Another year of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees, another year of fans up in arms because their favorite band still isn’t enshrined in Cleveland.
Here are 20 artists that should have a plaque in the hall.
Alice In Chains
It actually doesn’t help Alice In Chains’ case that they get lumped in with Seattle’s grunge scene. The Seattle Sound is most synonymous with Nirvana and Pearl Jam… and for good reason.
While AIC calls the pacific northwest home, they are louder and heavier than the bands they are frequently compared too. And looking at the lack of hard rock acts in the hall of fame, that clearly has hurt Alice In Chains’ chances. As does the fact that lead singer Layne Staley’s drug addiction limited the band to releasing only three records from 1990-2008.
But that should not affect the brilliance of said records, which were full of hits like “Man In The Box,” “Down In A Hole,” “Them Bones” and many more. Not to mention, Alice Chains’ MTV Unplugged session is one of the very best.
Bjork
The Iceland-native has had 30 singles on worldwide Top 40 charts, three of which reached the top 10 in the U.K.
Four songs — including arguably her biggest, “Hyperballad” — topped the U.S. dance charts.
According to One Little Indian, her record label, the singer has sold at least 20 million records in her career.
She is heralded as one of the more unique-sounding singers in music.
Bad Company
A supergroup whose music is still played on classic rock stations across the country, Bad Company is comprised of members of Free, Mott the Hoople and King Crimson.
The band’s first three efforts, “Bad Company,” “Straight Shooter” and “Run With the Pack” were top five albums in the U.K. and U.S.
Blue Öyster Cult
The Long Island-born band is one of the heavier names played on classic rock radio.
Four of their studio albums have at least 500,000 copies in the U.S. One of the band’s two live albums — “Some Enchanted Evening” — is certified platinum.
Not to mention, they are forever immortalized in pop culture because of Saturday Night Live.
Kate Bush
Her first No. 1 single, “Wuthering Heights,” — which spent a month atop the U.K. chart, was the first ever one written and performed by a female.
Kate Bush was only 19 years old at the time.
The singer-songwriter’s name is attached to 25 other songs that have topped the U.K. charts.
The Cure
The only thing sadder than Robert Smith’s lyrics is The Cure still not being in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Unlike other bands on the list, The Cure has been eligible for enshrinement for quite a while– 13 years to be exact.
They’ve had eight albums peak in the top ten on the charts, and a majority of those came at a time when The Cure was one of few bands playing what would become mainstream-sounding alternative rock.
Smith paved the way for goth rock, influenced some of the biggest bands to come out of the 1990s and 2000s (The Smashing Pumpkins, Interpol) and is still the poster boy of sad music.
Depeche Mode
Dave Gahan’s baritone voice has helped electronic rockers Depeche Mode sell more than 100 million records around the world.
The band has had 50 singles chart in the U.K. and 13 of their albums have hit the top 10.
Without Depeche Mode, electronic music may not exist in the form it does today.
Peter Frampton
The Humble Pie guitarist and singer who made the talk box guitar effect cool became an international solo star with 1976’s “Frampton Comes Alive.”
The live album, which is still regarded as one of the best ever, spawned Frampton hits such as “Show Me the Way”, “Baby, I Love Your Way” and “Do You Feel Like We Do.”
It sold better than any album, live or studio, in 1976.
Iron Maiden
The staples of hard rock and metal radio have made a whopping 37 albums, 11 of which were recorded live.
Ten of their albums have peaked in the top three on the U.K. charts.
Many modern hard rock and metal acts, like Avenged Sevenfold and Metallica, were heavily influenced by Maiden.
Judas Priest
Like Iron Maiden, Judas Priest fits more in with the metal niche.
They have sold more than 45 million records and many critics, like MTV, ranked them as one of the top metal acts ever.
Priest’s biggest hit album, “Screaming For Vengeance,” was a top 25 hit in four countries.
King Crimson
One of the first ever progressive rock bands, King Crimson lead to the sound that Rush and other acts made mainstream.
Before the lineup began to change heavily, the band’s first two albums, “In the Court of the Crimson King” and “In the Wake of Poseidon” both cracked the top 10 in the U.K.
Motörhead
Lemmy Kilmister’s heavy band, which has sold more than 15 million albums, helped kill the new wave sound of the 1980s.
Their signature sound also paved the way for speed metal and influenced numerous successful hard rock bands.
Nine Inch Nails
Trent Reznor could be in by himself, let alone with Nine Inch Nails.
His band has had five of their albums peak in the top three spots on the charts. They’ve always been ahead of their time, since 1989’s “Pretty Hate Machine.’
Nine Inch Nails are pioneers of the electronic-rock sound that is now common. Add them to the list of influential ’80s and ’90s bands that have waited too long to have their day in Cleveland.
That’s all not scratching the surface of Reznor’s top-notch work on soundtracks, which earned him an Academy Award in 2010 for the score of “The Social Network.”
Pixies
The Pixies were one of the first bands to nail the loud-quiet-loud song structure that almost all rockers after them have used.
One of Kurt Cobain’s favorite bands, the Massachusetts four-piece were monumental in the early alternative rock movement that helped bands like Weezer, The Strokes and Blur hit it big.
Radiohead
A band as important as Radiohead should be first-ballot hall of famers.
Thom Yorke and company paved the way for 21st-century music with the flawless “OK Computer” in 1997 and exactly a decade later turned the entire industry on its head with the pay-what-you-want release of “In Rainbows.” In between, they dropped “Kid A,” which both Pitchfork and Rolling Stone declared the best album of the decade in 2009.
One day Radiohead will be enshrined, but they are one of the last great rock bands and shouldn’t have to wait. Their “peers” (there’s a strong argument that Radiohead is so good they don’t even have any) Green Day, Pearl Jam and Nirvana all got in on their first year of eligibility.
Rage Against The Machine
Is rap-rock so insufferable as a genre that the hall is taking it out on Rage Against The Machine?
That’s the only explanation as to why RATM isn’t in yet. Sure, they paved the way for forgettable acts like Limp Bizkit, but that’s an unfair legacy for the band behind “The Battle of Los Angeles” and “Evil Empire” (both of which topped the charts in the US) to have. They also have one of the most talented guitarists of this generation in Tom Morello, have heavily impacted politics and in their prime were one of the most explosive live acts around.
Morello, his signature Arm The Homeless custom guitar, Zack de la Rocha and the backing band that was so good they became Audioslave deserve this nod.
The Replacements
Pioneers of alternative rock, Paul Westerberg’s Minneapolis based-band were known for their crazy live shows and Westerberg’s songwriting.
Their albums never charted as well as other notable hall of fame snubs, but the influence “Let it Be” and “Tim” had on rock music (along with the band’s partying ways) are immeasurable.
Todd Rundgren
Todd Rundgren penned some of the biggest hits of the 1970s and 1980s and is a heralded produced and engineer.
His work can be heard on classic albums such as Meatloaf’s “Bat Out of Hell,” Grand Funk Railroad’s “We’re an American Band” and the Band’s “Stage Fright.”
Sonic Youth
Yet another band whose albums did not perform particularly well in the U.K. or U.S., New York City rockers Sonic Youth were a large reason alternative rock became mainstream on the east coast.
“Goo” and “Daydream Nation” — the band’s magnum opus — are both recognized as two of the most influential records towards alternative and indie rock.
Soundgarden
You’d think this one would be a no-brainer, given the death of the late, great Chris Cornell.
Nirvana and Pearl Jam get the glory but Soundgarden was the first band to hit it big outside of Seattle. Soundgarden was the first band to sign with Sub Pop Records. Soundgarden had the guy with the best vocal range and was the band with the most expansive sound.