POP MUSIC : 20 BANDS THAT MATTER : From hard rock to rap, the music still talks to us with passion and purpose

Rock Losing Its Grip as Other Genres Gain.

That recent headline on a Billboard magazine article documenting rock’s dwindling share of the pop album market was sobering, but it wasn’t unexpected.

It has been clear for some time now that rock is no longer the creative heart of pop music. Rather than reflect the imagination and daring that it did in past decades, most rock deals shamelessly in hollow or recycled gestures--and all too often represents nothing more than casual entertainment. It’s something as easily absorbed and forgotten as movies like “Dick Tracy” and “Robocop 2.”

It was only a matter of time before this dreary condition was reflected in a loss of consumer interest. The cold figures: a drop for rock from 68% market share in 1983 to 56% in 1989.

But if the situation is discouraging, it isn’t hopeless. There are rock bands that still matter--bands that can inspire and stir us the way the great rock forces have over the last three decades.

Here are the 20 bands that matter most in the closing weeks of 1990--bands that tell us, in styles as varied as hard rock and rap, about ourselves and society with the passion and purpose that is found in all great art.

The list is very much a snapshot of the moment--a leadership ranking that can change drastically from season to season as a young band’s early promise sours with a disappointing album or a veteran band suddenly becomes stagnant.

Some of these groups are already assured a nomination in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but they aren’t being cited just for what they have done.

A guideline employed in drafting the list: One of the group’s last two albums must be as good as anything it’s ever done. Hence, the absence of the Rolling Stones. The focus is on bands--not solo artists, which eliminates such major figures as Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young and Sinead O’Connor.

The biggest surprise is the dearth of females on the list. Some groups with women were contenders, including Concrete Blonde, the Cowboy Junkies and Mazzy Star. But the only women on the list are the two Kims: the Pixies’ Kim Deal and Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon.

1 U2-- All I’ve got is a red guitar/three chords/and the truth, Bono Hewson declared in a controversial tag he added to the Irish band’s version of Bob Dylan’s “All Along the Watchtower” on the group’s brilliant “Rattle and Hum” album in 1988. The lines were controversial because detractors of the group saw them as confirmation of what they viewed as a self-righteous attitude on the part of band, whose music represents an extension of the inspirational qualities of Springsteen and the spiritual introspection of Dylan and Van Morrison. One critic even called the tag “messianic.” What was frequently overlooked by the U2-baiters was the line that followed: The rest is up to you. Rather than a celebration of U2’s leadership role, the “Watchtower” tag was a reminder that the real power in rock rests with the audience. More than any rock band in years, U2 aims for the ambition and social activism of ‘60s rock. The pivotal issue explored in “Rattle and Hum”--and facing rock in these early months of the ‘90s--is whether the rock experience, on a mass level, can still reflect the urgency and purpose of that earlier era.

2 Guns N’ Roses--This Los Angeles-based quintet often seems the polar opposite of U2. If U2 is seen as responsible, Guns N’ Roses sometimes appears to border on the irresponsible. If U2 urges us to reach for the loftiest human instincts, Guns N’ Roses takes us on a journey through decadent desires and obsessions. If Hewson speaks of pride in the name of love, Axl Rose welcomes us to the jungle:

We are the people that can find

Whatever you may need

If you got the money honey

We got your disease.

But those isolated lines no more define Guns N’ Roses’ scope than the tag on “Watchtower” defines U2. Unlike the hedonistic excursions of so many hard-rock bands, Rose acknowledges the consequences of indulgence. That’s why “Sweet Child O’ Mine” is such a poignant and effective anthem. Guns N’ Roses always seems to be on the edge of self-destruction, and the pressure to follow up the massive success of “Appetite for Destruction” is immense. But if the next album--due in the spring--does live up to the band’s promise, GNR may step up another level in both artistry and popularity, putting it in place to have the last laugh on those who claimed it was over its head on the bill at the Coliseum last year with the Rolling Stones.

3 Public Enemy--At a time when rap is often portrayed as a rival of rock for both artistic dominance and social relevance in pop, it may seem odd to include a rap group in a rock discussion. But that wall between rock and rap is largely an artificial one--the result of years of conditioning by radio stations whose formats in the ‘70s and ‘80s systematically eliminated country and black artists from rock. The result: a scandalously narrow perception of rock. Half the members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame--from Fats Domino and Little Richard to Otis Redding and the Impressions--would have been considered outsiders under today’s thinking. Public Enemy, in fact, represents today’s most noteworthy link with the urban, black-music tradition of James Brown and Sly & the Family Stone since Prince--and leader Chuck D. may be the most powerful voice of the social outcast since Bob Marley.

4 Stone Roses--Some rock groups take time before they display commanding vision, but many demonstrate enough of a glimmer of greatness in their first albums to stamp them as significant forces: for example the Sex Pistols, Talking Heads, R.E.M. and U2. The Roses, who have yet to tour the U.S., may never make another album as good as their 1989 debut “Stone Roses,” but that collection spoke with a youthful innocence and independence that suggests the Roses are capable of leading more than merely the Manchester, England scene. As independent (and opportunistic) as the Pistols and occasionally as alluring as the Jesus and Mary Chain, the Roses mix some jangly folk-rock and steamy funk, suggesting an equal fondness for the Byrds and Curtis Mayfield.

5 Faith No More--These working-class heroes didn’t seem much like champs-in-the-making when they opened recently for Billy Idol at the Forum. Instead of responding to the indifference of the Idol fans by going all-out to win over the crowd, the San Francisco-area quintet just went through the motions and headed home. Still, “The Real Thing” remains a championship album--the most appealing mainstream hard-rock collection since Guns N’ Roses’ “Appetite for Destruction.” The hit single “Epic” is another reason to have faith in the band. It’s a smartly designed rap ‘n’ metal package that may prove to be the “Satisfaction” of the ‘90s. “Falling to Pieces” is an even more desperate statement of youthful confusion and doubt. Sample lyrics:

Indecision clouds my vision

No one listens . . .

6 The Jesus and Mary Chain--The chances of this British band’s ever catching fire in America appear dim, since its intoxicating blend of sweet, seductive melodies, tormented themes and tenacious guitar feedback hasn’t struck a nerve yet after four magnificent albums. So brothers Jim and William Reid, the creative center of the band, may be destined to be this generation’s Velvet Underground. Their sound has already begun to influence bands from Love & Rockets to the Stone Roses, and the influence is certain to grow.

7 Jane’s Addiction--Led Zeppelin may stand as the biggest hard-rock band ever, but there were nights around Los Angeles when Black Flag--with the heart of a punk band and the brute force of a metal band--would have blown them off the stage. On its best nights, Perry Farrell and his mates in Jane’s Addiction come breathtakingly close to Flag’s intensity and power--adding odd, fascinating layers of arty, psychedelic-accented experimentation to the mix. Farrell, a major artist, seems to have the naive idealism of a child of the ‘60s, and the steely nerve and energy of a ‘90s realist.

8 Los Lobos--Like the Band after leaving Bob Dylan in the ‘60s, this East Los Angeles quintet has created a soulful, thoughtful body of work that speaks of the aspirations and disappointments of a nation in songs that seem at once traditional and contemporary. Los Lobos’ significance isn’t merely that it is the first great band of Mexican-American heritage--though its success might open a door for more bands with that background. More importantly, the group’s success will inspire other bands to strive for the same eloquence of statement and integrity of style. David Hidalgo is one of the most affecting singers in rock, and he and Louie Perez are one of the most gifted writing teams.

9 The Replacements--The biggest question here isn’t whether the Replacements deserve a place on the list, but whether the band, which mixes garage-rock instincts and soulful songwriting character, still exists. By most measures, the recent “All Shook Down,” where the full band played together on only one track, was as much a solo album as Tom Petty’s “Full Moon Fever” or Springsteen’s “Nebraska.” To be honest, this has always been Paul Westerberg’s band, and he matches the haunting, lonely fibers and emotional depth of the group’s album “Tim” more consistently in the new album than in any collection since that splendid 1986 work. On his own or with the Replacements, Westerberg remains a major figure.

10 Metallica--For all practical purposes, Metallica led the metal brigade out of the dark ages and, as Dylan had done for an earlier rock generation, showed that you can write songs about social injustice and staying true to ideals without interfering with the beat--maybe, in fact, even adding to the power of the beat. While this San Francisco-based group doesn’t write with Dylan’s literary edge or irony, it does put a song together better than Zeppelin on most days and it plays with as much or more power than Page and company. “ . . . And Justice for All” was the commercial breakthrough in 1988, but the earlier “Master of Puppets” was more of an artistic landmark.

11 Was (Not Was)--David and Donald Was’ value goes beyond making consistently inventive and entertaining records: Like the Red Hot Chili Peppers, they help us expand our concept of what a rock group is. Just as they freely mix styles (from rap and funk to rock and pop), they also show no hesitancy in reaching outside the group’s repertory company to pull in a singer who can add just the necessary texture to a song. The music can be frightfully funny or deceptively purposeful, but there isn’t a more consistently refreshing pair of record-makers in rock--even if some people don’t think what they do is rock.

12 The Cure--It’s easy to write off this English outfit because it has reached stadium-level popularity and has been serving up moody, “bleak is beautiful” soundscapes for a long time now. But the truth is always in the music, and the last two albums earn the band a place on the list even if the group had never released another note of music. The knock against leader Robert Smith is that his music--especially on last year’s “Disintegration”--is so relentlessly glum that it becomes pretentious. But there’s a consistent tension and struggle in the music--a reaching out for comfort and understanding in a world that doesn’t offer a lot of either. If David Lynch hadn’t met Angelo Badalamenti, he could have turned to Smith for the “Twin Peaks” music.

13 Pixies--The strange thing about this Boston band is that it was hard to tell with last year’s enticing “Doolittle” album whether the mysterious blend of dark lyrics and alluring melodies was a sign of limited craft or of boundless vision. The most intriguing moments suggested that the contrasting emotions were deliberate, a sort of David Lynch-ish look at the terror beneath the tidy surfaces of life. But the arty, adventurous band only compounds the confusion on the new “Bossanova” album, taking a delightful sidestep into generally cheery mainstream pop. Whatever the style, the group exhibits an intelligence and imagination on record that bear monitoring.

14 Fugazi--Beyond Metallica and other bands cited here, Anthrax, Slayer and Suicidal Tendencies are among the bands that will continue to influence the direction of hard-rock in the ‘90s. But Fugazi may be the true revolutionaries: a band that not only has a tough, convincing post-punk sound but a code that assures cut-rate prices for albums and live shows (a $9 limit on albums, backed by a guarantee on the back of the CD in case the record store tries to charge more). The lyrics are often just outbursts layered on top of each other, but there is a steady insistence to the rhythm and a warning against false values. Sample lyric:

“You are not what you own.”

15 R.E.M.--This Georgia band, with its rootsy, neo-Byrds instrumental style and impressionistic vocals, carried the banner of independent rock so proudly and for so long in America that it was disheartening to see the group finally cross over to the mainstream with an album (“Green”) that was thematically vapid. Still, the previous work--the wonderful mood sketches of the earlier albums and the striking political declarations of the “Document” album in 1987--are enough to preserve a place on the list for the group.

16 Living Colour--This fast-rising New York quartet’s place on the list is no more tied exclusively to the fact that its members are African-American than Los Lobos’ place is based on the fact that the majority of its members are Mexican-American. Still, the success of both bands represents an undeniable sociological breakthrough. Though burdened with a stiff vocalist in Corey Glover, Living Colour is blessed with an exceptional guitarist and rock conceptualist in Vernon Reid, whose passionate, slogan-like lyrics raise issues of class and race even more pointedly at times than those of Public Enemy’s Chuck D. Sample lines:

You like our hair

You love our music

Our culture’s large, so you abuse it

Time to understand I’m an equal man.

17 Sonic Youth--Even more relentlessly “alternative” in the ‘80s than R.E.M., this New York outfit followed R.E.M.’s lead and made peace with a major label, but the results were far more encouraging, as it followed up what appeared to be a career high point (1988’s “Daydream Nation”) with an even more accessible album this year (“Goo”). The band was once wildly uneven, living and dying on its guitar etchings and bohemian instincts. Without disregarding either, Youth has discovered pop hooks and enough humor to fill this album with more lighthearted asides than are normally found in a dozen rock albums.

18 Pet Shop Boys--What is this British techno-pop duo doing on a list of essential rock bands? One reason is that the Boys make great singles, whether with their own songs--including “What Have I Done to Deserve This”--or through classy interpretations of other people’s material--such as “Always on My Mind.” The other reason is that pop is as unwelcome on rock station playlists as R&B;, rap and country, though the music historically has been broad enough to include everythng from Bobby Darin and Phil Spector to the Supremes. The Pet Shop Boys’ best music combines modern dance currents with the emotional expanse of Spector and the wry romantic sensibilities of Roxy Music.

19 Soundgarden--Though less boldly original than Jane’s Addiction, Faith No More or Metallica, this young Seattle band may pass them all on the charts and become the arena-rock band of the ‘90s because it has a wider potential fan base. There is a strong aura of electricity surrounding Soundgarden, the first of the acts from the independent Sub Pop Records to go to a major label. Chris Cornell is a sexy lead singer who could win more female hearts than Bon Jovi, and the group’s rhythm section--without losing the hard-core edges that appeal to hard-rock males--plays in a sensual groove that, too, should win a mainstream following. The songs are still a bit hazy, but the other elements are in place.

20 The Waterboys--Mixing the rock-as-inspiration stance of Springsteen and the spiritual quest of Van Morrison, Scotland’s Mike Scott seemed to be on the edge of stardom back in the mid-’80s days of the Waterboys’ “This Is the Sea” album, but he made a dramatic career turn that took him to Dublin and led eventually to a mostly acoustic album of Irish folk-rock, “Fisherman’s Blues.” The themes continued to explore questions of faith and regret, but the music was almost pastoral compared to the grand, arena-minded rock of the earlier days. After a second album in that style, Scott may be ready to return more aggressively to rock. He’s someone with immense musical passion . . . and that next album could be a revelation.