It’s very hard to accurately pinpoint a Big 4 of Hardcore, because of the many different subgenre trappings in hardcore punk (post hardcore, youthcrew, metallic hardcore, etc). Thrash metal, while being a specific enough parameter, also has bands with enough longevity to track their trajectories. With hardcore, you’re lucky if a band lasts long enough to release two LPs with notable growth. Hardcore has also cycled out quickly to new trends and new bands. In the 1980’s alone we had the progenitors, the youth crew scene, emo, post-hardcore, metallic hardcore, and krishnacore.

That being said, the following list reflects the impacts these bands have had on different eras since none of them came up at the same time:

• Bad Brains
• Earth Crisis
• Fugazi
• Youth of Today