And thats Maiden... i fully agree

Man hard choices but I gotta go with Sabbath

you cant deny the pure tecnique of ACDC's Angus Young 2nd Place Iron Maiden 3rd Sabath 4th Kiss

What about Floyd, Old VH, Hendrix, Bowie? I'd be interested in seeing a larger list poll but this is interesting.

But yeah hands down maidens leads and melody are above the rest followed by sabath as my number 2 out of the list which it looks so far is the majority votes. Glad to see kiss with o votes although when i was a kid i did listen to them....but my tastes were musically stupid until i hit high school and started listening to real music. LOL..just kidding to all you kiss fans...

KISS were the mass marketing monster. and certainly the biggest draw worldwide of the groups listed. they pretty much owned the 70's. but certainly they were all about being a big show. they were the circus that came to town....

black sabbaths' influence will forever be felt. Iommi wrote all the riffs. those that followed simply re-worked them. they certainly made the biggest impact on heavy metal. and they certainly were a pretty big act in the 70's as well.

AC/DC has made a living re-working the same song over and over. but it's a really good song(lol). pretty much a straght up blues based hard rock band writing songs that reflect the fun in life. nothing too serious. great to just party to. and has there ever been an album as huge as back in black. last year(2007), that album sold 2 million units. and that's 27 years after it's release. that's unheard of. a really incredible stat. now that's lasting power.

Iron Maiden made their biggest mark in the 80's. kind of the odd ball out on this list. serious musicians writing much more serious minded music. allthough they never really had the big hits that the other bands had, they were and are still quite formidable. and they have a hardcore following that will stay with them til the end. great showmanship as well. along with Boston Judas Priest and Thin Lizzy, they embodied the best of the twin guitar attack..........

I live in England and the music here has always suffered the corporate money making machine, we did not really get the kiss phenomenon here, which is a shame.

I had to go with Maiden first but AC/DC is a REALLY close second but cause they have a style and sound that is all their own! As big an influence as Sabbath had, I never really listened to them all that much but I like the songs I've heard (though I've heard Iron Man and Paranoid a few too many times). And I never really got into the KISS craze.