Most Influential Modern Bands

[Floophead3]

Just as the title says, I'm curious to see what bands people think recently/currently are shaping modern music and your own. I want to keep this to modern groups (1990+), so no rants about how Van Halen is Jesus because even if he was, he's not modern.

 

I'll start it off:

 

I think the most influential modern rock band is The Foo Fighters. I think that above all they defined what is modern rock, and they've covered such a mix of style from post-grunge to acoustic that they've influenced every part of the genre. While I think there's a lot of other groups out there doing good things, much of it followed their lead. Not to mention Dave Grohl's direct influence on many bands' music such as Nine Inch Nails or Queens of the Stone Age.

 

 

Lets hear what you guys think!

[sabriel9v]

Radiohead, Trail of Dead, Boards of Canada, The Mars Volta, the Shins, Lupe Fiasco, The Game, the Stitches, Joseph Arthur, Dismemberment Plan, Missy Elliott, Dizzee Rascal, Ryan Adams, Fiona Apple, PJ Harvey, I could go on forever.

 

Foo Fighters didnt really influence NIN that much. David Bowie and the Cure were bigger influences.

[sabriel9v]

Add to that At the Drive In, the Bronx, the Gorillaz, Daft Punk, and Marilyn Manson

[karma279]

AIC

[Floophead3]

Oh, well the 'With Teeth' album had Dave Grohl drumming, and you can hear some of his influence in the songs. Not a lot, but a little. I think it's why I actually liked that album unlike the others.

[blue2blue]

All that set up about modernity and we get the Foo Fighters???

 

:D

 

 

I'll have to get back to you on this. I don't hear much really that does sound all that modern. Off hand. Maybe the Mars Volta.

 

But, anyhow, I guess we're really talking influential, here. And I don't think TMV are going to be influential. They're just a little too outside -- particularly given the dominance of retro everything. And I hear the new album is going to be yet another departure. (This is something I heard. I don't read the rock press. At all.)

[rsadasiv]

I am way too old for this thread....

 

BTW - I like Ryan Adams pretty well, but he the most derivative artist I can think of.

 

The emo/pop-punk bands that dominate the rock charts today all owe a huge debt to Green Day, but when Green Day first broke I thought they were an inept Ramones cover band.

 

And the Foo Fighters simply would not exist without Nirvana, who wouldn't exist without the Pixies, and so on and so on.

 

Modernity, schmodernity - there's nothing new under the sun and the trail of ripoffs leads back to the beginning of time.

[kurdy]

There are no "most" influential bands nowadays; all of them influence only a very small number of people. Unless you want to call Nickelback influential.

 

Maybe Dave Matthews Band? Not really sure why, but I've heard a lot about them over the years.

 

Oasis--ditto.

 

And Radiohead, with their "buy our album for free" business model. Even though they weren't the first to do it.

 

However, it's interesting to note that none of these examples have been around for less than ten years.

[sabriel9v]

All that set up about modernity and we get the Foo Fighters??? :D I'll have to get back to you on this. I don't hear much really that does sound all that modern. Off hand. Maybe the Mars Volta. But, anyhow, I guess we're really talking influential, here. And I don't think TMV are going to be influential. They're just a little too outside -- particularly given the dominance of retro everything. And I hear the new album is going to be yet another departure. (This is something I heard. I don't read the rock press. At all.)

 

 

I think the Mars Volta are already influential. They have strands of different other prog rock groups within their sound, but literally NO ONE sounds like them now. For that I've got to say they're one of the definitive groups of this generation. I'm also a huge fan

[sabriel9v]

There are no "most" influential bands nowadays; all of them influence only a very small number of people. Unless you want to call Nickelback influential. Maybe Dave Matthews Band? Not really sure why, but I've heard a lot about them over the years. Oasis--ditto. And Radiohead, with their "buy our album for free" business model. Even though they weren't the first to do it. However, it's interesting to note that none of these examples have been around for less than ten years.

 

No influential bands today? I've got more. Supergrass, Sonic Youth, Me'shell Ndgeocello, Boris, the Melvins, the Chemical Brothers, the White Stripes (hate em or love em they brought garage rock back), Tool, TV on the Radio, Beatrix Kiddo

[blue2blue]

Well... it's hard to see influences as they're going down.

 

What's popular isn't always what has the biggest influence.

 

Musicians are often attracted to different things in music than the unanointed masses. Sometimes -- often -- they perceive more subtle charms that escape Joe and Mary Sixpack.

 

 

And the influence sort of ripples under the culture as those musicians, so influenced, mature and make more music -- and spread the influence, as well.

[blue2blue]

I think the Mars Volta are already influential. They have strands of different other prog rock groups within their sound, but literally NO ONE sounds like them now. For that I've got to say they're one of the definitive groups of this generation. I'm also a huge fan

Yeah... I was never an ATDI fan -- just too, you know, alt rock for my tastes. Which you can't really say about TMV. You can say a lot of things and most of them would be true, perhaps, but I think TMV are so self-validating that they sort of transcend a lot of mundane criticisms. It's art rock with a real vengeance and all the self-license that suggests. And I'm cool with that. If you're going to go over the top, damn it, do it with brains and style -- and I think they do, by and large.

[DevilRaysFan]

Tough Question.... Modern era bands ( last 20 years or so) do not seem to have that "staying-power" and "timelessness" that bands of previous decades have enjoyed ( Lets not derail this statement into one of those "New Bands Suck" threads because I am not saying that at all: I blame the lack of staying-power/ timelessness on both the internet-driven media floodwaters that we all swim in as well as the over-stimulated/short-attention-span media-mind of the average 21st Century music-listening Individual, not because of newer bands lack of talent)...

 

Anyway, my picks (not necessarily acts that I like either)that are setting "the bar", per se, over the last 15 years or so that appear to have staying-power and/OR (have/had) influence:

 

System Of A Down

OK Go ( Personally, I think they are the best new band out right now...)

Marilyn Manson

Front 242 or Skinny Puppy or NIN (take your pick)

Alicia Keys

Evanesence (..theres a billion girl singers out there that want to be Amy Lee)

John Mayer

Rage Against The Machine

Dashboard Confessional

Dr Dre

Radiohead

Dave Mathews

Phish

Dream Theatre

AFI

Los Lonely Boys

Soundgarden

Sublime

Disturbed

Foo Fighters

Creed

Mars Volta

Snoop Dogg

Air

Nickelback

Motion City Soundtrack

Tool

Goo Goo Dolls

Collective Soul

Cold Play

Train

Maroon 5

 

theres more........

 

Id like to add a note that if "Faith No More" could have kept their focus more organized, they could've easily been on this list...... I would also include "Red Hot Chili Peppers" but they technically count as 80s

[macresto]

David Bowie

[jonjohn]

 

I am way too old for this thread.... BTW - I like Ryan Adams pretty well, but he the most derivative artist I can think of. The emo/pop-punk bands that dominate the rock charts today all owe a huge debt to Green Day, but when Green Day first broke I thought they were an inept Ramones cover band. And the Foo Fighters simply would not exist without Nirvana, who wouldn't exist without the Pixies, and so on and so on. Modernity, schmodernity - there's nothing new under the sun and the trail of ripoffs leads back to the beginning of time.

 

 

are you me. thats pretty much my thoughts

[Li10]

as several people have already mentioned, Radiohead and PJ Harvey for me. The pixies as well... they had 2 albums released in the 90s. Not as influential as their 80's output, but they were still great.

[blue2blue]

Since I don't listen to the radio or read the rock press, I certainly have little business predicting influence -- but I'd say it would be a darn shame if Modest Mouse were not influential, somehow, particularly given the many tepid, blatantly derivative bands listed so far (not quarrelling with their listing, here, of course, because they will likely have their influence, particularly in the short run as more bands climb onto the me-too bandwagon hoping to mimic their popular success).

 

Mind you, that's not to say that I don't think MM owe a debt to various past musics.

 

In fact, they didn't strike me as all that striking when I first listened to them -- provoked by a couple of old coots (who likely were 20 years or so younger than this old coot, mind you ) who were complaining about how irritating and talentless they'd seemed on some late night show. Something about the tenor of their complaints made me think I'd like Modest Mouse, so I caught a video clip of the performance and thought, hey, this is OK.

 

As I sought them out on my subscription service I really bonded with some of their tunes.

 

But when I availed myself of the "If you like Modest Mouse you'll probably like..." services to find more bands like MM, nothing I heard fired me up. For instance, I know a lot of people seem to have a strong affection for the Shinns but I've listened and listened again and it goes right past me, musically. There's just nothing that grabs my attention.

 

Which I can't say about MM. Their combination of roots elements, electronic sounds, and sometimes raw, unslicked up playing, combined with plenty of attitude that finds form in often extremely sardonic lyrics... that talks to me, plenty.

 

(I've been hugely disappointed by the new album, though. While the last few were badly squeezed, this newest is so incredibly loudness-squashed that it's almost unlistenable. I listened all the way through once but my ears were so fatigued that every time I've thought about putting it on since just makes me feel... no... I don't want to do that to my ears today. I predict in 10 years the labels will bring out series of un-squashed 'super-fi' recordings -- just versions that don't have all that hideous buss compression on them. You heard it here. Maybe not first...)

[sabriel9v]

 

Well... it's hard to see influences as they're going down. What's popular isn't always what has the biggest influence. Musicians are often attracted to different things in music than the unanointed masses. Sometimes -- often -- they perceive more subtle charms that escape Joe and Mary Sixpack. And the influence sort of ripples under the culture as those musicians, so influenced, mature and make more music -- and spread the influence, as well.

 

 

I think you're right when you say musicians are often attracted to different things in music than the unanointed masses. But to me, the best musicians and songwriters are the ones who can translate their weird and bizarre musical fetishes into something that a mainstream audience can identify with. Take John Frusciante from the RHCP for example. You've got RHCP fans and then strictly John Frusciante fans. Frusciante writes in a more commerical sense when doing Chili Peppers stuff, but his own solo {censored} is reflective of all the weird underground stuff he truly admires. I think Prince is the same way. With his knowledge of composition and arrangement, that guy could flip the script so easily and be writing jazz standards instead of pop funk songs.

[sabriel9v]

Add the Deftones to that list and Incubus too.

[eagle1]

I think Sunny Day Real Estate and Texas is the Reason were influential (and not that old) bands. There's also Bad Religion, THURSDAY, Smashing Pumpkins, Sublime, and a few others that have been mentioned already.

 

Though if you really think about most of these bands based their sound on their "influences" so... are they really new?!?!

Maybe not, but they have provided something fresh to the different scenes or genres. For example, the first time I listened to Texas is the Reason I almost crapped my pants. I couldn't understand anything that was coming out of this guys mouth but the music was so good that I didn't even care... and to me, even though it's just "another" rock band, I found their music fresh...

 

my .02 cents.

[Floophead3]

From what people's responses have been it seems to me like the truly "modern" bands who've originated in the past decade or so have had very little true influence. I don't know if this is always the case (you have to be around for a while before people think of you as influential?) Perhaps it also has a lot to do with the abundance of music in this day and age. With literally thousands of bands at your fingertips via the internet, it's very rare to find someone doing something new and amazing, and most of those things are drowned out by the sea of the same old stuff. No new musical ideas - no new influences - no major influential bands.

 

Now that I think about it though, I actually believe Linkin Park back when they first broke out were very unique and original. Whether they were actually influential, I'm not so sure. I think because they pretty much sold out and are a bunch of mainstream rock record industry tools now they lost their influential power, which is a shame, they had some great stuff going for them.

[dankane90]

heres my pick: Opeth, Bele Fleck, U2, Porcupine Tree, Al Di Meola, Radiohead:lol:

[RICK330MAN]

There are no "most" influential bands nowadays; all of them influence only a very small number of people.

 

You hit the nail on the head. Oasis, Green Day, Pearl Jam, the Strokes, the Hives and a whole slew of others have their respective spheres of influence, but I keep falling back to the point you made.

[blue2blue]

I should have caught these earlier: Nine Inch Nails (previously mentioned by Floop) and Portishead.

[sabriel9v]

There are no "most" influential bands nowadays; all of them influence only a very small number of people. You hit the nail on the head. Oasis, Green Day, Pearl Jam, the Strokes, the Hives and a whole slew of others have their respective spheres of influence, but I keep falling back to the point you made.

 

I'm surprised you mentioned the Hives. Most people overlook their talent. They're also a great live band.