# Ten Favorite Rock and Pop Bands of the Last 30 Years



## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

The following are artists and groups whose music has given me great pleasure over the last 30 years. These are groups/artists who began their careers or were first seriously noticed by or after 1988-89. I exclude Grunge here purely arbitrarily, as it is a huge category in itself (and slightly earlier in its origins).

Maria McKee (as solo artist)
PJ Harvey
Björk (as solo artist)
Amy Winehouse
Janelle Monàe 
Incubus
James Mercer bands: The Shins, Broken Bells
Smashing Pumpkins
No Doubt
Grant Lee Buffalo

The presence of many women reflects the increasing excellence and strength of women in Rock and Pop, one of the most positive trends of the last 30-40 years.

Who are your favorites?


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

I don't have ten. My favorite pop/rock artist over the past 30 years is Mike Keneally. He has always been under the radar because he's been an independent artist for his entire career. But I haven't heard anybody else that comes close to his songwriting, composition, and instrumental skills.


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## regenmusic (Oct 23, 2014)

Belle and Sebastion
Stereolab
Chara
Happy Family
McCarthy
Blur
Broadcast
Mew
Kahimi Karie
Lush


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## Kjetil Heggelund (Jan 4, 2016)

Living Colour! Here are the boys with "big happy man face"







the next 9 are metal...


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## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

Ween
Mekons
Belle and Sebastian
System of a Down
Florence and the Machine
Neko Case
My Bloody Valentine
Mother Mother
PJ Harvey
Flaming Lips


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## norman bates (Aug 18, 2010)

I don't know, something like this

Morphine
Monoshock
Mercury Rev
Roy Montgomery
D'Angelo
Dirty Three
Dadamah
Labradford
16 Horsepower
Portal


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## Bwv 1080 (Dec 31, 2018)

Outside of metal, my favorite has been Michael Gira’s work with Swans and Angels of Light. Few rock musicians have stayed as creative as long as he has


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## Red Terror (Dec 10, 2018)

Bwv 1080 said:


> Outside of metal, my favorite has been Michael Gira's work with Swans and Angels of Light. Few rock musicians have stayed as creative as long as he has


Gira would have done better to pursue other creative outlets because as far as music is concerned, he has no talent for it.


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## Mifek (Jul 28, 2018)

Radiohead
Nirvana
System of a Down
RHCP
Arctic Monkeys
Green Day
Muse
Sublime
Arcade Fire
Franz Ferdinand


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

Kjetil Heggelund said:


> Living Colour! Here are the boys with "big happy man face"
> View attachment 112861
> 
> the next 9 are metal...


Great group! Also *Fishbone*: _Ghetto Soundwave_ a great song from a great album. And I forgot Neneh Cherry's first couple of albums.


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## Bwv 1080 (Dec 31, 2018)

Also Mike Patton’s various projects, particularly Mr Bungle and Fantomas


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Porcupine Tree
Steven Wilson
Tori Amos
Cranberries
Riverside
Anna von Hausswolff
Agnes Obel
Blackfield
Editors
National

(roughly in order from 1 to 10)


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## Jacck (Dec 24, 2017)

(listing just internationally known bands, the list would look different when I included Czech music). Also, I am unclear what to do with bands such as Neil Young & Crazy Horse, which started their career in the late 1960's, but continue to produce great music until today. I will skip those and write only artists, that emerged in the last 30 years. 

Muse
SOAD
RHCP
The Rasmus
Lana Del Rey
The Prodigy
Tool
Steve Wilson
London Grammar
Lenny Kravitz


The Kelly Family (this is a joke )


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## Jacck (Dec 24, 2017)

I forgot 
Opeth
Mors Principium Est
and
DJ Bobo


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

Primal Scream, Goldfrapp, Air, Stone Roses, Black Crowes...after that I'm beginning to struggle.


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## tomterry (Feb 19, 2019)

Pink Floyd, Radiohead, Sufjan Stevens, Queens of the stone age, Wolf Alice, Nine Inch Nails. Hmm... I currently listen to these. After these it is hard for me to find favorite.


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## Simon Moon (Oct 10, 2013)

A few of these might not make the list, if you asked me again in a couple of days.

*Anglagard* - Swedish prog rock band that somehow, makes their influences from the 70's (King Crimson, Gentle Giant, Genesis, etc) sound new again. 
Recommended albums: Hybris, Epilog

*Echolyn* - US prog rock band that really rocks. They make complexity sound approachable. Great use of multi-part harmony a la Gentle Giant.
Recommended albums: As the World, Suffocating the Bloom, Mei

*Deus ex Machina* - Italian band with exceptional musicianship, a vocalist with a 5 octave range, creative composing, and loads of energy. They straddle the line between jazz-fusion and prog-rock. Kind of in the same vein as highly praised Italian band from the 70's, Area.
Recommended albums: De Republica, Equilibrismo da Insofferenza, Cinque

*Aranis* - Belgian avant-prog band, that is able to nicely straddle the line between being melodic and edgy at the same time. 
Recommended albums: any

*Pain of Salvation* - Swedish prog-metal band with no typical cliches of the genre, and tons of emotion.
Recommended albums: Perfect Element, Remedy Lane, In the Passing Light of Day, ONe Hour by the Concrete Lake

*Cynic* - Florida band considered the grandfathers of the technical-metal genre. Very complex, with jazz influences, and chops to match. Released one CD in 1993, then reformed in 2007 better than ever.
Recommended albums: Traced in Air, Focus

*Opeth* - Swedish black/prog-metal that has great juxtaposition of crushing riffs and beautiful passages. Their later releases are much more in the classic prog-rock vein, but still great. 
Recommended albums: Blackwater Park, Ghost Reveries, Heritage, Pale Communion,

*Discus* - Indonesian band, that is equal parts Mahavishnu Orchestra, Gamelan music, avant-garde, and classic prog-rock. And it works. 
Recommended albums: 1st, Tocht Licht

*The Tangent* - British band with a nice dose of Canterbury (National Health, Hatfield and the North, etc).
Recommended albums: Not as Good as the Book, The Music Died Alone, Comm

*Riverside* - Polish band that melds prog-metal and classic prog. Great vocalist.
Recommended albums: Rapid Eye Movement, Anno Domini High Definition, Shrine of New Generation Slaves


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## ZJovicic (Feb 26, 2017)

*Red Hot Chili Peppers* - A lot of talent, and a very unique sound. Lots of great albums. Stadium Arcadium was a masterpiece, something rarely seen with bands who are not that young and fresh.
*Guns 'n' Roses* - The have shined bright with their first album Appetite for Destruction, after which they are in a constant steady decline. Nevertheless they have made some iconic songs, and they will always be dear to me.
*St. Vincent* - I find this lady very talented and her songs are quirky, hipsterish, but I like her.
*P.J. Harvey* - Another highly talented lady - I enjoyed her album Let England shake a lot
*Hladno pivo* - A croatian punk band with socially critical, yet highly energetic and often catchy songs
*Goribor* - Very talented rock band from Serbia that exists in time of big decline of rock music. They are one of the rare bright spots on Serbian rock scene in recent years.
*Rihanna* - When it comes to commercial pop music, I think she's definitely above average, she made some iconic hits, and she has a distinct voice.
*Shakira* - Similar to Rihanna, she definitely has unique energy, and she's become almost official World Cup performer 
*Madonna* - She can still occasionally make a good album. The last really worth mentioning is IMO "Confessions on a Dance floor" (2005).
*Therapy?* - Alternative metal band from Northern Ireland. I didn't listen to them that much afterwards, but I will always remember their 1994 album "Troublegum"
*Eros Ramazzoti* - Italians will hate me for this choice but... but... he's the guy who tremendously popularized Italian pop around the world, and has a decent list of great songs, and very distinctive voice and style. A lot of people in Bosnia/Serbia started loving Italian music because of him. One of the first songs by this guy that I learned to love was "Se bastasse una canzone"
*Tap 011* - Apparently not-so-serious band from Serbia. They were a part of Eurodance movement of the 1990s and at that time they were simultaneously extremely popular and considered silly/bad by critics. However, they had 2 very good female vocalists who later moved on to pursue solo career, though their best years were in TAP 011. I was a child when they were taking Serbia by storm and I couldn't resist their charm. Now after so many years, I realize they indeed had some great songs, especially in comparison to today's music scene in Serbia.


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## Radames (Feb 27, 2013)

Green Day
Franz Ferdinand
Fratellis
My Chemical Romance
Death Cab for Cutie
The Hives
Weezer
Blink-182
Billy Talent
Foo Fighters


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## Kjetil Heggelund (Jan 4, 2016)

The list should go to 11


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

Kjetil Heggelund said:


> The list should go to 11


How about a baker's dozen?


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## Kjetil Heggelund (Jan 4, 2016)

Strange Magic said:


> How about a baker's dozen?


Nice to learn a new story


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## Eva Yojimbo (Jan 30, 2016)

1. *Opeth* - progressive death metal - Most significant metal band of the modern era. Created a beauty-and-the-beast dichotomy where they could be stunningly beautiful one moment and stunningly brutal the next. Compositionally and instrumentally complex, but extremely tasteful as well. They really opened up a new musical world for me.

2. *Bjork* - art-pop/electronic/experimental - Iceland's greatest export. Arguably popular music's most original artistic voice of the last 30 years. Her best--Homogenic, Vespertine--shows real artistic genius, but just as impressive is her restless experimentation: early art-pop, harsh electronics, soft electronics, all-vocals, woodwinds.... every album sounds like a uniquely crafted work of art.

3. *Tool* - Alternative/progressive/Art-rock/metal - The closest band I've found to have melded Pink Floyd's quasi-spiritual soundscapes and compositions to a hard rock/metal sound. At their best it's music of transcendence. They're also blessed with the greatest drummer since Neal Peart. Lateralus is a top-ten album for me.

4. *Radiohead* - Art/Alternative-rock & electronic - The most significant band in the last 30 years of pop music. Similar to Bjork in their restless creativity. OK Computer was to the modern generation what Sgt. Pepper was to its generation, and Kid A is every bit its equal.

5. *The Gathering* - Doom metal, progressive/alternative rock, trip-hop/shoegaze/dream-pop - A kind-of Dutch Radiohead. Their transformation from seminal doom metal band to shoegaze/dream-pop to trip-hop was astonishing. How to Measure a Planet? and if_then_else are two of my all-time favorite albums. Anneke van Giersbergen also has the voice of an angel (see: You Learn About It).

6. *Death* - Death metal - Seminal death metal band, nearly the inventors of the genre. They quickly moved from the horror-movie themed and basic brutality of the early albums to an intellectual, even philosophically, themed progressive metal of the later albums. Symbolic and The Sound of Perseverance are towering masterpieces of the genre. Chuck Schuldiner's early death was a real tragedy.

7. *Dream Theater* - Progressive metal - The seminal prog-metal band. Perhaps the greatest collection of virtuosos ever in rock music. They set the bar high early on, yet continued to evolve and expand on their palette. Not the most consistent act, but their best (Images & Words, Awake, Scenes from a Memory, Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence) is astonishing.

8. *King's X* - Progressive/Hard rock - The very definition of underrated. Take the intricate instrumental arrangements of Rush and combine them with Beatles-esque harmonies and melodic sensibilities and you have King's X. It's a travesty they were never the biggest band in the world; they deserved it. Gretchen Goes to Nebraska is another favorite album of mine.

9. *Taylor Swift* - Country/synth-pop/electronic - Don't let her teenage-girl fanbase fool you; Taylor Swift is the best songwriter of the last 30 years. Her talents extend far beyond the hit, catchy singles. Two particular standouts are the bittersweet Mean and the emotionally overwhelming All Too Well. Better than any artist on this list she understands how to fit music and sound to enhance lyrical content.

10. *Emperor/Ihsahn* - Symphonic Black Metal - One of the few black metal bands I can tolerate, even love. Their early albums are a mix of icy beauty and harshness, but by the time of Prometheus they're into some really avant-garde type metal stuff. Ihsahn's solo work is an extension of his Emperor work and nearly as impressive.


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## DeepR (Apr 13, 2012)

Ozric Tentacles
Juno Reactor
Future Sound of London
The Prodigy
The Orb
Orbital
Air
Massive Attack
Carbon Based Lifeforms
Oliver Lieb

Obviously I prefer electronic music to general pop & rock music.
These are favorites on the pop side of electronic music post 1989.


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

Therapy?
Pineapple Thief
Baroness
If these trees Could Talk
Maybeshewill
Volbeat
Mogwai
SOAD
Coheed and Cambria
Pelican.............

Off the top of my head


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