Rank these bands according to influence

Prog_Traveller wrote: rogerthat wrote: Kraftwerk is one of the most influential bands in the entire history of recorded non classical/jazz music and not even bands like Nektar and Kansas can hope to approach their influence.  So to suggest that Translatlantic or Spock's Beard should be ranked higher in influence than Kraftwerk defies logic.  I would not claim, as Saperlipopette! did, that bands like Focus or Kansas had no influence of importance on other bands.  But it's a no brainer that Kraftwerk's influence exceeds those bands...easily.  Er, influencing people to rate bands on a prog website does not amount to influencing musicians to derive ideas from a particular band.  What's so groundbreaking about Kansas or Spock's Beard anyway vis-a-vis Kraftwerk?  And with orchestras getting too expensive even by the time they recorded their later albums, Renaissance was never going to be a major influence on other bands because that style demanded a climate in which labels were prepared to burn money on prog with scant returns. Well for one thing I was talking about prog circles but yeah ok Kraftwerk I get it but I still think there's a ton of bands more influential than them in prog circles including Kansas. To be honest I'd even put Tangerine Dream on the list before Kraftwerk. But no f-ing way is Tortoise more influential than SB, TFK or Kansas in PROG circles. That's just crazy talk.

You don't seem to grasp the concept of influence. If a band never pioneered or innovated anything in the first place there's very little chance their music will have significant influence on other performers. Tortoise is more influential to other bands than SB, TFK and Kansas combined. But of course if you don't include PA subgenres such as Progressive Electronic or Post Rock in your PROG circle there's not much point in discussing with you. 

Tons of experimental modern rock bands are in direct depth to Tortoise's works made from the mid-90's -early 00's. (and plenty of them are included on PA). Who are the actual bands and artists inspired by this 1974 debuting prog-related group, or those two backwards looking retroproggers anyway? Can you name ten bands on PA influenced by Kansas? Can you name even a handful inspired by SB and TFK? As Horizon more or less says - its more likely that jus like SB and TFK themselves, most other retroproggers look to the pioneering 70's bands an not their cheap imitations.