Top 1000 Bands #20-#11

20 - Queens Of The Stone Age - Among the best bands at the moment, Queens has only released a handful of albums to date, but each seems to get better than the last. The band's stoner rock sound is one of the few truly unique sounds to develop in the past ten years, with it's hazy vocals and intense guitar work.

19 - Johnny Cash - Easily the best country performer of all-time, Johnny Cash was one of the greatest performers of all-time and a brilliant songwriter who effortless oozed cool at all times through his career and ended on the highest note possible, with his cover of Nine Inch Nail's "Hurt" as part of the American series of covers and new material.

18 - The Pixies - The most influential indie rock band of the 80's, The Pixies were critically acclaimed but mostly unknown during the band's active run only to become insanely popular after their break-up thanks to positive mentions from alt-rock legends like Nirvana and critics who obsess over the band (pitchfork...). Their music was weird but always had strong pop sensibilities that made the music palatable and possibly even radio-friendly if they were given the chance.

17 - Bruce Springsteen - One of rock's most consistent performers, Springsteen kicked off his career in the mid-70's with the goal of writing the great American rock song, a goal he met shortly after with "Born To Run". He became a media sensation with his "Born In the USA" album and is among the most respected performers to this date.

16 - Rage Against The Machine - The best rap metal band of all-time by a mile, Rage Against The Machine merged the blistering lyrics of Zach De La Rocha with the insane guitar work of Tom Morello, who may be the most innovative guitar player since Eddie Van Halen. The band only released three official albums, but there's never going to be a more politically significant band. Put it this way... shortly after the band broke up? Bush took office.

15 - Soundgarden - The third biggest grunge band after the big two (we'll see them later), Soundgarden was basically the offspring of Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin, their music merging bleak and dark themes and sounds with killer solos and wailing vocals. Down On The Upside may be the most underrated album of the 90's.

14 - Tool - The best prog metal band of the 90's and 21st century, Tool takes a long time to put together their albums but when they're ready they're as good as it gets in the modern heavy metal scene. Their lyrics are thick, their guitars are swirling and the combination is usually downright hypnotic.

13 - The Who - Outside of the Beatles and the Stones, no band was bigger or better in the mid 60's than the Who. The Who created the rock opera and the attitude expressed in their early songs was one of the triggers that eventually led to punk rock. The band is also on record with creating many of the greatest songs of the classic rock era as they morphed from a mod British Invasion band in the 60's to a stadium-filling juggernaut in the 70's.

12 - David Bowie - Rock's first true chameleon, David Bowie started out as a straight-forward classic rocker but eventually branched off into glam rock, which led to his famous Ziggy Stardust era, and survived through the 80's and 90's by changing genres as the times changed, cranking out great album after great album.

11 - Elvis Costello - Unlike the rest of the world, when I refer to "Elvis" this is who I'm talking about. Costello is one of rock's finest songwriters and he has an incredible voice to boot. I liked his music in the late 70's and early 80's the best, his punk era, so to speak, but he's changed genres frequently and achieved a lot of success over the decades.