Greatest Hard Rock Artists

The best hard rock artists of all time. No Jethro Tull on this list so you can take your pansy little flute and go home. Don't agree with the list? Place your vote or if you are a logged in, add a new item for others to vote on.

Vote for Metallica 1) Metallica

“Ever Since The 80’s These Guys Can Rock. Although they’ve gone through changes. THE GREATEST!”

“Metallica holds more influence over rock than x japan, in which x japan only influenced emo rock.”

k2th3c

“I can’t believe metallica is second to a band I’ve never even heard of”

jakeman3000

read more comments on Metallica


Vote for X Japan 2) X Japan

“X Japan the Great.
Forever love.”

gziffra

“They practically invented Visual-Kei. without them we probably wouldn’t have bands like the gazette or Dir en grey.”

AresRed

Vote for Led Zeppelin 3) Led Zeppelin

“led zepplin should be the no 1 band metalica isnt qualified to be no 1 compared to zepplin”

“Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones, and the late John Bonham....Led Zeppelin. Their music speaks for itself. Timeless and without limits.”

“are you crazy? it have to be like this:
1-led zeppelin
2-black sabbath
3-ac/dc
4-the who
5-van halen
6-kiss
7-guns n roses
8-metallica
9-bon jovi
10-nirvana

THIS IS HOW IS IN REAL WORLD(not my opinion)”

andres101

read more comments on Led Zeppelin


Vote for Judas Priest 4) Judas Priest

“Judas Priest redefined and made metal, plain and simple.”

“Besides Black Sabbath they are the fathers of a genre.”

“Judas Priest should be alot higher. Amazing music.”

Vote for Bon Jovi 5) Bon Jovi

“sexy and rock”

“rock!”

andres101

“bon jovi wrote some of the greatest hard rock songs of all time!”

richie4life

read more comments on Bon Jovi


Vote for AC/DC 6) AC/DC

“they have so much energy and so much balls! they rock!”

“So Amazing Bon Scott was at least twice as good as Brian!”

alucard

“Angus and brian rock together
Their songs are hard not to enjoy or at least nod your head along to
I saw them in concert and they really kicked ass”

Wasdxd

read more comments on AC/DC


Vote for Scorpions 7) Scorpions

“Is there anything that can beat Scorpions? No, nothing. They are the greatest rock band ever.”

klausmeine

“They’ve definitely influenced so much Rock!.. And they still Rock Us Like A Hurricane! Just incredible..!”

“NO WAY SCORPIONS KICK METALLICA’S ASS”

read more comments on Scorpions


Vote for Avenged Sevenfold 8) Avenged Sevenfold

“Duh...self explanitory
”

“#9 I like these guys a lot just as much or even more than metallica #2 slipknot #1”

slipknotmusik

“ok this band is amazing, if you wanna hear amazing drums, listen to blinded in chains, if you wanna listen to great guitaring listen to beast and the harlot, if you wanna hear great lyrics, listen to m. i. a, put that all together and you have afterlife, the greatest rock song ever”

a7xfan69

read more comments on Avenged Sevenfold


Vote for Nirvana 9) Nirvana

“They brought back good music back to popular conscience. None of that overblown, pretentious crap that was called "hair metal". There’s a reason why the genre is defined by its hair”

“smells like teen spirit is a masterpiece
”

“Nirvana is so good”

mature

read more comments on Nirvana


Vote for Guns N' Roses 10) Guns N' Roses

“one of the best 80’s-90’s rock n roll band
”

“only band ever you listen to them and the immediate word in your head is "hard rock"”

I<3Queen

“let’s push guns and larc in the top tens they actually deserved it”

ronluna

read more comments on Guns N' Roses


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Iron Maiden, Japan, KISS, Led Zeppelin, Linkin Park, Megadeth, Metallica, Rush, Tool

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Choices Not In The Top Ten

Vote for Gackt 11) Gackt

“Gackt is awesome. I love his Lust for Blood!! =^.^=”

Vote for L'Arc~en~Ciel 12) L'Arc~en~Ciel

“great band just don’t believe on those fools that make a list of their labeled "crap" like rocker1796, long rant doesn’t matter”

ronluna

“best band and their music is not irritating in the ears, its wonderful. you will regret it if you don’t even encountered this amazing band, very talented.”

ronluna

“they rock for real”

ronluna

» more comments on L'Arc~en~Ciel

Vote for System of a Down 13) System of a Down

“simply
the
best
band
of
all
time
period”

CaptainComedy17

“Who the hell is japan x?! I’ve never even heard of them and when I listened to them they sucked! system is a lot better than A7X, and nirvana just really sucks. Tool also deserves to be ahead of them. Japan x shoudnt even be considered hard rock, let alone number 1”

Flying_spidermonkey

“amazing”

thedeadman16

» more comments on System of a Down

Vote for Linkin Park 14) Linkin Park

“Always bringing out great music. Never disappoints!”

WIlko21

“LP is just great :D”

“I love linkin park! They r just AWESOME!”

» more comments on Linkin Park

Vote for Tool 15) Tool

“one of the smartest and most creative bands ever.”

theman13

“Sober. Now that is a great song!”

“Paul D’Amour: the old bassist, Justin Chancellor: the new bassist Adam Jones: Lead guitarist, and Maynard James Keenan ( James Herbert Keenan): singer, just de-freaking-stroy ALL the other bands with thier powerful awesome songs!”

» more comments on Tool

Vote for Disturbed 16) Disturbed

“Like all Disturbed fans say: They Are Harder Than Rock!”

aeromaxx777

“Disturbed should be at the top! they are the best ever!
”

“OMG THEY ROCK, IF THEY DISTURB YOU THEN WALK AWAY”

» more comments on Disturbed

Vote for Iron Maiden 17) Iron Maiden

“$#%&@! best band ever!”

“WHAT?!?! why are they so low they are the best”

rockisgood

“Why the hell is this so low?!?!?!
i am not happy”

clerkatron

» more comments on Iron Maiden

Vote for Van Halen 18) Van Halen

“EVH is the greatest guitarist of all time!!”

“awesome guitarist and drummer”

MaNnY555

“THIS BAND IS GREAT, ROCK ON EDDIE!”

» more comments on Van Halen

Vote for Korn 19) Korn

“Reinvented it when it was at a low.”

“my absolute FAVORITE band. they’ve gotten letters from fans saying that if it weren’t for korn’s music, they would’ve killed themselves. very varied sound over the years, and a whole bunch of emotion (especially on their debut album). BEST OF THE BEST!”

fieldy_freak

“is there something to saz about this band.i think it is all already told.this is the best band ever.fieldy is the best bassist ever.noone has his style,and jon is of corse the best singer.i love them so much.KORN RULES.Vote for serbia”

» more comments on Korn

Vote for The Who 20) The Who

“Probably the greatest live band of all time”

“the are the greatest band of all time, great live still goin on, long live The Who”

Vote for Dir en grey 21) Dir en grey

“VOTE VOTE, they’re the best!”

“WTF, why aren’t these higher?

Dir en grey is one of the biggest bands in Asia, and are huge in Europe. Recently breaking into America they are finding success there too, and have massive underground fanbases across the world. Formed February 1997, still keeping the original line up, they became very big, very fast in Japan-there sound soon spreading to neighboring nations.
They have a unique sound and are contently changing. Starting off as a Visual Kei band and gradually fading out the visual style from Kisou onwards.
They are five crazily talented people. Shinya is the next Yoshiki, his drum beats are mind blowing and reliably amazing. Toshiya is one of the best bassist in the world, with hi own unique style and astonishing talent. Kaoru and Die are matched in ability for both Guitar and compositions, both complimenting each other and working together to create a fantastic sound. Kyo is arguably the best vocalist of his time, with an amazing array of technical ability and a voice that can convoy any given emotion with little effort-his writing is also amazing, using words to paint a picture and stab at your heart, giving words new meaning. His lyrics are sick but beautiful, clever and thought-provoking, subjects ranging from drug addiction to abortion, sex to suicide, perversion to heartache and every possible thing in between.
With a career of almost 10 years (under the name Dir en grey) they have an impressive discography-6 albums (soon to be 7) and a great number of singles, all of which have come in the top 10 in Japan.
Their live performance is like nothing you’ve ever seen. They play with incredible energy, and when appropriate, the band will play almost stoic while Kyo goes insane. Kyo’s performance is violent and completely heart-wrenching. He’s been know to cry, whimper, scream, scratch his chest, punch himself in the cheek, scratch his wrists and arms and scratch the inside of his cheek in performance. They are visually disturbing to watch and listening to live versions of songs is equally disturbing. For example, the live version of mushi and zakuro from Blitz 5 days-you would have to be completely heartless not to cry.

They are the best band i’ve come across in a long time. No one can beat them.”

“Dir en grey is one of the greatest international rock acts to come to fame this year, making huge strides in selling out shows in both America and Europe with very little to no airtime or promotions. It’s becoming clearer and clearer that the japanese community can rock just as hard, if not harder then the rest of the world!”

» visit Dir en grey website

Vote for Queen 22) Queen

“Queen is the best ever band in Rock, Pop, Funk, Opera, Heavy Metal, Love songs and just everything.”

Vote for Heart 23) Heart

“From 75-80 Heart was a bad ass band. This is long before MTV changed them to pop queens.”

Vote for Rush 24) Rush

“Rush Should be up there with Metallica and Zeppelin. No band can come close to what rush can do”

“Rush rocks. Period.”

Vote for D'erlanger 25) D'erlanger

“just don’t believe in this crap- rocker1796, they are the one of the bands introduced visual rock in late 1980s with DEAD END, LOUDNESS, 44MAGNUM, etc”

ronluna

“better than any japanese hard rock metal band”

ronluna

Vote for Slipknot 26) Slipknot

“Joey Jordison is so amazing”

“"classic"”

“MY FAVORITE BAND!!”

Vote for Pantera 27) Pantera

“Dime was, and will forever be, the greatest guitarist of all time. hendrix and stevie ray have nothing on darrel abbot!”

crou8040

“Pantera is the best band ever! definitely wipes the floor with the others!”

“the most underated rock band of all time. dimebags guitar riffs are lengendary, the music world took a major loss when he was taken. R.I.P. dime”

» more comments on Pantera

Vote for Kiss 28) Kiss

“The greatest live band”

“Lol, is Led Zeppelin in this list? Hahahahahaha.

This is, agreeing to one of the earlier voters, the greatest live band ever. Is that a list too?”

MeMyselfAndI

“xjapan? never heard of them and how could anyone be ahead of zepplin, kiss is my favorite I’ve never seen any list of any kind I agree with”

invis

» more comments on Kiss

Vote for Breaking Benjamin 29) Breaking Benjamin

“they are awesome in the world of new crappy bands.”

“One word: AWSOME”

Vote for Megadeth 30) Megadeth

“Great heavy metal band and dave mustaine is one of the greatest guitarists ever!”

“f***ing amazing countdown to extinction”

Vote for Black Sabbath 31) Black Sabbath

“A great band. Tony Iommi is Black Sabbath and everything released under this name is simply outstanding..”

“Practically the inventors of heavy metal. without them, bands like Metallica and Judas Priest wouldn’t even exist”

UFasten8Me

“Them and Zepplin are the 2 best hard rock bands hands down.Metallica was a great band in the 80s but definitly not the greatest hard rock band especially after st.anger.”

Chris-1

» more comments on Black Sabbath

Vote for Rage Against the Machine 32) Rage Against the Machine

“One of the greatest political bands in my opinion...”

“Tom Morello is awesome”

Vote for Muse 33) Muse

“so many good songs, so amazing live, 6 great albums, brilliant musicians, what more do you need?”

GlonnAtronnAdonnAdict

“Great band, often over looked”

“Starlight, Time is running out, all good songs... more respect needs to be paid”

» more comments on Muse

Vote for Red Hot Chili Peppers 34) Red Hot Chili Peppers

“only the BEST band ever!!! they should be number one!!!”

“flea, john , anthony , chad
flea best bassist , john one of the greatest , all together the best”

Vote for Cheap Trick 35) Cheap Trick

“One of the fiercest, most dedicated live acts of all time.”

FearlessFreep

“Hey, even VH1-which knows absolutely nothing about music rated Cheap Trick NO. 25. For once they were right.”

Vote for Marilyn Manson 36) Marilyn Manson

“incredibly super frickin awesome!!”

“THE sign of rebellion can’t beat him his lyrics are from the heart he is a god”

clerkatron

“marilyn manson is the best frickin band out there, marilyn manson’s lyrics and vocals are incredible, full of emotion (and they were amazing on 6/12 07 =]) - they will always be the best”

» more comments on Marilyn Manson

Vote for Aerosmith 37) Aerosmith

“america’s greatest rock band!”

“Go Steve, you rock!!!!!!!”

Bec

“hey he should be at the top”

» more comments on Aerosmith

Vote for Soundgarden 38) Soundgarden

“Of the four major grunge bands to come from Seattle, Soundgarden is by far the best.”

“Great group.”

“Best band of all time, chris cornell greatest voice in rock”

Vote for Dream Theater 39) Dream Theater

“Dream Theater should so be in the top 10!! Top 5 even!!! they are so creative and brilliant! best live band ever!!
I mean.. i like bands like A7X... but dream theater should be above them.. Anyone who can create such a majestic (lol... dream theater joke) album such as Metropolis Pt 2; Scenes from a Memory or Octavarium deserve to be recognized as the titans of all Rock/ Metal/ Progressive.”

thunder2221

“I have nothing to say, but listen to them”

“OMFG! Dream Theater are one of the best bands to come out of the 80s and are still putting out awesome albums, any fan of metal should listen to "the glass prison" or "pull me under" or one of their newest "the Dark eternal Night"
Dream Theater for #1!!”

» more comments on Dream Theater

Vote for Pink Floyd 40) Pink Floyd

“Creaters Of Rock Music Cant Beat David Gilmour Guitar Solos As They Are Uniuque!!! We Wouldnt Have Rock Music If It Wasnt For Pink Floyd
”

“"yeah wtf Greatest Of All Time!! #1”

“Um... Why are they at the bottom? These guys are amazing! How about comfortably numb?! It’s a classic!”

» more comments on Pink Floyd

Vote for Motley Crue 41) Motley Crue

“The bad boys of Rock and Roll. Cmon enough said the greatest band ever!”

“Why in the name of the Almighty is the Crue all the way down here. They may not be the best, but they are a heck of a lot better than quite a few of the other bands ahead of them.”

“best rock show,coolest personalities,kick ass music and the true bad boys of rock,period.”

» more comments on Motley Crue

Vote for Deep Purple 42) Deep Purple

“deep purple tracks make my day a-okay.. i was born years after this band smashed the airwaves.. my father taught me that the purest rock music comes from old school bands like deep purple.. hurrah to all deep purple fans.. and the band made me love rock the more..

deep purple rocked the heavy metal history..”

“Deep Purple, along with the well known Led Zeppelin, constituted the idea of Hard Rock. Hits like Black Night, Hush, Child In Time and Smoke On The Water with its terrific riff led Deep Purple to an amazing amount of success in the U.K and America. The Band has just recently celebrated their 25th Anniversary and they are still going strong.

The band began in 1968 under the name of " Roundabout " but after some disappointing demonstration tracks Jon Lord sacked the drummer and the bassist, leaving himself a gap in the group. He was contacted by two people wanting to be the groups managers, bringing in Nick Simper {Bass} , Ian Paice {Drums} and Rod Evans {Vocals} who came from MI5.

The group changed its name to Deep Purple and went about recording its single, Hush/One More Rainy Day, which landed the group its first hit in Hush. The group then covered Neil Diamonds "Kentucky Woman" before recording their first album, "Shades Of Deep Purple". The album received a moderate amount of success so they decided to put "The Book of Taliesyn" out as quickly as possible to tap this. The album was successful and the band was on its way.”

» visit Deep Purple website

Vote for Green Day 43) Green Day

“pshht”

Vote for Def Leppard 44) Def Leppard

“Nothing Better!!”

“one of the best hard rock bands I’ve ever encountered.”

ronluna

“one of the best hard rock bands in the world”

» visit Def Leppard website
» more comments on Def Leppard

Vote for Alice in Chains 45) Alice in Chains

“What the hell are Avenged Sevenfold doing on this list? Terrible emo crap. Alice in Chains helped mold rock n roll today, Cantrell is unmatched as a singer-guitarist.”

“should be much higher up... led zeppelin doesn’t qualify as hard rock that’s a joke and judas priest is awful come one”

“Alice make you feel they have lived it all. The sound growls from their soul. Great singer great rock band.”

» more comments on Alice in Chains

Vote for Nickelback 46) Nickelback

“Well, at least they’re ahead of Rammstein. But seriously, number 48? Nickelback is the most awesome band ever. They should at least be in the Top 10.”

Sharkuzco

“I can’t believe Queen is ahead of them... QUEEN fer cryin’ out loud!”

Bec

“Chad Kroeger has the most awsome, moving voice of all, and he is the hottest man alive.”

Bec

Vote for Whitesnake 47) Whitesnake

Vote for Bullet for My Valentine 48) Bullet for My Valentine

“best band ever!!!!!!”

Vote for Godsmack 49) Godsmack

“the best band ever.....!!!!!nobody can play heavy stuff thts got beauty like them...all other death metal bands like maiden,judas priest are crap!!!”

“Godsmack is the greatest band no matter wat thois pole says or any other place”

“I like this band more and more everytime I listen to them. They pown noobs
”

» more comments on Godsmack

Vote for Miyavi 50) Miyavi

Vote for Rammstein 51) Rammstein

“Amazing Band should be in top 10!”

“The best rock since Elvis!”

Vote for Mudvayne 52) Mudvayne

“The "Forget To Remember" song is one of the graetest ,ever. The rythm makes your sick”

“Dig...
The greatest HEAVY metal song in the past 10 years. Their bassist still blows me away every time I watch the music video.”

“MUDVAYNE RULES!!!!!!!!!1”

Vote for Rob Zombie 53) Rob Zombie

“I love Rob! I think he should be up on the list. He’s just super awsome!!!”

“Dragula? Living Dead Girl?
The most well known unknown of all time. His songs kick ass, and he knows how to have a good time.”

Vote for Motorhead 54) Motorhead

“Motorhead Is Truly One of the greatest Bands of all time nuff said!!”

“Best Hard rock band ever

enough said”

Vote for Dragonforce 55) Dragonforce

“They are amazing. Their music is like art”

Vote for Jimi Hendrix 56) Jimi Hendrix

“one of the most innovative guitarists of all time, played with his soul more than his mind.”

“WHY is he not in the top ten? at least 15....JIMI IS GOD”

“Jimi Hendrix brought life and style to the sixties. He INVENTED guitar. Where would we be without Jimi?”

» more comments on Jimi Hendrix

Vote for Wolfmother 57) Wolfmother

“Crazy good vocalist... with awesome hair too!”

“WOMAN Greatest song ever wrote”

Vote for Staind 58) Staind

“rocks!!!!”

“stunning!!rock on!!”

Vote for HIM 59) HIM

“Though They are Usually Critizised, This band has gone through a hell of alot. But they continue, And thanks to them i have Lyrics i can relate to.”

“Ville valo and his band have amazing aspects other bands do not..... but still vocals and bass... the best you will get maybee besides a7x!”

“best band eva”

Vote for Dio 60) Dio

Vote for Europe 61) Europe

“how can you people forgot about one of the greatest hard rock band of all time!”

Vote for Queensryche 62) Queensryche

“Uhh they kick ass”

Vote for Nine Inch Nails 63) Nine Inch Nails

“One of the greatest and most original band to come along since the beatles”

Vote for Rise Against 64) Rise Against

“one of the greatest bands ever”

Vote for Foo Fighters 65) Foo Fighters

“They never have a bad song.”

“FOO FIGHTERS ARE GREATEST BAND EVER PERIOD. Nirvana’s drummer started this band, Dave Groehl (i think thats how its spelled). Best band of all time.
”

Vote for Children of Bodom 66) Children of Bodom

“they are heavy rockers i have ever seen
”

“these guys are crazy, they put on excellent concerts”

Vote for The Doors 67) The Doors

“Jim Morrison is the greatest Rockfrontman of all time.He created only masterpieces.”

fogy55lizy

“not only that, but the music is earth-shattering...”

“the best... doors 4ever”

» more comments on The Doors

Vote for Static-X 68) Static-X

“they kick ass. its that simple”

Vote for Faith No More 69) Faith No More

Vote for Slayer 70) Slayer

“WHHHHHHHHHHHHHATT Slayer, whats wrong with you people. Metallica overrated as hell”

Vote for Limp Bizkit 71) Limp Bizkit

“Most energy no doubt

the best of fusion”

Vote for Foghat 72) Foghat

Vote for In Flames 73) In Flames

“One of the greatest bands to ever play. Music is kick A** and they have deep awesome music.”

Vote for Underoath 74) Underoath

“IM NOT DISSING THE BANDS UP THERE BUT THIS IS THE GREATEST BAND OF ALL TIME...”

Vote for Cradle of Filth 75) Cradle of Filth

“the best example of pure black metal”

Vote for Smashing Pumpkins 76) Smashing Pumpkins

“Cannot forget who these guys are!!! Actually just Billy!!!”

Vote for The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus 77) The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus

“One of my favorite BANDS!!!
Top songs: Face down AND Your gardian angel”

Vote for Creed 78) Creed

“i can’t beleive they’re not on here yet”

Vote for Sepultura 79) Sepultura

“A+”

“It is one from the best thrash metal musicians!”

Vote for Sevendust 80) Sevendust

“great band that has not made a bad album yet.”

Vote for Bad Religion 81) Bad Religion

“If bands like Linken Parkn or Red Jumpsuit Apparatus have been added, I can’t see why this one should be forgotten... The Best of the best for the one who knows what real music is!”

Vote for Danzig 82) Danzig

“COME ON PEOPLE!!!!!!!! I really shouldn’t have to say more”

Vote for Rainbow 83) Rainbow

Vote for Alter Bridge 84) Alter Bridge

Vote for From First To Last 85) From First To Last

“OMFG FROM FiRST TO LAST iS THE S***!! iT SHOULD BE NUMBER 1!!!”

“The Best F****** Band Ever!!!”

“THE MOST AWESOMEEST BAND EVER!! Sonny Moore and Matt Good are mine!!”

Vote for Soil 86) Soil

“They have some sick pump up songs! Listen to Pride or Halo”

Vote for Ceremonial Snips 87) Ceremonial Snips

“I can’t even begin to tell you how under rated this band is.”

“good.best.bester”

Vote for Deftones 88) Deftones

“i can’t believe they aren’t on here yet...i mean i can’t believe people waste their breath to say some of these bands...terrible.. i think the deftones should be higher than MOST of the bands on here!”

Vote for Sex Pistols 89) Sex Pistols

Vote for Quiet Riot 90) Quiet Riot

“Kick ass!!”

Vote for Tankcsapda 91) Tankcsapda

Vote for The Ramones 92) The Ramones

Vote for Paramore 93) Paramore

“Oh my god, their stuff is so passionate. They really want to get their message accross to the public.”

Vote for Cannibal Corpse 94) Cannibal Corpse

“Who Of The Above Appeared In Ace Ventura?”

“yea”

“damn right”

» visit Cannibal Corpse website

Vote for Death 95) Death

“One of the best and most influential metal bands around. These guys were great ! RIP Chuck.”

Vote for Anthrax 96) Anthrax

“They kick a**.”

Vote for Alexizonfire 97) Alexizonfire

“these guys....nothing you can put into words.!”

» visit Alexizonfire website

Vote for Joan Jett and the Blackhearts 98) Joan Jett and the Blackhearts

“This band is just great to listen to all the time they should definitely be top 10!”

Vote for I Killed The Prom Queen 99) I Killed The Prom Queen

“Best Aussie Hardcore Band”

» visit I Killed The Prom Queen website

Vote for Meshuggah 100) Meshuggah

“this band is really underrated at least they can actually play their instruments”

Pravus


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