The most influential album of all time?!

The most influential album of all time?

I don't quite agree with all the rock critics that it's Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, in fact I'd say that album almost killed rock 'n' roll by bringing about so many "serious artists" and prog rock, when really that's not what rock needed. The next biggest answer would probably be some Led Zeppelin album, which I think as many people have directly copied as have been influenced by, I mean if you could get copyright on a voice Robert Plant could sue half the generic bands that came after.

So how 'bout some good stuff? Of course this is pretty subjective, but I'd say something like "The Velvet Underground & Nico" or "White Light/White Heat" has had at least as much influence as either of the aforementioned bands. They say you can hear the Velvets' influences in all alternative rock, I believe it. Other world shakers include Stooges s/t (punk, heavy metal, hard rock, alternative, you can make a case for influence on all those) or Ramones s/t or Never Mind The Bollocks

2 weeks ago
You could also make a case for the Clash being one of the most influential bands, but the Velvets, Pistols, Ramones and Stooges were all before their time and were creating something entirely new, whereas the Clash just took an already existing genre and perfected it, although they did arguably do the whole ska thing first.

2 weeks ago
Never Mind has ushered in another era, but the Velvet Underground & Nico has been doing it it for 40 years, and the influence the Ramones and Sex Pistols had on punk and alternative can't be overstated either.

1 week ago
I like the Beatles, I own two of their albums and plan on buying more after I buy other things I like more, but I still think they get a little too much credit. Making rock/pop "something serious" never seemed like such a great thing to me. I've always kind of thought rock was best when done by a bunch of young upstart kids who wanted to make loud noise and piss off the old folks and have fun. Which is basically the entire first generation type stuff (Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Elvis etc.) and garage rock/psychedelia of the 60's, and punk, and much of the wide body of music people call classic rock. Excuse my vulgarity but that's some good s**t. Anyways, I think their most lasting influence has been their poppy rocky sound, which isn't the most unique thing honestly. I freely admit its my opinion and I'm very occasionall wrong, sometimes, I guess. And I'm sorry my list was a little punk centric, but in my defense the Velvets influeced lots of things just in their utter unique-ness.

1 week ago
To the last answer, of course I like Elvis! I probably should have mentioned one of his, you're right.

At Last Someone Else Agrees That Sgt. Peppers Isn't The Most Influencial Album In The World! I Agree With You 100% That The Velvet Underground & Nico Is More Influencial. I Don't Have Anything Against The Beatles But I'm Sick Of All The Credit Those Guys Get. Sure They Were Original, Sure They Were Innovative But They Weren't The Only Ones! I Can't Find The Words To Describe The Genius, The Art And The Sheer Beauty Of The VU. Wonderful Musicianship, Intense Lyrics - And They Were Never Commercially Successful During Their Time. But Did That Matter? No. Because As Brian Eno Pointed Out, Almost Every Person Who Bought Their Debut Record Was Inspired To Start A Band Of Their Own. If That's Not Influencial, I Don't Know What Is. If The VU Were Given The Recognition They Deserved They Could Have Been Equally Successful, If Not More So, As The Beatles. And Your Right, They Have Largely Influenced All Alternative Music. The Ramones, The Stooges, The Clash And The Pistols Were All Very Influencial To The Punk Genre Which Later Influenced Hardcore, Metal And Emo So They Have To Be Given Some Credit Too. The There's The Rolling Stones And Zeppelin Who Perfected The Sound Of Rock & Roll, And Bob Dylan Whose Songwriting Will Remain Eternal. There Can Never Be One Most Influencial Album Of All Time, There Are Just Too Many Artists Who Contributed An Awesome Amount Of Talent. But If I Had To Choose One, It Would Be The Velvet Underground & Nico.