There’s a pretty big chance that even if hardcore isn’t your main thing, you’ve at least heard of Cro-Mags. And if you haven’t? Well, you’ve definitely heard bands that have. From metal to rock to punk and beyond, countless artists—some sounding nothing like them—still namecheck Cro-Mags, Bad Brains, or Minor Threat as game-changing influences. These are the bands that didn’t just shape a genre—they rewired how people think about music, and how they create it.