15 Greatest Fictional Bands Of All Time

1. Stillwater (from Almost Famous)

Rock Star Mark Wahlberg
DreamWorks Pictures

To quote Stillwater's lead singer (who's played with expert-level gusto by Jason Lee), "I don't think anyone can really explain rock n' roll. Maybe Pete Townsend." But you don't need to be able to explain rock n' roll to be able to appreciate rock n' roll, and to appreciate rock n' roll is to embrace a band like Stillwater.

An amalgamation of every famous band writer-director Cameron Crowe covered during his time with Rolling Stone magazine -- including Led Zeppelin, The Eagles, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and The Allman Brothers -- Stillwater is an idealized version of a hard-working, blue collar band striving to make themselves into legends without realizing they're already icons to some people.

It's not the sexiest idea to base your fictional band around, but if you can't appreciate the majesty of their story -- and the epic, muscly riffs and soaring vocals featured in their tunes -- then you'll never understand how rock n' roll can save the world.

Best Song: "Love Thing"

Yeah, "Fever Dog" gets all the love, but the huge-sounding main riff of "Love Thing" proves that having Peter Frampton co-write the songs for Almost Famous was the greatest decision Crowe could have made.

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Jacob is a part-time contributor for WhatCulture, specializing in music, movies, and really, really dumb humor.