as it is: infinite.

Nobody does it like The Doors. Nearly every song they have is great. Thank you, Jim Morrison.

Some of the greatest musical talents to have ever lived. The Jimi Hendrix Experience was something else.

The Jimi Hendrix Experience is probably the coolest band and, in my opinion, the most psychedelic. The sounds and the way Jimi plays the guitar are surreal.

The Jimi Hendrix Experience should be higher than Tame Impala.

The Beatles are not only the most influential band of all time, but also the most influential in psychedelic rock. A Day in the Life, which is psychedelic, is one of the best songs of all time, if not the best. Pink Floyd and The Doors only have a small amount of good material, while The Beatles have better and more material.

Tomorrow Never Knows, A Day in the Life, Strawberry Fields Forever, I Am the Walrus, Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, that should say it all.

Revolver and Sgt. Pepper. Enough said.

I'm not going to say Cream is the best rock band of the '60s, but I will say it's the best band of all time.

Why are The Beatles ahead of Cream? And why are The Beatles even on this list? This is total nonsense. Cream is the ultimate psychedelic band, equal to Hendrix, I'd say.

Don't knock this band unless you've really listened to them. Seriously, great music does not only lie in the past bands of our generation. Tame Impala is amazing. I don't know if they're the best, but they're certainly up there.

Hands down, the only band in modern times that can be called one of the best of all time!

Notice how they're probably the only modern band on this list? They're that talented.

None of these top bands, other than Pink Floyd's early years, would play long, 20-minute-plus songs, and none of these bands would stay out and play two sets. These guys deserve to be number one.

I'm a Deadhead, so Grateful Dead is in the top 5.

Honestly, how can they not be first? Jefferson Airplane put psychedelic music on the map, and there isn't one member that plays poorly. Jack Cassady is hands down the best American bassist ever. Jorma Kaukonen's fingerpicking goodness with his signature weird noisy guitar psychedelicness is unparalleled. Skip Spence was on drums for their first album, and Spencer Dryden took over afterward. Marty Balin's incredible folk voice on the debut album and Grace Slick's powerful voice are both exceptional. Paul Kantner played rhythm guitar and wrote some incredible songs.

It's far more accurate to put them on this list than, say, King Crimson (nothing against King Crimson, though).

This band, in my opinion, is the most diverse band I have ever heard. They experiment so much with different sounds and instruments, and it never seems to go bad. Stu Mackenzie, the lead singer/guitarist/clarinet player/flute player/keyboard player/bassist, and much more, is such a musical genius. He writes songs in 7/4 time like it was a normal time signature. The way Stu experiments with different instruments is amazing to me. He can make anything go together.

The amount of diversity these guys bring to the table is unparalleled, with so many great albums in such a short span of time, each a wonder on its own, but some forming a loosely cohesive "Gizzaverse." If you want a psych rock experience for the ages, throw on Nonagon Infinity and open the door. Just make sure you put it on repeat.

Some people consider that The Arcana's second album, Lemon Freddy Phantom of the Sky, is a psychedelic album, but there are only a few songs on the album that could be considered properly psychedelic: "Yellow Plastic Tiling," "When The Feeling's Gone," and "We In The Moonlight." But I'm sure other people will debate this. The band is still probably more psychedelic than most other contemporary bands linked to this genre.

Whatever the genre, seriously, they're amazing to listen to.

How is this not at least in the top 3? You people know nothing about psychedelic music. Go listen to Curse of the Witches and Rainy Day Mushroom Pillow and come back and tell me this doesn't deserve to be in the top 3.

They are psychedelic. Have you listened to "It Will Rain for a Million Years" or "Untitled"?

The Yardbirds pre-dated everyone else by over a year with what would become "the psychedelic sound."

Should be higher. With Janis Joplin (the best singer of all time) and the rest of the band, they made great songs like Summertime, Piece of My Heart, and Ball and Chain.

Thank you for including this talented group.