10 Legendary Rock Bands That Aren't In The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame

Ever since it first opened back in the late '80s, the Hall of Fame has been somewhat standoffish when it comes to bringing in heavy metal groups. Although influential acts like Led Zeppelin may have gotten in on their first try, Black Sabbath had to wait nearly a decade of eligibility before being welcomed into the Hall, with Metallica being one of the first major bands to break the walls down after them. For every metal act that has come out since 1980 though, there isn't one lick in their arsenal that doesn't trace back to Iron Maiden.

Arriving right in the middle of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, Maiden is practically the blueprint for what every contemporary metal band was going to sound like, from the galloping riffs from the guitars to Bruce Dickinson's siren like voice leading the charge all the way through. From the devilish artwork to the enhanced drama of their songs, Maiden's songs felt almost symphonic in their construction, taking the grinding riffs of someone like Sabbath and putting them on the same level as classical music.

Metal may have always looked like the ugly stepchild of rock and roll, but Iron Maiden was the first band to actually take those dark tropes and turn them into something a lot more musical than just riffing for the hell of it. You can try to induct the more popular bands like Metallica all you want, but if you had asked someone to picture what the archetypal heavy metal band should sound like, they usually end up describing Iron Maiden half the time.