Revolutionary artists.

[Meier Link]

So I was thinking of a list style thread about artists that changed the face of music in a whole and why their renovations to the music industry had a long lasting impression on what we know as music today.

For example. The Beatles stormed the U.S. and changed the world of Rock music through their risky music and outlandish fanbase.

So I am wondering (in a list form) what artists you think managed to change music with their "original sound" and why.

I will add my list later on.

So who do you think had the biggest influences on the musical industry and why? Also feel free to ask questions about other peoples selections if need be.

[ZantetsukeN]

I'm saying Johnny Cash. The reason being that he bought a whole genre, almost single handedly, into the spotlight. Because of Cash, Country music became very popular around the world. Whether you like Country music or not, that is one hell of a feat.

In doing so, he started to become a huge influence on other genres. People were starting to recognise what he had done, and it inspired people. Quite frankly, he is one of the most revolutionary artists in history.

His music itself is a great inspiration too. He was never afraid to try something new. I mean, he was more than happy to play concerts in prisons, and his final albums, known as the 'American Recordings' series, are truly astonishing albums.

I think I just had to really explain Johnny Cash, because some people really don't know about him.

But onto my list, mine would go like this:

Johnny Cash - see above
Black Sabbath - Often considered the fathers of Heavy Metal, which is still a very prominant genre today.
Led Zeppelin - A huge influence on several artists and bands. Sometimes considered as a band who started the heavy metal genre, though not as much as Sabbath
Metallica - Again, Heavy Metal. Bought they were able to bring Metal into the spotlight.
The Beatles - Broke boundaries with some of their music. Inspired millions.
Michael Jackson - Again, inspired a huge amount of artists. He was never afraid to try something out of his depth. He experimented with Disco, Ballads, Rock, Pop. The list goes on.
Rage Against The Machine - Tried something new. They did something that no band had really done since the punk movement, and that was standing up for what they believed in.

I will add more as I think of them.

[Zargabaath]

While the Beatles did do a lot for Rock music I got say, "C'mon son, we know Elvis was responsible". I would say that Elvis did a lot more for music in general. A quick history lesson: during his early years his lower half was not shown on television because it was "too much". There were attempts to stop him performing in certain counties because he was seen as being too risky. Nowadays Elvis would no longer be considered a fringe artist such as Marilyn Manson is or once was. During a special documentary on television a few years back for Elvis, Marilyn Manson said how Elvis opened up the doors for artists to come; how Elvis was seen as a freak and how in this generation Manson is seen in a similar fashion.

Elvis' affect on music is probably the most ranging for all the different genre's he touched or influenced. Being in four different music hall of fame's doesn't hurt either.

[Taco-Calamitous]

Many punk bands often site Iggy Pop and the Stooges as one of the influential artists to 70's punk. They were one of the first bands to have that attitude, along with a band called MC5. Later on, the Sex Pistols came out, and a lot of the punk rock bands at the time were inspired by them, one of those bands among them being the Clash. The Ramones were also counted as one of the first punk bands, although they probably inspired more of the pop pop-punk bands in the later decades; Joey Ramone said that his songs were his versions of pop songs, sped up and simplified because they weren't good enough to play complicated music.

Later on, bands like Bad Religion and NoFX inspired the more punk pop punk subgenre, while the Descendents are considered the first true pop-punk band, that inspired a lot of the late 90's pop-punk bands. You probably have them to thank for bands like Blink 182 (well, them and MxPx, who were themselves somewhat inspired by Bad Religion, apparently. Christian band inspired by band with an anti-religious name and theme... "There you go, listening to the lyrics again." -My bro.)

That's what I can think of for punk rock. I'd do ska, but I don't really know who the early influential ska bands were... except maybe the Madness, one of the 80's two-toned ska bands, who influenced a lot of later ska acts. Also Oingo Boingo seemed to influence a lot of ska and punk acts-even though they're really neither-who had a crazy live show, and come on; it's Danny Elfman! Anyhoo...

Wuv, Yer Mom

[Jin]

What do we consider "music as a whole"? I'm assuming you mean popular music? Or are you also looking for niche revolutions like Thergothon setting the stage for funeral doom metal or the Peaceville Three setting the precedent both for death/doom and gothic metal? If it's the latter, it will be a long list.