Greatest Rock Artists Of All Time (Revision Version)

[ManPerson]

I'd say Bad Bunny, Ariana, K&tG, Hall & Oates take acclaim and popularity over Salt-N-Pepa.

Allman Brothers Band seem high, Oasis, clearly take popularity, and are arguably more acclaimed as well and I don't think the Allman Brothers win in influence is big enough. Kate Bush and Roxy Music would both take acclaim and I don't think the difference in the other criteria is that large, and, if anything, Bush and Roxy Music may be a bit more influential.

I also think Lana Del Rey looks a bit low now that I look at it. I'd give her acclaim and popularity over King CrimsonShe's pretty close to Smith/Tribe/Pixies in acclaim at this point and she also, more or less, pioneered alt-pop, so I'd argue she may not even be that far behind them in influence either, while clearly taking popularity. I'd also give her popularity and acclaim over Lymon/Cochran/Perkins, though those three also rather easily take influence.

Maybe something like this for her placement:
171. Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers
172. Eddie Cochran
173. Carl Perkins
174. Patti Smith
175. Lana Del Rey
176. A Tribe Called Quest
177. Pixies
178. King Crimson

[Tim]

I'd say Allman Brothers' acclaim is greater than say, acclaimedmusic ranking would indicate due to them having greater reputation live than in studio. I guess you could also make the case for the Dead being low-ish along the similar reasoning with their popularity, acclaim, influence all being primarily live-based. Then there's also Duane Allman's reputation though I guess not all of his best work was with Allmans.

[Tim]

How I'd re-rank #210-219:

1. Hank Ballard & the Midnighters
2. Tom Petty (& the Heartbreakers)
3. Bob Seger (& the Silver Bullet Band)
4. The Flamingos
5. Little Willie John
6. The Ventures
7. The Animals
8. Sonic Youth
9. Jethro Tull
10. Judas Priest

Ballard playing an important role in rock's breakthrough, inspiring a trend with Work with Me Annie, one of the earliest overtly sexual rock lyricists, indirectly responsible for The Twist craze, pretty strong singles chart performance into the early 1960s. Petty pretty strong mix of acclaim and popularity, collaborating with some of the biggest rockers of his era and before, think Travelling Wilburys. Bob Seger similar case but trading even better popularity for worse acclaim, both leading figures in heartland rock, Springsteen aside.

Flamingos one of premier vocal groups of their day plus one of earliest thematic albums in rock, Little Willie John overlooked R&B/Soul pioneer nowadays, got a tribute album from James Brown soon after his death, Fever a rock and roll standard among a decent string of R&B chart hits, cited as an influence by some of top soul singers: Al Green, James Brown, Sam Cooke, etc. Animals important influence on both blues & folk rock, one of pre-eminent British Invasion artists, Ventures one of ultimate instrumental rockers, album pioneers in rock, legendary guitar combo as well. Sonic Youth noise rock pioneers, highly acclaimed within underground, Daydream Nation an 1980s alt classic, Jethro Tull succesful and eclectic prog/hard rock band, Judas Priest one of heavy metal gods, Halford especially, carrying a torch from Sabbath to Maiden/Metallica

[Fido]

My take:

145. Elvis Costello
146. The Allman Brothers Band
147. Yes
148. Iggy Pop & the Stooges
149. Rick Nelson
150. Sex Pistols
151. Sam & Dave
152. Oasis
153. The 5 Royales
154. Daft Punk
155. The Yardbirds
156. TLC
157. Gladys Knight & the Pips
158. Kate Bush
159. Roxy Music
160. Genesis
161. Nas
162. Dire Straits
163. Dion & the Belmonts
164. Booker T & the M.G.’s
165. Carole King
166. Paul Simon
167. The Coasters
168. Lynyrd Skynyrd
169. King Crimson
170. The O’Jays

I'd have Costello over the Allmans, but I don't think I'd have them any lower, maybe Yes over them but that's it. As Tim has said, the reputation of their members, especially Duane, and of the band as a live act, is enormous. I also place Jefferson Airplane behind Skynyrd and the O'Jays and raised Crimson to that group. I stopped there because I run the risk of being biased, but honestly their only weak criteria is popularity and that's mainly because they work in a far less commercial style than most. They are more influential than everybody up to the Yardbirds, and more acclaimed than most, especially taking into account that they are THE BAND within prog rock circles, and all their members are top tier instrumentalist, though it's fair to say that Crimson is just a chapter of their greatest work. Regardless, Fripp, who is the main member of the band (a la Zappa/Mothers) has played with some of the greatest artists ever in some of their greatest work, mainly Bowie, Eno, Talking Heads or Blondie. Don't forget that Eno created ambient music with him.

Below that group I'm ok with everything except I'd have Burke over the White Stripes as I see him as more influential, his acclaim as a singer and live performer is comparable to the Stripes' critical acclaim, and was more succesful when looking at the R&B charts.

I also think Lana is just fine where she is now. However close she might be in acclaim to the artists abover her, she is still behind, and I don't think she is close in influence. I won't comment on Salt-N-Pepa vs the artists below her because I think that bunch of the list is very messy.

[Tim]

Thoughts?

78. Radiohead
79. The Grateful Dead
80. N.W.A
81. Dr. Dre
82. Ramones
83. Eric B. & Rakim
84. LL Cool J
85. Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five
86. Aerosmith
87. The Police
88. Guns N' Roses
89. Van Halen
90. The Drifters
91. Al Green
92. Pearl Jam
93. Jerry Lee Lewis
94. Rod Stewart
95. Paul McCartney/Wings
96. Lady Gaga
97. Coldplay
98. Green Day
99. Adele
100. Depeche Mode
101. The Jackson 5/The Jacksons
102. The Platters
103. Jackie Wilson
104. Missy Elliott
105. Earth, Wind & Fire
106. Mary J. Blige
107. Wynonie Harris
108. Roy Brown
109. Van Morrison
110. Cream
111. The Isley Brothers
112. The Shirelles
113. The Dominoes
114. The Clovers
115. Ruth Brown
116. Joy Division/New Order
117. Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons
118. Red Hot Chili Peppers
119. Fugees/Lauryn Hill
120. The Weeknd
121. George Michael/Wham!
122. Eric Clapton
123. John Lennon
124. Deep Purple
125. Big Joe Turner
126. Santana
127. Johnny Otis
128. The Band
129. The Orioles
130. The Four Tops
131. Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention
132. Etta James
133. Wilson Pickett
134. Janis Joplin/Big Brother and the Holding Company
135. Justin Timberlake
136. Blondie
137. Billy Joel
138. Martha & the Vandellas
139. Iron Maiden
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. The Allman Brothers Band
149. Rick Nelson
150. Sex Pistols
151. Sam & Dave
152. Oasis
153. The "5" Royales
154. Daft Punk
155. The Yardbirds
156. TLC
157. Gladys Knight & the Pips
158. Kate Bush
159. Roxy Music
160. Genesis
161. Nas
162. Dire Straits
163. Dion (& the Belmonts)
164. Booker T. & the M.G.’s
165. Carole King
166. Paul Simon
167. The Coasters
168. Lynyrd Skynyrd
169. King Crimson
170. The O’Jays
171. Jefferson Airplane
172. Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers
173. Eddie Cochran
174. Carl Perkins
175. Patti Smith
176. A Tribe Called Quest
177. Pixies
178. Lana Del Rey
179. Alice Cooper
180. James Taylor
181. The Mamas & the Papas
182. Solomon Burke
183. The White Stripes
184. Neil Diamond
185. Alicia Keys
186. Chicago
187. Rush
188. KISS
189. Del Shannon
190. Usher
191. Def Leppard
192. Afrika Bambaataa & Soulsonic Force
193. Bon Jovi
194. The Cars
195. Frank Ocean
196. Bad Bunny
197. Kool & the Gang
198. Salt-N-Pepa
199. Johnny Ace
200. The Righteous Brothers
201. Phil Collins
202. Ariana Grande
203. Hall & Oates
204. Cher
205. R. Kelly
206. Journey
207. Justin Bieber
208. Diana Ross
209. Screamin' Jay Hawkins

Think given's Salt-N-Pepa's high influence and significant popularity (especially for an early all-female hip-hop group) I'd rather keep them in the current top 200. Also given Stooges' high influence and acclaim live I see them over Allmans as well but I wouldn't move them much lower than that. Felt it's only fair to give a little more credit to the Dead as well, given the Allmans' case.

[Fido]

I don't like the Stooges jumping over the Allmans, I think the latter's musical impact and big lead in popularity overtakes the former's big lead in influence.

[ManPerson]

The Stooges would take critical acclaim, though, and if influence is weighted more than popularity, I think they make sense ahead. Especially since I think Iggy Pop has a good amount of musical impact himself.

[Tim]

Not to accidentally recreate the old list but some other artists who may benefit from the live performance aspect include The Who (I can see them edging out Jay for #20), Bruce (just below Cooke), Elvis vs Beatles prolly becomes a real debate again, while James Brown vs Bob Dylan prolly settles in favor of Brown.

[Fido]

I have always considered live reputation when making the list, so on my part I don't think it's necessary to make a lot of changes. Not against it, though.

[ManPerson]

I've always been accounting for live performances as well.

[Tim]

- I think Bruce's lack of influence for this range of the list should keep him a little lower than you have him right now. Pink Floyd and U2 are comparable, if not a bit stronger, in popularity, Bowie's comparable in acclaim, and all three are clearly more influential (Bowie and Floyd especially)

I guess this breakdown works even if you do give Springsteen wins in acclaim due to his reputation live.

[Tim]

As for The Who, I'd say they win influence over Jay, lose popularity and cultural impact and might edge out in acclaim though it's a hard comparison.

[Tim]

Where would I insert #210-219:

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. The Allman Brothers Band
149. Rick Nelson
150. Sex Pistols
151. Hank Ballard & the Midnighters
152. Sam & Dave
153. Oasis
154. The "5" Royales
155. Daft Punk
156. The Yardbirds
157. TLC
158. Gladys Knight & the Pips
159. Kate Bush
160. Roxy Music
161. Genesis
162. Nas
163. Dire Straits
164. Dion (& the Belmonts)
165. Tom Petty (& the Heartbreakers)
166. Booker T. & the M.G.’s
167. Carole King
168. Paul Simon
169. The Coasters
170. Lynyrd Skynyrd
171. King Crimson
172. The O’Jays
173. Jefferson Airplane
174. Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers
175. Eddie Cochran
176. Carl Perkins
177. Patti Smith
178. A Tribe Called Quest
179. Pixies
180. Lana Del Rey
181. Alice Cooper
182. Bob Seger (& the Silver Bullet Band)
183. James Taylor
184. The Mamas & the Papas
185. Solomon Burke
186. The Flamingos
187. The White Stripes
188. Neil Diamond
189. Alicia Keys
190. Chicago
191. Rush
192. KISS
193. Little Willie John
194. Del Shannon
195. Usher
196. Def Leppard
197. Afrika Bambaataa & Soulsonic Force
198. Bon Jovi
199. The Cars
200. Frank Ocean
201. Bad Bunny
202. Kool & the Gang
203. The Ventures
204. The Animals
205. Sonic Youth
206. Salt-N-Pepa
207. Johnny Ace
208. The Righteous Brothers
209. Phil Collins
210. Ariana Grande
211. Hall & Oates
212. Cher
213. R. Kelly
214. Journey
215. Justin Bieber
216. Diana Ross
217. Jethro Tull
218. Judas Priest
219. Screamin' Jay Hawkins

[Fido]

Not much to bicker from me. I could see Ballard over Sex Pistols since he's more influential and had much better R&B chart success. Petty I'd have right below Genesis, I think he wins popularity and acclaim comfortable against the three over him. I could see James Taylor above Seger if we consider him more influential. Maybe Little Willie John above Kiss for R&B chart success? Though they are a very popular live band. Maybe Sonic Youth above the Animals? And I'd have Tull and Priest right over Journey, as they have a big lead on acclaim and influence imo.

[Tim]

I was actually under the impression that Dire Straits and Dion are more popular than Petty with Dion's singles success (The Wanderer, Runaround Sue) and Dire Straits' blockbuster success of Brothers in Arms plus Money for Nothing and Sultans of Swing being more popular than any Petty song. As for Nas, I'd give him influence for sure, plus peer acclaim/musical impact as arguably the greatest lyricist/MC in hip-hop.

[Tim]

#220-229 re-ranked:

1. LaVern Baker
2. The Moody Blues
3. Chuck Willis
4. Pretenders
5. Jackson Browne
6. War
7. John Mellencamp
8. Shirley & Lee
9. Jan & Dean

Out: Bobby "Blue" Bland

Moody Blues significant album & singles success over the decades plus key influence on prog rock, an early rock/classical crossover, Nights in White Satin a classic. LaVern one of early R&B queens with decent amount of pop crossover success, Jackson Browne highly acclaimed plus pretty popular '70s run, War eclectic rock/funk/Latin crossover, succesful '70s run, Chuck Willis succesful and respected '50s rock and roll songwriter/singer, a dance craze with stroll, Pretenders one of premier female lead New Wave/early alt bands, strong acclaim plus chart success in UK, a string of succesful albums in US too.

Bland important blues/soul crossover but I guess could be considered blues artist first. Mellencamp mostly there for popularity but well-regarded as songwriter too, two duos both largely overlooked nowadays but both pretty influential, Shirley & Lee an early example of narrative told through singles, Jan & Dean important early self-produced musicians, surf rock pioneers, influence on Brian Wilson.