1. Tom Waits
With his trademark growl, porkpie hat, his incorporation of pre-rock styles such as blues, jazz, and Vaudeville, and experimental tendencies verging on industrial music, Waits has built up a distinctive musical persona. He has a cult following amongst secret society of bartenders, college dropouts and other smart but disgruntled loners. Waits has influenced subsequent songwriters, despite having little radio or music video support. Most honorably, his songs have been covered by Bruce Springsteen, Rod Stewart, and The Eagles. The only thing missing from his resume are a few more tours…
Essential Listening:
Nighthawks at the Diner- 1975
Small Change – 1976
Heartattack and Vine – 1980
Swordfishtrombones – 1983
Rain Dogs – 1985
The Black Rider – 1993
Mule Variations – 1999
Real Gone – 2004
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2. The Cure
How can a band, whose dark and tormented music helped form the gothic rock genre, not be included in the Hall? The band has experienced several lineup changes, but the face of The Cure has always been frontman, guitarist and main songwriter Robert Smith, whose goth image is often overlooked for his durable song-writing. The Cure eventually mixed more pop sensibility into their music with Just Like Heaven, Lovesong and Friday I’m in Love. With twelve studio albums and over 27 million album sales, The Cure’s impact is widespread today with My Chemical Romance and Interpol significantly effected by their sound as has pop culture with the movies Boys Don’t Cry (1999) and Just Like Heaven (2005) named after Cure songs.
Essential Listening:
Three Imaginary Boys – 1979
Seventeen Seconds – 1980
Pornography – 1982
Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me – 1987
Disintegration – 1989
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3. Genesis
With approximately 150 million albums sold worldwide, 20 minute epics, and Phil Collins pop songs, perhaps no band has covered as much creative ground as Genesis. As one of the founders of “pretentious” progressive rock, Genesis incorporated complex song structures and elaborate instrumentation, while their concerts took on a more theatrical tone courtesy of Peter Gabriel and his lavish stage attire. Have you seen his sunflower outfit? It makes Elton John via ‘78 look like Ted Koppel.
The concept album The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway is today regarded as one of the most acclaimed recordings of its kind. As Phil Collins later became the front-man, the 1980s saw the band produce more accessible pop music based on melodic hooks and becoming MTV favorites with Land of Confusion and We Can’t Dance.
Essential Listening:
Foxtrot – 1972
Selling England By the Pound – 1973
The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway – 1974
A Trick of the Trail – 1976
Duke – 1980
Genesis – 1983
Invisible Touch – 1986
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4. Rush
Rush is renowned for their instrumental virtuosity of its members and its complex compositions. Although their lyrics deal heavily on science fiction, philosophy and fantasy, Rush has been inspired mainly by a male audience, who consider Neal Peart to iconic status as the greatest rock drummer ever.
Although few probably ever got laid to a Rush song, with Pearl’s beyond fantasy lyrics and Geddy Lee’s love or hate it shriek, they nonetheless helped pave the way for many an Guitar Center employee.
The trio became increasingly influenced by the British progressive rock movement and began to wrote extended songs with irregular and multiple time signatures. Rush later infused new wave, reggae, and pop rock as they incorporated synthesizers, sequencers and electronic percussion into their gamut.
Essential Listening:
2112 – 1976
All The World’s a Stage – 1976
Hemispheres – 1978
Permanent Waves – 1980
Moving Pictures – 1981
Exit.. Stage Left – 1981
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What? You mean Willie is not in the Hall and Ricky Nelson is? Yes, although often considered more country than rock, Willie very well deserves induction alongside Johnny Cash and for his long-time work with Farm Aid. He’s collaborated with almost everybody….already in the hall and his voice remains timeless. Give him credit for still tour, advocating cannabis and releasing new work on a continual basis. Although his outlaw country days are clearly over, Nelson remains an icon and one of music’s long standing free-spirits.
Essential Listening:
Red-Headed Stranger – 1975
Stardust – 1977
Waylon and Willie – 1978
Always on My Mind – 1982
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6. The Stooges
Active from 1967-1974 and then reformed in 1993, there is hardly anyone as influential in heavy metal and punk rock. Although commercially unsuccessful, it was Iggy Pop’s relentless stage antics as a frontman that set the stage for The Sex Pistols and anybody else who thought it was ok to give the finger to the man.
Essential Listening:
The Stooges – 1969
Fun House – 1970
Raw Power – 1973
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7. KISS
KISS – Never the greatest of musicians, there is no band that epitomized the words Rock and Roll than Kiss than in “I want to Rock and Roll All Night and Party Every Day.” The Demon, Starchild, Space Ace, and The Catman were a comic book come to life, and there was perhaps no bigger live band in the ’70s. A KISS show featured fire-breathing, blood spitting, smoking guitars and pyrotechnics. Although band members would change throughout the ’80s and ’90s and they were unmasked during most of that period, KISS holds worldwide album sales of 95 million and a fan-club with conventions that only rival Star Trek. So what if Christine Sixteen is a crappy song.
Essential Listening:
Kiss – 1974
Hotter Than Hell – 1974
Alive! – 1975
Destroyer – 1976
Rock and Roll Over – 1976
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8. Metallica
The once mighty Metallica missed induction on their first year of eligibility, maybe perhaps because before their Enter Sandman days, their album titles consisted of Kill Em’ All and Ride the Lighting. Ironically, those two records, along with Master of Puppets and In Justice for All remain their most inspired work before hitting the mainstream with their 1991 self titled ‘black album’. Combining technical mastery and lengthy epics and undeniable shredding and knock em dead riffs, Metallica were pure heavy.
Arguably the biggest band in the world and some of the biggest over-grown children (someone’s looking at you Lars Ulrich), Metallica brought metal to the masses, uncovering a genre that was typically reserved for the outcast, trench-coated pimpled youth. They’ve also set the standard for possible future hall cusp headbangers: Pantera, Slayer and Anthrax.
Essential Listening:
Kill ‘Em All – 1982
Ride The Lightning – 1984
Master of Puppets – 1986
…And Justice For All – 1988
Metallica – 1991
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9. Sonic Youth
It’s been officially 25 years since their first record, 1983’s “Confusion is Sex” and Sonic Youth continues to set the standard for what an indie band strives to be, although the term “indie” nowadays is rather misled. Despite that fact, nobody in the biz has aged better than Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon as their alternate tuning, along with Lee Renaldo’s frenzied originality, has painted a sound that was and reminds unpredictable and has redefined what rock guitar music can accomplish when the musicians don’t give a crap about the mainstream.
Essential Listening:
EVOL – 1986
Sister – 1987
Daydream Nation – 1988
Goo – 1990
Dirty – 1992
Murray Street – 2002
Rather Ripped – 2006
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10. Alice Cooper
The original shock rocker, Alice Cooper (pre born again Christian/11 handicap golf days), Cooper sported a stage show that featured guillotines, electric chairs, fake blood and boa constrictors. The make-up draping rocker, born Vincent Furnier, drew equally from horror movies, vaudeville, heavy metal and garage rock to create a theatrical brand of rock music that produced hits “I’m Eighteen, “ No More Mr. Nice Guy” and “Schools Out. Cooper still keeps up on his tunes, hosting Nights with Alice Cooper appears on nearly 100 stations in the U.S. and Canada.
Essential Listening:
Killer – 1971
Love It To Death – 1971
School’s Out – 1972
Billion Dollar Babies – 1973
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And further down the list
11. Yes
12. Beastie Boys
13. Jeff Beck
14. Lou Reed
15. Neil Diamond
16. Depeche Mode
17. Electric Light Orchestra
18. Peter Gabriel
19. Ozzy Osborne
20. New Order
Notable Eligibles (for 2008 voting and 2009 induction):
Anthrax, Bon Jovi, Pantera, Queensryche, Run DMC, Slayer, The Smiths, Stevie Ray Vaughan
Did Sleepy cover all of the bands you feel are R&RHOF worthy? Leave us a comment below letting us know your opinion…
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