Much like anything in the music world, even the simplest debates can become so complicated. Since it is still in debate just who or what songs really shaped Rock and Roll, we will throw in another ambiguous first, that of band often dubbed the first great underground band, Love.

Similar to other artists on this list we suspect that our next selection will generate polarizing opinions. Def Leppard, like many artists associated with the Hair Metal scene often has to overcome the image that the genre created.

The United States of America has often touted itself as the “Melting Pot” of the world. We will let some other website debate the validity of that statement. For now, we will simply slot the ironically named band, War as the band on our list that we think best serves the Melting Pot analogy.

There is no rule in music that says that you have to be a commercial success to make a difference. Hüsker Dü fits that category as they were considered influential by countless bands though they themselves never really broke past cult status.