The Best Fictional Rock Bands Of All Time

In "Singles," a group of 20-somethings in a Grunge-era Seattle apartment block try to navigate life and love. But the love story — though excellently told (according to Rotten Tomatoes) — almost takes a back seat to the '90s alt-rock content, complete with all the flannel shirts, unwashed long hair, Rasta beanies, and yarling, angsty vocals played over distortion-heavy riffs you could possibly ask for.

The movie came out in 1992 when Nirvana had only just become a household name. But this movie was no cash grabby attempt to capitalize on an emerging trend. It was lovingly made by people who clearly understood and appreciated the "Seattle sound" and its associated worldview. A big part of that might be due to the fact that the members of Citizen Dick — the fictional Grunge rock band protagonist Steve Dunne (Campbell Scott) plays in — are portrayed by Pearl Jam members Stone Gossard, Jeff Ament, and Eddie Vedder (per IMDb), all still riding high off the previous year's landmark, hit-packed Grunge record, "Ten." And of course, the whole movie is filled to bursting with Grunge classics, always playing on a loop in the background, as well as cameos from the dudes in Alice In Chains. 

But Citizen Dick is the real (fake) deal. Say what you will about the name of their main featured song, "Touch Me I'm D***," but we bet money you'd mistake it for a genuine alt-rock tune if you just happened to stumble across it on the radio.

The band, the movie, the play it was adapted from, and the book that accompanied it all share the same name here. It's the story of a transgender East German woman, Hedwig (John Cameron Mitchell, who wrote and directed the movie and penned the book), who funnels her rage at being marginalized as queer in Communist, late Cold War East Germany into some heavy punk riffs and appropriately angry lyrics. The fact that her former student, Tommy Gnosis, steals her songs and makes it big while she's still toiling away in clubs only adds to her understandable frustration.

The movie wasn't the biggest hit ever, but critics were fans. Rotten Tomatoes gave the movie a stratospheric approval rating and suggested the film might go on to become the next "Rocky Horror Picture Show" due to its "emotional poignancy." But we're here for the music. Understandably, the 2001 movie wouldn't have been nearly as well received if the band at the center of the story was the creative product of people who didn't understand the punk lifestyle and attitude.

Check out "Angry Inch" if you don't believe us. Then head to the comments. "John Cameron Mitchell just pours sooooo much energy into charisma into portraying Hedwig," one commenter noted. "Also so many bangers in this beast!" Meanwhile, another viewer wrote, "I wanna make a band like this for reals."

First, the bad parts. Box Office Mojo says that "The Rocker," the 2008 musical comedy in which this fictional '80s hair metal band can be found, was a major box office bomb despite boasting a seriously impressive ensemble cast that would make "The Departed" jealous (Rainn Wilson, Emma Stone, Josh Gad, Jason Sudeikis, Will Arnett, Jane Lynch, Christina Applegate, Bradley Cooper, and Fred Armisen all perform). Critics didn't love it either, hitting it with a disappointing 41% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Inside the world of the movie, these dudes are hard to root for. The whole story happens because Vesuvius kicks out Rainn Wilson's character, Fish, their original drummer, in order to secure a record deal and the opening slot on an upcoming tour with Whitesnake in 1986. At the end of the movie, after Fish's new band, A.D.D. (which might've made this list if it weren't for their lousy name), opens for Vesuvius, the glam rock superstars get caught lip-syncing and are promptly booed off the stage. For shame, guys. For shame.

That all being said, box office success, critical approval, and likable characters who rock with integrity are not requirements to land on this list. Writing great tunes, though, is. Luckily for Vesuvius, who lived up to their name by imploding spectacularly, they knew a thing or two about writing some certified '80s rock bangers. Look no further than "Promised Land." Hard to argue these guys conquered the world of rock with dumb luck.

Interestingly, a group of the same name did indeed exist at the same time, and Rolling Stone magazine says they had a minor hit and were labelmates with the Allman Brothers Band. But the Stillwater we see in 2000's "Almost Famous" bore little resemblance beyond the name, so they qualify for placement here.

In the movie, 15-year-old prodigy William Miller lands a sick gig interviewing '70s rock bands for Rolling Stone magazine. The main one he — and by extension, we — get to spend time with is Stillwater. Young William gets into all the predictable hijinks you associate with the kinds of early '70s, long hair and mustache bands — groupies, psychedelics, long stretches on a tour bus. Roger Ebert gave the coming of age film top marks, said it was a wonderful movie that had him hugging himself, and listed it as one of the best films of the entire decade. But the band itself is great independent of the movie.

Just listen to "Fever Dog," an original song written for the movie that perfectly captures the hard rock sound that made groups like Led Zeppelin famous in that period. "Fever Dog is such a killer tune," one viewer wrote. "I wish Stillwater were a real band." Another commenter said they were "the best-imagined band ever." We guess that's what you get when a rock legend like Heart's Nancy Wilson gets to write the songs (as detailed by Loudersound).

Yeah, they're middle schoolers. But they're not just any 8th graders — they're prep school kids with the best musical education their filthy rich parents could buy. Which means that there is plenty for destitute non-rock star Dewey Finn (Jack Black) to work with once he faked his way into a substitute teaching gig in order to pay rent and decides to turn them into a rock band instead.

Thing is, he doesn't just see technical prowess in them. He sees anger. Anger at their demanding parents and all the rules and expectations forced on them. Anger at being forced onto life paths that don't interest them. Anger that can be channeled into riffs and beats and lyrics that stick it to the man. All the ingredients you need to rock a crowd. With his experience and an unhealthy level of rock history knowledge and their talent, the battle of the bands competition is theirs for the winning.

Well, they come in second, at least. But they win over the crowd and their stuck-up parents in the process, which seemed impossible earlier that same day. The School of Rock has all the youthful, rebellious energy you could want in a band (what's the word? Stickittothemaniosis?). What's more rock 'n' roll than that?

They might be buffoons, but they're lovable buffoons, and they can play some mean riffs. The namesake of 1984's comedy classic "This Is Spinal Tap" had been superstars for years leading up to the events of the film for a reason. According to the movie, they'd not just survived but thrived since the '60s, first as a skiffle band, then as a psychedelic flower power pop band in the later years of the decade. In the '70s, they experimented with everything from reggae to jazz fusion to progressive rock before settling into the genre that made them legends: heavy metal. Could unskilled musicians tackle so many genres? We think not.

In the movie, the band is a stand-in for all the big-haired, small-brained heavy metal acts that were tearing up L.A.'s Sunset Strip and the Billboard charts at the time. Every silly stereotype you associate with the genre manifests in "This Is Spinal Tap" — a movie that remains the essential parody of metal music and the associated lifestyle. But the songs the band played, from "Big Bottom" to "Hell Hole," are certified early-'80s heavy metal bangers.

It's also worth noting that the band didn't stop with the movie. No, lead singer David St. Hubbins (Michael McKean), Nigel Tufnel (Christopher Guest), Derek Smalls (Harry Shearer), and whichever doomed soul was dumb enough to man the drum kit have played on and off, in real life, for decades.