Are we just talking about band that we don't like, because the definition of "seminal" doesn't even come close to some of these bands.
Full concurrence with T&B on that point.

Some of mine:
Black Flag
The Fall (not exactly "despised," but I never got bit by this particular bug, that's for sure)
Muddy Waters
Buddy Guy

alright, i'll be on the next flight to houston

I will be in disguise my Bowie-brainwashed young lady.
You shall not find me at the Sound Exchange, nor at the Soundwaves, nor at the Vinal Edge, nor at the Buffallo Wild Wings tonight watching my beloved Houston Rockets go for 21 wins in a row.

Aw, can't believe someone said the Fall.

Top 10 best bands ever.

I dunno, guess I don't hate many bands. Just the kinda music that preppy 12-15 year old girls listen to like MCR and Fallout Boy.

ok, let's play, once again, "out-indie me".

and i'm not going to mention popular bands everyone loves and i should too, i'm going to name seminal bands.

-iggy pop solo.
-nick cave and the bad seeds (although i do enjoy the occasional song from them).
-the grateful dead
-all post-yardbirds and bluesbreaker bands involving eric clapton.
-the dead boys (i love "sonic reducer" though).

also, i think i only like like 5 songs from london calling and i think rid of me is probably pj harvey's worst album and it would have made an incredible ep.

i cant believe bowie, the fall, pavement, and black flag were mentioned. well maybe bowie, he annoys me sometimes, but i love some of his stuff too. but the fall is the most proflic and excellently consistent band ever, 35 years into their carrer (well, technically, his), and mark e smith is still writing great songs. pavement's catalog is near perfection too, and fucking black flag???? jesus christ, they arguably gave us hardcore punk rock!

I can believe The Fall. Mark E Smith can be a wanker sometimes.

I don't really like Nirvana, though I don't hate them.

Mmm Nirvana were way overrated, but still good. I think Nevermind is a really average album, while In Utero kicked a lot of ass.

"It's not the band I hate / it's their fans" (Sloan, 'Coax Me', from Twice Removed, 1994)

Actually, I can't think of any I truly hate, or even dislike.

Sometimes I think I like too much music.

Weird. I hardly think of any of what you mentioned as in any way "seminal."

I WILL FIND YOU AND KILL YOU

the dead boys: awesome, certainly not seminal.

Elton John and Billy Joel seminal? We're using a pretty broad interpretation of that term, aren't we.

i hate this fucking word now.

Yeah. Same here.

Me too. It's such a fucking lame word.

it reminds me of "semen", which is not only one of the foulest substances known to man but also one of the most unpleasant words in the english language.

It's wrong. Overused. Incorrectly used. And icky.

and sticky.

It comes from a dicky.

you're oh so clever.
and wonderfully tricky.

Rhyming is so lame.

Lamer than the word seminal.

That doesn't rhyme at all. Get with the game.

i'm sorry i'm lame, please don't place the blame
on me, you see
i was provoked, i was coaxed
into making these rhyming jokes

oh dear, says me
how can this be!?

that last one doesn't quite rhyme
so now i think that it's time to become a mime

Nice... I've blown my wad, though... in a manner of speaking.
My brain's on the nod--I should be sleeping.

i understand
you're an old man
in the morning you'll rise
and eat your bran
and then you'll revise
your retirement plan

HO HO!
look at me go!

I once had a friend whose name was Fred.
We got drunk together and rode laughing on the bus.
I think I'm going to hit the hay, go to bed.
Did you know in England a bundle of hay is a truss?

i'm still out-rhyming you, my friend
and it will be this way until the end

-iggy solo: not only he pushed performance to new extreme levels, he also wrote/co-wrote tons of songs with david bowie, his songs have been used for soundtracks and commercials, the idiot is cited as one of new wave's most influential albums and cited by millions of bands as an influence himself.

-the bad seeds: influenced goth bands since their first album, helped the resurgence of the murder ballad, helped popularize einstürzende neubauten for a new audience.

-the grateful dead: helped with the adoption of country into rock, popularized the jam band concept, long shows, improvisation, personified hippiedom for thousands, inspired phish and all those craptastic bands, spawned a guitar hero adored by generations, probably the first band fans would follow on tour, seminal to bootleg trading.

-a) cream: popularized the power trio format and long form improvisation, first band of rock musicians to be "virtuosos", one of the first bands to have a poet as a lyricist.
b) derek and the dominos and blind faith: some of the first bands to be called "supergroups".
c) clapton solo: first rock dinosaur to adopt reggae, one of the first solo guitarists to achieve stardom.

-the dead boys: arguably not seminal, if seen as just another garage band in a long sucession since the 60's; yet many punk bands still consider them the epitome of punk itself and influential to their attitude (as generic as it was). maybe this one is not clearly seminal but probably the most boring band out of that scene.

seminal is a synonym for influential, its not a weird word at all, but yes it does sound like semen, hehehe

the dead also probably are responsible for rave, in that their shows were at big outdoor fields where a buncha young folks (and later, pathetically old folks) get out of their heads on psychedelic drugs and dance to dumb music. i actually enjoy some of the deads improv live stuff though, and ive been to raves, im not pretentious enough to say i dont like eating a buncha ecstasty and dancing with dumb girls holding glow sticks, its pretty liberating. im a retard i know.

That's actually where the word comes from.

the jam
the clash
the smiths
david bowie
elvis costello

i was going to say elvis costello too, but he doesn't really figures as a very seminal figure, he's more like an interpreter of songs, like michael bolton, except he sings his own shitty songs.

yeah, he's not really seminal but he annoys the fuck out of me

Thirded.