Rock music is a different beast then it was in 1999. Thank god. Nu-metal is a bad dream I’d like to forget. But out of all that shit some good things did come. Mainly, the incredible crop of bands that took rock music to either: it’s classic roots, new sonic heights, or found a sound and perfected it. So I give you the Top 3 Most Influential Bands of the 2000’s
Number 1. Coldplay
No one could foresee the success that these 4 British boys would have when they released their first single in 2000. After Yellow exploded many bands hopped onto their sound. Not that Coldplay were impressively original, but Jeff Buckley died too soon and Radiohead didn’t care about being the biggest band in the world. But Coldplay did, and so they created a sound that was just as big. Coldplay’s soaring guitars with Chris Martin’s piano and honest lyrics made for an equation that millions of people loved. To this day their are still bands making music that sounds like A Rush Of Blood To The Head and Parachutes. Luckily Colplay have moved on and are still influencing songwriters with their self described “very heavy soft rock.”
Number 2. The Strokes
We’ll be writing more about The Strokes in the next few weeks, but I think the influence of The Strokes cannot be over stated. Well maybe the NME would overstate it, but like The Velvet Underground, and The Ramones, The Strokes gave us a new hope for rock and roll. All of a sudden we remembered that you don’t have to be a douche bag to make rebellious rock and roll. The greatest compliment that can be paid to The Strokes is that after people heard Is this it they started bands.
Number 3. Nickelback
I found a Guitar World magazine from 2001. In it Chad Kroeger talks about Silver Side Up, the album that not only would make Nickelback a household name, but create a standard for the modern rock radio song. The success of This is how you remind me was so effffing epic that nearly ten years later there is little on modern rock radio that doesn’t follow or pay homage to Nickelback and their sound. My local rock radio station jerks off Kroeger and Co. so often that my friends and I have stopped playing the Nickelback drinking game because we can’t be tanked at 10am. But why do we drink? Because Kroeger writes a hell of a hook, and he knows it. In Guitar World Kroeger says: “We are all about the music. There’s not one tattoo or piercing on any member… we’re not trying to fool anybody … we’re a rock band that tries to write really contagious melodies that are going to weld themselves into your subconscious.” Once again it’s all about the songwriting.
Also worth noting are the honorable mentions:
- Radiohead: Too omnipresent
- The White Stripes: Too Jack White-y
- Arcade Fire: Too pretentious
- Wilco: Too country
- Linkin Park: Nope
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12 Comments
I’m old school (60s-70s peak), so I read this article in high hopes of finding out what I needed to hear to catch up with the powerful and best cutting edge people and bands of the Now Moment. Leaning toward the singer songwriter. I had heard good things about Arcade Fire, The Postal Service, Over the Rhine, Cowboy Junkies, etc., but there’s no consensus. I don’t want “influential” but I do want “gives artistic leadership” (think Miles or Jimi or McCartney/Lennon), only geared toward acoustic guitar oriented Now music.
I’ve met Nickelback…. They’re nice guys! Don’t slam them! Just because they’re songs sound similar….. So do AC/DC’s…. As far as bands go, I would put Nickelback as the AC/DC of this generation… Love em or hate em, they are influential in that they invented the now generic Modern Rock Sound, and they have done exactly what AC/DC did, they’ve taken one song, and made several albums outta it!
For the record, I hate modern rock for the most part, and I don’t particularly like Nickelbacks sound, I’m just pointing out that you are blind if you think that they aren’t influential!
Also, Jack White is a piece of shit musician technically, as is he a singer…. However, he is a good songwriter, and certinally influential!
There is not a single song by Nickelback that is tolerable. You have terrible taste in music.
Oh J Roc, I don’t like them. I am saying they’re influential. Do you know the difference between the two?
lol you have nickelback on that list LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL
hahhahahaahahahahahahahahah are you deaf
white stipes kick a**
radiohead is 90’s and they also kick a**
coldplay is good, not the greatest
same with strokes
nickelback sucks
your top 3 arnt going to influence anyone (MAYBE coldplay MAYBE) But white stripes are going to influence a LOT
Dude have you heard modern rock radio? ITSALLNICKELBACK
i think the point of the article is that these artists, like them or not, have been highly influential on the music of the decade. god knows that coldplay is a ridiculous, money-grubbing band, but they do have their imitators, who would probably insist they listen to radiohead instead. and nickleback is, as he says, the preeminent band of modern rock, no matter that listening to them is like witnessing someone stepping on your testicle. the strokes had one album of any real influence, but that album pretty much kicked off the decade, and a fine decade for music it was.
Actually i believe history will remember nickelback as one if not the greatest rock bands to leave the 2000’s, the four albums they’ve released all have killer tracks that almost everyone can enjoy or atleast tollerate.
Hell “All the right reasons” was slammed by critics ended out being the album with the most released singles in savin’ me”, “far away” “photograph” “rockstar”, “if everyone cared”, hell it turned out so many hits that “Darkhorse” came out not too long after the last single from “all the right reasons” did.
Madonna has never done anything all that great musically but her changing image and staying with current musical trends made her a dominant star threw the 80s and 90s, but history will remember her more so then superior artists from the 90s.
Alex, I consider Radiohead to be from the 90’s and Nickelback pwns all modern rock radio. That’s influence. But I can agree that history will not treat Nickelback well.
Now how are you defining “influence”. Are you talking about influence on other artists? fans? radio playlists?
I mean Radiohead clearly beats all of them in terms of influencing both other artists (Coldplay themselves are essentially an easy listening version of Bends era Radiohead) and fans – by introducing Pay What You Want type of sales for a major major band.
Nickelback? please. I mean sure they know how to write one hook and change the key/speed to get as much juice out of it as possible, but they’re hardly “influential”. In ten years they will be no more than footnote on how bad Grunge got after Cobain died.
OH! OH! OH!
Lenore you sound like my ex-girlfriend! No wonder I like you so much.
Sure. . . I agree?
Sometimes…. yeah.
Okay so let’s say the list is in no order at all and Mr.White is up there too. Happy?
Now can I get my vinyl back?
-V
When I saw your comment about the White Stripes, I was prepared to be outraged, but when I saw that you’d chosen Coldplay as number 1, I realized such outrage would be wasted on someone who is obviously deaf as well as mentally impaired.
Yes, the White Stripes are (obviously) very Jack White-y, but Jack White is about a billion times the musician and the artist of anyone in any of the three bands you named.