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Top 10 Rock Bands of Each Decade


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1960's

  1. The Beatles
  2. The Doors
  3. The Rolling Stones
  4. The Jimi Hendrix Experience
  5. The Velvet Underground
  6. Cream
  7. The Zombies
  8. The Beach Boys
  9. The Animals
  10. The Kinks

HM: Creedance Clearwater Revival

1970's

  1. Led Zeppelin
  2. Queen
  3. Rush
  4. Pink Floyd
  5. The Who
  6. Heart
  7. Deep Purple
  8. Grateful Dead
  9. Yes

HM: Black Sabbath, Jethro Tull, Genesis

1980's

  1. Guns N' Roses
  2. Metallica
  3. A-Ha
  4. The Cure
  5. Iron Maiden
  6. AC/DC
  7. Aerosmith
  8. Pixies
  9. Duran Duran
  10. U2

HM: Bon Jovi , Van Halen, REM, The Smiths, Motley Crue, Poison

1990's

  1. Nirvana
  2. Green Day
  3. Pearl Jam
  4. Alice in Chains
  5. The Smashing Pumpkins
  6. Red Hot Chili Peppers
  7. Soundgarden
  8. Nine Inch Nails
  9. Weezer
  10. Mighty Mighty Bosstones

HM: Too many.

2000's

  1. My Chemical Romance
  2. Blink 182
  3. The White Stripes
  4. Radiohead
  5. The Killers
  6. Yeah Yeah Yeahs
  7. Coldplay
  8. 30 Seconds to Mars
  9. Foo Fighters
  10. Arctic Monkeys

HM: Linkin Park

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In terms of the 70s ... I would rank black sabbath higher... Theres whole genres dedicated to their sound... I could post a band a day that craft their sound in homage to Sabbath and keep it going for a few years lol... Cool list though interested to see what others think and post... Plus kudos to you for your posts on here enjoyed reading them

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A-Ha a Rock Band ? a one hit wonder pop group more like.  Duran Duran, another pop group..... Coldplay another pop group . Radiohead, 90's band past their peak at the turn of the millennium. .....(and) Who the hell are the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, never heard of 'em.

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21 hours ago, Marmalade_Skies said:

1990's

  1. Nirvana
  2. Green Day
  3. Pearl Jam
  4. Alice in Chains
  5. The Smashing Pumpkins
  6. Red Hot Chili Peppers
  7. Soundgarden
  8. Nine Inch Nails
  9. Weezer
  10. Mighty Mighty Bosstones

HM: Too many.

 

I'll stick to one decade at a time.
And since lists are - more than anything else - subjective, I won't berate the choices beyond the most painfully obvious.


Not only should Tool be the number one spot, but the fact that it's not even listed and yet Mighty Mighty Bosstones *IS*, is quite... troubling.

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1 hour ago, chillumpuffer said:

Excellent list Marmalade. But I would say that AC/DC were a far better band in the 70's with Bon Scott than BJ in the 80's and your inclusion of Coldplay is just too much;)

I never made it down the list that far...I fainted when I saw My Chemical Romance at #1.

46 minutes ago, JTM said:

A-Ha a Rock Band ? a one hit wonder pop group more like.  Duran Duran, another pop group..... Coldplay another pop group . Radiohead, 90's band past their peak at the turn of the millennium. .....(and) Who the hell are the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, never heard of 'em.

I guess the MMBs never made it across the pond to the UK. It was hard to escape them in America in the 90s...you hear them a lot at baseball games. Especially  in Boston.

14 minutes ago, TypeO said:

 

I'll stick to one decade at a time.
And since lists are - more than anything else - subjective, I won't berate the choices beyond the most painfully obvious.


Not only should Tool be the number one spot, but the fact that it's not even listed and yet Mighty Mighty Bosstones *IS*, is quite... troubling.

Hahaha! Lot of MMB hate here...I love it! That was a fad that got stale very quickly.

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12 hours ago, JTM said:

A-Ha a Rock Band ? a one hit wonder pop group more like.  Duran Duran, another pop group..... Coldplay another pop group . Radiohead, 90's band past their peak at the turn of the millennium. .....(and) Who the hell are the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, never heard of 'em.

Fuck me ! I never saw that. A-Ha, were they not an 80's Norwegian synth shitty type of thing?

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A-Ha in the 1980's category and no mention of Judas Priest or Ronnie James Dio?  I know that this is Marmalades opinion(s) but my opinion is that his opinion is very flawed. 

I would also say that if he thinks that the Pixies are in the 1980's category, where is Prince?  And Ratt for that matter over Duran Duran, again my opinion. 

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OK.

Lists like these are interesting to read and examine, but are very subjective.

Marmalade_Skies, I really do appreciate that you started a thread like this. :) I also really appreciate your courage to share your list with the rest of us ;) 

Just for fun and giggles, I too have a list that I would like to share. I have assumed that this list refers to my 10 favourite bands from each decade, beginning with the 60's and going all the way to recent times (2000's). 

The following list will reflect my love for a variety of sub-genres in Rock, such as Blues Rock, Psychedelic Rock, Garage Rock / Punk, etc.

Please Note: I am in no way ranking bands. All I am doing here, is to (off the cuff) list my 10 favourite bands from each decade (in no particular order). Also, there will be some repetition on my list, as I really love the works of certain bands, across not one but two (or maybe even three!!) decades. :peace:

1960's

  1. The Jimi Hendrix Experience
  2. Cream
  3. Fleetwood Mac (Peter Green Era)
  4. The Doors
  5. The Sonics
  6. MC5
  7. The Electric Prunes
  8. Blues Magoos
  9. The Litter
  10. The Chocolate Watch Band

1970's

  1. Rush
  2. Queen
  3. Led Zeppelin
  4. MC5
  5. Deep Purple
  6. The Who
  7. Pink Floyd
  8. Yes
  9. Black Sabbath
  10. Judas Priest

Honorable Mentions: Jethro Tull, Heart, Pentagram

1980's

  1. Motorhead
  2. Dead Kennedys 
  3. Bad Religion
  4. Rush
  5. Queen
  6. Black Flag
  7. Ramones
  8. The Bangles*
  9. INXS*
  10. Bon Jovi*

* Guilty Pleasures :P 

1990's - this part of the list is a work in progress, as I still have plenty to discover as far as the 90's are concerned!

  1. Rush
  2. The Hellacopters
  3. Nirvana
  4. Foo Fighters
  5. Green Day
  6. Red Hot Chili Peppers
  7. No Doubt**
  8. The Cranberries**

** More Guilty Pleasures :P 

2000's

  1. Rush
  2. Foo Fighters
  3. Graveyard
  4. The Hellacopters
  5. The Sadies
  6. The Black Angels
  7. Radio Moscow
  8. Witchcraft
  9. Delta Deep
  10. HIM
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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 9 months later...

In terms of classic Jazz and pioneering electric City Blues, the most interesting decade with many creative  and groundbreaking Musicians &  Bands were the  50s  in my eyes:

- Thelonious Monk Trio/Quartet/Quintet, and also Monk solo

- Miles Davis Quintet

- Howling Wolf Band

- Muddy Waters Band

- John Coltrane

- Sonny Rollins

-  John Lee Hooker (his early Chess & Vee-Jay Recordings from the fifties)

-  Lighnin' Hopkins (his Herald recordings from the mid-fifties)

 

60s:

- Bill Evans Trio

- Cannonball Adderley Quartet & Quintet

- John Coltrane again

- Sonny Rollins again

- Paul Butterfield Blues Band (first line-up with Mike Bloomfield)

- Captain Beefheart & his Magic Band

- Frank Zappa & The Mothers

- The Doors

- Canned Heat

- The Rolling Stones

- Bob Dylan with different musicians

- Fairport Convention

- Jefferson Airplane

- Incredible String Band

- Country Joe & The Fish

- The Who

- Family with Roger Chapman (first two studio albums from 1968/69)

- Love (Da Capo & Forever Changes)

- Beacon Street Union (unfortunately very short-living: only two studio albums in 1968/69 before they departed)

- Jimi Hendrix Experience

- Pentangle

- Kinks

- Animals

 

70s:

- Captain Beefheart again

- Frank Zappa again

- Steeleye Span

- Stone The Crows

- The Clash

- Wire (first three albums from 1977/78/79)

- Grateful Dead

-  Dire Straits

- Dead Kennedys

- Ramones

- Joy Division

- Neil Young (Tonight's The Night / On the Beach / Rust Never Sleeps)

 

80s:

- Gun Club

- Giant Sand

- Green On Red

- The Fall

- Madness

- Dream Syndicate

- Birthday Party /  Crime & The City Solution / These Immortal Souls

- The Scientists

- Hüsker Dü

- Black Flag

- The Cure

-  Captain Beefheart (his two final albums from 1980 & 1982)

- Neil Young (Freedom & Ragged Glory from 1988/89)

 

90s:

- Sixteen Horsepower

- Pearl Jam (at least not as overrated as Nirvana)

- Bob Dylan (World Gone Wrong 1993 & Time Out of Mind 1997)

 

After 2000:

- White Stripes

- Madrugada

- Woven Hand

- Black Keys

- Bob Dylan (Love and Theft)

- Buddy Guy (his late masterpiece 'Sweat Tea' was released in  2001)

 

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90s - Number 1 -  The Black Crowes by a wide margin  Second - Pearl Jam 

60s - I think Credence is Top 10

70s - It is difficult to not include the Allman Brothers even though their peak was brief 1969-1973.  I also think Skynyrd should be given consideration.  I would not put Queen in my top 10.  But most certainly Aerosmith belongs in any top ten 70s list.  Their albums up through Rocks are all absolute gems and Draw The Line is pretty good - and it has one of the great album title tracks of all time. 

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Yes, of course, that's true:   I've  forgotten to mention the Allman Brothers Band  above.  Especially  the original line-up and their first two studio albums plus 'Live at the Fillmore East' are classic must-haves.

Duane Allman and Dickey Betts  in their heydays were  great guitar players,  live on stage much stronger and more convincing  in my opinion than a certain Mr. Page....  desismileys_6969.gif

Allman Brothers 003.JPG

Idlewide South.jpg

Live at the Fillmore East.jpg

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13 hours ago, Zino said:

Yes, of course, that's true:   I've  forgotten to mention the Allman Brothers Band  above.  Especially  the original line-up and their first two studio albums plus 'Live at the Fillmore East' are classic must-haves.

Duane Allman and Dickey Betts  in their heydays were  great guitar players,  live on stage much stronger and more convincing  in my opinion than a certain Mr. Page....  desismileys_6969.gif

Allman Brothers 003.JPG

Idlewide South.jpg

Live at the Fillmore East.jpg

All much better than a certain Mr Page. And Zep would never make any of your lists. But eh, Zep have the number 1 message board eh ?. Go on, admit it.....

Do not know why i have responded.

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Another great and very skilled British Band of the late 60s/early70s I have not mentioned above:  Colosseum

They relased three sublime studio albums (in different line-ups) plus one of the best, if not the very best Live Album of the Seventies:  'Colosseum Live' (1971)

Jon  Hiseman  at his peak was  - together with Keith Moon - one of the two best Rock Drummers of all-time in my eyes.  (John Bonham  is # 7 , not so bad).

And Chris Farlowe  (together with Captain Beefheart, Howlin' Wolf, Roger Chapman &  Jim Morrison )  is one of my Top Five favorite singers  (Robert Plant only # 64 - sorry).  

Clem Clempson  on guitar and Dave Greenslade  on keyboards were also great.  desismileys_2411.gif

 

Colosseum Live.jpg

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  • 2 weeks later...

Going for all musical artists rather than "rock" I would say...

60's

The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendricks, John Coltrane, The Beach Boys, Miles Davis, The Velvet Underground, Bill Evans Trio, Love, Pink Floyd

70's

Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Can, Steely Dan, The Clash, Popul Vuh, David Bowie, Neu/La Dussledorf, Miles Davis, John Cale

80'a

The Stone Roses, Spacemen 3, Talk Talk, Guns and Roses, Talking Heads, The Pixies, REM, Joy Division/New Order, Penguin Café Orchestra, The Smiths

90's

Primal Scream, Massive Attack, Shack/Michael Head, The Orb, Mercury Rev, Radiohead, Talk Talk/Mark Hollis, The Verve, Spiritualised, Orbital,

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