Inspired by the linked thread, I thought about the fact that music threads around here are almost always very anglo-centric. That’s not a criticism, this is an American, English speaking board, and rock music evolved in America and was quickly adapted in the UK, so these countries have the richest pop and rock traditions. But of course there are numerous great bands in the rest of the world, so please post the 6 that are the greatest in your opinion, in the same vein as in @Lucas_Jackson’s thread. Here’s my list:
AC/DC (Australia)
Midnight Oil (Australia)
Crowded House (New Zealand)
Ton Steine Scherben (Germany)
Kraftwerk (Germany)
Daft Punk (France)
Great idea for a spinoff thread. But I should ask, are we framing the question in terms of which bands had the greatest global impact (which would still heavily favor US and UK audiences) or which bands had the greatest impact in their own regions?
If the former, I would add ABBA (they would top the list) and perhaps the Sugar Cubes
But if you are talking about bands that are big within their own regions, I would add
Noir Désir (France)
Indochine (France)
Dionysos (France)
dEUS (Belgium)
Louise Attaque (France)
In terms of Asia, I don’t think India or China have a strong band culture, and don’t want to think about K-Pop
Can’t say anything about Africa. Maybe some South African band?
In the original thread, @Lucas_Jackson was asked similar questions, and I will follow his lead: it doesn’t matter, use your own criteria, be it personal taste, national or international influence.
A few favorites that come to mind quickly, mostly rock in opposition (or adjacent) stuff:
Happy Family (Japan)
Miriodor (Canada)
Univers Zero (Belgium)
Rational Diet (Belarus)
Volapuk (France)
Abbe May and the Rockin’ Pneumonia (Australia; this is a “one of these is not like the others” choice, but I love to hear her sing.)
Well, you lot are going to be snobs about this, but ABBA (Sweden) are one of the most original, successful, prolific and musically (as in song writing terms) accomplished bands of all time.
It was originally the name of a movement asserting opposition to the established music industry. I should have capped it. Rock in Opposition. So it started as more of an economic thing rather than a musical thing, but the term evolved so as to eventually mean a group of bands with musical similarities. An simplification might be to think of classical chamber music composed and played with a rock sensibility. Or rock music played with a chamber music sensibility. Or whatever.
I feel like ABBA, U2, and AC/DC are locks. Even though I don’t like them I’d probably also throw Rush in the list. I’ll think a bit more about the last 2.
)