digitaldreamdoor.com forum

Pauldrach edit (Brian's original post, see next post)

Ongoing 2026 revision (edited by Tim, ManPerson, Fido ...?):

Criteria: influence, popularity, critical & peer acclaim, cultural impact, in descending order of importance.

1. The Beatles
2. Elvis Presley
3. James Brown
4. Bob Dylan
5. Michael Jackson
6. Chuck Berry
7. Madonna
8. The Rolling Stones
9. Stevie Wonder
10. Ray Charles
11. Aretha Franklin
12. The Beach Boys
13. Led Zeppelin
14. Jimi Hendrix
15. Fats Domino
16. Prince
17. Little Richard
18. Marvin Gaye
19. Kanye West
20. Jay-Z
21. The Who
22. Sam Cooke
23. Pink Floyd
24. David Bowie
25. U2
26. Bruce Springsteen (& the E Street Band)
27. Run-D.M.C.
28. Nirvana
29. Diana Ross/The Supremes
30. Eminem
31. 2pac
32. Beyoncé
33. Queen
34. Bob Marley & the Wailers
35. Buddy Holly/The Crickets
36. The Temptations
37. Neil Young (& Crazy Horse)
38. Kendrick Lamar
39. R.E.M.
40. Taylor Swift
41. Elton John
42. Mariah Carey
43. Whitney Houston
44. The Everly Brothers
45. Black Sabbath
46. Public Enemy
47. Drake
48. Otis Redding
49. Sly & the Family Stone
50. The Byrds
51. Metallica
52. Janet Jackson
53. Bill Haley & His Comets
54. Smokey Robinson/The Miracles
55. Bee Gees
56. The Kinks
57. Donna Summer
58. ABBA
59. Bo Diddley
60. Beastie Boys
61. Roy Orbison
62. The Clash
63. The Doors
64. Curtis Mayfield/The Impressions
65. AC/DC
66. George Clinton/Parliament-Funkadelic
67. Fleetwood Mac
68. The Velvet Underground
69. Joni Mitchell
70. Eagles
71. OutKast
72. Simon & Garfunkel
73. Rihanna
74. Britney Spears
75. The Notorious B.I.G.
76. Kraftwerk
77. Creedence Clearwater Revival
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. Amos Milburn
129. The Band
130. The Orioles
131. Ike & Tina Turner
132. Four Tops
133. Frank Zappa/The Mothers of Invention
134. Etta James
135. Wilson Pickett
136. Janis Joplin/Big Brother and the Holding Company
137. Justin Timberlake
138. Blondie
139. Billy Joel
140. Martha & the Vandellas
141. Iron Maiden
142. Chic
143. Talking Heads
144. The Smiths
145. The Cure
146. Crosby, Stills & Nash (& Young)
147. Elvis Costello (& the Attractions)
148. Yes
149. Iggy Pop/The Stooges
150. The Allman Brothers Band
151. The Ravens
152. Rick Nelson
153. Hank Ballard & the Midnighters
154. Sex Pistols
155. Sam & Dave
156. Oasis
157. The "5" Royales
158. Daft Punk
159. The Yardbirds
160. De La Soul
161. TLC
162. Gladys Knight & the Pips
163. Kate Bush
164. Roxy Music
165. Genesis
166. Lil Wayne
167. Nas
168. Tom Petty (& the Heartbreakers)
169. Dire Straits
170. Jefferson Airplane/Starship
171. Dion (& the Belmonts)
172. Booker T. & the M.G.'s
173. Carole King
174. Paul Simon
175. The Coasters
176. Lynyrd Skynyrd
177. King Crimson
178. The O'Jays
179. Brian Eno
180. Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers
181. The Ronettes
182. Eddie Cochran
183. Carl Perkins
184. Patti Smith
185. LaVern Baker
186. A Tribe Called Quest
187. Wu-Tang Clan (incl. solo projects)
188. Pixies
189. Snoop Dogg
190. Lana Del Rey
191. Alice Cooper
192. Isaac Hayes
193. James Taylor
194. Steely Dan
195. Bob Seger (& the Silver Bullet Band)
196. The Mamas & the Papas
197. Solomon Burke
198. The Flamingos
199. The White Stripes
200. Smashing Pumpkins
201. Duran Duran
202. The Human League
203. Neil Diamond
204. The Monkees
205. Dusty Springfield
206. Alicia Keys
207. Rush
208. Destiny's Child
209. The Moody Blues
210. Sonic Youth
211. Chicago
212. Ice Cube
213. KISS
214. The Staple Singers
215. Blur
216. Usher
217. Björk
218. Arctic Monkeys
219. Chuck Willis
220. Little Willie John
221. Del Shannon
222. Nine Inch Nails
223. Rage Against the Machine
224. Motörhead
225. Def Leppard
226. Afrika Bambaataa & Soulsonic Force
227. Bon Jovi
228. The Cars
229. Bad Bunny
230. Kool & the Gang
231. Chubby Checker
232. T. Rex
233. Lionel Richie/Commodores
234. The Ventures
235. The Animals
236. Ivory Joe Hunter
237. Tom Waits
238. Pretenders
239. Leonard Cohen
240. Frank Ocean
241. Beck
242. Massive Attack
243. Lou Reed
244. MC5
245. Hüsker Dü
246. Jackson Browne
247. Pet Shop Boys
248. Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band
249. Phil Collins
250. Sade
251. Ariana Grande
252. Nicki Minaj
253. Hall & Oates
254. Boyz II Men
255. Alanis Morissette
256. Luther Vandross
257. Future
258. War
259. Chaka Khan/Rufus
260. Eurythmics
261. Salt-N-Pepa
262. Peter Gabriel
263. The Righteous Brothers
264. Jethro Tull
265. Soundgarden
266. The Crystals
267. George Harrison
268. Aaliyah
269. Electric Light Orchestra
270. New York Dolls
271. Arcade Fire
272. The (Young) Rascals
273. T.I.
274. Gene Vincent & the Blue Caps
275. The Marvelettes
276. Joe Tex
277. The Prodigy
278. Johnny Ace
279. Lloyd Price
280. Cher
281. R. Kelly
282. The Lovin' Spoonful 
283. The Spinners
284. Rick James
285. Barry White
286. Weezer
287. Linda Ronstadt
288. The Shadows
289. Emerson, Lake & Palmer
290. Erykah Badu
291. Gary Numan/Tubeway Army
292. Toots & the Maytals
293. Television
294. Todd Rundgren (incl. related bands)
295. Slayer
296. Jeff Beck
297. Jimmy Cliff
298. 50 Cent
299. Boston
300. Cheap Trick
301. Jesse Belvin/Jesse & Marvin
302. Buffalo Springfield
303. Justin Bieber
304. Journey
305. John Mellencamp
306. ZZ Top
307. The Moonglows
308. Duane Eddy
309. Alice in Chains
310. Backstreet Boys
311. Heart
312. Bryan Adams
313. Tina Turner
314. Patti LaBelle/Labelle
315. Kelly Clarkson
316. Christina Aguilera
317. Steve Miller Band
318. The Dells
319. Faye Adams
320. Judas Priest
321. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
322. PJ Harvey
323. Big Star
324. Tyler, the Creator
325. INXS
326. The Doobie Brothers
327. Moby
328. The Chemical Brothers
329. Jan & Dean
330. Boogie Down Productions
331. The B-52's
332. Joe Cocker
333. Randy Newman
334. Ritchie Valens
335. Dick Dale & the Del-Tones
336. No Doubt
337. blink-182
338. Scorpions
339. The Black Eyed Peas
340. BTS
341. Gloria Estefan/Miami Sound Machine
342. Anita Baker
343. Mary Wells
344. Charli XCX
345. Fiona Apple
346. Jeff Buckley
347. Tori Amos
348. Blue Öyster Cult
349. Wire
350. Cardi B
351. Tracy Chapman
352. Ice-T/Body Count
353. Shirley & Lee
354. The Dave Clark Five
355. The Hollies
356. The Stylistics
357. Giorgio Moroder
358. Can
359. Fugazi
360. Doug E. Fresh & the Get Fresh Crew
361. Pavement
362. Queen Latifah
363. Screamin' Jay Hawkins
364. Dead Kennedys
365. Belle and Sebastian
366. Black Flag
367. Laura Nyro
368. X
369. Foreigner
370. System of a Down
371. Megadeth
372. Peter Frampton
373. Carly Simon
374. The Roots
375. Bad Brains
376. Gary U.S. Bonds
377. Busta Rhymes
378. Brandy
379. Bon Iver
380. The Pointer Sisters
381. The Black Keys
382. Jack Scott
383. Larry Williams
384. Kurtis Blow
385. Blue Cheer
386. Blood, Sweat & Tears
387. The Fall
388. Beach House
389. Bauhaus
390. Warren Zevon
391. Kansas
392. Robbie Williams
393. UB40
394. Aphex Twin
395. 10cc
396. Air
397. Buzzcocks
398. Grand Funk Railroad
399. Dave Matthews Band
400. Jerry Butler
401. Arrested Development
402. Ohio Players
403. Huey Lewis & the News
404. Childish Gambino
405. The Chantels
406. Cocteau Twins
407. Pat Benatar
408. Bachman-Turner Overdrive
409. Burning Spear
410. The Cranberries
411. The Chiffons
412. Earl Bostic
413. Big Mama Thornton
414. Toni Braxton
415. Sabrina Carpenter
416. Sheryl Crow
417. Tim Buckley
418. Tiny Bradshaw
419. Johnny Burnette (& the Rock 'n Roll Trio)
420. Goree Carter & His Hepcats
421. The Bangles
422. Bad Company
423. James Blake
424. The 5th Dimension
425. A$AP Rocky
426. Jimmy Buffett
427. Bonnie Raitt
428. The Paul Butterfield Blues Band
429. J. J. Cale
430. Arthur Alexander
431. Adam Ant/Adam and the Ants
432. Cabaret Voltaire
433. Animal Collective
434. Counting Crows
435. Annie Lennox
436. Sarah McLachlan
437. Jim Croce
438. The Black Crowes
439. Yellow Magic Orchestra
440. 2 Live Crew
441. Clarence Carter
442. The Crests
443. Air Supply
444. Bush
445. Melissa Etheridge
446. Rickie Lee Jones
447. Joan Armatrading
448. Archibald

Criteria: Popularity, influence, musical impact, and cultural impact. Explanation of the criteria below

Edited By: Brian
Last Updated: 2015-03-17

https://digitaldreamdoor.com/pages/best_artistsddd.html

Criteria In Detail:
Popularity: Charted singles and albums (with some consideration as to the era in which they took place to establish context - albums were not big in the 50's and early 60's for rock artists and most put no effort into them, black rock artists mostly did not pay full attention to them until the early 70's; certain styles received little radio airplay which negatively affect single success, such as metal and early rap; pre-1955 rock also was made for and appealed to a racially segregated market, so the R&B Charts are more accurate as to what was popular within the rock community at the time, but that has to be balanced to reflect that post-1955 rock on the pop charts was not only competing with other rock, but also all of pop music as a whole).

It also includes sales figures and headlining appearances and so forth but these are considered secondarily. However, as with chart success, era and style specific context is factored in. In terms of concerts not all artistic styles are created equal. A vocal harmony group, no matter how popular, won't fill stadiums because their music doesn't translate well to the venue. Rap is harder to duplicate live.

It is based on roughly a 80/20 split for US/UK. In cases where an artist undeniably has a very high level of worldwide popularity, that can be used as a tiebreaker.

Influence: Primary Influence, which is worth more, is for true innovation, the starting point of a new style or method of singing, songwriting, playing, performance, production, stage shows, arranging, etc., which consequently goes on to become widespread at some point in the future. The origins of the innovation are what matters most here, not necessarily who others credit with exposing them to it and so it is necessary to trace back all things to their origins as best as possible. Secondary Influence is for those who did NOT innovate, but whose application in their own work of an earlier innovation served to popularize it to a far greater extent. Because this is not the creative aspect of it, secondary influence, which is far more common to see and can be divided up between multiple artists over the years, is not worth as much.

Musical Impact: The reaction within the music industry as a whole to an artist's work. This differs from influence because not all artists are even able to be influenced by things they admire. Different styles, different abilities, different audiences and different musical goals and a sense of creative independence means that artists many times would prefer to follow their own path, but their appreciation for another artist's achievements elevates the stature of that artist in the industry. This attempts to accurately determine what music was turning the most heads within their own community at the time, what was seen as raising the creative bar and set new benchmarks to strive to surpass. It is the peer recognition factor of the criteria.

Cultural Impact: The myriad of ways in which artists affect the mass popular culture, as over the years music has altered virtually everything around us in one way or another at times - racially, sexually, in language, fashion and slang. It's changed the dominant marketplace for music as a whole from adults to teenagers, it's changed the way the music industry itself operated, created untold controversy and started national and international dialogue on a wide variety of topics that have frequently changed the viewpoints of generations to follow. It is not always intentional, but when it happens the societal parameters often shift in some ways. Basically, how far an artist's career penetrated into society. This is the hardest to get, simply because it is difficult to affect such change, but it something that often separates the elite from the merely great and is ultimately a major part of the lasting legacy of rock music as a whole.

Essentially the goal in this criteria was to, as objectively as possible and by removing musical taste entirely, determine which artists made the most impact in their field. It doesn't require an artist to take on a specific role that is optional to do in order to BE an artist. In other words, there's no separate category for things such as writing, playing a specific instrument, producing, or performing live. Yet those all can and do factor in more objectively in the existing criteria. An innovative guitarist gets influence points for introducing new techniques, an artist's songwriting sees his or her Musical Impact level raised as a result, an artist taking the reins of production changes the business models within rock and therefore has Cultural Impact within the industry.

1. The Beatles
2. Elvis Presley
3. James Brown
4. Bob Dylan
5. The Rolling Stones
6. Stevie Wonder
7. Chuck Berry
8. The Who
9. Led Zeppelin
10. Ray Charles
11. The Beach Boys
12. Aretha Franklin
13. Fats Domino
14. Michael Jackson
15. Madonna
16. Jimi Hendrix
17. Little Richard
18. Bruce Springsteen
19. Marvin Gaye
20. Sam Cooke
21. Prince
22. U2
23. The Supremes
24. Pink Floyd
25. Elton John
26. Run-D.M.C.
27. Queen
28. Nirvana
29. The Temptations
30. The Everly Brothers
31. David Bowie
32. Buddy Holly & The Crickets
33. Neil Young
34. Bob Marley & the Wailers
35. Public Enemy
36. Sly & The Family Stone
37. Bill Haley & His Comets
38. Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
39. The Kinks
40. R.E.M.
41. Bo Diddley
42. Black Sabbath
43. The Doors
44. Jay-Z
45. The Clash
46. Otis Redding
47. The Grateful Dead
48. The Byrds
49. Van Halen
50. The Drifters
51. 2pac
52. Eminem
53. The Beastie Boys
54. Roy Orbison
55. George Clinton & Parliament / Funkadelic
56. Metallica
57. Simon & Garfunkel
58. The Impressions
59. Jerry Lee Lewis
60. Eagles
61. Joni Mitchell
62. Fleetwood Mac
63. Creedence Clearwater Revival
64. Aerosmith
65. Pearl Jam
66. The Bee Gees
67. The Platters
68. The Clovers
69. Janet Jackson
70. Jackie Wilson
71. Ruth Brown
72. Donna Summer
73. Van Morrison
74. Cream
75. The Isley Brothers
76. The Police
77. Al Green
78. AC/DC
79. Deep Purple
80. Radiohead
81. Mariah Carey
82. Outkast
83. Rod Stewart
84. The Four Seasons
85. The Shirelles
86. The Dominoes
87. Kanye West
88. Elvis Costello
89. Crosby, Stills, & Nash (& Young)
90. Big Joe Turner
91. Johnny Otis
92. Whitney Houston
93. Guns N' Roses
94. N.W.A
95. The Allman Brothers Band
96. Billy Joel
97. Janis Joplin
98. The Band
99. Sonny Til & the Orioles
100. Paul McCartney / Wings

While this part isn't on the main site, here's a second hundred that I had posted in the old forum:

101. Wilson Pickett
102. The Ramones
103. Eric Clapton
104. Grandmaster Flash & the Furious 5
105. Red Hot Chili Peppers
106. The Four Tops
107. Green Day
108. Frank Zappa
109. The Coasters
110. Etta James
111. LL Cool J
112. Dion (& the Belmonts)
113. Earth, Wind, & Fire
114. Chicago
115. Santana
116. Yes
117. Martha & the Vandellas
118. Jefferson Airplane
119. Iron Maiden
120. The Moody Blues
121. Rick Nelson
122. Hank Ballard & the Midnighters
123. Lavern Baker
124. Talking Heads
125. The Jackson 5 / The Jacksons
126. John Lennon
127. Gladys Knight & the Pips
128. Roy Brown
129. Wynonie Harris
130. Eric B. & Rakim
131. Blondie
132. The Mamas & the Papas
133. The Velvet Underground
134. The Sex Pistols
135. Daryl Hall & John Oates
136. Lynyrd Skynyrd
137. Joy Division/New Order
138. The Five Royales
139. The Yardbirds
140. Rush
141. The Smiths
142. Tom Petty
143. Roxy Music
144. Bob Seger
145. The O’Jays
146. Carole King
147. George Michael / Wham!
148. Kraftwerk
149. KISS
150. Solomon Burke
151. Sam and Dave
152. Genesis
153. Eddie Cochran
154. King Crimson
155. Notorious B.I.G.
156. Patti Smith
157. Alice Cooper
158. The Flamingos
159. Def Leppard
160. James Taylor
161. Jackson Browne
162. Diana Ross
163. Bon Jovi
164. Little Willie John
165. War
166. The Animals
167. The Cars
168. Phil Collins
169. Kool & the Gang
170. Ivory Joe Hunter
171. Bonnie Raitt
172. Del Shannon
173. R. Kelly
174. Mary J. Blige
175. Coldplay
176. Chuck Willis
177. Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers
178. Afrika Bambaataa
179. Carl Perkins
180. Dr. Dre
181. Iggy Pop & the Stooges
182. The Pretenders
183. A Tribe Called Quest
184. Booker T. & the MG’s
185. Depeche Mode
186. Cher
187. Kate Bush
188. Bobby "Blue" Bland
189. Emerson, Lake, & Palmer
190. Salt-N-Pepa
191. The Carpenters
192. The Ventures
193. Nas
194. Boogie Down Productions
195. Journey
196. Johnny Ace
197. Chic
198. John "Cougar" Mellencamp
199. Dionne Warwick
200. Shirley & Lee

When will we give up on Sampson updating this?

Fido wrote: Sat Dec 07, 2024 5:29 pm When will we give up on Sampson updating this?

Good question. It has crossed my mind that it might be OK to make revisions to the list until Sampson updates it. If he does update it, we would have to leave it alone, but until then, revising it wouldn't prevent him from doing whatever he wants to do with it.

Since it's been almost 10 years since the list of was last updated, a temporary revision is probably in order.

Some recent-ish artists (1990- onwards) that could be in the list, in very rough order of importance (I don't think all of these should be on the list ftr)

Beyonce
Kendrick Lamar
Taylor Swift
Drake
The Notorious B.I.G.
Dr. Dre
Green Day
Rihanna
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Britney Spears
Fugees/Lauryn Hill
Missy Elliott
Adele
Coldplay
Mary J. Blige
TLC
Lady Gaga
Oasis
Daft Punk
The Weeknd
Justin Timberlake
Lana Del Rey
The White Stripes

Btw, does anyone know what happened to Spontaneous Lunacy? The last entry was almost a year ago now.

Sampsonover.

I suspect Sampson may either be bipolar or at least had a burnout after having increased the posting frequency.

RIP Ozzy Osbourne.

RIP

RIP to the Prince of Darkness

Gargantuan loss to rock. R.I.P.

Billboard's Top 50 Bands of All Time:

My eyes! They burn! My eyes!

Hey everyone,

More than 20 years ago, Rolling Stone magazine gave the world a list that was so incorrect and gaslighting to this community, this community started this community in response.

The Rolling Stone eyesore was hideous and seemed to favor philanthropic reputation and politically correct guidelines instead of the tenants listed cleanly and thoroughly above (thank you by the way! really excellent explanation of the criteria up there!)

HOWEVER
It would appear that the current list may be a bit... broad?

Where to begin....

Ok, so the first thing I see

1. The Beatles
2. Elvis Presley <- Not Rock
3. James Brown <- Not Rock
4. Bob Dylan <- SOME Rock
5. The Rolling Stones
6. Stevie Wonder
7. Chuck Berry <- Not Rock, but close sometimes
8. The Who
9. Led Zeppelin
10. Ray Charles <- Not Rock

Rock'n'Roll is not rock. But Funk is at least closer? And perhaps it is a kind of Rock and that's okay that's a good thesis honestly. I really just feel like Elvis is Rock'n'Roll with a few Rock songs and even records, but generally speaking shouldn't be included.

In the last 20 years I've made a few lists like this for fun, often not completing a total 100, here is my most recent. It's a bit gfoofy, has some funk on there, omits some things I'm not SUPER DUPER familiar with, favors the 70s and progressive rock and harder sounds. But what did I not include? Rock'n'Roll and Soul and RAP and POP, so why do I see them as so separated from eachother?


The Beatles
Jimi Hendrix
Led Zeppelin
Booker T. & The M.Gs
The Who
The Rolling Stones
Queen
The Beach Boys
King Crimson
Frank Zappa
Black Sabbath
Pink Floyd
The Doors
Parliament Funkadelic
David Bowie
Bob Dylan
Grateful Dead
Rush
Metallica
Nirvana
Stevie Wonder
Talking Heads
Radiohead
Fleetwood Mac
Yes
Swans
Sly & The Family Stone
Iggy Pop and the Stooges
The Kinks
Velvet Underground & Nico
Prince
The Moody Blues
Sonic Youth
ZZ Top
Cream
The Clash
Jeff Beck
My Bloody Valentine
Eagles
Dire Straits
Genesis
Tool
The Police
Sex Pistols
Steely Dan
Ramones
Joy Division
Journey
Van Halen
Aerosmith
The Cure
Pixies
Boston
Dinosaur Jr
Steppenwolf
Jethro Tull
The Smiths
Tom Petty
The Yardbirds
The Animals
Emerson, Lake & Palmer
Phil Collins
Cocteau Twins
Peter Gabriel
Heart
Misfits
The Doobie Brother
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
Curtis Mayfield
Deep Purple
Joni Mitchell
Stereolab
Motorhead
Linkin Park
Steve Miller Band
Black Flag
Brian Eno
Iron Maiden
Muse
Wilco
The Mars Volta
Coldplay
Bad Brains
Styx
Dinosaur Jr
Primus
Billy Joel
Slayer
The Dead Kennedys
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
Big Star
Lynyrd Skynyrd
ACDC
The Sleepers
Supertramp
Judas Preist
Sigur Ros
Janis Joplin
My Chemical Romance
Porcupine Tree


This is more of a word cloud than a list, but the order is significant.

Ok idea 2, let's include Jazz and Country. That way Pink Floyd can be #50 on something called :The Greatest Rock Bands of all Time: and we can just knock Rush off the bottom of the 200.

ROCK, RnB/FUNK/SOUL, RAP/HIPHOP all have separated but intersecting lineages and I BELIEVE hole heartedly that the spirit of this list in its current state does not reflect that and alienates the audience by including SOME rocknroll and SOME hiphop.

If definitions are needed I can provide a phylogenetic tree to explain my reasoning. But a list called :The Greatest Rock Bands of all Time: should ONLY include:

ROCK
PUNK
PROG
FOLK ROCK
FUNK? (I GUESS)
SURF
POST-PUNK
POST-ROCK
METAL/HEAVY METAL

and not include older or parallel lineages

I will provide a tree thusly