Most Original Bands of All Time

[asphyx123]

Being creators of a genre doesn't make the band necessarily original for me. There may be tons of other bands jumping the band wagon and do the same or even better, which doesn't make the "creator" original anymore.
To be original they need to be able to keep something unique or be ahead of the others, be it technically or songwriting wise, or just having a style or creating an atmosphere that is very hard to copy.

For me this would be artists like:

King Diamond
Arjen Anthony Lucassen
Devin Townsend

 

[Addie5150]

FAITH NO MORE

 

[BornToLooze]

All of the guys like Little Richard and Chuck Berry. Sure bands like Meshugah may have started their own genre, but rock and roll changed the world. If it wasn't for them, there wouldn't BE any Meshuggah or Frank Zappa or Black Sabbath or Jimi Hendrix. And all Elvis was was the Nickelback of the 50s, a good looking white guy who could sing songs by black artists and sell records by the truck load.

 

[Spike Spiegel]

Slayer, for being the thrashiest thrash of the thrash era

 

[SirMyghin]

No rock band should gain this title (metal is just rock too, so deal with it).

But if one had to, Zappa is pretty much it. No discussion, debate, or recourse. His lyrics though remove a lot of the accessibility, imo.

Meshuggah though? There didn't really bring anything new to the table, they just chugged with heavy syncopation. Sure it spawned a rising or that sort of thing, but polymetrics and syncopation are by no means a new idea, even by rock standards.

 

[Mordacain]

I've got a pretty short list:

• Hendrix - overhyped or not (and I don't think he was), modern guitar exists as it does because of him more than anyone else
• Pink Floyd - you could say others did things similar, but no-other group married the disparate, experimental sonic elements to make awesome music the way they did, badass lyrics certainly helps.
• Zappa, of course Zappa

 

[Nats]

On top of a lot of other bands already posted I'll also add the Dillinger Escape Plan and Candiria.

 

[Cremated]

ENSLAVED.
Blut Aus Nord
Oranssi Pazuzu
Gridlink
Code
Suffocation

 

[Zei]

Cynic
Dir en grey
The GazettE
Joe Pass
Miles Davis
Atheist
Spastic Ink
Frank Zappa
SikTh
The Fall of Troy
Ludo

 

[abandonist]

You know what, thinking on this, I'm throwing out Rage Against the Machine. Rap/rock had been done, but the instrumentation (especially Morello's guitar work) and coalescence of the sum were more than the parts.

 

[ElRay]

... Joy Division ...

Explorer & I should be the only ones left olde enough to remember Joy Division.


Nice addition, but Zappa is truly </thread>.

Ray

 

[Andromalia]

No rock band should gain this title (metal is just rock too, so deal with it).

I raise you a Beatles and a Motorhead.

 

[drmosh]

Dillinger escape plan

 

[SirMyghin]

I raise you a Beatles and a Motorhead.

The Beatles, while excellent were pretty rooted in the whole AABA Tin Pan Alley type thing. Yeah the got farther away over time, but their breakthrough was right there, and their hooks were pretty standard, but damned catchy.

Hawkwind was way cooler than Motorhead.

 

[Fiction]

Primus

 

[tedtan]

The Beatles did some pretty interesting things harmonically for pop/rock type music at that time. For example, they're the ones who started using the bVI instead of the normal vi in major keys. Not earth shattering, but they didn't stick to just I-IV-V and I-vi-IV-V progressions like almost everyone else in pop/rock/R&B at the time.

 

[morrowcosom]

Burzum:
Eerie, discordant black metal that really emphasized atmosphere over brutality.

 

[signalgrey]

Cynic
Dir en grey
The GazettE
Joe Pass
Miles Davis
Atheist
Spastic Ink
Frank Zappa
SikTh
The Fall of Troy
Ludo

ok you just put Dir En Grey in a list with its copy cat band The Gazette...seriously? Gazette? OF ALL TIME?!

 

[Korbain]

god, too many to list! Will throw in artists/bands so i can branch out of rock/metal a bit lol

Jeff buckley
Michael Jackson!!
The beatles
Pantera
Nine Inch Nails
Tool
Type o negative
Nirvana
Deftones
ACDC
Opeth
INXS
Queen
Pink Floyd

just to name a few lol

 

[GatherTheArsenal]

My picks consist of bands of which their sound hasn't been 100% duplicated, but copied all the time (as far as i know), or just have had really original sounding albums IMO. Some might not be popular picks on this forum, so sue me.

B.B. King - above all, the man behind the string bend and vibrato, and still kicking ass at 87 years old
Pantera - especially for releasing an album like Far Beyond Driven when grunge was taking over "the scene."
Strapping Young Lad
Cryptopsy
Uneven Structure
Mnemic
Soilwork and In Flames - their earlier stuff was original at the time.
Alexisonfire
Animals as Leaders, The Contortionist, Gojira - nothing like them so far.
Tony Bennett - not sure if he applies lol
Deftones, Marilyn Manson, Sepultura - hurray for the 90's
Blotted Science
Hacride
Rammstein - to a degree. still dunno what he's talking about though.
ZZ Top


and Motley Crue. Right?....right??.... anyone?? ah ok fine.