Fan Poll: 5 Best Supergroups of All Time | Revolver

Fan Poll: 5 Best Supergroups of All Time

Find out who you picked as the superest of them all
down GETTY 2013, Will Ireland/Classic Rock Magazine/Future via Getty Images/Future via Getty Images
Down, 2013
photograph by Will Ireland/Classic Rock Magazine/Future via Getty Images/Future via Getty Images

Supergroups. They always sound so cool. Your favorite artists from your favorite bands joining forces like a musical Voltron to make magic. It so rarely actually works out. That mysterious creative alchemy required for a band to succeed is too often missing. Egos clash. Visions diverge. But then, other times, somehow, it all comes together perfectly. We asked you to pick the single greatest supergroup of all time, and you came back with great selections. Among the runners-up in the final tally: S.O.D., the Damned Things, Wear Your Wounds, Hesitation Wounds and Serpentine Dominion. But the cream of the crop? See the top five vote-getters below.

5. Killer Be Killed

On paper, this never should have worked — one band with three high-profile, powerhouse vocalists. But somehow it fuckin' does work — and really fuckin' well. Featuring Sepultura and Soulfly icon Max Cavalera, Dillinger Escape Plan's frontmaniac Greg Puciato and Mastodon singer-bassist Troy Sanders (plus, on drums, originally, At the Drive-In's Dave Elitch, and then, Converge's Ben Koller), Killer Be Killed manages to mash together elements of its constituents' more-famed projects into something catchy, crushing and shockingly cohesive. From top to bottom, the band's self-titled debut is straight fire; we can only hope that rumors of a forthcoming follow-up are legit.

4. Fantômas

A cult favorite for good reason, Fantômas are an avant-metal supergroup full of dudes from other supergroups. Man of a thousand voices Mike Patton (Faith No More, Mr. Bungle, Tomahawk and too many other projects to name here). Drummer Dave Lombardo (Slayer and too many other projects to name here). Guitarist Buzz Osborne (Melvins, Venomous Concept). Bassist Trevor Dunn (also of Mr. Bungle and Tomahawk). The band's four studio albums, two live recordings and numerous splits and singles are all as weird and wonderful as you would hope from that lineup, and live onstage, they blew minds.

3. Audioslave

How do you replace a frontman as incendiary as Zack de la Rocha? For one, you don't. For two, you enlist Chris Cornell, grunge giant with Plantian pipes. If Audioslave's self-titled debut came across a little too much like a mash-up of Rage Against the Machine and Soundgarden, the band defined their own identity on its two follow-ups, Out of Exile and Revelations, introducing elements of funk, soul and R&B into their sleek, hard-rock onslaught. Tom Morello has said there's unreleased material sitting in a vault somewhere; no word on whether we'll ever get to hear it.

2. Velvet Revolver

Spearheaded by Guns N' Roses' Slash, Duff McKagan and Matt Sorum, this then-yet-to-be-named band embarked on an exhaustive search for a vocalist, a process that was documented by VH1. They eventually landed their white whale, Scott Weiland, who had originally declined to audition for the group while his main outfit, Stone Temple Pilots, was still active. Dubbed Velvet Revolver, a perfect moniker for their glammy, dangerous sound, the supergroup won a Grammy for 2004's "Slither," and during their six-year run, left an enduring mark on the rock landscape.

1. Down

Really, could any band other than Down land at the No. 1 spot here? We think not. The all-star southern sludge collective boasts a sound as massive and monumental as its lineup, a roster filled out in its most classic incarnation by Pantera's Philip Anselmo, Corrosion of Conformity's Pepper Keenan, Crowbar's Kirk Windstein and Eyehategod's Jimmy Bower, assisted by a revolving cast of bass players: Crowbar's Todd Strange, Pantera's Rex Brown, Goatwhore's Pat Bruders. The band's seminal debut, NOLA, turns 25 later this year, making now an ideal moment to crown them the superest supergroup of them all.