10 Bands That Invented Their Own Genre

No rock genre exists in a vacuum. Regardless of the amount of creative ingenuity you might have, there's no possible way of making something completely original without borrowing from the artists that have proceeded you. Then again, there are always those few bands that come along that are pretty much singular in their own sound.

Ever since pop music first started, there have been many acts that don't really sound like anything else on the radio. Whether it be because of a strange instrument at play or the sheer craziness of the presentation, these bands certainly got points for originality in their heyday. At the same time, the real power behind these musicians came from what happened afterward. With others picking up where they left off, a lot of these musicians could arguably claim to have started their own subgenre of music. Even if the mass public may not have seen it in the moment, the music world was on the verge of something unprecedented once these guys dented the charts.

You can never really plan out things like this, but genres never are served up to you on a silver platter. It happens when people follow you, and these were the people leading the charge.

At the start of the '80s, the metal scene was still known as a relatively new genre. Though we had bands like Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin leading the charge for what was constituted as being heavy, the first real wave didn't hit until years later when Iron Maiden and Diamond Head started to rear their heads in the hard rock spotlight. Then again, it was only a matter of time before America got in on the action.

Though there were plenty of bands combining the elements of what would become thrash, the core of the genre really comes down to Metallica's debut release on Kill Em All. Across its 10 tracks, this album is pretty much the blueprint for all things thrash metal, down to the crunchy riffs and growling vocals from James Hetfield. Never before had metal congealed with punk this easily, with songs that sounded like they were indebted as much to Motorhead as the Ramones.

Also, it doesn't hurt that we ended up getting another legendary thrash band out of the deal when Megadeth launched their debut just a few years later to out-do Metallica at their own game. As it stands though, everyone from Anthrax to Exodus to Testament probably wouldn't be where they are today if not for Metallica blazing the trail first. While there had been some crude music before, this is where things got a lot faster, meaner, and a hell of a lot more fun.