So first off, I need to set the record straight. I’ve never bought or read a Kerrang! magazine myself, just like I’ve never read a Metal Hammer magazine. The only metal magazines I get once in a while are Nuclear Blast’s BLAST! magazine and a couple more Merchandising magazines. I’m informing you of that because I want to make clear that my following rant is not meant to be offensive towards a magazine I’ve never even read myself.
With that being said, Kerrang! magazine are having a Top 10 — about the most influential rock groups of the last 30 years — in their next issue and, at first look, it’s incredibly bad and people on other websites are already bitching about it. But you have to take three things into consideration before you make a judgement about said list.
- The list was voted by the readers of Kerrang! magazine, therefore it’s not Kerrang’s fault if the list is garbage.
- A Top 10 list, especially about a topic like that, is pretty hard to tackle and some people are always going to disagree with some, or all, of the places.
- Commenters on Blabbermouth are bitching. So fucking what? That’s all this site is known for.
Now, make the jump to finally see the list and to read my comments about each band, that made the list.
#10 – Foo Fighters
I like the Foo Fighters and I do think, taking their huge success into consideration, that they’re highly influential for upcoming Rock bands. With that being said, I don’t know if I had chosen Foo Fighters over Nirvana.
#9 – Ozzy Osbourne
Last time I checked, Ozzy Osbourne was a musician, not a band. But you can’t deny Ozzy’s influence on generations of musicians. But again, I don’t know if I had chosen Ozzy over Black Sabbath. They are (or, more like, were) at least a band.
#8 – Blink 182
Blink 182 were extremely successful, there’s no denying that, but were they really that influential? Maybe they were, at the time of their success, with many bands copying their “fun, Pop Punk” sound and lyrics but I don’t really see many bands doing that nowadays anymore. Maybe I’m a bad judge when it comes to that though, as I’m pretty much out of touch with nowadays mainstream music scene.
#7 – Bullet For My Valentine
Really? I mean, I don’t like these guys at all but that’s not it. How are they influential? Which band would claim that they were influenced by Bullet For My Valentine? They were not even one of the first, nor one of the biggest, metalcore bands of their time. But, once again, you have to take something into consideration: Kerrang! is a British magazine and these guys were extremely popular over there. So maybe they are influential on the local scene over there. I don’t really know, to be honest.
#6 – Linkin Park
Linkin Park sucks donkey dick but were they influential? Sadly, no doubt about it. Just take a look at nowadays mainstream scene.
#5 – My Chemical Romance
See #7, only read it with a whiny voice in your head and replace metalcore with emo.
#4 – Slipknot
Slipknot might nowadays suck just as much as the other bands on this list but they were highly influential so I can’t fault Kerrang’s readers here.
#3 – Iron Maiden
A metal band? Wow, someone did something right here.
#2 – Green Day
Green Day were a guilty pleasure for me for a long time and then they released American Idiot. But were they influential? Sure, I guess. A lot of bands copied them when Dookie came out and just as much bands are copying them nowadays.
#1 – Metallica
According to Kerrang’s readers, Metallica are the most influential Rock band of the last 30 years. And they are. They influenced countless metal bands with their first four albums and even more with their more rock-oriented material. I’ve got to agree with this #1.
Now, if I made a Top 10 on Most influential bands, it would surely look differently than the list above but some of those entries are spot on, even if I don’t like most of these bands.
But hey, I think I’ve just had an idea for a Friday Top 10.
