The greatest rock bands of the 2000s were often on the charts, had millions of fans worldwide, and some of them played to stadium crowds. This didn’t happen so long. Yet, in a commercial sense, this was the last stand of rock music for a while.
All of the exposure rock bands of the 2000s received was a good thing. Being under such a magnifying glass made many groups make terrific singles and landmark albums.
For Alt77’s Top 100 Greatest Rock Bands of the 2000s list, I looked to get a good mix of all of the rock genres popular during that decade. This means that alt-rock, pop-punk, industrial, post-grunge, and, yes, even progressive-rock het a shoutout. It’s only fair.
This is a celebration of the 100 greatest rock bands of the 2000s and the 50 great bands that deserve an honourable mention but didn’t quite make the cut.
Top 100 Rock Bands of the 2000s
1. The White Stripes
The White Stripes wasn’t just a dynamic duo who played blues-rock. There were plenty of those around. No, Meg and Jack White redesigned indie rock music. They thought of it in small but contrasting elements. From their songs, to their general sound, their look and their mythology, The White Stripes was rock music reinvented for the new century.
Once the duo called it a day and the hyped died down, we were left with a series of colossal rock albums. “Elephant” and “White Blood Cells” are some of the best records made around the 2000s. As it turns out, all of the hero-worshipping that accompanied The White Stripes was well warranted.
2. The Strokes
The Strokes were the most successful indie-rock band of the early 2000s in terms of impact and recognition. Blending the sounds of New York luminaries like The Velvet Underground and Television with a keen fashion sense, the quintet’s success seemed nearly instantaneous.
The band’s debut album, “Is This It?” launched a million copycat bands, creating a new interest in guitar music. Predictably, the so-called Garage Rock Revival eventually ran out of steam. But by then, The Strokes were reinventing themselves as a new wave band. Regardless, each time you hear plucky power chords played by people in skinny jeans, it may be because of Julian Casablancas and The Strokes.
3. Radiohead
Radiohead was one of the most talented and inventive alternative bands of the 1990s. But that, seemingly, wasn’t enough. By the early 2000s, the English group was ready to ditch distorted guitars and classic song structures for something all the more experimental. And in many ways, this showed the future for bands of a similarly adventurous spirit.
With the 2000s “Kid A”, Radiohead shocked fans and found a new way off of a gesture labelled by some to be a “career suicide.” By “In Rainbows,” the band was reinventing how the music industry could work. Throughout their second act, all the way through the 2000s and beyond, Radiohead remained the guiding light for forward-thinking rock.
4. Foo Fighters
Foo Fighters promised not to take themselves too seriously in the band’s early days. What else could Dave Grohl do after having drummed in Nirvana, the biggest rock band of the 1990s?
By the 2000s, however, they were graduating to arena rock status. Foo Fighters was now, most often, a serious-minded, dependable band. And they were a reminder of the classic rock groups of the past. Through various setbacks, Grohl and Foo Fighters have maintained their status, and made some strong albums along the way.
5. Weezer
Weezer may be associated, in the eyes of many, with the 1990s alt-rock boom. But, really, by the 2000s, Rivers Cuomo and the band had finally come to terms with their role in the rock music food chain. If The White Stripes had brought back garage rock and Interpol were responsible for helping revive post-punk, Weezer was doing the same for cheerful power-pop.
Weezer released many great albums during the 2000s, including “Weezer (The Green Album)”, “Maladroit and “Weezer (The Red Album)”. And while those sold less than their predecessors, with hindsight, it’s not a stretch to talk of Cuomo as one of the most important rock songwriters of the 2000s.
6. Arctic Monkeys
Arctic Monkeys was so hyped upon the arrival of the band’s debut album that music fans couldn’t be blamed if they’d already formed a clear idea of the Sheffield group before they’d even heard it. A closer inspection, however, revealed the marvellous wit of Alex Turner’s lyrics and a band that played indie-rock with an intensity that was beginning to go missing.
“Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not” remains Arctic Monkeys’ piece de resistance. Their future two releases cemented their reputation across Britain in the 2000s. Meanwhile, the 2010s were beckoning with a new sound and international success.
7. System of a Down
Many didn’t know what to make of System of a Down upon first hearing them. The band played a hyper-energized mix of alt-metal, classic rock, and traditional Armenian folklore. They were ambitious but had a sense of humour. Their sound was violent, but they were staunchly opposed to war. By the time the world had gotten over their initial shock, System of a Down was one of the biggest rock bands in the world, having sacrificed none of their quirks to get there.
8. TOOL
TOOL is the most influential progressive rock band of the 2000s. Their music was treated with the seriousness reserved for works of philosophy and The French Revolution.
But it’s unclear whether singer James Maynard Keenan and the rest of TOOL were taking things as seriously. Like System of a Down, humour was part of the equation. What was clear was that TOOL could produce their tense, dynamic alt-metal sound better than almost anyone. Albums like “Lateralus” and “10,000 Days” placed them on a pedestal impossible to get knocked down from.
9. blink-182
blink-182, in many ways, owned rock music in the early 2000s. This wasn’t only because the band’s sound was catchy and fun. And, it wasn’t only because Mark Hoppus, Tom DeLonge and Travis Barker were charismatic and relatable.
blink-182 knew when to pivot. By “Take Off Your Pants and Jacket”, their sunny pop-punk had incorporated elements of emo rock. Their self-titled 2003 album, which lasted for a while, further made the leap into melancholy-fueled rock. They then went away for the rest of the decade, making blink-182’s status even greater.
10. Green Day
Green Day had brought pop-punk to the mainstream in the early 1990s. But they had to suffer the indignity of playing second-fiddle to blink-182 or Sum 41 during the late 2000s. What wretched for Billie Joe Armstrong.
By the 2000s, however, Greeny Day was ready for one of the greatest comebacks of all time. “American Idiot” was a punk-rock opera that became a global hit. And their future releases and tours made the rock group even bigger than it had been during its original run.
11. Deftones
Deftones was always lumped in with the nu-metal crowd. But in many ways, the band was an anomaly. No other group of the era, understood dynamics better than Chino Moreno’s band. Where their peers were predictable, Deftones were subtle and surprising. “White Pony” is one of the most influential rock albums of the 2000s.
12. Red Hot Chili Peppers
Red Hot Chili Peppers had run out of steam during the mid-90s. The unexpected return of mercurial guitarist John Frusciante turned 1999’s “Californication” into a juggernaut of an album. That’s how, by the 2000s, RHCP was equipped to take over the world once again, one stadium at a time. The songs from albums like “By The Way” were inescapable, and the California group strutted after their reacquired success.
13. Audioslave
Audioslave was initially dubbed to be merely a “supergroup.” The term carried negative connotations that Chris Cornell and the instrumental section of Rage Against the Machine were quick to shake off. Audioslave’s debut is one of the best of the decade, with Cornell’s heralded singing at a career peak. The band made two more albums and promptly split up. But like other rock groups on the list, Audioslave’s greatness is mostly felt through their absence.
14. The Libertines
The Libertines started as Britain’s answer to The Strokes. Singers-guitarists Peter Doherty and Carl Barat never hid that. Still, before long, the band was writing about what they knew – the British way of life. These great songs and the chaos that always seemed to surround the band made them one of the more interesting indie-rock groups at the time. The fact that their initial run was short also felt cut from the way classic British rock bands did things.
15. Korn
Korn remade heavy rock in their own image. The only problem was that many other bands copied that image. While Korn had plenty of rivals by the early 2000s, like Limp Bizkit or Linkin Park, many fans still preferred the original blend. Free from the burden of having to be the innovators, Korn made albums like “See You on The Other Side” and solidified their role in the rock music landscape.
16. Queens of the Stone Age
Queens of the Stone Age brought the sounds of desert rock and stoner to the charts in the 2000s. It was allowed to the experience that guitarist-singer Josh Homme acquired playing in bands like Kyuss. Their first couple of albums made QotSA the critics’ darlings. But, with a cast of top-class musicians, 2002’s “Songs for the Deaf” became the hit Homme was earned. Future albums didn’t exactly innovate on the formula but cemented the rock band’s reputation.
17. Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam was the last surviving Seattle grunge band of The Big Four. The demise of Nirvana, Alice in Chains, and Soundgarden had something tragic about it. This was why Pearl Jam during the 2000s did things their way, usually avoiding overexposure. The group became one of the biggest touring attractions in the U.S., and albums like “Riot Act” proved that Pearl Jam was still running on a full tank of fuel.
18. Linkin Park
Linkin Park achieved success quickly but earned respect slowly. To some rock fans, they were the latest nu-metal group to make it big in the early 2000s. The band’s fame and record sales were colossal. But after the group pulled further away from the phenomenon of “Hybrid Theory” and incorporated more innovative musical elements, critics began to respect Linkin Park and, especially, singer Chester Bennington’s vocal ability.
19. The Mars Volta
The Mars Volta positioned itself as the wildest, most daring rock band of the 2000s. In many ways, the musicians were right. Led by former At the Drive-In members Cedric Bixler-Zavala and Omar Rodriguez Lopez, The Mars Volta created sprawling concept albums filled with cryptic lyrics and music that incorporated Latin rhythms and avant-garde strategies. Looking back on their output during the 2000s, there are few bands with which The Mars Volta deserves comparisons.
20. Animal Collective
Animal Collective was a rock band that could’ve only begun during the 2000s. Taking the queue of The Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson and moving the sunny, beach-soaked melodies into even more bizarre territory, Animal Collective created a new kind of psychedelic rock. At times childlike and playful, at times dark and unsettling, the band reached its peak with 2009’s “Merriweather Post Pavilion.” Enough to warrant a place among the greatest rock bands of the 2000s? You bet!
21. LCD Soundsystem
22. Modest Mouse
23. Interpol
24. Wilco
25. The Dandy Warhols
26. Slipknot
27. Avenged Sevenfold
28. The Killers
29. Kings of Leon
30. The Hives
31. Franz Ferdinand
32. Arcade Fire
33. Muse
34. Incubus
35. The Flaming Lips
36. Vampire Weekend
37. PJ Harvey
38. Fall Out Boy
39. Underoath
40. Yeah Yeah Yeahs
41. The Offspring
42. The Vines
43. Porcupine Tree
44. Kaiser Chiefs
45. Sigur Ros
46. The Black Keys
47. Spoon
48. Simple Plan
49. AFI
50. Phoenix
51. TV on the Radio
52. Sum 41
53. Bright Eyes
54. Jimmy Eat World
55. Dinosaur Jr.
56. Bullet For My Valentine
57. Killswitch Engage
58. Rammstein
59. Paramore
60. Good Charlotte
61. Mastodon
62. Limp Bizkit
63. Panic! at the Disco
64. Velvet Revolver
65. Marilyn Manson
66. Meshuggah
67. Rilo Kiley
68. The Bravery
69. Kasabian
70. Barenaked Ladies
71. Dream Theater
72. A Perfect Circle
73. The Dillinger Escape Plan
74. Coheed and Cambria
75. Placebo
76. Evanescence
77. Opeth
78. Staind
79. Creed
80. Death Cab For Cutie
81. My Chemical Romance
82. Shinedown
83. Seether
84. Our Lady Peace
85. Oasis
86. Trivium
87. 3 Doors Down
88. Godsmack
89. Papa Roach
90. Puddle of Mudd
91. The Fratellis
92. Rise Against
93. Three Days Grace
94. The National
95. Billy Talent
96. Nickelback
97. The Brian Jonestown Massacre
98. The Gaslight Anthem
99. P.O.D
100. The Darkness
Make sure that you check out Alt77’s playlist dedicated to The Greatest Rock Bands of the 2000s
If you’re looking to plunge yourself deeper into the waters of rock music, check out our related articles. You may be interested in our articles about The Greatest Albums of the 1990s, The Greatest indie-rock artists and bands of all time, or The Greatest Alternative Rock Songs of the 1990s.
Honorable Mentions
101. Snow Patrol
102. King Tuff
103. Drowning Pool
104. The Von Bondies
105. Aerosmith
106. 30 Seconds To Mars
107. New Found Glory
108. Sufjan Stevens
109. Lifehouse
110. U2
111. Skillet
112. Nightwish
113. Alice in Chains
114. The Fray
115. Hatebreed
116. The All-American Rejects
117. The Black Dahlia Murder
118. Breaking Benjamin
119. Stone Sour
120. OK Go
121. Shadows Fall
122. Yellowcard
123. Symphony X
124. Lamb of God
125. Metallica
126. Bloc Party
127. Hoobastank
128. Switchfoot
129. HIM
130. Daughtry
131. Zebrahead
132. Maroon 5
133. Disturbed
134. The Kooks
135. Death from Above 1979
136. MGMT
137. Yo La Tengo
138. The Thermals
139. The Shins
140. The Hold Steady
141. The Postal Service
142. The Walkmen
143. Wolfmother
144. The Decemberists
145. Between the Buried and Me
146. The Rapture
147. Gojira
148. Tegan and Sara
149. Metric
150. Editors
