Greatest Rock Artists Of All Time (Revision Version)

[ManPerson]

My take:

144. CSNY
145. Elvis Costello
146. The Yardbirds
147. Iggy Pop & the Stooges
148. Sex Pistols
149. Sam & Dave
150. Oasis
151. Daft Punk
152. TLC
153. Kate Bush
154. Roxy Music
155. Genesis
156. Nas
157. Dire Straits
158. Booker T. & the M.G.’s
159. Paul Simon
160. Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers
161. Eddie Cochran
162. Patti Smith
163. A Tribe Called Quest
164. Pixies
165. Lana del Rey
166. Alicia Keys
167. Chicago
168. Rush
169. Kiss
170. Usher
171. Frank Ocean
172. Afrika Bambaataa
173. Bad Bunny
174. Kool & the Gang
175. Phil Collins
176. Ariana Grande
177. Hall & Oates
178. Cher
179. R. Kelly
180. Diana Ross

Costello is way more acclaimed than Stooges/Pistols and more popular, even if less influential. Big bump for the Yardbirds as they kick ass in influence and musical impact, with good popularity and songs like For Your Love and Heart Full of Gold are classics. Sam & Dave vs the next group is hard but I don't care that much. Nas I'd say is slightly more acclaimed and influential than Dire Straits. I think the Teenagers are perfect above Cochran as the influence difference is negligible and they were more popular. Pixies are more influential and way more acclaimed than Lana and Alicia. Rush vs Kiss is hard but I'd put Rush's little wins over Kiss' big win. Don't care much though. On the last bunch I can live with that order though I don't really like it, and on Kelly vs Ross, what do we think about Kelly above Cher?

Only thing I particularly disagree with here is that I think Yardbirds look a bit high now, I'd give Daft Punk and Oasis acclaim and popularity over them, for instance (even with the Yardbirds musical impact.

I think Cher should be ahead of R. Kelly for most of the same reasons as Tim.

[Tim]

You make some good points re: Bieber, his cultural impact is undeniable and he is cited as inspiration by some pop stars of today such as Billie Eilish. So you suggested bumping him at #8? I do however feel he does not yet have songs of Don't Stop Believin' or Sweet Caroline stature, which are staples of pop culture, nor Neil Diamond's songwriting nor Steve Perry's vocal acclaim.

Yes, I'd bump him up to eight, though you do have a point about Diamond and Joruney's musical impact.

How about:

1. Rick Nelson
2. Jefferson Airplane
3. Yes
4. Carole King
5. Alice Cooper
6. The Righteous Brothers
7. Neil Diamond
8. Bon Jovi
9. Justin Bieber
10. Journey

Think I underrated Neil Diamond's acclaim initially who strikes me as the most acclaimed of the #6-10 bunch
(Righteous Brothers aside).

[Tim]

Taking Man's feedback:

144. Crosby, Stills & Nash (& Young)
145. Elvis Costello
146. Iggy Pop & the Stooges
147. Sex Pistols
148. Sam & Dave
149. Oasis
150. Daft Punk
151. The Yardbirds
152. TLC
153. Kate Bush
154. Roxy Music
155. Genesis
156. Nas
157. Dire Straits
158. Booker T. & the M.G.’s
159. Paul Simon
160. Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers
161. Eddie Cochran
162. Patti Smith
163. A Tribe Called Quest
164. Pixies
165. Lana Del Rey
166. Alicia Keys
167. Chicago
168. Rush
169. KISS
170. Usher
171. Frank Ocean
172. Afrika Bambaataa & Soulsonic Force
173. Bad Bunny
174. Kool & the Gang
175. Phil Collins
176. Ariana Grande
177. Hall & Oates
178. Cher
179. R. Kelly
180. Diana Ross

[Fido]

I can live with that

Haven't looked too much on that next bunch, but I think Bon Jovi is being underrated, the most popular of the bunch outside of Bieber and maybe Diamond, good influence on the popularization of glam metal and in turn harder forms of rock in the 80s, and decent acclaim. Diamond is a weird one since one wonders if his success on the Adult Contemporary charts should factor on his legacy as a rock artist, but 38 top 10 hits on that chart is insane, he kicks ass in popularity then and he is very acclaimed as a songwriter with many of his songs being recorded by other artists. Jefferson Airplane I think shouldn't be that high, their popularity is the lowest of the bunch probably and though very influential on psychedelic rock, that was a pretty short-lived movement, even though it was later influential on other styles. I see them pretty comparable with Alice Cooper.

[Tim]

So something like this:

1. Rick Nelson
2. Yes
3. Carole King
4. Jefferson Airplane
5. Alice Cooper
6. Bon Jovi
7. Neil Diamond
8. The Righteous Brothers
9. Justin Bieber
10. Journey

[Tim]

Re-inserting #181-190 batch:

140. Chic
141. Rick Nelson
142. Talking Heads
143. The Smiths
144. The Cure
145. Crosby, Stills & Nash (& Young)
146. Elvis Costello
147. Iggy Pop & the Stooges
148. Sex Pistols
149. Sam & Dave
150. Oasis
151. Daft Punk
152. Yes
153. The Yardbirds
154. TLC
155. Kate Bush
156. Roxy Music
157. Genesis
158. Nas
159. Dire Straits
160. Booker T. & the M.G.’s
161. Paul Simon
162. Carole King
163. Jefferson Airplane
164. Alice Cooper
165. Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers
166. Eddie Cochran
167. Patti Smith
168. A Tribe Called Quest
169. Pixies
170. Lana Del Rey
171. Alicia Keys
172. Chicago
173. Rush
174. KISS
175. Bon Jovi
176. Usher
177. Frank Ocean
178. Afrika Bambaataa & Soulsonic Force
179. Bad Bunny
180. Kool & the Gang
181. Neil Diamond
182. The Righteous Brothers
183. Phil Collins
184. Ariana Grande
185. Hall & Oates
186. Cher
187. Justin Bieber
188. R. Kelly
189. Diana Ross
190. Journey

[Tim]

While we are at it, how I'd re-rank #191-200:

1. The "5" Royales
2. Gladys Knight & the Pips
3. Dion (& the Belmonts)
4. The Mamas & the Papas
5. The Coasters
6. Carl Perkins
7. James Taylor
8. Def Leppard
9. Johnny Ace
10. Dionne Warwick

Coasters a key doo-wop group with a string of classic hits, one of comedy rock pioneers and prolly #2-3 most important collaboration of Leiber-Stoller's career. Dion one of the biggest rock stars late '50s - early '60s, respected for his versatility & longevity since that and cited as influence by some of the top rockers that followed, Springsteen chief among of them. Gladys one of the most respected and popular Motown performers of the late 1960s - early 1970s, managed to become even more succesful after leaving, Mamas and Papas high commercial & artistic peak, one of the leaders of Laurel Canyon scene, further popularization of folk rock, California Dreamin' obvi immortal. The "5" Royales a key players in creation of soul music, their songs covered to great success by the likes of James Brown, Ray Charles, Shirelles and Mamas & Papas, Lowman Pauling one of the greatest guitar heroes of the 1950s, idolized by Steve Cropper.

Def Leppard a huge success from 1984 to 1989 plus a key influence on glam metal scene, James Taylor respected singer-songwriter with major commercial success, Perkins prolly a greatest pure rockabilly artist and #2 most influential behind Presley, a beloved figure among the top rock names, think Beatles, Blue Suede Shoes an immortal classic. Johnny Ace the first rock and roll tragedy, Pledging My Life influential early crossover success. Thown Warwick at the bottom despite her being arguably the biggest name overall as I see her legacy too interlinked with Bacharach & David pop brand with rock being secondary genre at best for her despite her indeed having impact on rock with some of her songs (think Isaac Hayes)

[Fido]

My take:

140. Rick Nelson
141. Chic
142. Talking Heads
143. The Smiths
144. The Cure
145. CSNY
146. Elvis Costello
147. Bon Jovi
148. Yes
149. Iggy Pop & the Stooges
150. Sex Pistols
151. Sam & Dave
152. Oasis
153. Daft Punk
154. The Yardbirds
155. TLC
156. Kate Bush
157. Roxy Music
158. Genesis
159. Nas
160. Dire Straits
161. Booker T. & the M.G.’s
162. Carole King
163. Paul Simon
164. Neil Diamond
165. Jefferson Airplane
166. Alice Cooper
167. Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers
168. Eddie Cochran
169. Patti Smith
170. A Tribe Called Quest
171. Pixies
172. Lana del Rey
173. Alicia Keys
174. Chicago
175. Rush
176. Kiss
177. Usher
178. Frank Ocean
179. Afrika Bambaataa
180. Bad Bunny
181. Kool & the Gang
182. The Righteous Brothers
183. Phil Collins
184. Ariana Grande
185. Hall & Oates
186. Cher
187. R. Kelly
188. Journey
189. Justin Bieber
190. Diana Ross

Huge bump for Bon Jovi but honestly they might be the most popular of the group and they defined a very popular subgenre of rock, but since it's a derided style by critics they lack in one criteria, even though they still have decent acclaim. Yes are ground zero for prog rock, great musical impact, good acclaim, and very popular. I see them as important to prog as the Stooges and Pistols are to punk, only way more popular. Neil Diamond, again, a weird one to rank but I think he looks good with the other two great songwriters of the bunch. I also put King over Simon as I think she's more influential and popularity-wise he came from one of the most popular artists on the planet. The last three are kinda hard but since Journey are somewhat influential on the AOR bands that came after and have very acclaimed musicians, esp Perry as a vocalist I put them ahead of Bieber.

[Tim]

I guess I don't think of Bon Jovi as particularly influential with bands like Def Leppard and Quiet Riot having glam metal hits before them. Sure, there is a couple of bands citing them as influence but feel every household name artist has this type of influence.

[ManPerson]

Rick Nelson seems a bit high now, I'd think that The Stooges, for example, win acclaim and influence, both fairly clearly.

[ManPerson]

I guess I don't think of Bon Jovi as particularly influential with bands like Def Leppard and Quiet Riot having glam metal hits before them. Sure, there is a couple of bands citing them as influence but feel every household name artist has this type of influence.

I don't think Bon Jovi were really ahead of the curve at all in glam metal. Their breakthrough album was in 1986, so I'd argue that giving them any meaningful credit for popularizing it is rather ridiculous, tbh.

I'd even argue that Afrika Bambaataa easily takes influence and is probably more acclaimed as well.

[Tim]

Thoughts? I'd say most artists in Fido's #165-173 range have stronger combo of either acclaim & influence (Patti Smith, A Tribe, Pixies) or popularity & acclaim (Alicia Keys, Lana Del Rey) than Neil Diamond has (of popularity & acclaim) so slotted him right above Chicago. Alice Cooper I prolly overrated slightly as well, think he fits Rush & KISS range pretty well. Guess I'd agree with Man's assessments of Rick Nelson & Bon Jovi though open to further arguments on either.

140. Chic
141. Talking Heads
142. The Smiths
143. The Cure
144. Crosby, Stills & Nash (& Young)
145. Elvis Costello
146. Yes
147. Iggy Pop & the Stooges
148. Rick Nelson
149. Sex Pistols
150. Sam & Dave
151. Oasis
152. Daft Punk
153. The Yardbirds
154. TLC
155. Kate Bush
156. Roxy Music
157. Genesis
158. Nas
159. Dire Straits
160. Booker T. & the M.G.’s
161. Carole King
162. Paul Simon
163. Jefferson Airplane
164. Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers
165. Eddie Cochran
166. Patti Smith
167. A Tribe Called Quest
168. Pixies
169. Lana Del Rey
170. Alicia Keys
171. Alice Cooper
172. Neil Diamond
173. Chicago
174. Rush
175. KISS
176. Usher
177. Frank Ocean
178. Afrika Bambaataa & Soulsonic Force
179. Bon Jovi
180. Bad Bunny
181. Kool & the Gang
182. The Righteous Brothers
183. Phil Collins
184. Ariana Grande
185. Hall & Oates
186. Cher
187. R. Kelly
188. Journey
189. Justin Bieber
190. Diana Ross

[Fido]

As funny as the two Alices together would look, I only see Keys winning popularity against Cooper. I also don't see her winning anything against Diamond honestly.

Def Leppard and Quiet Riot were having hits before them but Bon Jovi blew them all out of the water. Slippery When Wet wasn't only the most popular hair metal album, it was the first hard rock album in general to put three singles in the top Ten, with two #1s. After them came the break of bands like Poison, Cinderella, in general the poppier bands, which was the thing you can credit Bon Jovi for bringing to the table, and other bands like Whitesnake started jumping on the bangwagon to achieve their biggest commercial success yet. Hell, Hysteria sold almost twice as much as Pyromania. And then came Appetite for Destruction and all that. From wiki, on Slippery When Wet: "The album has been credited with widening the audience for the genre, particularly by appealing to women as well as the traditional male dominated audience, and opening the door to MTV and commercial success for other bands at the end of the decade". "It has been called the album that turned "heavy metal into a radio-friendly pop format",[6] and is also commonly seen as "a breakthrough for hair metal".

[ManPerson]

I think Alicia Keys is probably more acclaimed than Neil Diamond, though I could definitely see her move below him, anyway. For Bon Jovi, I still think Kiss, Rush and Afrika Bambaataa, for example, take acclaim and influence fairly definitively.

[Tim]

Plus both Rush and KISS do have dedicated following both, though obviously behind Bon Jovi in mainstream popularity.

[ManPerson]

I guess I could see Bon Jovi > Frank Ocean, though. Bon Jovi easily take popularity, Frank easily takes acclaim, while neither artist clearly takes influence, ig.

How about this?
170. Alice Cooper
171. Neil Diamond
172. Alicia Keys
173. Chicago
174. Rush
175. KISS
176. Usher
177. Afrika Bambaataa & Soulsonic Force
178. Bon Jovi
179. Frank Ocean