Hard Rock

About the Hard Rock genre

Hard rock's earliest signposts appear in mid-1960s recordings like The Kinks' 'You Really Got Me' (1964), The Who's 'My Generation' (1965), and Cream's 'I Feel Free' (1966). The late 1960s brought bands who mixed hard-edged blues rock with acid rock textures: Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Iron Butterfly, and Blue Cheer all contributed to solidifying the genre. Led Zeppelin II (1969) proved a watershed moment for hard rock identity, while Deep Purple's In Rock (1970) and Black Sabbath's self-titled debut (1970) pushed the sound into heavier territory. The Who's Live at Leeds (1970) captured the raw power of early hard rock, and Free's 'All Right Now' brought commercial accessibility to the style.

The 1970s saw hard rock splinter into distinct regional flavors. Deep Purple's Machine Head (1972) bridged hard rock and emerging heavy metal, with 'Smoke on the Water' becoming a signature riff for the genre. Nazareth's Hair of the Dog commercialized Scottish hard rock, while AC/DC's Highway to Hell (1979) reasserted the genre's rhythm and blues roots against the rising heavy metal movement. By the late 1980s, hard rock became America's most commercially reliable form of popular music. Bon Jovi's Slippery When Wet (1986) spent eight weeks at number one and sold 12 million copies, while Europe's The Final Countdown (1986) achieved worldwide chart success, proving hard rock's mainstream dominance.