[The following list just reflects my opinions as of this moment. =) ]
1) Jimi Hendrix - I think I put him here not because of his music specifically, but he was one of the main guys who opened people's eyes to the idea of the guitar as an assault weapon- a gun aimed at the heart of the establishment. Through Hendrix, we came to know guitar driven music that burned, sexualized, and smacked us around.
2) Led Zeppelin - Enter the devil. Led Zeppelin took rock from "flower power" to "glower power". They were dark, sexy, talented, and heavy. At the time, Led Zeppelin was blues fuled death metal. Listening back, it sounds tame to us, but if you view it in the context of the time, these fuckers wer BAD.
3) Van Halen - In the era of the "singer songwriter", when teenagers had nothing to choose from except thoughtful acoustic ballads or comic book comercial rock like KISS, comes Van Halen. They were a swaggering quartet of smoking, drinking, california party rockers that basically said "Fuck You." to boring suburban america, inspiring people to cut the sleeves off their t-shirts, drive too fast, and drink too much. Van Halen kicked rock and roll in the balls and didn't bother to apologize. In the high school establishmentof the modern music industry, they were the bad kids smoking cigarettes in the bathroom and putting their hands up girl's skirts.
4) Metallica- If rock and roll in the 80's was a glittering luxury cruiser of excess and make-up, Metallica was a jet powered cast iron battle cruiser out for blood. They stomped, crushed, and screamed their way to the top, leaving a smoking wake of sonic destruction in their path. Just about every single metal band on the planet today owes a large part it's inlfluence to Metallica.
5) Nirvana - In a world where Air Supply was getting radio play on the rock stations, and rockers wore more make-up than a drag queen on Hollywood Blvd, Nirvana donkey punched everyone back into reality. They reminded us that big corporations suck ass, high school is full of drooling retards and a backwards social ladder, being a primadona yuppy cock was lame, and society in general sucked a certain amount of ass. They did it with heavy, blistering guitar, heart breaking vocals, and an over-all healthy disrespect for everything pretentious.
6) Pantera - Fuck the industry, fuck the board of directors, fuck the next door neighbor, fuck the news, fuck politicians, fuck the status quo, and fuck you. No record industry support, no radio play, no label interest, no prospects... millions in album sales. Pure, destructive honesty at full volume.
7) Rage Against the Machine - What do you call a band that invents its own genre of music, brings real issues of social injustice to the forefront of their image, sells million of albums, and kicks your ass with some of the most mind stomping music you can imagine? You call them legends.
8) The Doors - A dark, counter-culture spanish jazz influenced neo classical rock band on a mad spiritual quest for enlightenment and bliss tears a hole in what people expect out of rock music. Long live the Doors.
9) Pink Floyd - Edgey anti-pop trip space rock that will never be recreated. Some bands are just completely unique and their place in rock history is undeniable.
10) Nine Inch Nails - Out of the mind of a single musician comes a hell storm hurricane of insight, rage, sex, and intrigue. NIN redefined the role of the recording studio in metal music. Unique, loud, offensive, and beautiful, NIN has a special place amongst rock and roll's most dangerous and awesome bands.