Best Australian Bands

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The Top Ten

1AC/DC
AC/DC's 1980 album Back In Black currently stands at the #2 all-time highest selling albums... Ever. Being that the #1 spot is occupied by an American, I would say this is good enough reason to convince anyone AC/DC is Australia's #1 band... Oh, they are also in the record books as Australia's #1 export, never fallen into the "where are they now" category, never had an album that didn't produce two or 3 chart makers, let alone have never had an album go out of print that became impossible to find for a while. Not to mention, not many bands could compete with having created so many memorable and classic rock anthems and riffs. Even Deep Purple only have TWO of those, and most people don't even know Black Knight without hearing it.
AC/DC are easily the best band to come out of Australia saw them live in Melbourne last february and there is nothing like it they are just simply amazing
Yep. They're number 1 ozzie band. And they are still going strong.
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2Parkway Drive
How is parkway drive not in the top 5 they are arguably the best metal core band in the world. The have the best growler I have ever heard and kick ass drumming and a awesome guitarist. Beast solos and epic intros what more could you want?
Parkway drive kick ass they are my favourite band and I would recomend everyone to listen to them I love then and I am planing on going to a lot of concerts in the future. SO COME ON AUSTRALIA AND VOTE FOR PARKWAY DRIVE
One of the best bands alive and kicking, fast beats and massive breakdowns. I have never heard anything like them, plus Winston McCall brings the whole band up to a new level with hard vocals and big shouts.
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3Silverchair

. . . I'm going to pretend "The Young Modern" never happened and vote Silverchair for best Australian band.

Their music got me through tough times and let me know I wasn't the only that felt that way. His voice is AMAZING, I hope they put out more albums cause I'm in love with that band. WE LOVE YOU SILVERCHAIR

What... Get real... This is the best Aussie band ever... Without any doubt... Daniel Johns's a genius... The bands just perfect...

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4Little River Band
Everybody's written about their songs, lyrics and muscianship... But for me they are well up there with CSNY and S&G as proponents of harmony singing. Simply flawless.
Nothing beats them.. My girlfriend is Aussie and she loves them as much as I do..
25 million albums sold - enough said!
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5Powderfinger
Greatest band ever, so much better than all the modern day music and so many great songs. I went to the Sunsets Farewell Tour, where Powderfinger and jet both played and it was one of the greatest experiences of my life. Bernard Fanning is amazing.
Fell in love with them as soon as I heard their song burn your name. Check it out its great!
Fell in love with them as soon as I heard their album "Vulture Street" and their song "Like a Dog"
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6Living End

AMAZING BAND! Absolutely awesome to see live! Not to mention how incredible Chris Cheney is at playing guitar

From great simple songs to insane ones like "Carry Me Home", The Living End has done it all! Bloody brilliant!

7Jet
Jet one of the greatest bands on all time.. Please come back to the UK soon.
So underrated... JET are one of the best rock bands out today!
Love them Jet please lets get it back together even if just for one more gig
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8Crowded House
If you take personal bias aside and take a band on a song-by-song basis, then no one comes even close to Crowded House. Sure ACDC are an amazing rock band, Chisel have produced some power ballads, but Crowded House are the masters when it comes to writing a perfect song. Track for track of every album (pre reunion and latter efforts) is amazing. The combination of both Finn brothers on "Woodface" was huge and I do not think there is a single singer/songwriter to come out of Australia / New Zealand with the talent of Neil Finn. He and the band are amazing. They are without a doubt number 1.
I absolutely love Crowded House, not only are they one of the best Aussie bands (I know Neil Finn is a Kiwi, but they're still overall Australian), I honestly think they are one of the best all-time bands.

It's a rare occasion when you find a Best Of album where every song is not only recognisable but of the highest quality.
Should be number 1. Amazing musicians with heart touching lyrics. Takes me back to when I was younger and my dad played their albums non stop in the car Aah those were the days...
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9Wolfmother
Because they are one of the best Aussie bands that still have more to come. I love there songs because there are great quality and it doesn't matter if you are rocking out at the supermarket because you are listening to one of the greatest rock artist ever
Joker and thief lyrics, voice is impressive
Same as iTunesJunky they should be first or second
Wolfmother aren't as good as ac/dc but I haven't even heard of half of these other. Their songs always have something new to them some are a bit like screamos but most aren't I respect all their songs even though joker and the thief is the only one that most have heard of I think at least they should be 3rd if not 4th.
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10INXS
I Highly agree... their music mix of POP/FUNK/R&B/ROCK genres reached the most tastes of all music lovers worldwide and MH had one of the top 5 Rock Vocal ranges ever... I love AC/DC but have to categorize them as Hard/Heavy Metal Rock. For all that, I would have to put INXS at # 1!
Great band especially I love their song never tear us apart the music and the drummer plays very well

Purely Australian and reaching the most number of people / tastes.
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The Contenders

11Midnight Oil

Strongly think this band should be listed higher. A band can only be judged in its own time frame. Midnight Oil was hugely important in its time, and references to it and its songs are still being made in political and social circles.

Maybe not the highest in popular appeal, the Oils have to rank at the top in terms of musical content and body of work. Great lyrics, lots of albums, awesome in concert-what more could you ask for?

Having seen 7 of the top 10 live in the states, there is not another band that comes close to the power of Midnight Oil. INXS was really good and Crowded House was very good live too. AC DC is probably the worst of the 7 that I've seen.

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12The Vines

Amazing song writting! anyone who needs good quallity music with feeling should get to know their music!

ZeppHindle

Craig Nicholls was what rock music needed back when Highly Evolved came out and he has since become Australia's most inspiring musician, in my opinion.

13Birds of Tokyo
Incredibly amazing music. The album actually titled 'Birds of Tokyo' is one of the most brilliantly done albums of Australian music ever. I think they should be at least in the top five. I can't wait for a new album.
Wonderful music,
means really good sounds
and the voice is fantastic
and amazing videos 3
Good to see Ian Kenny Pops up with Karnivool too.
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14Kicking Judas
I saw this band play in Adelaide last year and they really kicked arse!
Should be #1, bringing back the NWOBHM and Early Thrash, check em out wont be disappointed
These guys are Awesome! Defiantly reckon they should be first!
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15John Butler Trio
The new voice of australian music. The are the power
Here in Europe John Butler is an icon. Greeting from Portugal.
Epic and very emotive... Awesome guitar pieces... You just cannot express with words, you have to hear it
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16The Berzerker

17The Saints

18I Killed the Prom Queen

19Cold Chisel
You have Cold Chisel WAY down the list from their rightful place in the top 5 when they are Australian Rock Royalty. It's like listing Led Zeppelin below Oasis on a British list. I mean what? This is a band that crosses generations with hit after hit. Even if you don't like them, you gotta be impressed with the song writing and amazing vocals of young Jimmy Barnes. This list loses all credibility with Cold Chisel down this low. Just go see a whole crowd of young kids raise their glass in the air and sing an entire Chisel song regardless of whether they own a single album.
If they aren't the best band Australia has produced, they're a close second to AC/DC... which is only because of worldwide popularity. Easily better than INXS and Crowded House, they are the definitive Aussie Rock band with most of their music being very cultural and nationally relevant. International fame is the one thing they lack, and should this list be judged on that?

paulvroc

How an earth can this be down here!
Smashes AC/DC when it comes to definitive Australian songs. The majority of the bands above have at tops 3 good songs. I could write 10 Chisel songs that the majority of you have heard.
My other criticism is - where's Redgum?
Never even heard of some of the other
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20The Easybeats
Great but not one Aussie member
I love them since I heard Friday back in 1967, I was 15 years old.
Friday On My Mind, what else is there to say.

21Deströyer 666

22Eskimo Joe

What? Eskimo Joe not in the top 10?! They have produced extrmeley magnificent pieces of music... And are way better than most of the bands on this list!

They rock the mostest... Really good band... Black fingernails read wine is one of the greatest albums like ever bro... It's up there as my favorites out of about 600 albums I own...

Their album 'Ishalla' just gives me goosebumps as to how good they are. They have such an interesting way as to how they create their songs and I think they have incredible music talent. Alternative rock is one of if not the best genre of music.

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23The Amity Affliction
Amity is probably my favourite band. They are amazing whether its a cd or live, definitely worth listening to and obsessing over. Love these guys.
These guys are just as good as parkway, they should be in the top 5
One of my favourites! Would love to see them live!

24Rose Tattoo

Rose Tattoo NEVER TOO LOUD is easily the best Australian hard rock album in my opinion, every song is gold

I swear I started thinking that my browser search was not working when I did not find Rose Tattoo in the list. They are one of the most influential bands in Aussie rock history!

sumit

25Savage Garden
I LOVE THEM WITH A PASSION! I LOVE THERE SONG TRULY MADLY DEEPLY! THEY ARE POPULAR ALL OVER THE WORLD ALL MY FAMILY LOVES THEM THEY TELL THE TRUTH AND THEY GET SO DEEP WITH THERE WORLDS I LOVE HOW THEY EXSPRECE THEMSELVES AND TELL A STORY THERE AMAZING I COULD LISTEN TO THEM ALL DAY LONG! WELL ANYWAY THERE THE BEST BAND TODAY AND BACK IN THE 90'S LOVE THEM
One of the best bands in australia with their hits to The Moon And Back, I Knew I Loved You and Truly Madly Deeply.

ronluna

This band should be on place 2-3, NOT 13! They may be a pretty old band, but they have great songs, such as Truly Madly Deeply and To the Moon and back. They were very popular 1997.
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26The Hilltop Hoods

Hilltop are the best musicians in the world. There is not one song of theirs that you cpuld not possibly like.. I Love It, Chase That Feeling & The Nosebleed Section are the best songs of all time.

Not sure if they are exactly a band, but they are the musicians in my opinion

27Pendulum

Best early dnb. Hold your colour was am album passed down by god himself.

This should AT LEAST be in the top 10.
I was so sad when they said there won't be any more
live tours ;_;. BRING PENDULUM BACK!

28Men At Work
Who can it be now. This is a masterpiece.
Iys unique and speacial. Their sound was very special
Down under was the best song, it was on kangaroo jack my favorite movie.
These people made our country famous they should be 1st

29Bee Gees

One of the best bands ever. I always love their songs. They were one of the best musicians in their time. One of my dreams is being in one of their live concerts will never come true!

30Airbourne
GREAT BAND SHOULD BE IN THE TOP 5
Since AC/DC is #1, how can Airbourne not be in the top 5 since they sound more like them than any other band out there? Check them out... They are awesome! I wished they toured here in the good ol' USA. If Airbourne isn't rank higher, than you need to move AC/DC down, which would be blasphemy!
They are a lot like AC/DC another awesome band! Runnin' wild, diamond in the rough,.. Gotta love all their songs.

31Northlane

32The Cat Empire
The Cat Empire is one of the greatest bands today, they have real talent unlike other auto tuned bands that are sponsored by the media. The Cat Empire deserves proper credit! Its a shame to let them fall like this. If you guys give them a better chance they would get more known in the world, they are a really great band.
"The Cat Empire is the best band you've never heard. "
great band. I think they should at least be in top ten. C'mon guys! They are awesome! I hate this minimum content quality thing...
They are awesome! Actually awesome is not enough to describe their sound! They mix many instruments and it's very unique! I went to visit Australia inspired on their songs, cause they are happy and make you feel good! They are for sure my favourite band!
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33Short Stack

Stack fans! Let's see how high we can get Short Stack on this list... Who knows, maybe the boys will see it and realize we still love them! :)

Amazing band! Wish they hadn't broken up! Maybe they could get back together on day?

Short Stack are definitely the best. They have the catchiest tunes and are al SMOKIN'!
Vote for Short Stack and Keep the Faith Alive!

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34Kisschasy

You, my friend are sorely insane. Their old stuff is CLEARLY THE AWESOMEST. You can't go much better than The Shake, Black Dress, Do Do's and Whoa Oh's and Anger is the Brand New Thing. Btw, NEVER put 'pop tunes' and kisschasy in the same sentence ever again. kisschasy (because they are legends) deserve better than that. their songs actually mean something. they're not just the crap you hear on the radio. they're the real thing.

hotstuffgal

Go Darren and Joel..soz to the others but i cant remember ur names! Love the new album...much better now these guys are rock rather than the ballads/pop tunes on the old album.

35Skyhooks

I am a Super Hooks Fan my Favourite band, Probably not number one but top
Five for Originality, Songs about our time, Shirls voice, and how they influenced teens of the 70's

36Hoodoo Gurus

You can't take me anywhere ill strip down to my underwear if you vote for this band to be higher!

Dude, 'What's my scene', 'Come Anytime', 'Miss Freelove', 'My Girl', are all classics, and their new album is awesome, they should be way higher that 20!

"It's a very nice band"?! Dude, these guys are awesome!
Every time one of their songs comes on to the radio, I stop what I'm doing and listen to the song. Love their music!
21?! Really? These guys should be FAR higher!

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37Hillsong United
Hillsong United rocks! It's on first rank to me.. Their songs are great to praise and worship God! Hell yeah!
Thanks God for these brother in faith that you gave us to bless us through them

38Australian Pink Floyd

39The Church

Travesty that they are not in the top ten. These guys are one of the best bands ever - Australian or not. They just never got the commercial success to match the quality of their music.

Formed in 1980 and still going strong. These guys deserve to be in the top 10. I wish radio stations would actually play tracks from their 'current' albums (After Everything Now this, Forget Yourself, Uninvited Like The Clouds, Untitled #23) instead of 'rehashing' Under The Milky Way' all the time. A good song but they've produced others as good as, or better than this since Starfish.

With this great band w/Steve Kilbey, Peter Koppes, Marty Wilson-Piper and Tim Powles have made a diffence and took over the world w/Under The Milky Way!

40Tame Impala
Brilliant underrated for sure. Should be up far higher.
Kev is an underrated genius, Tame Impala are a cosmic bomb of grooves
Debut Album "Innerspeaker" is brilliant. Not sure how no one has voted for them yet.

41The Veronicas

they were on the suite life of zach and cody. thats where i fell in love with them.

42Dead Letter Circus

Best thing to come out of Australia recently. Alternate rock at it's best!

Great tunes just before you go on a motor bike ride. Love it. Good fast sounds


A band that has had success via touring with Cog, but still an awesome band on their on respect. With great progresive rock sound. And an unique sound. A band to look out for.

43Hunters & Collectors

Listen To Holy Grail
Sick Song

On this list Hunters and Collectors are certainly above the bottom five.
And it's minimum quantity, not quality when a word count is involved.

44The Angels
I'll never know why this band didn't make it internationally - they're awesome..

rachelcarr

best band in the world - favourite band of gunners and keith richards
Right up there with angus and the boys! Got to see them back in the 80s in Calgary. Too bad the show ended early when some drunken clown threw something. Still love to crank city out of control the most!
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45Divinyls
You don't know what you've got till it's gone. The Divinyls had a magic full sound, great guitar and Chrissie's great vocals. Not to mention an awesome presence and performance on stage. What can separate the bands for me in the number of good to great songs. I can get about 15 to 20 with Divinyls but only 12 or so for AC/DC (most from Back in Black).
I love divinyls they are my faorite band, seen them seven or eight times live in perth, Chrissy Amphlett is the most mesmerising performer I have ever seen. Her beautiful voice Mark Mcentees hypnotic guitar they create the best rock sound I have ever heard. Got all there albums
The Divinyls are one of my favourite Australian bands. Chrissy Amphlett was amazing in her schoolgirl uniform. Pleasure and Pain, I Touch Myself, Science Fiction, Boys in Town, I'll Make you Happy, Great rock n roll / new wave songs.
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46Sick Puppies
This band should be in the top ten..
Its a shame having this band at 41. I have seen them in concert 5 times. They are amazing.

47The Temper Trap
Feel in from THAILAND
This band turned me on with their songs
These guys should be way up there. Give them time, they're only new, but I guarantee they are going to be HUGE!
First heard track of theirs on Vexed (BBC1 comedy crime drama)... Will be buying their music!
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48Icehouse
Should Be top ten with songs such as electric blue, great southern land etc.
Top 10 for the 80s, at least

49Radio Birdman
Another great Oz band with two tremendous axemen providing searing leads and great drive. Combine that with a class frontman and great lyrics and you have quality.
Derivative, but a more exciting live band than anyone.

50Karnivool

#67!
Are you kidding me?!

They should be in the top 5 to say the least!
AC/DC surely is the greatest export, but Karnivool is not so far behind!

I don't normally fall in love with an album in the first hearing, but Themata is an exception!

All their songs, esp, in their own tuning are brilliant!

Ian Kenny's voice is something out of the world!
You can just sit and admire his voice!

And their stage presence is awesome!
They let the crowd do whatever they want, even take very close up pictures of them.

Brilliant band to say the least.
Themata and Sound Awake are must listen Albums

Karnivool is the greatest band I've ever heard? Every note that they hit is the right one, and every groove they make is infectious. Many consider them to be a progressive rock or metal band, but I disagree. They are just... Karnivool. In their music, they have actually created their own genre. It's almost like a jazz-infused progressive rock with a side or perfection. The only band that is somewhat near to Karnivool is another Australian band, sleepmakeswaves, but Karnivool is king! Themata, the first album, is brilliant, but the follow-up, Sound Awake, is phenomenal work, and is nothing short of a masterpiece. No other progressive band in the world can match the sheer musical brilliance of this group of musicians. Karnivool is a religion.

I can't believe karnivool are ranked so low. As musicians they are absolutely brilliant. Their syncopation and rhythm is perfect, and they write terrific songs songs too. They are Australia's answer to Tool, and produce some of the best progressive music I've ever heard. They are disgracefully underrated and underexposed, and their Sound Awake album is just unbelievably good. Oh and, one of the best band names everr

51Australian Crawl

Aussie crawl should be top ten. Errol, boys light up, reckless, downhearted, things don't seem, beautiful people, oh no not you again. Cold chisel has been forgotten as well and should be higher up the list.

52Masters Apprentices

53Howling Dollhouse
Holy batballs! I hadn't even heard of these guys. What an epic band! Great arrangements and excellent performances. I'll definitely be keeping a very keen eye on the progress of these guys. Completely unexpected. Most of it seems to be solid rock, but have a listen to "Part 2" (not sure where part 1 is), that song literally gave me goosebumps.
These guys are amazeballs, I saw them back when they were 'Into The Night', they just keep getting better.

I listen to Howling Dollhouse on Spotify most work days!
Unique. Why haven't these guys had more exposure?
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54The Living End

55Amy Meredith

56You Am I
Anyone who seen Tim Rogers in the zone in a small hot sweaty venue... Best ever Aussie band live

57The Screaming Jets

Come on and Better best rock songs. Deserve to be in top ten. Dave Gleeson ROCKS!

58Air Supply
Surely they should be in the top 10. At least the third they should be.
Love there guys they r the best without. A doubt. Have love them since they first started.
Ranked 52nd? Should be in the top 10 with 7 consecutive top 5 hits in the USA!
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59360

60The Screaming Tribesmen

61Blackfeather

At The Mountain Of Madness - will always be a jewel in the crown of aussie music.

62The Loved Ones

they taught us how to do it.

63Noiseworks

64The Jezabels

65Eurogliders
Great run of singles in the mid-80s with Grace, Bernie and the team.. Pop/soul perfection and them playing live.. ABSOLUTLEY

66Allniters

67Spiderbait

68Frente!

69Psychotic Turnbuckles

70The Wild Cherries

Birth of Aussie garage music. They played it loud.

71Little Birdy

72The Twilights

73The Drones
Gareth liddiard. That is all

74Sherbet
Best pop group Australia has ever produced! They could rock, do country, rnb, ballads and everything else in between. They should be in any Aussie group list that is worthy or credibility!

75The Australian Clowns
An act like this will not be found in coming years, the ultimate in Aussie rock history put together in 1 band, with constant rotating stars.

Keep rocking Aussie Clowns, see you soon, the best!
One of australias top rock outfits, if you have not seen them, check them out.

76Mortification

77Cut Copy

78Johnny Diesel & the Injectors

79Dragon

80Erica Owns The Sky

81Baby Animals
Best rock singer ever!

82Cog

83Mississippi

84Paul Kelly and the Coloured Girls

85Thirsty Merc
I love their music work and great songs
It's amazing that Thirsty Merc has not even been considered in this list until now. Slideshows is such an incredible album which I think I have listened to over 100 times. This pop rock band is definitely one the best bands because their music is just purely incredible.

86Boy & Bear

87Something for Kate

88The Sunnyboys

89Electric Mary
If Airbourne are on the list this band surely deserves a place. Original songs, Huge Melbourne fan base and Very big in Europe.

90Mondo Rock

One of the greats along with Australian Crawl. Should definitely be much higher up. Australian music is the best out there.

91Axiom

92George

93Busby Marou

94Mental As Anything

95My Friend the Chocolate Cake

96Not Drowning, Waving

97Daddy Cool

98Weddings Parties Anything

99Ratcat

100The Choirboys

The best band ever! I recomend BIG BAD NOISE: is the best album I ever heard.. And midnight sun have also many powerful songs! AUSSIE HARD PUB ROCK and the best!

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      List Info

      This list was created 5 years, 229 days ago and has been voted on over 4,000 times. This top ten list contains 123 items, has been remixed 5 times and has been blogged about 2 times.

      Updated Wednesday, May 22, 2013

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