Queen

Personally, my favorite Rock band. Although their golden period can reasonably be identified between 1973 and 1977, with a significant artistic decline related to the trio of albums "Flash Gordon," "Hot Space," and "The Works" (which, despite its great commercial success and undoubtedly more polished than the previous two, remains nothing more than a decent pop rock album) and some sporadic but powerful comebacks (notably with "Innuendo"), Queen remain one of the most influential bands in their genre. Technically very skilled (at times, truly excellent, especially May and Mercury, two real virtuosos), compositionally extremely eclectic (ranging from Hard Rock/Metal to Progressive, from classical and operatic influences to Jazz and Ragtime, from refined Pop to Funk and Dance music, with some scattered ethnic touches here and there) and, during their golden period, also decidedly innovative. This is Queen, a band that simply helped make rock music great.