A couple years back, VH1, with their infinite capacity for hackery and derivitive entertainment produced one of their "greatest of" type shows... only this time it's for us folks who love the harder side of the music spectrum.
Of course it was "hard rock", not metal, but still I was a big fan of a LOT of the bands on the list; good and bad... and if you don't understand how you can really love a bad bad bad band, then you definitely aren't a metal head, punk, or grunge lover.
Of course the problem there is, by mixing the genres, you inevitably leave out tons of spectacular bands in those individual genres... so really what they should have called it was the "100 greatest artists that MTV would have played in their 'rock' shows, when they still actually played music", but hey, beggars can't be choosers right? One should also note, that what was hard in the late 60s (the genesis of what I would call "hard rock"), is a lot softer than a lot of mainstream "rock" of the early 80s
Now some of you might remember, I was watching this last year, and came up with the "10 greatest metal band of all time"... well it was on again tonight, and this time It has inspired me to create a new meme.
So heres the deal. I'mna put the full list up here, and point out the bands I like, that I hate, my absolute favorites, and the ones where I think they were on crack for putting them on this list. Oh and I should note, you can still love a band, think they're great, and still wonder what the hell they are doing on this list.
First, the codes:
Red = love'emNext, the list:
Orange = Like'm
Yellow = Ehhhhhh, mezzo mezzo (maybe you love some and hate some)
Default text = Don't care (or don't know, if there are any)
Green = Don'like'm
Blue = hate'em
* = favorite
! = they were on crack (not the band, the list makers... geez!)
100. Quiet Riot (two good songs, and they were both covers)So, you'll note, I really did like most of the bands on the list; hell I love more than half of them even. 'course I think there are a hell of a lot of bands on this list that shouldn't be. Yes, Rush, and King Crimson are spectacular bands that I really love, but they are progrock, not hard rock. The Yardbirds, while one of the greatest bands of all time, are, along with the stones and ZZ top essentially blues rock bands. Pink floyd is a lot of things, hard isn't one of them. I was iffy about the who, but in the end, still not really hard rock (though they are one of the greatest rock artists of all time).
99. Bad Brains
98. Mountain
97. Primus
96. Meat Loaf !
95. Fugazi
94. Yes !
93. Lenny Kravitz
92. The Black Crowes
91. Danzig
90. Rainbow *
89. Lita Ford
88. Tool
87. King Crimson!
86. Foreigner
85. Whitesnake *
84. UFO
83. King's X
82. Queensrÿche *
81. Pixies
80. Green Day
79. Ratt
78. Marilyn Manson
77. Hole !
76. Bon Jovi
75. Spinal Tap !
74. Pat Benatar !
73. Twisted Sister
72. Foo Fighters *
71. Lynyrd Skynyrd *!
70. Living Colour *
69. Megadeth *
68. Hüsker Dü
67. The Rolling Stones !
66. Joan Jett & The Blackhearts
65. The Cult
64. Steppenwolf
63. Boston !
62. Ministry
61. Jethro Tull *
60. The New York Dolls
59. Bad Company
58. Anthrax *
57. Heart
56. Rob Zombie
55. Blue Öyster Cult *
54. Sonic Youth
53. Korn
52. Faith No More *
51. Thin Lizzy
50. Slayer *
49. The Smashing Pumpkins
48. Janis Joplin *!
47. Rollins Band
46. Scorpions
45. Pantera *
44. ZZ Top !
43. Nine Inch Nails *
42. The Kinks *!
41. Ted Nugent
40. Stone Temple Pilots
39. Neil Young
38. MC5
37. The Yardbirds *!
36. Frank Zappa *!
35. Jane's Addiction
34. Alice in Chains *
33. Rage Against the Machine *
32. The Doors !
31. Def Leppard
30. Red Hot Chili Peppers
29. Mötley Crüe
28. Rush !
27. Iggy Pop
26. Mötorhead *
25. Cheap Trick !
24. Iron Maiden *
23. Judas Priest *
22. Deep Purple *
21. Pearl Jam
20. Alice Cooper
19. The Clash
18. Ozzy Osbourne *
17. The Ramones
16. Cream *
15. Pink Floyd *!
14. Soundgarden *
13. Queen *
12. The Sex Pistols
11. Aerosmith *
10. KISS *
9. Guns N' Roses *
8. The Who *!
7. Van Halen
6. Nirvana
5. Metallica *
4. AC/DC
3. Jimi Hendrix *
2. Black Sabbath *
1. Led Zeppelin *
Anyway, you'll note, I LOVE most of the bands I think shouldn't be on this list, I just dont believe they belong on the greatest hard rock artist list; either be cause they arent hard rock (or hard rockish punk, which MTV chose to classify as hard rock), or because the work that they have which IS hard rock isn't enough of their output to be considered among the greatest hard rock.
Oh, and I knew all of the bands, I just didnt have any opinion on a couple of them.
It's a meme thing, pass it on.
Oh, and one final thing for metal fans:
I LOVE this.
