Greatest Rock Artists Of All Time (Revision Version)

[ManPerson]

I think Domino's win in popularity is probably bigger than Richard's in acclaim while influence is pretty close, and if we weight popularity a bit more than acclaim I definitely lean towards Domino being ahead.

I also think Prince does slightly better in all of the criteria than Gaye so if we want to balance Prince/Gaye and Domino/Richard a little, this is what I'd suggest...

15. Fats Domino
16. Prince
17. Marvin Gaye
18. Little Richard

This gets Gaye a bit closer to Cooke, fwiw.

[ManPerson]

Here's 23-40 in the middle ground that Tim posted earlier:
23. U2
24. The Supremes
25. Bruce Springsteen
26. Run-D.M.C.
27. Queen
28. Nirvana
29. Bob Marley & the Wailers
30. Buddy Holly & The Crickets
31. The Temptations
32. The Everly Brothers
33. Neil Young
34. R.E.M
35. Elton John
36. Public Enemy
37. Sly & The Family Stone
38. Bill Haley & His Comets
39. Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
40. The Kinks

I think 31-40 looks pretty good.

My thoughts on 23-30:
- I think Run-D.M.C. should be at the top of this group, while they are a bit lacking in acclaim and popularity compared to some others here, I think their influence and cultural impact is large enough to get them to the top of this group.

- I think Nirvana could be a bit higher. They are more influential than the 4 artists ahead of them, and when compared to U2, Queen and especially Springsteen that win is pretty clear. I think they hold their own in acclaim compared to Springsteen and U2 while being more acclaimed than Queen or The Supremes. In terms of popularity, they are clearly last, but their popularity is still very strong, especially lasting.


So this is what I would suggest:

23. Run-D.M.C.
24. U2
25. Nirvana
26. The Supremes
27. Bruce Springsteen
28. Queen
29. Bob Marley & the Wailers
30. Buddy Holly & The Crickets
31. The Temptations
32. The Everly Brothers
33. Neil Young
34. R.E.M
35. Elton John
36. Public Enemy
37. Sly & The Family Stone
38. Bill Haley & His Comets
39. Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
40. The Kinks

[Tim]

How do you think Elton, Public Enemy and REM compare? Had a last moment change of the heart and moved REM a couple of spots down myself.

Influence (incl. Cultural): PE > REM > Elton, the first two close but Public Enemy I'd say clearly more culturally impactful, Elton is not particularly musically influential but a cultural icon for sure.

Popularity: Elton >> REM >> PE, seems pretty straightforward

Acclaim: PE=REM > Elton, ignoring AM's placement for the first two.

[Tim]

I think Domino's win in popularity is probably bigger than Richard's in acclaim while influence is pretty close, and if we weight popularity a bit more than acclaim I definitely lean towards Domino being ahead.

I also think Prince does slightly better in all of the criteria than Gaye so if we want to balance Prince/Gaye and Domino/Richard a little, this is what I'd suggest...

15. Fats Domino
16. Prince
17. Marvin Gaye
18. Little Richard

This gets Gaye a bit closer to Cooke, fwiw.

I know Bruce's list does not share the same criteria but given relatively low placement of Fats Domino there, I am ok with Prince and Gaye staying ahead.

[Brian]

I think Domino's win in popularity is probably bigger than Richard's in acclaim while influence is pretty close, and if we weight popularity a bit more than acclaim I definitely lean towards Domino being ahead.

I also think Prince does slightly better in all of the criteria than Gaye so if we want to balance Prince/Gaye and Domino/Richard a little, this is what I'd suggest...

15. Fats Domino
16. Prince
17. Marvin Gaye
18. Little Richard

This gets Gaye a bit closer to Cooke, fwiw.

I think I agree with this order for these 4. With Little Richard, it factors pretty big for me that the other 3 very easily have more significant material and longer periods of significance. If you figure Little Richard's period of significance runs from the release of "Tutti Fruiti" to that of "Ooh! My Soul", that's 2 years and 7 months. So the other 3 have a lot more acclaimed and popular material, and a much longer period in which they were acclaimed and popular.

[Fido]

Not sure why Floyd and Bowie were singled out from the next group. Compared to Springsteen, his only weak area compared to them is influence, while he seems more popular (harder to compare with Floyd as they beat him in albums but he crushes in singles. Pink Floyd are obviously albums-centered but Springsteen seems much more well-rounded in both areas. Anyway, a hard comparison), more acclaimed than Floyd while tied with Bowie. Don't want to weigh in on cultural impact as Bruce has always been more important in the US compared to Europe.

[ManPerson]

How do you think Elton, Public Enemy and REM compare? Had a last moment change of the heart and moved REM a couple of spots down myself.

Influence (incl. Cultural): PE > REM > Elton, the first two close but Public Enemy I'd say clearly more culturally impactful, Elton is not particularly musically influential but a cultural icon for sure.

Popularity: Elton >> REM >> PE, seems pretty straightforward

Acclaim: PE=REM > Elton, ignoring AM's placement for the first two.

Based on this, I still kind of like my order.

[ManPerson]

Not sure why Floyd and Bowie were singled out from the next group. Compared to Springsteen, his only weak area compared to them is influence, while he seems more popular (harder to compare with Floyd as they beat him in albums but he crushes in singles. Pink Floyd are obviously albums-centered but Springsteen seems much more well-rounded in both areas. Anyway, a hard comparison), more acclaimed than Floyd while tied with Bowie. Don't want to weigh in on cultural impact as Bruce has always been more important in the US compared to Europe.

I think Bruce's fairly lackluster influence for this range of the list holds him back, I'd say...

Floyd vs Springsteen
Popularity: Close
Acclaim: Springsteen
Influence: Floyd fairly easily

Bowie vs Springsteen
Popularity: Springsteen fairly easily
Acclaim: Close
Influence: Bowie fairly easily

[Tim]

Now I do wonder if Bruce (and U2) have potent enough combo of popularity & acclaim to cancel even comparatively huge Run-DMC influence advantage.

[Tim]

What do you think, Man? Guess I can see Bruce anywhere between #24-28.

1. The Beatles
2. Elvis Presley
3. James Brown
4. Bob Dylan
5. Michael Jackson
6. Madonna
7. Chuck Berry
8. The Rolling Stones
9. Stevie Wonder
10. Aretha Franklin
11. Ray Charles
12. The Beach Boys
13. Led Zeppelin
14. Jimi Hendrix
15. Fats Domino
16. Prince
17. Marvin Gaye
18. Little Richard
19. The Who
20. Sam Cooke
21. Pink Floyd
22. David Bowie
23. U2
24. Run-D.M.C.
25. Nirvana
26. The Supremes
27. Bruce Springsteen
28. Queen
29. Bob Marley & the Wailers
30. Buddy Holly & The Crickets
31. The Temptations
32. The Everly Brothers
33. Neil Young
34. R.E.M.
35. Elton John
36. Public Enemy
37. Sly & The Family Stone
38. Bill Haley & His Comets
39. Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
40. The Kinks

[ManPerson]

I'm fine with that.

[Tim]

Thinking out loud, is there a case for Berry being ahead of even MJ/Madonna?

Influence (incl. Cultural): Berry wins musically, loses culturally. Overall Berry wins as the latter does not count as much.

Popularity: landslide loss to both, even more so to MJ.

Acclaim: I'd say he wins this one over both, MJ closer match-up than Madonna.

Feel he has somewhat of a case here to be #5-6, not a must have move by any means but worth considering.

[ManPerson]

I think Madonna/MJ's win in popularity takes the matchup here since they are both very highly acclaimed and influential as well.

[Zach]

I'd agree with Berry below the pop king and queen.

[Tim]

1. The Beatles
2. Elvis Presley
3. James Brown
4. Bob Dylan
5. Michael Jackson
6. Madonna
7. Chuck Berry
8. The Rolling Stones
9. Stevie Wonder
10. Aretha Franklin
11. Ray Charles
12. The Beach Boys
13. Led Zeppelin
14. Jimi Hendrix
15. Fats Domino
16. Prince
17. Marvin Gaye
18. Little Richard
19. The Who
20. Sam Cooke
21. Pink Floyd
22. David Bowie
23. U2
24. Run-D.M.C.
25. Nirvana
26. 2pac
27. The Supremes
28. Bruce Springsteen
29. Jay-Z
30. Queen
31. Bob Marley & the Wailers
32. Buddy Holly & The Crickets
33. Eminem
34. The Temptations
35. The Everly Brothers
36. Black Sabbath
37. Neil Young
38. R.E.M
39. The Clash
40. The Doors
41. Elton John
42. Public Enemy
43. Sly & The Family Stone
44. Bill Haley & His Comets
45. Bo Diddley
46. Metallica
47. The Beastie Boys
48. Roy Orbison
49. Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
50. George Clinton & Parliament / Funkadelic
51. The Kinks
52. Otis Redding
53. Simon & Garfunkel
54. The Byrds
55. Van Halen
56. The Grateful Dead
57. The Drifters
58. The Impressions
59. Jerry Lee Lewis
60. Eagles

[Fido]

Big drop for Elton. Less influential than most in that range, but he beats them all in popularity, most of them in cultural impact, and holds his own or even wins acclaim. I think he beats the Doors, Everlys, Temptations, probably Holly too, could go either way against the rest.