Thank you for your post about Judas Priest and heavy metal, tlr. You know a lot more about them than I do and as my knowledge of their music was quite sketchy I did not realise about their range of different styles. I learnt a lot about their music and style from your comments and I am very happy to include them in my final list, I can see that they are quite distinct from Sabbath and Iron Maiden. Your point about not necessarily including just one band from a particular movement is also very fair, especially as the examples you cited were all on my original list!
Blue Oyster Cult are a pretty cool band (Don't Fear The Reaper is one of the best songs in rock history IMO - it's got great music, great lyrics and great vocals, as well as an interesting twist on a common central theme, and is brilliant from start to finish), so I'd quite like to include them as well.
My other current thoughts (I hope to finalise the list in the next two days if not before):
- The cases for Living Colour and 10cc are probably a bit weak compared to most of the others listed. I think it's unlikely I will include either.
- I am leaning towards not including the Grateful Dead. I get the impression they are more popular with critics than with music fans.
- I could perhaps justify including one of The Red Hot Chili Peppers and Green Day, probably the former, but not both. It is more difficult to judge the status of modern bands than classic ones.
- Jethro Tull was my own suggestion, not by anyone else, so I think we can live without them in the game.
- I think the five bands AG95 listed are all good candidates although they all lean towards hard rock and heavy metal. Representing all genres isn't essential but I think another band with a different style may be desirable (ELP as another pure prog band, or the glam/art rock style of Roxy Music). I think this may be me simply trying to over-correct for my own bias towards rock as a genre though. I wouldn't mind having the five you suggested to round off the list though if no one else feels strongly about any of the other candidates.
Removing Tull, 10cc, Living Colour, the Dead and one of the Chili Peppers or Green Day from consideration would reduce the selection process to a choice of 5 from 11, which seems a bit more straightforward (famous last words...).
I've tried to identify any obviously vulnerable bands in the 43 to maybe give another of these bands a chance although I think I might a bit blinded by this stage as I gave some thought to including all of these artists in their own right in the first place. Decisions, decisions...