The 25 most influential artists of the past 25 years

[RedStratocas]

The college and new music publication CMJ has named R.E.M. the most influential artist of the past 25 years. As the publication explains, the list features the 25 artists it feels have made the biggest impact on college and non-commercial radio since CMJ launched its annual convention, the CMJ Music Marathon, 25 years ago. Here's the list
1. R.E.M.
2. NIRVANA
3. SONIC YOUTH
4. PIXIES
5. PUBLIC ENEMY
6. PAVEMENT
7. THE SMITHS
8. VIOLENT FEMMES
9. THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS
10. SLAYER
11.BLACK FLAG
12. NEW ORDER
13. JANE'S ADDICTION
14. U2
15. DE LA SOUL
16. APHEX TWIN
17. UNCLE TUPELO
18. FUGAZI
19. MIKE WATT
20. BIKINI KILL
21. HUSKER DU
22. ANI DIFRANCO
23. REPLACEMENTS
24. RADIOHEAD
25. SUPERCHUNK

The first few werent a surprise, I know of many many bands that have been influenced by REM. Even Nirvana at the #2 spot was inspired a lot by REM. After a while in the list however, there were a few bands that I dont see as that insperational. What do you think?

[beth]

Some of them I agree with, some I don't.
Especially u2.
I hate u2.

[RedStratocas]

Some of them I agree with, some I don't.
Especially u2.
I hate u2.

U2 used to be good, but they should have quit while they were ahead. They changed way too much.

[beth]

U2 used to be good, but they should have quit while they were ahead. They changed way too much.

Yeah I agree.
Tracks like Sunday bloo'dy sunday and New years day are awesome, but I dont get the whole "How to dismantle an atomic bomb" album.. it's just so awful.
And that song vertigo, dear god help me.
But back to the list..
I definately agree with R.E.M, Radiohead, Slayer, The Smiths, The Pixies and Public Enemy ^_^

[RedStratocas]

Yeah I agree.
Tracks like Sunday bloo'dy sunday and New years day are awesome, but I dont get the whole "How to dismantle an atomic bomb" album.. it's just so awful.
And that song vertigo, dear god help me.
But back to the list..
I definately agree with R.E.M, Radiohead, Slayer, The Smiths, The Pixies and Public Enemy ^_^

Definatly those and nirvana, but a few like "They might be giants" I dont see as being that big of an influencial band.

[Code]

REM? Get lost! My top 3:

Led Zeppelin
Chuck Berry
Black Sabbath

[Brody]

*removed*

[MasterOfPuppets]

What about The Beatles.
Oh... **** only 25 years ago...
WHUT BOUT SLIPNOOT!??!!11
I though David Bowie would've always been influencial even with those recent releases that he has been popping out.
I guess there really isn't much to choose from is there?
The 90s really didn't seem that great for music.

Edit: Wait someone majorly miscalculated that one 25 years ago goes back to 1975.
WHY ISN'T THE BEATLES ON THERE?!
WHY ISN'T DAVID BOWIE ON THERE?!
DEEP PURPLE?!
Metallica? (for all these nu-metal bands who are influenced by them)
Pink Floyd?!
Black Sabbath?!!
The *** Pistols!?!??!

[RedStratocas]

What about The Beatles.
Oh... **** only 25 years ago...
WHUT BOUT SLIPNOOT!??!!11
I though David Bowie would've always been influencial even with those recent releases that he has been popping out.
I guess there really isn't much to choose from is there?
The 90s really didn't seem that great for music.

Edit: Wait someone majorly miscalculated that one 25 years ago goes back to 1975.
WHY ISN'T THE BEATLES ON THERE?!
WHY ISN'T DAVID BOWIE ON THERE?!
DEEP PURPLE?!
Metallica? (for all these nu-metal bands who are influenced by them)
Pink Floyd?!
Black Sabbath?!!
The *** Pistols!?!??!

The beatles broke up in '69, and I think they are looking for bands that formed in the past 25 years. Those are all great bands, but listen to some music today, do any bands sound like metallica or pink floyd? Not really. There are many bands that got their sound from REM and Nirvana if you just listen to some songs today. I dont hear many bands that sound like black sabbath, and I think thats what they are really looking for.

And they asked college kids in bands, these were their answers.

[RedStratocas]

REM? Get lost! My top 3:

Led Zeppelin
Chuck Berry
Black Sabbath

Bands that formed over the past 25 years.

[Code]

Oh yeah. Metallica? Van Halen?

I think Van Halen should be on there, 'cause they more or less started the whole "shred" thing.

[Eamonn]

Lols i only know two out of them which is R.E.M and U2 pls

[Craig]

The college and new music publication CMJ has named R.E.M. the most influential artist of the past 25 years. As the publication explains, the list features the 25 artists it feels have made the biggest impact on college and non-commercial radio since CMJ launched its annual convention, the CMJ Music Marathon, 25 years ago. Here's the list
1. R.E.M.
2. NIRVANA
3. SONIC YOUTH
4. PIXIES
5. PUBLIC ENEMY
6. PAVEMENT
7. THE SMITHS
8. VIOLENT FEMMES
9. THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS
10. SLAYER
11.BLACK FLAG
12. NEW ORDER
13. JANE'S ADDICTION
14. U2
15. DE LA SOUL
16. APHEX TWIN
17. UNCLE TUPELO
18. FUGAZI
19. MIKE WATT
20. BIKINI KILL
21. HUSKER DU
22. ANI DIFRANCO
23. REPLACEMENTS
24. RADIOHEAD
25. SUPERCHUNK

The first few werent a surprise, I know of many many bands that have been influenced by REM. Even Nirvana at the #2 spot was inspired a lot by REM. After a while in the list however, there were a few bands that I dont see as that insperational. What do you think?

Where is The S'ex Pistols?

[Neversoft]

Come on, Wheres Guns N' Roses?

[RedStratocas]

Ok, you guys need to understand, this isnt a "Greatest Band" list, its most influential in sound. Name a few bands today that took their sound from Guns N Roses or Sx Pistols. I havent heard many. People from so many bands have taken REM's sound and were a major influence on them, and obviously Nirvana as well. Sonic Youth was a big influence and breakthrough for bands, and The Pixies introduced a lot of that quiet to loud stuff you hear today.
It isnt just how popular the band was, its how they impacted music today. And these are bands that FORMED in the past 25 years, I think that rules out Sx pistols.

[RedStratocas]

Lols i only know two out of them which is R.E.M and U2 pls

What about Nirvana and Radiohead? They for sure arent "unknown" bands :p

[Neversoft]

Ok, you guys need to understand, this isnt a "Greatest Band" list, its most influential in sound. Name a few bands today that took their sound from Guns N Roses or Sx Pistols. I havent heard many. People from so many bands have taken REM's sound and were a major influence on them, and obviously Nirvana as well. Sonic Youth was a big influence and breakthrough for bands, and The Pixies introduced a lot of that quiet to loud stuff you hear today.
It isnt just how popular the band was, its how they impacted music today. And these are bands that FORMED in the past 25 years, I think that rules out Sx pistols.

No one steals Guns N' Roses sound because their too scared of them. :)

[beth]

Uhm.. last 25 years.
I think maybe Blink 182 and Green Day should be on there because they set the whole scene for those punk bands these days.
I mean without Green Day/Blink 182 I doubt Sum 41, Good charlotte, Simple Plan etc would be around.

[RedStratocas]

Uhm.. last 25 years.
I think maybe Blink 182 and Green Day should be on there because they set the whole scene for those punk bands these days.
I mean without Green Day/Blink 182 I doubt Sum 41, Good charlotte, Simple Plan etc would be around.

No, they would. Sx Pistols or The Clash were probably their Influence.

Hey, thats one, when did the Clash form? They were pretty influential, I know they got popular in the mid-late 80's but when did they form?

[Ree]

Urm
why aint the spice girls on there?
:(

[Ree]

Lols i only know two out of them which is R.E.M and U2 pls

heh me too

[samsaBEAR]

Uhm.. last 25 years.
I think maybe Blink 182 and Green Day should be on there because they set the whole scene for those punk bands these days.
I mean without Green Day/Blink 182 I doubt Sum 41, Good charlotte, Simple Plan etc would be around.
*Agrees* Green Day at least!

[beth]

Hey, thats one, when did the Clash form? They were pretty influential, I know they got popular in the mid-late 80's but when did they form?

According to my mother, who used to work in the music industry (H), the 70s.

[MasterOfPuppets]

The beatles broke up in '69, and I think they are looking for bands that formed in the past 25 years. Those are all great bands, but listen to some music today, do any bands sound like metallica or pink floyd? Not really. There are many bands that got their sound from REM and Nirvana if you just listen to some songs today. I dont hear many bands that sound like black sabbath, and I think thats what they are really looking for.

And they asked college kids in bands, these were their answers.

Oh I took the word "influential" as just being an influence, not having traces of mimicking a bands sound.
Influential as them being influenced, and then new original music being created under the influence of the artists but not directly taking their sound.


Edit: And here I was thinking The Pistols formed in the late 70s.

[RedStratocas]

Oh I took the word "influential" as just being an influence, not having traces of mimicking a bands sound.
Influential as them being influenced, and then new original music being created under the influence of the artists but not directly taking their sound.


Edit: And here I was thinking The Pistols formed in the late 70s.

Yeah, at least the first 5 make sense, after that, kinda gets random.

[mynameishelen!]

I think R.E.M shuck :D

[RedStratocas]

I think R.E.M shuck :D

REM thinks you shuck:p

[Jashmine]

I definatly agree with R.E.M and Nirvana.

Probably The Smiths to, depending on where we are talking about (my dad says they are probably really influetial in the US, but definatly not here...)

U2 I'd agree with, although I only like a few of their songs =/

Radiohead I definatly agree with as well.

I'd also agree with Fugazi, -steals what someone said on some other thing- "Fugazi have become one of the most popular and influential punk bands to remain on an independent label."

They Might Be Giants? Wth.. I'm not sure I agree with that. Then again o.x

I'd throw in a few ideas, but I have no knowledge of when bands formed xD

[Jordan3]

1. R.E.M.
2. NIRVANA
3. SONIC YOUTH
4. PIXIES
5. PUBLIC ENEMY
6. PAVEMENT
7. THE SMITHS
8. VIOLENT FEMMES
9. THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS
10. SLAYER
11.BLACK FLAG
12. NEW ORDER
13. JANE'S ADDICTION
14. U2
15. DE LA SOUL
16. APHEX TWIN
17. UNCLE TUPELO
18. FUGAZI
19. MIKE WATT
20. BIKINI KILL
21. HUSKER DU
22. ANI DIFRANCO
23. REPLACEMENTS
24. RADIOHEAD
25. SUPERCHUNK

The first few werent a surprise, I know of many many bands that have been influenced by REM. Even Nirvana at the #2 spot was inspired a lot by REM. After a while in the list however, there were a few bands that I dont see as that insperational. What do you think?

A lot of them I haven't even heard of, and I know many people haven't. Oh, and where are NERD, I know they are like, rubbishy music sometimes, but they infuence nearly everything. REM deserve to be there, as do bands like Radiohead. U2 are also pretty good, though they're certainly getting worse.

[Wolfie]

U2 honestly m8 nowadays they are as worse as ozzy osbourne

[RedStratocas]

U2 honestly m8 nowadays they are as worse as ozzy osbourne

Nowadays, but U2 was good. I think they still make music to draw attention to them so they can promote poverty help.

[beth]

"As worse as Ozzy Osbourne"
WHATS WRONG WITH OZZYYY?
;[[

[.:OGGY:.]

Do u even have 2 ask me what band i think are influencial.
Obviously Queen and its nt cause i madly in love with em, they changed the way music was... until then jumping around in catsuits was a cry for insanity, freddie was one of the best performers ever, not just as a singer... he was a bprn entertainer and many idolize him including me... Also the way wen he was diagnosed with HIV he didnt let it stop him, he kept releasing records and albums an even in one of his songs gave his last goodbye 'i'll always love you' to his audience... if that isnt influencial i'd throw myself off a cliff.
They were the first band to combine rock and opera with massive hits still played. No1 dares touch queen songs (aka dance remixs) cos they knw it will be a huge downfall.
Legendary

[RedStratocas]

Do u even have 2 ask me what band i think are influencial.
Obviously Queen and its nt cause i madly in love with em, they changed the way music was... until then jumping around in catsuits was a cry for insanity, freddie was one of the best performers ever, not just as a singer... he was a bprn entertainer and many idolize him including me... Also the way wen he was diagnosed with HIV he didnt let it stop him, he kept releasing records and albums an even in one of his songs gave his last goodbye 'i'll always love you' to his audience... if that isnt influencial i'd throw myself off a cliff.
They were the first band to combine rock and opera with massive hits still played. No1 dares touch queen songs (aka dance remixs) cos they knw it will be a huge downfall.
Legendary

They were influential in the sense that it inspired people to become musicians and make music. But this list is composed of the bands that inspired the actual sound for other bands. REM has many bands that have taken their sound and style and made it their own. The basic structure of alternative rock came from them.
Queen was a great band, but how many bands today do you hear that have the same style as queen? Let me know when you find a few.
By the way, Queen started in the early 80's the title here says "Of The Past 25 years"

[.:OGGY:.]

They were influential in the sense that it inspired people to become musicians and make music. But this list is composed of the bands that inspired the actual sound for other bands. REM has many bands that have taken their sound and style and made it their own. The basic structure of alternative rock came from them.
Queen was a great band, but how many bands today do you hear that have the same style as queen? Let me know when you find a few.
By the way, Queen started in the early 80's the title here says "Of The Past 25 years"

Thats in the past 25 years lol, 2005 - 25 = 1980 :D They went thu the 80's and stopped early 90's well 1991 when freddie died but they still went on, even today they still big, not in the sense of number one hits like.
'The basic structure of alternative rock came from them', like i said they started rock opera and not many try and live up to queen cause their untouchable, no1 can do better than Queen, many have tried and failed... do i have to bring up G4 lol
The Darkness, they try copy queen with the rock sound, long guitar solos, even wen it comes 2 appearence wen justin wears catsuits.
By combining opera and rock its 2 completly diff sounds but yet it goes... Queen were known as 'glamour rock' and they prob inspired many people into that... keyword 'prob' its not a fact.

[RedStratocas]

Thats in the past 25 years lol, 2005 - 25 = 1980 :D They went thu the 80's and stopped early 90's well 1991 when freddie died but they still went on, even today they still big, not in the sense of number one hits like.
'The basic structure of alternative rock came from them', like i said they started rock opera and not many try and live up to queen cause their untouchable, no1 can do better than Queen, many have tried and failed... do i have to bring up G4 lol
The Darkness, they try copy queen with the rock sound, long guitar solos, even wen it comes 2 appearence wen justin wears catsuits.
By combining opera and rock its 2 completly diff sounds but yet it goes... Queen were known as 'glamour rock' and they prob inspired many people into that... keyword 'prob' its not a fact.

Oh yeah, lol. But still, not many bands copied their sound. People thought queen was the only band that could master that sound, and they were right, no one imitated them. So thats why they werent on the list.

[.:OGGY:.]

Oh yeah, lol. But still, not many bands copied their sound. People thought queen was the only band that could master that sound, and they were right, no one imitated them. So thats why they werent on the list.

I agree thats why i put it in there... i agree with that but there influencial in diff ways.

[milky1-2-1]

I agree thats why i put it in there... i agree with that but there influencial in diff ways.
The Beetles weere as wel..

[RedStratocas]

The Beetles weere as wel..

The list is of bands of the last 25 years, beatles broke up in '69.

[MasterOfPuppets]

Thats in the past 25 years lol, 2005 - 25 = 1980 :D They went thu the 80's and stopped early 90's well 1991 when freddie died but they still went on, even today they still big, not in the sense of number one hits like.
'The basic structure of alternative rock came from them', like i said they started rock opera and not many try and live up to queen cause their untouchable, no1 can do better than Queen, many have tried and failed... do i have to bring up G4 lol
The Darkness, they try copy queen with the rock sound, long guitar solos, even wen it comes 2 appearence wen justin wears catsuits.
By combining opera and rock its 2 completly diff sounds but yet it goes... Queen were known as 'glamour rock' and they prob inspired many people into that... keyword 'prob' its not a fact.


The Darkness are rock, similar maybe to Queen I, II and Sheer Heart Attack, and some of A Night At The Opera.
I think Queen have done a lot of different things than rock.
The Darkness, so far have stuck to their sound which is just good rock.
They don't sound like Queen.
A guitar solo is a guitar solo... jesus it's not just Queen who have them.
Brian May never liked doing guiat solos live because he thought he was boring the crowd.

[~Hilton~]

The Ramones
The Clash
Nirvana
U2
Guns N Roses
AC / DC
[Whoever started the whole pop-punk thing, maybe Blink 182?]


Also, most people are saying bands that formed in '75. Ummm let me do the math. 2005 - 25 = 1980

;)

[shootmehard]

I Especially Like INXS they own

[RedStratocas]

I Especially Like INXS they own

Okay? Not influental at all, they were the ones incluenced.