By shelz.

Many albums drop every Tuesday so it’s generally presumptuous to suggest a top ten anything.  But while scores of women have put their imprint on the rock realm, ten is all I have space for.  Whether they front otherwise all man bands or stand alone as powerhouse solo artists, these women have influenced the course of music and have captured the ears and imaginations of millions. 

When Nickelback’s Chad Kroeger said, “We all just want to be big rock stars,” he wasn’t just talking about dudes. All of these women kick ass in a male driven industry that regularly presents the fairer sex as tarts for the taking. So power up the amp and get ready for the femme aural assault because we’re about to talk about the house that Boogie Woogie built and some of the ladies who run it.

Joan Armatrading

I’m sure that you were thinking all of those folk-rock princesses of the last ’90’s came up with that concept all by themselves.  Or that Tracy Chapman developed a brand new sound when she dropped her self-titled debut LP.  No, all of them had some help and one of those assists came from Joan Armatrading.  Not only is she one of the most influential artists of her era, she was also the first black female to crack the glass ceiling of the British music scene.

Beth Gibbons – Portishead

No, Portishead isn’t really rock in the traditional sense. But hell, since they created their own genre (Trip-Hop) and are all about dodging labels, I can stick them in any list I want.  The band can be hit or miss, but when they hit, they hit hard.  Odd winding construction with strange effects play backdrop to Beth Gibbons melancholy sonic theatrics and when it’s on, it’s riveting.  Plus they sampled Isaac Hayes here.  Can’t front on that.

Shirley Manson – Garbage

Even with production heavy hitter and rock God Butch Vig at the helm, Garbage couldn’t quite get over the hump.  That’s until the group signed Shirley Manson up as lead singer after burning through a few male ones. The rest is alterna-electro rock history.  Shirley brought a frosty, sultry delivery and just enough raunch to push the bands hard hitting sound over the edge.

Grace Jones

There doesn’t seem to be a genre Grace hasn’t touched.  And never more was it obvious that she could and would do whatever she wanted when she released her seminal Nightclubbing.  It was an album that offered Bill Withers and Iggy Pop covers sandwiched in between a tango classic and a reggae song. However, when she wasn’t meandering into the ranges of pop, soul, reggae or disco, she was doing experimental rock.  And rock she did.

Courtney Love – Hole

She has always been a miscreant and the whole music-as-catharsis theory didn’t quite work for her.  But before the child custody and drug issues; before her husband blew us all away by blowing himself away, Love was the lead singer and guitarist for a band called Hole.  And from that hole sprung a powerful voice that spoke to lady rage in the most harsh and yes, enjoyable way.  It may not have been cathartic for her, but it sure as hell made a lot of us feel better.

***PART 2***

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