Hard rock
Encyclopedia
Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music
which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock
, blues rock and psychedelic rock
. It is typified by a heavy use of distorted electric guitar
s, bass guitar
, drums
, and often accompanied with piano
s and keyboard
s.
Hard rock developed into a major form of popular music in the 1970s, with bands such as Led Zeppelin
, Deep Purple
, Aerosmith
, AC/DC
, and Van Halen
, and reached a commercial peak in the mid to late 1980s. The glam metal
of bands like Bon Jovi
and Def Leppard
and the rawer sounds of Guns N' Roses
followed up with great success in the later part of that decade, before losing popularity in the face of grunge
. Despite this, many post-grunge
bands adopted a hard rock sound and in the 2000s there came a renewed interest in established bands, attempts at a revival, and new hard rock bands that emerged from the garage rock and post-punk revival
scenes.
instrument. Drumming characteristically focuses on driving rhythms, strong bass drum and a backbeat on snare, sometimes using cymbals for emphasis. The bass guitar works in conjunction with the drums, occasionally playing riffs, but usually providing a backing for the rhythm and lead guitars. Vocals are often growling, raspy, or involve screaming or wailing, sometimes in a high range, or even falsetto
voice. Hard rock has sometimes been labelled cock rock
for its emphasis on overt masculinity and sexuality and because it has historically been predominately performed and consumed by men: in the case of its audience, particularly white, working-class adolescents.
In the late 1960s the term heavy metal
was used interchangeably with hard rock, but gradually began to be used to describe music played with even more volume and intensity. While hard rock maintained a bluesy rock and roll
identity, including some swing in the back beat and riffs that tended to outline chord progressions in their hooks, heavy metal's riffs often functioned as stand-alone melodies and had no swing in them. Heavy metal took on "darker" characteristics after Black Sabbath
's breakthrough at the beginning of the 1970s, and in the 1980s it developed a number of sub-genres, often termed extreme metal
, which were influenced by hardcore punk
, and which further differentiated the two styles. Despite this differentiation, hard rock and heavy metal have existed side by side, with bands frequently standing on the boundary of, or crossing between, the genres.
In the mid-1960s, American and in particular British rock bands began to modify rock and roll, adding to the standard genre greater blues
influence, harder sounds, heavier guitar riffs, bombastic drumming and louder vocals. Early forms of hard rock can be heard in The Kingsmen
's version of "Louie, Louie" (1963), which made it a garage rock
standard, and the songs of rhythm and blues
influenced British Invasion
acts, including "You Really Got Me
" by The Kinks
(1964), "My Generation
" by The Who
(1965) and "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction
" (1965) by The Rolling Stones
. From the late 1960s it became common to divide mainstream rock music that emerged from psychedelia
into soft and hard rock. Soft rock
was often derived from folk rock
, using acoustic instruments and putting more emphasis on melody and harmonies. In contrast, hard rock was most often derived from blues-rock and was played louder and with more intensity.
Blues-rock
acts that pioneered the sound included Cream
, Jimi Hendrix Experience and The Jeff Beck Group
. Cream, in songs like "I Feel Free
" (1966) combined blues-rock with pop and psychedelia, particularly in the riffs and guitar solos of Eric Clapton
. Jimi Hendrix produced a form of blues-influenced psychedelic rock, which combined elements of jazz
, blues and rock and roll. From 1967 Jeff Beck
brought lead guitar to new heights of technical virtuosity and moved blues-rock in the direction of heavy rock with his band, The Jeff Beck Group. Dave Davies
of The Kinks, Keith Richards
of The Rolling Stones, Pete Townshend
of The Who, Hendrix, Clapton and Beck all pioneered the use of new guitar effects like phasing
, feedback
and distortion
. Even The Beatles
attempted to produce songs in the new hard rock style, trying to create a greater level of noise than The Who, from The Beatles
(1968) (known as the "White Album") onwards, beginning with "Helter Skelter". Some critics have written about its "proto-metal roar", but others have argued that "their attempts at the heavy style were without exception embarrassing".
Groups that emerged from the American psychedelic scene about the same time included Iron Butterfly
, MC5
, Blue Cheer
and Vanilla Fudge
. San Francisco band Blue Cheer released a crude and distorted cover of Eddie Cochran
's classic "Summertime Blues
", from their 1968 debut album Vincebus Eruptum
, that outlined much of the later hard rock and heavy metal sound. The same month, Steppenwolf
released its self-titled debut album, including "Born to Be Wild
", which contained the first lyrical reference to heavy metal and helped popularise the style when it was used in the film Easy Rider
(1969). Iron Butterfly's In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida (1968), with its 17-minute-long title track
, using organs and with a lengthy drum solo, also prefigured later elements of the sound.
By the end of the decade a distinct genre of hard rock was emerging with bands like Led Zeppelin
, who mixed the music of early rock bands with a more hard-edged form of blues rock and acid rock on their first two albums Led Zeppelin
(1969) and Led Zeppelin II
(1969), and Deep Purple
, who achieved their commercial breakthrough with their fourth and distinctively heavier album, In Rock (1970). Also significant was Black Sabbath's Paranoid
(1970), which combined guitar riffs with dissonance and more explicit references to the occult and elements of Gothic horror
. All three of these bands have been seen as pivotal in the development of heavy metal, but where metal further accentuated the intensity of the music, with bands like Judas Priest
following Sabbath's lead into territory that was often "darker and more menacing", hard rock tended to continue to remain the more exuberant, good-time music.
In the early 1970s the Rolling Stones developed their hard rock sound with Exile on Main St.
(1972). Initially receiving mixed reviews, according to critic Steve Erlewine it is now "generally regarded as the Rolling Stones' finest album". They continued to pursue the riff-heavy sound on albums including It's Only Rock 'n' Roll (1974) and Black and Blue
(1976). Led Zeppelin began to mix elements of world
and folk music into their hard rock from Led Zeppelin III
(1970) and Led Zeppelin IV
(1971). The latter included the track "Stairway to Heaven
", which would become the most played song in the history of album-oriented radio. Deep Purple continued to define hard rock, particularly with their album Machine Head
(1972), which included the tracks "Highway Star" and "Smoke on the Water
". In 1975 guitarist Ritchie Blackmore
left, going on to form Rainbow
and after the break-up of the band the next year, vocalist David Coverdale
formed Whitesnake
. 1970 saw The Who release Live at Leeds
, often seen as the archetypal hard rock live album, and the following year they released their highly-acclaimed album Who's Next
, which mixed heavy rock with extensive use of synthesizers. Subsequent albums, including Quadrophenia
(1973), built on this sound before Who Are You
(1978), their last album before the death of pioneering rock drummer Keith Moon
later that year.
Emerging British acts included Free
, who released their signature song "All Right Now
" (1970), which has received extensive radio airplay in both the UK and US. After the breakup of the band in 1973, vocalist Paul Rodgers
joined supergroup
Bad Company, whose eponymous first album
(1974) was an international hit. Scottish band Nazareth
released their self-titled début
album in 1970, producing a blend of hard rock and pop that would culminate in their best selling, Hair of the Dog
(1975), which contained the proto-power ballad "Love Hurts
". The mixture of hard rock and progressive rock
, evident in the works of Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple, was pursued more directly by bands like Uriah Heep
and Argent
. Having enjoyed some national success in the early 1970s, Queen
, after the release of Sheer Heart Attack
(1974) and A Night at the Opera
(1975), gained international recognition with a sound that used layered vocals and guitars and mixed hard rock with glam rock, heavy metal, progressive rock
, and even opera
. The latter featured the single "Bohemian Rhapsody
", which stayed at number one in the UK charts for nine weeks.
In the United States, macabre-rock pioneer Alice Cooper
achieved mainstream success with the top ten album School's Out
(1972). In the following year blues rockers ZZ Top
released their classic album Tres Hombres
and Aerosmith
produced their eponymous début
, as did Southern rock
ers Lynyrd Skynyrd
and proto-punk outfit New York Dolls
, demonstrating the diverse directions being pursued in the genre. Montrose
, including the instrumental talent of Ronnie Montrose
and vocals of Sammy Hagar
and arguably the first all American hard rock band to challenge the British dominance of the genre, released their first album
in 1973. Kiss
built on the theatrics of Alice Cooper and the look of the New York Dolls to produce a unique band persona, achieving their commercial breakthrough with the double live album Alive! in 1975 and helping to take hard rock into the stadium rock era. In the mid-1970s Aerosmith achieved their commercial and artistic breakthrough with Toys in the Attic
(1975), which reached number 11 in the American album chart, and Rocks
(1976), which peaked at number three. Blue Öyster Cult
, formed in the late 60s, picked up on some of the elements introduced by Black Sabbath with their breakthrough live gold album On Your Feet or on Your Knees
(1975), followed by their first platinum album, Agents of Fortune
(1976), containing the hit single "(Don't Fear) The Reaper
", which reached number 12 on the Billboard charts. Journey
released their eponymous debut in 1975 and the next year Boston
released their highly successful début album
. In the same year, hard rock bands featuring women saw commercial success as Heart
released Dreamboat Annie
and The Runaways
débuted with their self-titled album
. While Heart had a more folk-oriented
hard rock sound, the Runaways leaned more towards a mix of punk-influenced music
and hard rock. The Amboy Dukes, having emerged from the Detroit garage rock scene and most famous for their Top 20 psychedelic hit "Journey to the Centre of the Mind" (1968), were dissolved by their guitarist Ted Nugent
, who embarked on a solo career that resulted in four successive multi-platinum albums between Ted Nugent
(1975) and his best selling Double Live Gonzo (1978).
From outside of Britain and the United States, the Canadian trio Rush
released three distinctively hard rock albums in 1974–75 (Rush, Fly by Night and Caress of Steel
) before moving toward a more progressive sound. The Irish band Thin Lizzy
, which had formed in the late 1960s, made their most substantial commercial breakthrough in 1976 with the hard rock album Jailbreak
and their worldwide hit "The Boys Are Back in Town
", which reached number 8 in the UK and number 12 in the US. Their style, consisting of two duelling guitarists often playing leads in harmony, proved itself to be a large influence on later bands. They reached their commercial, and arguably their artistic peak with Black Rose: A Rock Legend
(1979). The arrival of Scorpions
from Germany marked the geographical expansion of the sub-genre. Australian-formed AC/DC
, with a stripped back, riff heavy and abrasive style that also appealed to the punk generation, began to gain international attention from 1976, culminating in the release of their multi-platinum albums Let There Be Rock
(1977) and Highway to Hell
(1979). Also influenced by a punk ethos were heavy metal bands like Motörhead, while Judas Priest abandoned the remaining elements of the blues in their music, further differentiating the hard rock and heavy metal styles and helping to create the New Wave of British Heavy Metal
which was pursued by bands like Iron Maiden
, Saxon
and Venom
.
With the rise of disco
in the US and punk rock
in the UK, hard rock's mainstream dominance was rivalled toward the later part of the decade. Disco appealed to a more diverse group of people and punk seemed to take over the rebellious role that hard rock once held. Early punk bands like The Ramones explicitly rebelled against the drum solos and extended guitar solos that characterised stadium rock, with almost all of their songs clocking in around two minutes with no guitar solos. However, new rock acts continued to emerge and record sales remained high into the 1980s. 1977 saw the début and rise to stardom of Foreigner
, who went on to release several platinum albums through to the mid 1980s. Midwestern groups like Kansas
, REO Speedwagon
and Styx
helped further cement heavy rock in the Midwest as a form of stadium rock. In 1978, Van Halen
emerged from the Los Angeles music scene with a sound based around the skills of lead guitarist Eddie Van Halen
. He popularised a guitar‐playing technique of two‐handed hammer‐ons and pull‐offs called tapping
, showcased on the song "Eruption
" from the album Van Halen
, which was highly influential in re‐establishing hard rock as a popular genre after the punk and disco explosion, while also redefining and elevating the role of electric guitar.
, the lead singer of AC/DC, and John Bonham
, drummer with Led Zeppelin. Zeppelin broke up almost immediately, but AC/DC recorded the album Back in Black
(1980) with their new lead singer, Brian Johnson
. It became the fifth highest-selling album of all time in the US and the second largest selling album in the world. Black Sabbath had split with original singer Ozzy Osbourne
in 1979 and replaced him with Ronnie James Dio
, formally of Rainbow, giving the band a new sound and a period of creativity and popularity beginning with Heaven and Hell
(1980). Osbourne embarked on a solo career with Blizzard of Ozz
(1980), featuring American guitarist Randy Rhoads
. Some bands, such as Queen, moved away from their hard rock roots and more towards pop rock
, while others, including Rush with Moving Pictures
(1981), began to return to a hard rock sound. The creation of thrash metal
, which mixed heavy metal with elements of hardcore punk
from about 1982, particularly by Metallica
, Anthrax
, Megadeth
and Slayer
, helped to create extreme metal and further remove the style from hard rock, although a number of these bands or their members would continue to record some songs closer to a hard rock sound. Kiss
moved away from their hard rock roots toward pop metal: firstly removing their makeup in 1983 for their Lick It Up
album, and then adopting the visual and sound of glam metal for their 1984 release, Animalize
, both of which marked a return to commercial success. Pat Benatar
was one of the first women to achieve commercial success in hard rock, with three successive Top 5 albums between 1980 and 1982.
Often categorised with the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, in 1981 Def Leppard
released their second album High 'n' Dry
, mixing glam-rock with heavy metal, and helping to define the sound of hard rock for the decade. The follow-up Pyromania
(1983), reached number two on the American charts and the singles "Photograph
", "Rock of Ages
" and "Foolin'
", helped by the emergence of MTV
, all reached the Top 40. It was widely emulated, particularly by the emerging Californian glam metal
scene. This was followed by US acts like Mötley Crüe
, with their albums Too Fast for Love
(1981) and Shout at the Devil
(1983) and, as the style grew, the arrival of bands such as Ratt
, White Lion
, Twisted Sister
and Quiet Riot
. Quiet Riot's album Metal Health
(1983) was the first glam metal album, and arguably the first heavy metal album of any kind, to reach number one in the Billboard music charts and helped open the doors for mainstream success by subsequent bands.
Established bands made something of a comeback in the mid-1980s. After an 8-year separation, Deep Purple returned with the classic Machine Head line-up to produce Perfect Strangers
(1984), which reached number five in the UK, number two in Norway, and number 17 on the Billboard 200
in the US. After disappointing sales of its fourth album, Fair Warning
, Van Halen
rebounded with the Top 5 album Diver Down
in 1982, then reached their commercial pinnacle with 1984
. It reached number two on the Billboard album chart and provided the track "Jump
", which reached number one on the singles chart
and remained there for several weeks. The new medium of video channels was used with considerable success by bands formed in previous decades. Among the first were ZZ Top, who mixed hard blues-rock with New Wave music
to produce a series of highly successful singles, beginning with "Gimme All Your Lovin'
" (1983), which helped their albums Eliminator (1983) and Afterburner
(1985) achieve diamond and multi-platinum status respectively. Others found renewed success in the singles charts with power ballads, including REO Speedwagon with "Keep on Loving You" (1980) and "Can't Fight This Feeling
" (1984), Journey with "Don't Stop Believin'
" (1981) and "Open Arms
" (1982), Foreigner
's "I Want to Know What Love Is
", Scorpions
"Still Loving You
" (both from 1984), Heart’s
"What About Love
" (1985) and "These Dreams
" (1986), and Boston
's "Amanda" (1986).
Bon Jovi
's third album, Slippery When Wet
(1986), mixed hard rock with a pop sensitivity and spent a total of 8 weeks at the top of the Billboard 200
album chart, selling 12 million copies while becoming the first hard rock album to spawn three top 10 singles — two of which reached number one. The album has been credited with widening the audiences for the genre, particularly by appealing to women as well as the traditional male dominated audience, and opening the door to MTV and commercial success for other bands at the end of the decade. The anthemic The Final Countdown
(1986) by Swedish group Europe
was an international hit, reaching number eight on the US charts while hitting the top 10 in nine other countries. This era also saw more glam-infused American hard rock bands come to the forefront, with both Poison
and Cinderella
releasing their multi-platinum début albums in 1986. Van Halen
released 5150
(1986), their first album with Sammy Hagar on lead vocals, which was number one in the US for three weeks and sold over 6 million copies. By the second half of the decade, hard rock had become the most reliable form of commercial popular music in the United States.
Established acts benefited from the new commercial climate, with Whitesnake's self-titled album
(1987) selling over 17 million copies, outperforming anything in Coverdale's or Deep Purple's catalogue before or since. It featured the rock anthem "Here I Go Again
'87" as one of 4 UK top 20 singles. The follow-up Slip of the Tongue
(1989) went platinum, but according to critics Steve Erlwine and Greg Prato, "it was a considerable disappointment after the across-the-board success of Whitesnake". Aerosmith's comeback album Permanent Vacation
(1987) would begin a decade long revival of their popularity. Crazy Nights
(1987) by Kiss was the band's highest charting release in the USA since 1979 and the highest of their career in the UK. Mötley Crüe with Girls, Girls, Girls (1987) continued their commercial success and Def Leppard with Hysteria (1987) hit their commercial peak, the latter producing seven hit singles (a record for a hard rock act). Guns N' Roses
released the best-selling début of all time, Appetite for Destruction
(1987). With a "grittier" and "rawer" sound than most glam metal, it produced three top 10 hits, including the number one "Sweet Child O' Mine
". Some of the glam rock bands that formed in the mid-1980s, such as White Lion and Cinderella experienced their biggest success during this period with their respective albums Pride (1987) and Long Cold Winter
(1988) both going multi-platinum and launching a series of hit singles. In the last years of the decade, the most notable successes were New Jersey
(1988) by Bon Jovi, OU812
(1988) by Van Halen
, Open Up and Say... Ahh! (1988) by Poison
, Pump
(1989) by Aerosmith, and Mötley Crüe's most commercially successful album Dr. Feelgood
(1989). New Jersey spawned five Top 10 singles, a record for a hard rock act. A final wave of glam rock bands arrived in the late 1980s, and experienced success with multi-platinum albums and hit singles from 1989 until the early 1990s, among them Extreme
, Warrant
Slaughter
and FireHouse. Skid Row also released their eponymous début
(1989), reaching number six on the Billboard 200, but they were to be one of the last major bands that emerged in the glam rock era.
(1990), Guns N' Roses' Use Your Illusion I
and Use Your Illusion II
(both in 1991), Ozzy Osbourne's No More Tears
(1991), and Van Halen's For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge
(1991) showcased this popularity. Additionally, The Black Crowes
released their debut album, Shake Your Money Maker (1990), which contained a bluesy classic rock sound and sold five million copies. In 1992, Def Leppard followed up 1987's Hysteria with Adrenalize
, which went multi-platinum, spawned four Top 40 singles and held the number one spot on the US album chart for five weeks.
While these few hard rock bands managed to maintain success and popularity in the early part of the decade, alternatives to hard rock achieved mainstream success in the form of grunge
in the US and Britpop
in the UK. This was particularly evident after the success of Nirvana
's Nevermind
(1991), which combined elements of hardcore punk
and heavy metal into a "dirty" sound that made use of heavy guitar distortion, fuzz and feedback, along with darker lyrical themes than their "hair band" predecessors. Although most grunge bands had a sound that sharply contrasted mainstream hard rock, a minority, including Pearl Jam
, Alice in Chains
, Mother Love Bone
and Soundgarden
, were more strongly influenced by 1970s and 1980s rock and metal, while Stone Temple Pilots
managed to turn alternative rock into a form of stadium rock. However, all grunge bands shunned the macho, anthemic and fashion-focused aesthetics particularly associated with glam metal. In Britain, Oasis
were unusual among the Britpop bands of the mid-1990s in incorporating a hard rock sound.
In the new commercial climate glam metal bands like Europe, Ratt, White Lion and Cinderella broke up, Whitesnake went on hiatus in 1991, and while many of these bands would re-unite again in the late 1990s or early 2000s, they never reached the commercial success they saw in the 1980s or early 1990s. Other bands such as Mötley Crüe and Poison saw personnel changes which impacted those bands' commercial viability during the decade. In 1995 Van Halen released Balance
, a multi-platinum seller that would be the band's last with Sammy Hagar on vocals. In 1996 David Lee Roth
returned briefly and his replacement, former Extreme
singer Gary Cherone
, was fired soon after the release of the commercially unsuccessful 1998 album Van Halen III
and Van Halen would not tour or record again until 2004. Guns N' Roses' original lineup was whittled away throughout the decade. Drummer Steven Adler
was fired in 1990, guitarist Izzy Stradlin
left in late 1991 after recording Use Your Illusion I and II with the band. Tensions between the other band members and lead singer Axl Rose
continued after the release of the 1993 covers album The Spaghetti Incident? Guitarist Slash
left in 1996, followed by bassist Duff McKagan
in 1997. Axl Rose, the only original member, worked with a constantly-changing lineup in recording an album that would take over fifteen years to complete.
Some established acts continued to enjoy commercial success, such as Aerosmith, with their number one multi-platinum albums: Get a Grip
(1993), which produced four Top 40 singles and became the band's best-selling album worldwide (going on to sell over 20 million copies), and Nine Lives
(1997). In 1998, Aerosmith released the number one hit "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing
", which remains the only single by a hard rock band to debut at number one. AC/DC produced the double platinum Ballbreaker
(1995). Bon Jovi appealed to their hard rock audience with songs like "Keep the Faith" (1992), but also achieved success in the adult contemporary genre, with the Top 10 ballads "Bed of Roses
" (1993) and "Always
" (1994). Metallica's Load
(1996) and ReLoad
(1997) each sold in excess of 4 million copies in the US and saw the band develop a more melodic and blues-rock sound. As the initial impetus of grunge bands faltered in the middle years of the decade, post-grunge
bands emerged. They emulated the attitudes and music of grunge, particularly thick, distorted guitars, but with a more radio-friendly commercially-oriented sound that drew more directly on traditional hard rock. Among the most successful acts were the Foo Fighters
, Candlebox
, Live
, Collective Soul
, Australia's Silverchair
and England's Bush
, who all cemented post-grunge as one of the most commercially viable sub-genres by the late 1990s. Similarly, some post-Britpop
bands that followed in the wake of Oasis, including Feeder
and Stereophonics
, adopted a hard rock or "pop-metal" sound.
A few hard rock bands from the 1970s and 1980s managed to sustain highly successful recording careers. Bon Jovi were still able to achieve a commercial hit with "It's My Life
" from their double platinum-certified album Crush (2000). and AC/DC released the platinum-certified Stiff Upper Lip
(2000) Aerosmith released a number two platinum album, Just Push Play
(2001), which saw the band foray further into pop with the Top 10 hit "Jaded
", and a blues cover album, Honkin' on Bobo
, which reached number five in 2004. There were reunions and subsequent tours from Van Halen (with Hagar in 2004 and then Roth in 2007), The Who (delayed in 2002 by the death of bassist John Entwistle
until 2006) and Black Sabbath (with Osbourne 1997–2006 and Dio 2006-7) and even a one off performance by Led Zeppelin (2007), renewing the interest in previous eras. Additionally, hard rock supergroups, such as Audioslave
(with former members of Rage Against the Machine
and Soundgarden) and Velvet Revolver
(with former members of Guns N' Roses, punk band Wasted Youth
and Stone Temple Pilots singer Scott Weiland
), emerged and experienced some success. However, these bands were short-lived, ending in 2007 and 2008, respectively. The long awaited Guns N' Roses album Chinese Democracy
was finally released in 2008, but only went platinum and failed to come close to the success of the band's late 1980s and early 1990s material. More successfully, AC/DC released the double platinum-certified Black Ice
(2008). Bon Jovi continued to enjoy success, branching into country music
with "Who Says You Can't Go Home
", which reached number one on the Hot Country Singles chart in 2006, and the rock/country album Lost Highway, which reached number one in 2007. In 2009, Bon Jovi released another number one album, The Circle
, which marked a return to their hard rock sound.
The term "retro-metal" has been applied to such bands as Texas based The Sword
, California's High on Fire
, Sweden's Witchcraft
and Australia's Wolfmother
. Wolfmother's self-titled 2005 debut album
combined elements of the sounds of Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin. Fellow Australians Airbourne
's début album Runnin' Wild (2007) followed in the hard riffing tradition of AC/DC. England's The Darkness' Permission to Land
(2003), described as an "eerily realistic simulation of '80s metal and '70s glam", topped the UK charts, going quintuple platinum. The follow-up, One Way Ticket to Hell... and Back (2005), reached number 11, before the band broke up in 2006. Los Angeles band Steel Panther
managed to gain a following by sending up 80s glam metal. A more serious attempt to revive glam metal was made by bands of the sleaze metal movement in Sweden, including Vains of Jenna
, Hardcore Superstar
and Crashdïet
.
Although Foo Fighters continued to be one of the most successful rock acts, with albums like In Your Honor
(2005) reaching number two in the US and UK, many of the first wave of post-grunge bands began to fade in popularity. Acts like Creed
, Staind
, Puddle of Mudd
and Nickelback
took the genre into the 21st century with considerable commercial success, abandoning most of the angst and anger of the original movement for more conventional anthems, narratives and romantic songs. They were followed in this vein by new acts including Shinedown
and Seether
. Acts with more conventional hard rock sounds included Andrew W.K.
, Beautiful Creatures
and Buckcherry
, whose breakthrough album 15
(2006) went platinum and spawned the single "Sorry
" (2007), which made the Top 10 of the Billboard 100. These were joined by bands with hard rock leanings that emerged in the mid-2000s from the garage rock
or post punk revival, including Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
and Kings of Leon
, and Queens of the Stone Age
from the US, Three Days Grace
from Canada, Jet
from Australia and The Datsuns
from New Zealand. In 2009 Them Crooked Vultures
, a supergroup that brought together Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl, Queens of the Stone Age's Josh Homme and Led Zeppelin bass player John Paul Jones
attracted attention as a live act and released a self-titled debut album that reached the top 20 in the US and UK and the top ten in several other countries.
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock
Garage rock
Garage rock is a raw form of rock and roll that was first popular in the United States and Canada from about 1963 to 1967. During the 1960s, it was not recognized as a separate music genre and had no specific name...
, blues rock and psychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock is a style of rock music that is inspired or influenced by psychedelic culture and attempts to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. It emerged during the mid 1960s among folk rock and blues rock bands in United States and the United Kingdom...
. It is typified by a heavy use of distorted electric guitar
Electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
s, bass guitar
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, drums
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, and often accompanied with piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
s and keyboard
Keyboard instrument
A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
s.
Hard rock developed into a major form of popular music in the 1970s, with bands such as Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...
, Deep Purple
Deep Purple
Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in Hertford in 1968. Along with Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, they are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal and modern hard rock, although some band members believe that their music cannot be categorised as belonging to any one genre...
, Aerosmith
Aerosmith
Aerosmith is an American rock band, sometimes referred to as "The Bad Boys from Boston" and "America's Greatest Rock and Roll Band". Their style, which is rooted in blues-based hard rock, has come to also incorporate elements of pop, heavy metal, and rhythm and blues, and has inspired many...
, AC/DC
AC/DC
AC/DC are an Australian rock band, formed in 1973 by brothers Malcolm and Angus Young. Commonly classified as hard rock, they are considered pioneers of heavy metal, though they themselves have always classified their music as simply "rock and roll"...
, and Van Halen
Van Halen
Van Halen is an American hard rock band formed in Pasadena, California, in 1972. The band has enjoyed success since the release of its debut album, Van Halen, . As of 2007 Van Halen has sold 80 million albums worldwide and has had the most #1 hits on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart...
, and reached a commercial peak in the mid to late 1980s. The glam metal
Glam metal
Glam metal is a subgenre of hard rock and heavy metal that arose in the late 1970s and early 1980s in the United States, particularly on the Los Angeles Sunset Strip music scene...
of bands like Bon Jovi
Bon Jovi
Bon Jovi is an American rock band from Sayreville, New Jersey. Formed in 1983, Bon Jovi consists of lead singer and namesake Jon Bon Jovi , guitarist Richie Sambora, keyboardist David Bryan, drummer Tico Torres, as well as current bassist Hugh McDonald...
and Def Leppard
Def Leppard
Def Leppard are an English rock band formed in 1977 in Sheffield as part of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal movement. Since 1992, the band have consisted of Joe Elliott , Rick Savage , Rick Allen , Phil Collen , and Vivian Campbell...
and the rawer sounds of Guns N' Roses
Guns N' Roses
Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band, formed in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, in 1985. The band has released six studio albums, three EPs, and one live album...
followed up with great success in the later part of that decade, before losing popularity in the face of grunge
Grunge
Grunge is a subgenre of alternative rock that emerged during the mid-1980s in the American state of Washington, particularly in the Seattle area. Inspired by hardcore punk, heavy metal, and indie rock, grunge is generally characterized by heavily distorted electric guitars, contrasting song...
. Despite this, many post-grunge
Post-grunge
Post-grunge is a subgenre of alternative rock that emerged in the mid-1990s as a derivative of grunge, using the sounds and aesthetic of grunge, but with a more commercially acceptable tone...
bands adopted a hard rock sound and in the 2000s there came a renewed interest in established bands, attempts at a revival, and new hard rock bands that emerged from the garage rock and post-punk revival
Post-punk revival
The post-punk revival was a development in alternative rock of the late 20th and early 21st centuries in which bands took inspiration from the original sounds and aesthetics of garage rock of the 1960s and post-punk and New Wave of the late 1970s...
scenes.
Definitions
Hard rock is a form of loud, aggressive rock music. The electric guitar is often emphasised, used with distortion and other effects, both as a rhythm instrument using repetitive riffs with a varying degree of complexity, and as a solo leadLead guitar
Lead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...
instrument. Drumming characteristically focuses on driving rhythms, strong bass drum and a backbeat on snare, sometimes using cymbals for emphasis. The bass guitar works in conjunction with the drums, occasionally playing riffs, but usually providing a backing for the rhythm and lead guitars. Vocals are often growling, raspy, or involve screaming or wailing, sometimes in a high range, or even falsetto
Falsetto
Falsetto is the vocal register occupying the frequency range just above the modal voice register and overlapping with it by approximately one octave. It is produced by the vibration of the ligamentous edges of the vocal folds, in whole or in part...
voice. Hard rock has sometimes been labelled cock rock
Cock rock
Cock rock is a term, typically used derogatively, to describe a style of rock music that emphasised an aggressive form of male sexuality. It developed in the later 1960s and came to prominence in the 1970s and 1980s.-Use of the term:...
for its emphasis on overt masculinity and sexuality and because it has historically been predominately performed and consumed by men: in the case of its audience, particularly white, working-class adolescents.
In the late 1960s the term heavy metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
was used interchangeably with hard rock, but gradually began to be used to describe music played with even more volume and intensity. While hard rock maintained a bluesy rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
identity, including some swing in the back beat and riffs that tended to outline chord progressions in their hooks, heavy metal's riffs often functioned as stand-alone melodies and had no swing in them. Heavy metal took on "darker" characteristics after Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath are an English heavy metal band, formed in Aston, Birmingham in 1969 by Ozzy Osbourne , Tony Iommi , Geezer Butler , and Bill Ward . The band has since experienced multiple line-up changes, with Tony Iommi the only constant presence in the band through the years. A total of 22...
's breakthrough at the beginning of the 1970s, and in the 1980s it developed a number of sub-genres, often termed extreme metal
Extreme metal
Extreme metal is a loosely defined umbrella term for a number of related heavy metal music subgenres that have developed since the early 1980s. The term usually refers to a more abrasive, harsher, underground, non-commercialized style or sound nearly always associated with genres like black metal,...
, which were influenced by hardcore punk
Hardcore punk
Hardcore punk is an underground music genre that originated in the late 1970s, following the mainstream success of punk rock. Hardcore is generally faster, thicker, and heavier than earlier punk rock. The origin of the term "hardcore punk" is uncertain. The Vancouver-based band D.O.A...
, and which further differentiated the two styles. Despite this differentiation, hard rock and heavy metal have existed side by side, with bands frequently standing on the boundary of, or crossing between, the genres.
Origins (1960s)
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
influence, harder sounds, heavier guitar riffs, bombastic drumming and louder vocals. Early forms of hard rock can be heard in The Kingsmen
The Kingsmen
The Kingsmen is a 1960s garage rock band from Portland, Oregon, United States. They are best known for their 1963 recording of Richard Berry's "Louie Louie", which held the #2 spot on the Billboard charts for six weeks...
's version of "Louie, Louie" (1963), which made it a garage rock
Garage rock
Garage rock is a raw form of rock and roll that was first popular in the United States and Canada from about 1963 to 1967. During the 1960s, it was not recognized as a separate music genre and had no specific name...
standard, and the songs of rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
influenced British Invasion
British Invasion
The British Invasion is a term used to describe the large number of rock and roll, beat, rock, and pop performers from the United Kingdom who became popular in the United States during the time period from 1964 through 1966.- Background :...
acts, including "You Really Got Me
You Really Got Me
"You Really Got Me" is a rock song written by Ray Davies and performed by his band, The Kinks. It was released on 4th August 1964 as the group's third single, and reached Number 1 on the UK singles chart the next month, remaining for two weeks...
" by The Kinks
The Kinks
The Kinks were an English rock band formed in Muswell Hill, North London, by brothers Ray and Dave Davies in 1964. Categorised in the United States as a British Invasion band, The Kinks are recognised as one of the most important and influential rock acts of the era. Their music was influenced by a...
(1964), "My Generation
My Generation
My Generation is the debut album by the English rock band The Who, released by Brunswick Records in the United Kingdom in December 1965. In the United States it was released by Decca Records as The Who Sings My Generation in April 1966, with a different cover and a slightly altered track...
" by The Who
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...
(1965) and "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction
(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction
" Satisfaction" is a song by the English rock band The Rolling Stones, released in 1965. It was written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards and produced by Andrew Loog Oldham. Richards's throwaway three-note guitar riff — intended to be replaced by horns — opens and drives the song...
" (1965) by The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
. From the late 1960s it became common to divide mainstream rock music that emerged from psychedelia
Psychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock is a style of rock music that is inspired or influenced by psychedelic culture and attempts to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. It emerged during the mid 1960s among folk rock and blues rock bands in United States and the United Kingdom...
into soft and hard rock. Soft rock
Soft rock
Soft rock is a style of music which uses the techniques of rock music to compose a softer, more toned-down sound. Soft rock songs generally tend to focus on themes like love, everyday life and relationships. The genre tends to make heavy use of acoustic guitars, pianos, synthesizers and sometimes...
was often derived from folk rock
Folk rock
Folk rock is a musical genre combining elements of folk music and rock music. In its earliest and narrowest sense, the term referred to a genre that arose in the United States and the UK around the mid-1960s...
, using acoustic instruments and putting more emphasis on melody and harmonies. In contrast, hard rock was most often derived from blues-rock and was played louder and with more intensity.
Blues-rock
Blues-rock
Blues rock is a hybrid musical genre combining bluesy improvisations over the 12-bar blues and extended boogie jams with rock and roll styles. The core of the blues rock sound is created by the electric guitar, piano, bass guitar and drum kit, with the electric guitar usually amplified through a...
acts that pioneered the sound included Cream
Cream (band)
Cream were a 1960s British rock supergroup consisting of bassist/vocalist Jack Bruce, guitarist/vocalist Eric Clapton, and drummer Ginger Baker...
, Jimi Hendrix Experience and The Jeff Beck Group
The Jeff Beck Group
The Jeff Beck Group were an English rock band formed in London in January 1967 by former Yardbirds guitarist Jeff Beck. Their innovative approach to heavy sounding blues and R&B was a major influence on popular music.- The first Jeff Beck Group :...
. Cream, in songs like "I Feel Free
I Feel Free
"I Feel Free" is a song first recorded by British rock group Cream. The song's lyrics were written by Pete Brown, its music by Jack Bruce. It was the first track on the US issue of their debut album, Fresh Cream , and the band's second hit single...
" (1966) combined blues-rock with pop and psychedelia, particularly in the riffs and guitar solos of Eric Clapton
Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and...
. Jimi Hendrix produced a form of blues-influenced psychedelic rock, which combined elements of jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, blues and rock and roll. From 1967 Jeff Beck
Jeff Beck
Geoffrey Arnold "Jeff" Beck is an English rock guitarist. He is one of three noted guitarists to have played with The Yardbirds...
brought lead guitar to new heights of technical virtuosity and moved blues-rock in the direction of heavy rock with his band, The Jeff Beck Group. Dave Davies
Dave Davies
David Russell Gordon "Dave" Davies is an English rock musician best known for his role as lead guitarist and vocalist for the English rock band The Kinks....
of The Kinks, Keith Richards
Keith Richards
Keith Richards is an English musician, songwriter, and founding member of the Rolling Stones. Rolling Stone magazine said Richards had created "rock's greatest single body of riffs", and placed him as the "10th greatest guitarist of all time." Fourteen songs written by Richards and songwriting...
of The Rolling Stones, Pete Townshend
Pete Townshend
Peter Dennis Blandford "Pete" Townshend is an English rock guitarist, vocalist, songwriter and author, known principally as the guitarist and songwriter for the rock group The Who, as well as for his own solo career...
of The Who, Hendrix, Clapton and Beck all pioneered the use of new guitar effects like phasing
Phaser (effect)
A phaser is an audio signal processing technique used to filter a signal by creating a series of peaks and troughs in the frequency spectrum. The position of the peaks and troughs is typically modulated so that they vary over time, creating a sweeping effect...
, feedback
Audio feedback
Audio feedback is a special kind of positive feedback which occurs when a sound loop exists between an audio input and an audio output...
and distortion
Distortion
A distortion is the alteration of the original shape of an object, image, sound, waveform or other form of information or representation. Distortion is usually unwanted, and often many methods are employed to minimize it in practice...
. Even The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
attempted to produce songs in the new hard rock style, trying to create a greater level of noise than The Who, from The Beatles
The Beatles (album)
The Beatles is the ninth official album by the English rock group The Beatles, a double album released in 1968. It is also commonly known as "The White Album" as it has no graphics or text other than the band's name embossed on its plain white sleeve.The album was written and recorded during a...
(1968) (known as the "White Album") onwards, beginning with "Helter Skelter". Some critics have written about its "proto-metal roar", but others have argued that "their attempts at the heavy style were without exception embarrassing".
Groups that emerged from the American psychedelic scene about the same time included Iron Butterfly
Iron Butterfly
Iron Butterfly is a US psychedelic rock band best known for the 1968 hit "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida".Their heyday was the late 1960s, but the band has been reincarnated with various members. In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida is the 31st best-selling album in the world, selling more than 25 million copies.-History:The...
, MC5
MC5
The MC5 is an American rock band formed in Lincoln Park, Michigan and originally active from 1964 to 1972. The original band line-up consisted of vocalist Rob Tyner, guitarists Wayne Kramer and Fred "Sonic" Smith, bassist Michael Davis, and drummer Dennis Thompson...
, Blue Cheer
Blue Cheer
Blue Cheer was an American psychedelic blues-rock band that initially performed and recorded in the late 1960s and early 1970s and was sporadically active until 2009...
and Vanilla Fudge
Vanilla Fudge
Vanilla Fudge is an American rock band. The band's original lineup – vocalist/organist Mark Stein, bassist/vocalist Tim Bogert, lead guitarist/vocalist Vince Martell, and drummer/vocalist Carmine Appice – recorded five albums during the years 1966–69, before disbanding in 1970...
. San Francisco band Blue Cheer released a crude and distorted cover of Eddie Cochran
Eddie Cochran
Eddie Cochran , was an American rock and roll pioneer who in his brief career had a small but lasting influence on rock music through his guitar playing. Cochran's rockabilly songs, such as "C'mon Everybody", "Somethin' Else", and "Summertime Blues", captured teenage frustration and desire in the...
's classic "Summertime Blues
Summertime Blues
"Summertime Blues" is the title of a song co-written and recorded by American rockabilly artist Eddie Cochran. It was written in the late 1950s by Cochran and his manager Jerry Capehart. Originally a single B-side, it was released in August 1958 and peaked at number 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 on...
", from their 1968 debut album Vincebus Eruptum
Vincebus Eruptum
-Personnel:Blue Cheer*Dickie Peterson – vocals, bass*Leigh Stephens – guitar*Paul Whaley – drumsAdditional personnel*Abe "Voco" Kesh – production*John MacQuarrie – engineering*John Van Hamersveld – photography...
, that outlined much of the later hard rock and heavy metal sound. The same month, Steppenwolf
Steppenwolf (band)
Steppenwolf are a Canadian-American rock group that was prominent in the late 1960s. The group was formed in 1967 in Los Angeles by vocalist John Kay, guitarist Michael Monarch, bassist Rushton Moreve, keyboardist Goldy McJohn and drummer Jerry Edmonton after the dissolution of Toronto group The...
released its self-titled debut album, including "Born to Be Wild
Born to Be Wild
"Born to Be Wild" is a rock song written by Mars Bonfire and made famous by the Canadian-American rock band Steppenwolf. It is often used in popular culture to denote a biker appearance or attitude...
", which contained the first lyrical reference to heavy metal and helped popularise the style when it was used in the film Easy Rider
Easy Rider
Easy Rider is a 1969 American road movie written by Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, and Terry Southern, produced by Fonda and directed by Hopper. It tells the story of two bikers who travel through the American Southwest and South with the aim of achieving freedom...
(1969). Iron Butterfly's In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida (1968), with its 17-minute-long title track
In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida
"In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" is a song by Iron Butterfly, released on their 1968 album In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida.At a little over seventeen minutes, it occupies the entire second side of the In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida album. The lyrics are simple, and heard only at the beginning and the end...
, using organs and with a lengthy drum solo, also prefigured later elements of the sound.
By the end of the decade a distinct genre of hard rock was emerging with bands like Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...
, who mixed the music of early rock bands with a more hard-edged form of blues rock and acid rock on their first two albums Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin (album)
Led Zeppelin is the debut album of the English rock band Led Zeppelin. It was recorded in October 1968 at Olympic Studios in London and released on Atlantic Records on 12 January 1969 in the United States and 31 March 1969 in the United Kingdom. The album featured integral contributions from each...
(1969) and Led Zeppelin II
Led Zeppelin II
The finished tracks reflect the raw, evolving sound of the band and their ability as live performers. The album has been noted for featuring a further development of the lyrical themes established by Robert Plant on Led Zeppelin's debut album, creating a work which would become more widely...
(1969), and Deep Purple
Deep Purple
Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in Hertford in 1968. Along with Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, they are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal and modern hard rock, although some band members believe that their music cannot be categorised as belonging to any one genre...
, who achieved their commercial breakthrough with their fourth and distinctively heavier album, In Rock (1970). Also significant was Black Sabbath's Paranoid
Paranoid (album)
Paranoid is the second studio album by English heavy metal band Black Sabbath. Released in September 1970, the album was the only one by the band to top the UK Albums Chart, and as a result is commonly identified as the band's magnum opus...
(1970), which combined guitar riffs with dissonance and more explicit references to the occult and elements of Gothic horror
Gothic (term)
Gothic is the term originally used to describe things pertaining to the Gothic people and then reused in a variety of contexts.The Goths were traditionally thought to have originated in northern Europe and moved south towards the borders of the Roman Empire in the 2nd century...
. All three of these bands have been seen as pivotal in the development of heavy metal, but where metal further accentuated the intensity of the music, with bands like Judas Priest
Judas Priest
Judas Priest are an English heavy metal band from Birmingham, England, formed in 1969. The current line-up consists of lead vocalist Rob Halford, guitarists Glenn Tipton and Richie Faulkner, bassist Ian Hill, and drummer Scott Travis. The band has gone through several drummers over the years,...
following Sabbath's lead into territory that was often "darker and more menacing", hard rock tended to continue to remain the more exuberant, good-time music.
Expansion (1970s)
Exile on Main St.
Exile on Main St. is the tenth British and 12th American studio album by English rock band The Rolling Stones. Released as a double LP in May 1972, it draws on many genres including rock and roll, blues, soul, R&B, gospel and country. The release of Exile on Main St. met with mixed reviews, but is...
(1972). Initially receiving mixed reviews, according to critic Steve Erlewine it is now "generally regarded as the Rolling Stones' finest album". They continued to pursue the riff-heavy sound on albums including It's Only Rock 'n' Roll (1974) and Black and Blue
Black and Blue
Black and Blue is the 13th British and 15th American studio album by The Rolling Stones, released in 1976. It was the band's first studio album released with Ronnie Wood as the replacement for Mick Taylor...
(1976). Led Zeppelin began to mix elements of world
World music
World music is a term with widely varying definitions, often encompassing music which is primarily identified as another genre. This is evidenced by world music definitions such as "all of the music in the world" or "somebody else's local music"...
and folk music into their hard rock from Led Zeppelin III
Led Zeppelin III
Led Zeppelin III is the third studio album by the English rock band Led Zeppelin. It was recorded between January and July 1970 and released on 5 October 1970 by Atlantic Records. Composed largely at a remote cottage in Wales known as Bron-Yr-Aur, this work represented a maturing of the band's...
(1970) and Led Zeppelin IV
Led Zeppelin IV
The fourth album by the English rock band Led Zeppelin was released on 8 November 1971. No title is printed on the album, so it is generally referred to as Led Zeppelin IV, following the naming standard used by the band's first three studio albums...
(1971). The latter included the track "Stairway to Heaven
Stairway to Heaven
"Stairway to Heaven" is a song by the English rock band Led Zeppelin, released in late 1971. It was composed by guitarist Jimmy Page and vocalist Robert Plant for the band's untitled fourth studio album . The song, running eight minutes and two seconds, is composed of several sections, which...
", which would become the most played song in the history of album-oriented radio. Deep Purple continued to define hard rock, particularly with their album Machine Head
Machine Head (album)
Machine Head is the sixth studio album released by the English rock band Deep Purple. It was recorded through December 1971 in Montreux, Switzerland, and released in March 1972....
(1972), which included the tracks "Highway Star" and "Smoke on the Water
Smoke on the Water
"Smoke on the Water" is a song by the British hard rock band Deep Purple. It was first released on their 1972 album Machine Head. In 2004, the song was ranked number 426 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest songs of all time, and in March 2005, Q magazine placed "Smoke on the Water"...
". In 1975 guitarist Ritchie Blackmore
Ritchie Blackmore
Richard Hugh "Ritchie" Blackmore is an English guitarist and songwriter, who was known as one of the first guitarists to fuse Classical music elements with rock. He fronted his own band Rainbow after leaving Deep Purple where he was unhappy because his favourite musical style wasn't adequately...
left, going on to form Rainbow
Rainbow (band)
Rainbow were an English rock band, controlled by guitarist Ritchie Blackmore from 1975 to 1984 and 1994 to 1997. It was originally established with American rock band Elf's members, though over the years Rainbow went through many line-up changes with no two studio albums featuring the same line-up...
and after the break-up of the band the next year, vocalist David Coverdale
David Coverdale
David 'Jack' Coverdale is an English rock singer, most famous for his work with the his own hard rock band Whitesnake which achieved massive commercial success.-Early life:...
formed Whitesnake
Whitesnake
Whitesnake are an English rock band, founded in 1978 by David Coverdale after his departure from his previous band, Deep Purple. The band's early material has been compared by critics to Deep Purple, but by the mid 1980s they had moved to a more commercial hard rock style...
. 1970 saw The Who release Live at Leeds
Live at Leeds
Live at Leeds is The Who's first live album, and is the only live album that was released while the group were still recording and performing regularly. Initially released in the United States on 16 May 1970, by Decca and MCA and the United Kingdom on 23 May 1970, by Track and Polydor, the album...
, often seen as the archetypal hard rock live album, and the following year they released their highly-acclaimed album Who's Next
Who's Next
Who's Next is the fifth studio album by English rock band The Who, released in August 1971. The album has origins in a rock opera conceived by Pete Townshend called Lifehouse. The ambitious, complex project did not come to fruition at the time and instead, many of the songs written for the project...
, which mixed heavy rock with extensive use of synthesizers. Subsequent albums, including Quadrophenia
Quadrophenia
Quadrophenia is the sixth studio album by English rock band The Who. Released on 19 October 1973 by Track and Polydor in the UK, and Track and MCA in the US, it is a double album, and the group's second rock opera...
(1973), built on this sound before Who Are You
Who Are You
Who Are You is the eighth studio album by English rock band The Who. It was released on 18 August 1978, through Polydor Records in the United Kingdom and MCA Records in the United States. It peaked at #2 on the US charts and #6 on the UK charts...
(1978), their last album before the death of pioneering rock drummer Keith Moon
Keith Moon
Keith John Moon was an English musician, best known for being the drummer of the English rock group The Who. He gained acclaim for his exuberant and innovative drumming style, and notoriety for his eccentric and often self-destructive behaviour, earning him the nickname "Moon the Loon". Moon...
later that year.
Emerging British acts included Free
Free (band)
Free were an English rock band, formed in London in 1968, best known for their 1970 signature song "All Right Now". They disbanded in 1973 and lead singer Paul Rodgers went on to become a frontman of the band Bad Company along with Simon Kirke on drums; lead guitarist Paul Kossoff died from a...
, who released their signature song "All Right Now
All Right Now
"All Right Now" is a rock single by the English rock band Free. The song, released in mid-1970, hit #2 on the UK singles chart and #4 on the US Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. "All Right Now" originally appeared on the album Fire And Water, which Free recorded on the Island Records label, formed...
" (1970), which has received extensive radio airplay in both the UK and US. After the breakup of the band in 1973, vocalist Paul Rodgers
Paul Rodgers
Paul Bernard Rodgers is an English rock singer-songwriter, best known for his success in the 1970s as a member of Free and Bad Company. After stints in two less successful bands in the 1980s and early 1990s, The Firm and The Law, he became a solo artist. He has recently toured and recorded with...
joined supergroup
Supergroup (music)
In the late 1960s, the term supergroup was coined to describe "a rock music group whose performers are already famous from having performed individually or in other groups"....
Bad Company, whose eponymous first album
Bad Company (album)
Bad Company is the eponymous debut studio album by hard rock band Bad Company.The album was recorded at Headley Grange with Ronnie Lane's Mobile Studio in November 1973....
(1974) was an international hit. Scottish band Nazareth
Nazareth (band)
Nazareth is a Scottish hard rock band, founded in 1968, that had several hits in the UK in the early 1970s, and established an international audience with their 1975 album Hair of the Dog. Perhaps their best-known hit single was a cover of the ballad "Love Hurts", in 1975...
released their self-titled début
Nazareth (album)
- 30th Anniversary bonus tracks :- Band members :* Dan McCafferty - lead vocals* Darrell Sweet - drums, back vocals* Pete Agnew - bass guitar, guitar, back vocals, lead vocals * Manny Charlton - guitar, back vocals- Additional musicians :...
album in 1970, producing a blend of hard rock and pop that would culminate in their best selling, Hair of the Dog
Hair of the Dog
-Bonus track information:The remastered editions include both "Guilty" and "Love Hurts" plus the following bonus tracks:* Some editions include also "Holy Roller" and "Holy Roller "...
(1975), which contained the proto-power ballad "Love Hurts
Love Hurts
"Love Hurts" is the name of a song, written and composed by Boudleaux Bryant. First recorded by The Everly Brothers in July 1960, the song is also well known from a 1975 international hit version by the rock band Nazareth and in the UK by a top 5 hit in 1975 by Jim Capaldi.The song was introduced...
". The mixture of hard rock and progressive rock
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
, evident in the works of Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple, was pursued more directly by bands like Uriah Heep
Uriah Heep (band)
Uriah Heep are an English rock band formed in London in 1969 and regarded as a seminal classic hard rock act of the 1970s. Uriah Heep's progressive/art rock/heavy metal fusion's distinctive features have always been massive keyboards sound, strong vocal harmonies and David Byron's operatic vocals...
and Argent
Argent (band)
Argent are an English rock band founded in 1969 by keyboardist Rod Argent, formerly of The Zombies.-Career:The first three demos from Argent, recorded in the autumn of 1968 featured Mac MacLeod on bass guitar though he was not meant to become a member of the group.Original members of the band were...
. Having enjoyed some national success in the early 1970s, Queen
Queen (band)
Queen are a British rock band formed in London in 1971, originally consisting of Freddie Mercury , Brian May , John Deacon , and Roger Taylor...
, after the release of Sheer Heart Attack
Sheer Heart Attack
Sheer Heart Attack is the third album by the British rock group Queen, released in November 1974. It was produced by Queen and Roy Thomas Baker and distributed by EMI in the United Kingdom, and Elektra in the United States....
(1974) and A Night at the Opera
A Night at the Opera (Queen album)
A Night at the Opera is the fourth studio album by the British rock group Queen, released in November 1975. Co-produced by Roy Thomas Baker and Queen, A Night at the Opera was, at the time of its release, the most expensive album ever recorded...
(1975), gained international recognition with a sound that used layered vocals and guitars and mixed hard rock with glam rock, heavy metal, progressive rock
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
, and even opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
. The latter featured the single "Bohemian Rhapsody
Bohemian Rhapsody
"Bohemian Rhapsody" is a song by the British rock band Queen. It was written by Freddie Mercury for the band's 1975 album A Night at the Opera...
", which stayed at number one in the UK charts for nine weeks.
Alice Cooper
Alice Cooper is an American rock singer, songwriter and musician whose career spans more than four decades...
achieved mainstream success with the top ten album School's Out
School's Out (album)
School's Out is the fifth studio album by Alice Cooper, released in 1972. The album's title track has remained a staple song in Alice Cooper's live setlist and receives regular airplay on many "Classic Rock" radio stations....
(1972). In the following year blues rockers ZZ Top
ZZ Top
ZZ Top is an American rock band, sometimes referred to as "That Little Ol' Band from Texas". Their style, which is rooted in blues-based boogie rock, has come to incorporate elements of arena, southern, and boogie rock. The band, from Houston Texas, formed in 1969...
released their classic album Tres Hombres
Tres Hombres
Tres Hombres is the third album by American blues rock band ZZ Top and was released in 1973. The album marked the first of many times the band worked with engineer Terry Manning which proved a successful combination as the release was the band's first commercial breakthrough...
and Aerosmith
Aerosmith
Aerosmith is an American rock band, sometimes referred to as "The Bad Boys from Boston" and "America's Greatest Rock and Roll Band". Their style, which is rooted in blues-based hard rock, has come to also incorporate elements of pop, heavy metal, and rhythm and blues, and has inspired many...
produced their eponymous début
Aerosmith (album)
Aerosmith is the eponymous debut album by American hard rock band Aerosmith, released in January 1973 by Columbia Records. The song "Walkin' the Dog" is a cover song originally performed by Rufus Thomas. Also featured on the album is "Dream On" which became an American top ten single when...
, as did Southern rock
Southern rock
Southern rock is a subgenre of rock music, and genre of Americana. It developed in the Southern United States from rock and roll, country music, and blues, and is focused generally on electric guitar and vocals...
ers Lynyrd Skynyrd
Lynyrd Skynyrd
Lynyrd Skynyrd is an American rock band prominent in spreading Southern Rock during the 1970s.Originally formed as the "Noble Five" in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1964, the band rose to worldwide recognition on the basis of its driving live performances and signature tune, Freebird...
and proto-punk outfit New York Dolls
New York Dolls
The New York Dolls is an American rock band, formed in New York in 1971. The band's protopunk sound prefigured much of what was to come in the punk rock era; their visual style influenced the look of many new wave and 1980s-era glam metal groups, and they began the local New York scene that later...
, demonstrating the diverse directions being pursued in the genre. Montrose
Montrose (band)
Montrose was a California-based hard rock band. The band originally featured Ronnie Montrose on guitar and future solo artist and former Van Halen frontman Sammy Hagar...
, including the instrumental talent of Ronnie Montrose
Ronnie Montrose
Ronnie Montrose, is an Amercian rock guitarist who has headed his own bands as well as performing with a variety of musicians, including Sammy Hagar, Herbie Hancock, Van Morrison, The Beau Brummels, Boz Scaggs, Beaver & Krause, Gary Wright, Tony Williams, The Neville Brothers, Dan Hartman, Edgar...
and vocals of Sammy Hagar
Sammy Hagar
Sam Roy "Sammy" Hagar , also known as The Red Rocker, is an American rock singer, guitarist, and songwriter. Also sings Country Music....
and arguably the first all American hard rock band to challenge the British dominance of the genre, released their first album
Montrose (album)
Montrose is the debut album by the band Montrose in 1973 which was produced by Ted Templeman.- History :After having done sessions work for various musicians including Van Morrison, Herbie Hancock and Edgar Winter, this was Ronnie Montrose's first record leading his own band. It featured then...
in 1973. Kiss
KISS (band)
Kiss is an American rock band formed in New York City in January 1973. Well-known for its members' face paint and flamboyant stage outfits, the group rose to prominence in the mid to late 1970s on the basis of their elaborate live performances, which featured fire breathing, blood spitting,...
built on the theatrics of Alice Cooper and the look of the New York Dolls to produce a unique band persona, achieving their commercial breakthrough with the double live album Alive! in 1975 and helping to take hard rock into the stadium rock era. In the mid-1970s Aerosmith achieved their commercial and artistic breakthrough with Toys in the Attic
Toys in the Attic (album)
For his review of Toys in the Attic for Allmusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine called the album's style a mix of Led Zeppelin and The Rolling Stones riffs and was filled with songs about sex with a different style than there ever was before. Greg Kot called the album a landmark of hard rock...
(1975), which reached number 11 in the American album chart, and Rocks
Rocks (album)
Rocks is the fourth album by American rock band Aerosmith, released May 3, 1976. Allmusic described Rocks as having "captured Aerosmith at their most raw and rocking". Rocks also ranked #176 on Rolling Stones list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time...
(1976), which peaked at number three. Blue Öyster Cult
Blue Öyster Cult
Blue Öyster Cult, often abbreviated BÖC, is an American rock band, most of whose members first came together in Long Island, NY in 1967 as the band Soft White Underbelly...
, formed in the late 60s, picked up on some of the elements introduced by Black Sabbath with their breakthrough live gold album On Your Feet or on Your Knees
On Your Feet or on Your Knees
On Your Feet or on Your Knees was Blue Öyster Cult's first live album, released in early 1975. Each of the band's first three studio albums are represented by three songs each, two other songs are covers , and one is an original instrumental that remains a staple of the band's live shows to this...
(1975), followed by their first platinum album, Agents of Fortune
Agents of Fortune
Agents of Fortune is the fourth studio album released by Blue Öyster Cult, originally released in a gatefold sleeve in 1976.The platinum selling album peaked at #29 on Billboards Pop Albums chart, while the single " The Reaper" peaked at #12 on the Pop Singles chart, making it Blue Öyster Cult's...
(1976), containing the hit single "(Don't Fear) The Reaper
(Don't Fear) The Reaper
" The Reaper" is a song by the rock band Blue Öyster Cult from their 1976 album, Agents of Fortune. It was written and sung by the band's lead guitarist, Donald "Buck Dharma" Roeser and was produced by David Lucas, Murray Krugman, and Sandy Pearlman. It is built around Dharma's guitar riff that...
", which reached number 12 on the Billboard charts. Journey
Journey (band)
Journey is an American rock band formed in 1973 in San Francisco by former members of Santana. The band has gone through several phases; its strongest commercial success occurred between the 1978 and 1987, after which it temporarily disbanded...
released their eponymous debut in 1975 and the next year Boston
Boston (band)
Boston is an American rock band from Boston, Massachusetts that achieved its most notable successes during the 1970s and 1980s. Centered on guitarist, keyboardist, songwriter, and producer Tom Scholz, the band is a staple of classic rock radio playlists...
released their highly successful début album
Boston (album)
The album soared, with three singles becoming Top 40 hits. All eight of the songs on the album still receive regular airplay on classic rock radio to this day, across the country...
. In the same year, hard rock bands featuring women saw commercial success as Heart
Heart (band)
Heart is an American rock band who first found success in Canada. Throughout several lineup changes, the only two members remaining constant are sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson. The group rose to fame in the 1970s with their music being influenced by hard rock as well as folk music...
released Dreamboat Annie
Dreamboat Annie
Dreamboat Annie is the debut album by American rock band Heart. It was released in the United States on February 14, 1976 through Mushroom Records. It contained three hit singles which became staples on FM radio...
and The Runaways
The Runaways
The Runaways were an American all-girl rock band that recorded and performed in the second half of the 1970s. The band released four studio albums and one live set during its run. Among its best known songs: "Cherry Bomb", "Queens of Noise", "Neon Angels On the Road to Ruin", "California Paradise"...
débuted with their self-titled album
The Runaways (album)
The Runaways is the debut album by the American all-female rock band The Runaways, released in 1976.Website Allmusic has praised the record , comparing the band's music to material by Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith and Guns N' Roses.According to multiple sources including Cherie Currie , the...
. While Heart had a more folk-oriented
Folk rock
Folk rock is a musical genre combining elements of folk music and rock music. In its earliest and narrowest sense, the term referred to a genre that arose in the United States and the UK around the mid-1960s...
hard rock sound, the Runaways leaned more towards a mix of punk-influenced music
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
and hard rock. The Amboy Dukes, having emerged from the Detroit garage rock scene and most famous for their Top 20 psychedelic hit "Journey to the Centre of the Mind" (1968), were dissolved by their guitarist Ted Nugent
Ted Nugent
Theodore Anthony "Ted" Nugent is an American guitarist, musician, singer, author, reserve police officer, and activist. From Detroit, Michigan, he originally gained fame as the lead guitarist of The Amboy Dukes, before embarking on a lengthy solo career...
, who embarked on a solo career that resulted in four successive multi-platinum albums between Ted Nugent
Ted Nugent (album)
Ted Nugent, the first solo effort of the "Motor City Madman," is a rock album released in 1975 after Nugent disbanded from his former group, The Amboy Dukes....
(1975) and his best selling Double Live Gonzo (1978).
Rush (band)
Rush is a Canadian rock band formed in August 1968, in the Willowdale neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario. The band is composed of bassist, keyboardist, and lead vocalist Geddy Lee, guitarist Alex Lifeson, and drummer and lyricist Neil Peart...
released three distinctively hard rock albums in 1974–75 (Rush, Fly by Night and Caress of Steel
Caress of Steel
Caress of Steel is the third studio album by Canadian rock band Rush, released in 1975. The album shows more of Rush's adherence to hard progressive rock, as opposed to the blues-based heavy metal and hard rock style of the band's first two albums. Long pieces broken up into various sections and...
) before moving toward a more progressive sound. The Irish band Thin Lizzy
Thin Lizzy
Thin Lizzy are an Irish hard rock band formed in Dublin in 1969. Two of the founding members, drummer Brian Downey and bass guitarist/vocalist Phil Lynott met while still in school. Lynott assumed the role of frontman and led them throughout their recording career of thirteen studio albums...
, which had formed in the late 1960s, made their most substantial commercial breakthrough in 1976 with the hard rock album Jailbreak
Jailbreak (album)
Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic described Jailbreak as a "truly exceptional album", with "a dimension of richness that sustains, but there's such kinetic energy to the band that it still sounds immediate no matter how many times it's played". Highlighting Lynott's songs as "lovingly florid.....
and their worldwide hit "The Boys Are Back in Town
The Boys Are Back in Town
"The Boys Are Back in Town" is a single from Irish hard rock band Thin Lizzy. The song came out in 1976 on their album Jailbreak. It was honoured with the 499th position among the 2004 Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, though it was not included in the 2010 update...
", which reached number 8 in the UK and number 12 in the US. Their style, consisting of two duelling guitarists often playing leads in harmony, proved itself to be a large influence on later bands. They reached their commercial, and arguably their artistic peak with Black Rose: A Rock Legend
Black Rose: A Rock Legend
Black Rose: A Rock Legend is the ninth studio album by Irish band Thin Lizzy. Released in 1979, it has been described as one of the band's "greatest, most successful albums"....
(1979). The arrival of Scorpions
Scorpions (band)
Scorpions are a heavy metal/hard rock band from Hannover, Germany, formed in 1965 by guitarist Rudolf Schenker, who is the band's only constant member. They are known for their 1980s rock anthem "Rock You Like a Hurricane" and many singles, such as "No One Like You", "Send Me an Angel", "Still...
from Germany marked the geographical expansion of the sub-genre. Australian-formed AC/DC
AC/DC
AC/DC are an Australian rock band, formed in 1973 by brothers Malcolm and Angus Young. Commonly classified as hard rock, they are considered pioneers of heavy metal, though they themselves have always classified their music as simply "rock and roll"...
, with a stripped back, riff heavy and abrasive style that also appealed to the punk generation, began to gain international attention from 1976, culminating in the release of their multi-platinum albums Let There Be Rock
Let There Be Rock
Let There Be Rock is the fourth studio album by Australian hard rock band AC/DC, released in March 1977. All songs were written by Angus Young, Malcolm Young and Bon Scott.It was originally released in Australia on Albert Productions...
(1977) and Highway to Hell
Highway to Hell
Highway to Hell can refer to:*Highway to Hell , 1979 album by AC/DC**"Highway to Hell" , the title track from the album*Stairway to Heaven/Highway to Hell*Highway to Hell , a 1992 film starring Chad Lowe and Kristy Swanson...
(1979). Also influenced by a punk ethos were heavy metal bands like Motörhead, while Judas Priest abandoned the remaining elements of the blues in their music, further differentiating the hard rock and heavy metal styles and helping to create the New Wave of British Heavy Metal
New Wave of British Heavy Metal
The New Wave of British Heavy Metal was a heavy metal movement that started in the late 1970s, in Britain, and achieved international attention by the early 1980s. The movement developed as a reaction in part to the decline of early heavy metal bands such as Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin and Black...
which was pursued by bands like Iron Maiden
Iron Maiden
Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band from Leyton in east London, formed in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. Since their inception, the band's discography has grown to include a total of thirty-six albums: fifteen studio albums; eleven live albums; four EPs; and six...
, Saxon
Saxon (band)
Saxon are an English heavy metal band, formed in 1976 in Barnsley, Yorkshire. As front-runners of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, they had 8 UK Top 40 albums in the 1980s including 4 UK Top 10 albums. Saxon also had numerous singles in the Top 20 singles chart...
and Venom
Venom (band)
Venom are an English heavy metal band that formed in 1979 in Newcastle upon Tyne. Coming to prominence towards the end of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, Venom's first two albums—Welcome to Hell and Black Metal —are considered a major influence on thrash metal and extreme metal in general...
.
With the rise of disco
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
in the US and punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
in the UK, hard rock's mainstream dominance was rivalled toward the later part of the decade. Disco appealed to a more diverse group of people and punk seemed to take over the rebellious role that hard rock once held. Early punk bands like The Ramones explicitly rebelled against the drum solos and extended guitar solos that characterised stadium rock, with almost all of their songs clocking in around two minutes with no guitar solos. However, new rock acts continued to emerge and record sales remained high into the 1980s. 1977 saw the début and rise to stardom of Foreigner
Foreigner (band)
Foreigner is a British-American rock band, originally formed in 1976 by veteran English musicians Mick Jones and ex-King Crimson member Ian McDonald along with American vocalist Lou Gramm...
, who went on to release several platinum albums through to the mid 1980s. Midwestern groups like Kansas
Kansas (band)
Kansas is an American rock band that became popular in the 1970s initially on Album-Oriented Rock charts, and later with hit singles such as "Carry On Wayward Son" and "Dust in the Wind"...
, REO Speedwagon
REO Speedwagon
REO Speedwagon is an American rock band. Formed in 1967, the band grew in popularity during the 1970s and peaked in the early 1980s. Hi Infidelity is the group's most commercially successful album, selling over ten million copies and charting four Top 40 hits in the US...
and Styx
Styx (band)
Styx is an American rock band that became famous for its albums from the late 1970s and early 1980s. The Chicago band is known for melding the style of prog-rock with the power of hard rock guitar, strong ballads, and elements of American musical theater....
helped further cement heavy rock in the Midwest as a form of stadium rock. In 1978, Van Halen
Van Halen
Van Halen is an American hard rock band formed in Pasadena, California, in 1972. The band has enjoyed success since the release of its debut album, Van Halen, . As of 2007 Van Halen has sold 80 million albums worldwide and has had the most #1 hits on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart...
emerged from the Los Angeles music scene with a sound based around the skills of lead guitarist Eddie Van Halen
Eddie Van Halen
Edward Lodewijk "Eddie" Van Halen is a Dutch-American guitarist, keyboardist, songwriter and producer, best known as the lead guitarist and co-founder of the hard rock band Van Halen, inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame...
. He popularised a guitar‐playing technique of two‐handed hammer‐ons and pull‐offs called tapping
Tapping
Tapping is a guitar playing technique, where a string is fretted and set into vibration as part of a single motion of being pushed onto the fretboard, as opposed to the standard technique being fretted with one hand and picked with the other...
, showcased on the song "Eruption
Eruption (song)
"Eruption" is a guitar solo written and performed by Eddie Van Halen. Eruption often appears on many 'greatest guitar solos' lists. It is often played together with "You Really Got Me", which follows the song on the album Van Halen....
" from the album Van Halen
Van Halen (album)
Van Halen is the debut studio album by American rock band Van Halen, released in February 1978.- History :Recorded in 1977, Van Halen sold over 10 million copies in the US alone, becoming one of the most successful debuts by a rock band. Along with 1984, it gives Van Halen two original albums with...
, which was highly influential in re‐establishing hard rock as a popular genre after the punk and disco explosion, while also redefining and elevating the role of electric guitar.
The glam metal era (1980s)
The opening years of the 1980s saw a number of changes in personnel and direction of established hard rock acts, including the deaths of Bon ScottBon Scott
Ronald Belford "Bon" Scott was a Scottish-born Australian rock musician, best known for being the lead singer and lyricist of Australian hard rock band AC/DC from 1974 until his death in 1980...
, the lead singer of AC/DC, and John Bonham
John Bonham
John Henry Bonham was an English musician and songwriter, best known as the drummer of Led Zeppelin. Bonham was esteemed for his speed, power, fast right foot, distinctive sound, and "feel" for the groove...
, drummer with Led Zeppelin. Zeppelin broke up almost immediately, but AC/DC recorded the album Back in Black
Back in Black
Back in Black is an album by Australian rock band AC/DC. It is the seventh Australian and sixth internationally released studio album by the band....
(1980) with their new lead singer, Brian Johnson
Brian Johnson
Brian Johnson is an English singer and lyricist who has been the lead singer for the rock band AC/DC since 1980. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003 along with the other members of the band....
. It became the fifth highest-selling album of all time in the US and the second largest selling album in the world. Black Sabbath had split with original singer Ozzy Osbourne
Ozzy Osbourne
John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne is an English vocalist, whose musical career has spanned over 40 years. Osbourne rose to prominence as lead singer of the pioneering English heavy metal band Black Sabbath, whose radically different, intentionally dark, harder sound helped spawn the heavy metal...
in 1979 and replaced him with Ronnie James Dio
Ronnie James Dio
Ronald James Padavona , better known as Ronnie James Dio, was an American heavy metal vocalist and songwriter. He performed with, amongst others, Elf, Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Heaven & Hell, and his own band Dio, which means God in Italian. Other musical projects include the collective fundraiser...
, formally of Rainbow, giving the band a new sound and a period of creativity and popularity beginning with Heaven and Hell
Heaven and Hell (Black Sabbath album)
Heaven and Hell is the ninth studio album by British heavy metal band Black Sabbath, released in April 1980. This is their first album featuring Ronnie James Dio, and first with producer Martin Birch.-Album information:...
(1980). Osbourne embarked on a solo career with Blizzard of Ozz
Blizzard of Ozz
Blizzard of Ozz is the first solo studio album by British singer/songwriter Ozzy Osbourne, recorded in Surrey, UK and released on September 20, 1980 in the UK and on March 27, 1981 in the U.S.. It is the comeback album of Osbourne following his firing from Black Sabbath the previous year...
(1980), featuring American guitarist Randy Rhoads
Randy Rhoads
Randall William "Randy" Rhoads was an American heavy metal guitarist who played with Ozzy Osbourne and Quiet Riot. A devoted student of classical guitar, Rhoads often combined his classical music influences with his own heavy metal style. While on tour with Ozzy Osbourne, he would seek out...
. Some bands, such as Queen, moved away from their hard rock roots and more towards pop rock
Pop rock
Pop rock is a music genre which mixes a catchy pop style and light lyrics in its guitar-based rock songs. There are varying definitions of the term, ranging from a slower and mellower form of rock music to a subgenre of pop music...
, while others, including Rush with Moving Pictures
Moving Pictures (album)
- Personnel :* Geddy Lee - Bass guitar; Minimoog; Oberheim 8-voice synthesizer; OB-X, Moog Taurus bass pedals, vocals* Alex Lifeson - Electric and acoustic guitars, Moog Taurus...
(1981), began to return to a hard rock sound. The creation of thrash metal
Thrash metal
Thrash metal is a subgenre of heavy metal that is characterized usually by its fast tempo and aggression. Songs of the genre typically use fast percussive and low-register guitar riffs, overlaid with shredding-style lead work...
, which mixed heavy metal with elements of hardcore punk
Hardcore punk
Hardcore punk is an underground music genre that originated in the late 1970s, following the mainstream success of punk rock. Hardcore is generally faster, thicker, and heavier than earlier punk rock. The origin of the term "hardcore punk" is uncertain. The Vancouver-based band D.O.A...
from about 1982, particularly by Metallica
Metallica
Metallica is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1981 when James Hetfield responded to an advertisement that drummer Lars Ulrich had posted in a local newspaper. The current line-up features long-time lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo ...
, Anthrax
Anthrax (band)
Anthrax is an American heavy metal band from New York City, formed in 1981. Founded by guitarists Scott Ian and Danny Lilker, the band has since released ten studio albums and 20 singles, and an EP featuring Public Enemy. The band was one of the most popular of the 1980s thrash metal scene...
, Megadeth
Megadeth
Megadeth is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California which was formed in 1983 by guitarist/vocalist Dave Mustaine, bassist Dave Ellefson and guitarist Greg Handevidt, following Mustaine's expulsion from Metallica. The band has since released 13 studio albums, three live albums, two...
and Slayer
Slayer
Slayer is an American thrash metal band formed in Huntington Park, California, in 1981 by guitarists Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King. Slayer rose to fame with their 1986 release, Reign in Blood, and is credited as one of the "Big Four" thrash metal acts, along with Metallica, Megadeth and...
, helped to create extreme metal and further remove the style from hard rock, although a number of these bands or their members would continue to record some songs closer to a hard rock sound. Kiss
KISS (band)
Kiss is an American rock band formed in New York City in January 1973. Well-known for its members' face paint and flamboyant stage outfits, the group rose to prominence in the mid to late 1970s on the basis of their elaborate live performances, which featured fire breathing, blood spitting,...
moved away from their hard rock roots toward pop metal: firstly removing their makeup in 1983 for their Lick It Up
Lick It Up
Lick It Up is the 11th studio album by the U.S. band Kiss. On the day of the album's release, Kiss appeared on MTV without their trademark makeup. It was the first public appearance without makeup by Kiss since the very early days of the band...
album, and then adopting the visual and sound of glam metal for their 1984 release, Animalize
Animalize
Animalize is the 12th studio album by the American band Kiss. In a continuation of the commercial resurgence begun with Lick It Up, Animalize was certified platinum by the RIAA on December 12, 1984. It was the biggest-selling Kiss album since 1977's Alive II.The album marked the only appearance by...
, both of which marked a return to commercial success. Pat Benatar
Pat Benatar
Pat Benatar is an American singer and four-time Grammy winner. She had considerable commercial success particularly in the United States...
was one of the first women to achieve commercial success in hard rock, with three successive Top 5 albums between 1980 and 1982.
Often categorised with the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, in 1981 Def Leppard
Def Leppard
Def Leppard are an English rock band formed in 1977 in Sheffield as part of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal movement. Since 1992, the band have consisted of Joe Elliott , Rick Savage , Rick Allen , Phil Collen , and Vivian Campbell...
released their second album High 'n' Dry
High 'n' Dry
High 'n' Dry is the second studio album by British heavy metal band Def Leppard, released on 11 July 1981. Its title song, "High 'n' Dry ", ranked number 33 on VH1's 40 Greatest Metal Songs. High 'n' Dry was Pete Willis' last full time album with Def Leppard...
, mixing glam-rock with heavy metal, and helping to define the sound of hard rock for the decade. The follow-up Pyromania
Pyromania (album)
Pyromania is the third studio album by British rock band Def Leppard, released on 20 January 1983. It featured new guitarist Phil Collen and was produced by Robert John "Mutt" Lange. The album charted at #2 on the Billboard 200 and #18 on the UK Albums Chart.The album was partially recorded with...
(1983), reached number two on the American charts and the singles "Photograph
Photograph (Def Leppard song)
"Photograph" is a 1983 single by British hard rock band Def Leppard from their album Pyromania. It was written as a tribute to the late actress Marilyn Monroe, as singer Joe Elliott often stated before playing the song live onstage. When released as a single it reached No. 1 on the Billboard Top...
", "Rock of Ages
Rock of Ages (Def Leppard song)
"Rock of Ages" is a song by Def Leppard from their 1983 album Pyromania. It takes its name from the hymn Rock of Ages. When released as a single in the United States, the song reached number 16 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and number one on the Top Tracks rock chart.It begins with a German-like...
" and "Foolin'
Foolin'
"Foolin" is a 1983 single by British Heavy metal band Def Leppard from their multi-platinum album Pyromania. When released as a single later that year, it reached #9 on the Mainstream Rock chart and #28 on the Billboard Hot 100.-Legacy:...
", helped by the emergence of MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
, all reached the Top 40. It was widely emulated, particularly by the emerging Californian glam metal
Glam metal
Glam metal is a subgenre of hard rock and heavy metal that arose in the late 1970s and early 1980s in the United States, particularly on the Los Angeles Sunset Strip music scene...
scene. This was followed by US acts like Mötley Crüe
Mötley Crüe
Mötley Crüe is an American heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1981. The group was founded by bass guitarist Nikki Sixx and drummer Tommy Lee, who were later joined by lead guitarist Mick Mars and lead singer Vince Neil...
, with their albums Too Fast for Love
Too Fast for Love
Too Fast For Love is the debut record of American heavy metal band Mötley Crüe; 900 copies were released in November 1981 on the band's Leathür Records label. Elektra Records signed the band the following year, at which point the album was remixed and partially re-recorded...
(1981) and Shout at the Devil
Shout at the Devil
Shout at the Devil is the second album by heavy metal band Mötley Crüe, released on September 26, 1983. "Looks That Kill" and "Too Young to Fall in Love" became huge hits and "Shout at the Devil" became very popular as well.-Reception:...
(1983) and, as the style grew, the arrival of bands such as Ratt
Ratt
Ratt is an American heavy metal band that had significant commercial success in the 1980s. The band is best known for songs such as "Round and Round," "Wanted Man," "Lay It Down," "You're in Love", "Slip of the Lip", "Back For More", "Dance", "Body Talk", "I Want a Woman", and "Way Cool Jr." Ratt...
, White Lion
White Lion
White Lion is an American/Danish hard rock/heavy metal band that was formed in New York City in 1983 by Danish vocalist Mike Tramp and American guitarist Vito Bratta. Mainly active in the 1980s and early 1990s, the band achieved double platinum status with their #8 hit "Wait" and #3 hit "When the...
, Twisted Sister
Twisted Sister
Twisted Sister is an American heavy metal band from Long Island. Musically, the band implements elements of traditional heavy metal bands such as Iron Maiden and Judas Priest, along with a style that is similar to early glam metal bands...
and Quiet Riot
Quiet Riot
Quiet Riot is an American Heavy Metal band. They are best known for their hit singles "Metal Health" and "Cum On Feel the Noize". They were founded in 1973 by guitarist Randy Rhoads and bassist Kelly Garni, under the original name Mach 1, before changing the name to Little Women and finally Quiet...
. Quiet Riot's album Metal Health
Metal Health
Metal Health is the third studio album by American heavy metal band Quiet Riot. It was released on March 11, 1983, bolstered by the #5 hit "Cum on Feel the Noize" and the #31 hit "Metal Health". It knocked The Police's Synchronicity out of #1 in the US. The album went on to sell over six million...
(1983) was the first glam metal album, and arguably the first heavy metal album of any kind, to reach number one in the Billboard music charts and helped open the doors for mainstream success by subsequent bands.
Perfect Strangers (album)
Perfect Strangers is the eleventh studio album by Deep Purple, released in October 1984. It represents the first album recorded by the reformed, the most successful and popular, 'Mark II' line-up....
(1984), which reached number five in the UK, number two in Norway, and number 17 on the Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
in the US. After disappointing sales of its fourth album, Fair Warning
Fair Warning (Van Halen album)
Fair Warning is the fourth studio album by American hard rock band Van Halen. Released in 1981, it sold more than two million copies, but was still the band's slowest-selling album of the David Lee Roth era...
, Van Halen
Van Halen
Van Halen is an American hard rock band formed in Pasadena, California, in 1972. The band has enjoyed success since the release of its debut album, Van Halen, . As of 2007 Van Halen has sold 80 million albums worldwide and has had the most #1 hits on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart...
rebounded with the Top 5 album Diver Down
Diver Down
Diver Down is the fifth studio album by American hard rock band Van Halen, released in 1982. It spent 65 weeks on the US album charts and had, by 1998, sold four million copies in the US.-Background:...
in 1982, then reached their commercial pinnacle with 1984
1984 (Van Halen album)
1984 is the sixth studio album by American hard rock band Van Halen. One of the band's more popular albums , 1984 is to date the final album featuring singer David Lee Roth before he left the band in the spring of the following year.-Background and recording:Eddie Van Halen,...
. It reached number two on the Billboard album chart and provided the track "Jump
Jump (Van Halen song)
"Jump" is a song by the American rock group Van Halen. It is the only single the group released in their career to reach number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. It was released in 1984 as the second track on the album 1984...
", which reached number one on the singles chart
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
and remained there for several weeks. The new medium of video channels was used with considerable success by bands formed in previous decades. Among the first were ZZ Top, who mixed hard blues-rock with New Wave music
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
to produce a series of highly successful singles, beginning with "Gimme All Your Lovin'
Gimme All Your Lovin'
"Gimme All Your Lovin" is a song by ZZ Top from their 1983 album Eliminator. The song was released as the album's first single in 1983 ....
" (1983), which helped their albums Eliminator (1983) and Afterburner
Afterburner (album)
Afterburner is the ninth studio album by American blues rock band ZZ Top, released in 1985 . Afterburner was a financial success, going several times platinum and launching several hit singles. The most successful single released from this album was "Sleeping Bag", which peaked at No. 1 on the...
(1985) achieve diamond and multi-platinum status respectively. Others found renewed success in the singles charts with power ballads, including REO Speedwagon with "Keep on Loving You" (1980) and "Can't Fight This Feeling
Can't Fight This Feeling
"Can't Fight This Feeling" is a number-one power ballad from REO Speedwagon about a man falling in love with a girl with whom he has been friends for a long time....
" (1984), Journey with "Don't Stop Believin'
Don't Stop Believin'
"Don't Stop Believin is a popular song by the American rock band Journey, originally released as a single from their 1981 album Escape, which became a #9 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 on its original release. It re-entered the UK Singles Chart in 2009 as a result of increased prominence of digital...
" (1981) and "Open Arms
Open Arms (Journey song)
"Open Arms" is a popular song originally recorded by American rock band Journey, and released as a single from their 1981 album, Escape. Co-written by band members Steve Perry and Jonathan Cain, the song is a power ballad whose lyrics are an empowering plea to a lover to forgive past wrongdoings...
" (1982), Foreigner
Foreigner (band)
Foreigner is a British-American rock band, originally formed in 1976 by veteran English musicians Mick Jones and ex-King Crimson member Ian McDonald along with American vocalist Lou Gramm...
's "I Want to Know What Love Is
I Want to Know What Love Is
"I Want to Know What Love Is" is a 1984 power ballad recorded by the British-American rock band Foreigner. The song hit #1 in both the UK and the U.S. and is the band's biggest hit...
", Scorpions
Scorpions (band)
Scorpions are a heavy metal/hard rock band from Hannover, Germany, formed in 1965 by guitarist Rudolf Schenker, who is the band's only constant member. They are known for their 1980s rock anthem "Rock You Like a Hurricane" and many singles, such as "No One Like You", "Send Me an Angel", "Still...
"Still Loving You
Still Loving You
"Still Loving You" is a song of Scorpions from their 1984 album Love at First Sting. It was the second single of the album, reaching #64 on Billboard Hot 100. In France, the single sold 1.7 million copies...
" (both from 1984), Heart’s
Heart (band)
Heart is an American rock band who first found success in Canada. Throughout several lineup changes, the only two members remaining constant are sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson. The group rose to fame in the 1970s with their music being influenced by hard rock as well as folk music...
"What About Love
What About Love
"What About Love" is a song recorded by the rock band Heart, and released in June 1985. The band's "comeback" single, it was the first Heart track to reach the top 40 in three years, and their first top 10 hit in five...
" (1985) and "These Dreams
These Dreams
"These Dreams" is a song by the rock band Heart released in 1986 from their 1985 self-titled album. It was the first song by the band to become a number one hit on the Billboard Hot 100.-Origin of the song:...
" (1986), and Boston
Boston (band)
Boston is an American rock band from Boston, Massachusetts that achieved its most notable successes during the 1970s and 1980s. Centered on guitarist, keyboardist, songwriter, and producer Tom Scholz, the band is a staple of classic rock radio playlists...
's "Amanda" (1986).
Bon Jovi
Bon Jovi
Bon Jovi is an American rock band from Sayreville, New Jersey. Formed in 1983, Bon Jovi consists of lead singer and namesake Jon Bon Jovi , guitarist Richie Sambora, keyboardist David Bryan, drummer Tico Torres, as well as current bassist Hugh McDonald...
's third album, Slippery When Wet
Slippery When Wet
Slippery When Wet is the third studio album by Bon Jovi, released in August 1986 by Vertigo Records. Slippery When Wet was an instant commercial success. The album features songs that are today considered as Bon Jovi's most well-known tracks such as "You Give Love a Bad Name", "Livin' on a Prayer"...
(1986), mixed hard rock with a pop sensitivity and spent a total of 8 weeks at the top of the Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
album chart, selling 12 million copies while becoming the first hard rock album to spawn three top 10 singles — two of which reached number one. The album has been credited with widening the audiences for the genre, particularly by appealing to women as well as the traditional male dominated audience, and opening the door to MTV and commercial success for other bands at the end of the decade. The anthemic The Final Countdown
The Final Countdown (album)
The Final Countdown is the third studio album by the Swedish rock band Europe. Released on 26 May 1986 through Epic Records, the album was a huge commercial success selling over 3 million units in the United States alone, peaking at number 8 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart and reaching high...
(1986) by Swedish group Europe
Europe (band)
Europe is a Swedish rock band formed in Upplands Väsby in 1979 under the name Force by vocalist Joey Tempest, guitarist John Norum and drummer Tony Reno. Although widely associated with glam metal, the band's sound incorporates heavy metal and hard rock elements...
was an international hit, reaching number eight on the US charts while hitting the top 10 in nine other countries. This era also saw more glam-infused American hard rock bands come to the forefront, with both Poison
Poison (band)
Poison is an American glam metal band that achieved great success in the mid-1980s to mid-1990s. To date, Poison has sold over 30 million records worldwide and have sold 15 million records in the United States alone. The band has also charted ten singles to the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100,...
and Cinderella
Cinderella (band)
Cinderella is an American heavy metal band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They emerged in the mid-1980s with a series of multi-platinum albums and hit singles whose music videos received heavy MTV rotation. They were famous for being a glam metal band, but then shifted over towards a more hard...
releasing their multi-platinum début albums in 1986. Van Halen
Van Halen
Van Halen is an American hard rock band formed in Pasadena, California, in 1972. The band has enjoyed success since the release of its debut album, Van Halen, . As of 2007 Van Halen has sold 80 million albums worldwide and has had the most #1 hits on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart...
released 5150
5150 (album)
5150 is the seventh studio album by American hard rock band Van Halen, released in 1986 through Warner Bros. Records. The album was the first to be recorded with new lead singer Sammy Hagar who replaced David Lee Roth....
(1986), their first album with Sammy Hagar on lead vocals, which was number one in the US for three weeks and sold over 6 million copies. By the second half of the decade, hard rock had become the most reliable form of commercial popular music in the United States.
Established acts benefited from the new commercial climate, with Whitesnake's self-titled album
Whitesnake (album)
Tracks 12-15 taken from Live: In the Shadow of the Blues-20th Anniversary Edition DVD:-Singles:*"Here I Go Again" *"Is This Love"*"Still of the Night"*"Crying in the Rain" *"Give Me All Your Love"-Personnel:...
(1987) selling over 17 million copies, outperforming anything in Coverdale's or Deep Purple's catalogue before or since. It featured the rock anthem "Here I Go Again
Here I Go Again
"Here I Go Again" is a #1 hit song recorded by Whitesnake. Originally released on their 1982 album, Saints & Sinners, the song was re-recorded for their eponymous 1987 album Whitesnake. The song was re-recorded yet another time that year in a new "radio-mix" version...
'87" as one of 4 UK top 20 singles. The follow-up Slip of the Tongue
Slip of the Tongue
-20th Anniversary Edition DVD:-Singles:*"Fool for Your Loving"*"Now You're Gone"*"The Deeper the Love"-Personnel:*David Coverdale – vocals*Steve Vai – All Guitars*Adrian Vandenberg - Guitars *Rudy Sarzo – bass...
(1989) went platinum, but according to critics Steve Erlwine and Greg Prato, "it was a considerable disappointment after the across-the-board success of Whitesnake". Aerosmith's comeback album Permanent Vacation
Permanent Vacation (album)
Permanent Vacation is the ninth studio album by American rock band Aerosmith, released in August 1987 by Geffen Records.The album marks a turning point in the band's career. It is their first album to employ professional songwriters, instead of featuring material solely composed by members of the...
(1987) would begin a decade long revival of their popularity. Crazy Nights
Crazy Nights
Crazy Nights is the 14th studio album by American band Kiss. The album was recorded in June 1987 and officially released on September 18, 1987 by Mercury and Vertigo in Europe. The album featured keyboards which was another departure in their music style changing from their Lick It...
(1987) by Kiss was the band's highest charting release in the USA since 1979 and the highest of their career in the UK. Mötley Crüe with Girls, Girls, Girls (1987) continued their commercial success and Def Leppard with Hysteria (1987) hit their commercial peak, the latter producing seven hit singles (a record for a hard rock act). Guns N' Roses
Guns N' Roses
Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band, formed in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, in 1985. The band has released six studio albums, three EPs, and one live album...
released the best-selling début of all time, Appetite for Destruction
Appetite for Destruction
Appetite for Destruction is the debut studio album by American rock band Guns N' Roses, released in July 1987 on Geffen Records. It was well-received by critics and topped the American Billboard 200 chart...
(1987). With a "grittier" and "rawer" sound than most glam metal, it produced three top 10 hits, including the number one "Sweet Child O' Mine
Sweet Child O' Mine
"Sweet Child o' Mine" is the third single by American rock band Guns N' Roses, and the third from their 1987 debut studio album, Appetite for Destruction. Released on August 17, 1988, the song topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart, becoming the band's first and only number-one single in the U.S...
". Some of the glam rock bands that formed in the mid-1980s, such as White Lion and Cinderella experienced their biggest success during this period with their respective albums Pride (1987) and Long Cold Winter
Long Cold Winter
Long Cold Winter is Cinderella's second studio album, released in 1988 through Mercury Records. It reached #10 in the US and became double-platinum for shipping 2 million copies in the US by the end of the year, just as their debut album Night Songs had done earlier. It was later certified triple...
(1988) both going multi-platinum and launching a series of hit singles. In the last years of the decade, the most notable successes were New Jersey
New Jersey (album)
New Jersey is Bon Jovi's fourth album, released on September 19, 1988. The album charted at #1 on The Billboard 200. New Jersey was particularly notable for producing five Billboard Hot 100 Top 10 singles, the most top ten hits to date for a hard rock album.-Unreleased songs:The album was...
(1988) by Bon Jovi, OU812
OU812
OU812 is the 8th studio album by American hard rock band Van Halen, released in 1988. The album title is allegedly a joke on Van Halen's previous lead singer David Lee Roth's 1986 album Eat 'Em and Smile . However, "OU812" was also seen in the 70s sitcom Taxi written on a wall...
(1988) by Van Halen
Van Halen
Van Halen is an American hard rock band formed in Pasadena, California, in 1972. The band has enjoyed success since the release of its debut album, Van Halen, . As of 2007 Van Halen has sold 80 million albums worldwide and has had the most #1 hits on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart...
, Open Up and Say... Ahh! (1988) by Poison
Poison (band)
Poison is an American glam metal band that achieved great success in the mid-1980s to mid-1990s. To date, Poison has sold over 30 million records worldwide and have sold 15 million records in the United States alone. The band has also charted ten singles to the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100,...
, Pump
Pump (album)
*After the end of "What It Takes" there is a brief, untitled, instrumental hidden track composed and performed by Randy Raine-Reusch. This was not included on all the releases in all countries.-Bonus track :-Lawsuit:...
(1989) by Aerosmith, and Mötley Crüe's most commercially successful album Dr. Feelgood
Dr. Feelgood (album)
*Disc one contains the original albumThe original Korean LP edition does not contain the first two tracks, "T.N.T. " and "Dr...
(1989). New Jersey spawned five Top 10 singles, a record for a hard rock act. A final wave of glam rock bands arrived in the late 1980s, and experienced success with multi-platinum albums and hit singles from 1989 until the early 1990s, among them Extreme
Extreme (band)
Extreme is an American rock band, headed by frontmen Gary Cherone and Nuno Bettencourt, that reached the height of their popularity in the late 1980s and early 1990s.Among some of Extreme's musical influences are Queen and Van Halen...
, Warrant
Warrant (American band)
Warrant is an American heavy metal band from Hollywood, California, that experienced success from 1989-1996 with five albums reaching international sales of over 10 million. The band first came into the national spotlight with their debut album Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinking Rich, and one of its...
Slaughter
Slaughter (band)
Slaughter is an American heavy metal band formed in Las Vegas, Nevada by lead vocalist/rhythm guitarist Mark Slaughter and bassist Dana Strum. The band reached stardom in 1990 with their first album, Stick It to Ya which spawned several hit singles including "Up All Night", "Spend My Life", "Mad...
and FireHouse. Skid Row also released their eponymous début
Skid Row (album)
-Personnel:*Sebastian Bach – lead vocals*Scotti Hill – lead and rhythm guitar*Dave "The Snake" Sabo – rhythm and lead guitar, backing vocals*Rachel Bolan – bass guitar, backing vocals*Rob Affuso – drums and percussion*David Kent – engineer...
(1989), reaching number six on the Billboard 200, but they were to be one of the last major bands that emerged in the glam rock era.
Grunge and Britpop (1990s)
Hard rock entered the 1990s as one of the dominant forms of commercial music. The multi-platinum releases of AC/DC's The Razors EdgeThe Razors Edge (album)
-Personnel:*Brian Johnson – lead vocals*Angus Young – lead guitar*Malcolm Young – rhythm guitar, backing vocals*Cliff Williams – bass, backing vocals*Chris Slade – drums, percussion-Tour:...
(1990), Guns N' Roses' Use Your Illusion I
Use Your Illusion I
Use Your Illusion I is the third studio album by the American rock band Guns N' Roses. It was the first of two albums released in conjunction with the Use Your Illusion Tour, the other being Use Your Illusion II. The two are thus sometimes considered a double album. In fact, in the original vinyl...
and Use Your Illusion II
Use Your Illusion II
Use Your Illusion II is the fourth studio album by the American rock band Guns N' Roses. It was one of two albums released in conjunction with the Use Your Illusion Tour, and as a result the two albums are sometimes considered a double album...
(both in 1991), Ozzy Osbourne's No More Tears
No More Tears
- 2002 Reissue :- Personnel :Musicians* Ozzy Osbourne – vocals* Zakk Wylde – guitar* Bob Daisley – bass* Randy Castillo – drums* John Sinclair – keyboards, pianoAdditional personnel* Mike Inez – inspiration, musical direction...
(1991), and Van Halen's For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge
For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge
For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge is the ninth studio album by American hard rock band Van Halen, released in 1991 through Warner Bros. Records. It debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 album chart and maintained the position for three weeks...
(1991) showcased this popularity. Additionally, The Black Crowes
The Black Crowes
The Black Crowes are an American rock band formed in 1989. Their discography includes nine studio albums, four live albums and several charting singles. The band was signed to Def American Recordings in 1989 by producer George Drakoulias and released their debut album, Shake Your Money Maker, the...
released their debut album, Shake Your Money Maker (1990), which contained a bluesy classic rock sound and sold five million copies. In 1992, Def Leppard followed up 1987's Hysteria with Adrenalize
Adrenalize
-Deluxe Edition :*Tracks 1-4 are taken from the band's Live: In the Clubs, in Your Face EP, recorded at Bonn, Germany, on 29 May 1992*Tracks 5 & 6 taken from "Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad" single....
, which went multi-platinum, spawned four Top 40 singles and held the number one spot on the US album chart for five weeks.
Grunge
Grunge is a subgenre of alternative rock that emerged during the mid-1980s in the American state of Washington, particularly in the Seattle area. Inspired by hardcore punk, heavy metal, and indie rock, grunge is generally characterized by heavily distorted electric guitars, contrasting song...
in the US and Britpop
Britpop
Britpop is a subgenre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom. Britpop emerged from the British independent music scene of the early 1990s and was characterised by bands influenced by British guitar pop music of the 1960s and 1970s...
in the UK. This was particularly evident after the success of Nirvana
Nirvana (band)
Nirvana was an American rock band that was formed by singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen, Washington in 1987...
's Nevermind
Nevermind
Nevermind is the second studio album by the American rock band Nirvana, released on September 24, 1991. Produced by Butch Vig, Nevermind was the group's first release on DGC Records...
(1991), which combined elements of hardcore punk
Hardcore punk
Hardcore punk is an underground music genre that originated in the late 1970s, following the mainstream success of punk rock. Hardcore is generally faster, thicker, and heavier than earlier punk rock. The origin of the term "hardcore punk" is uncertain. The Vancouver-based band D.O.A...
and heavy metal into a "dirty" sound that made use of heavy guitar distortion, fuzz and feedback, along with darker lyrical themes than their "hair band" predecessors. Although most grunge bands had a sound that sharply contrasted mainstream hard rock, a minority, including Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam is an American rock band that formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. Since its inception, the band's line-up has included Eddie Vedder , Jeff Ament , Stone Gossard , and Mike McCready...
, Alice in Chains
Alice in Chains
Alice in Chains is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1987 by guitarist and songwriter Jerry Cantrell and original lead vocalist Layne Staley. The initial lineup was rounded out by drummer Sean Kinney, and bassist Mike Starr...
, Mother Love Bone
Mother Love Bone
Mother Love Bone was an American rock band that formed in Seattle, Washington in 1988. The band was active from 1988 to 1990. Frontman Andrew Wood's personality and compositions helped to catapult the group to the top of the burgeoning late 1980s/early 1990s Seattle music scene...
and Soundgarden
Soundgarden
Soundgarden is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington in 1984 by singer Chris Cornell, lead guitarist Kim Thayil, and bassist Hiro Yamamoto...
, were more strongly influenced by 1970s and 1980s rock and metal, while Stone Temple Pilots
Stone Temple Pilots
Stone Temple Pilots is an American rock band from San Diego, California that consists of Scott Weiland , brothers Robert DeLeo and Dean DeLeo , and Eric Kretz ....
managed to turn alternative rock into a form of stadium rock. However, all grunge bands shunned the macho, anthemic and fashion-focused aesthetics particularly associated with glam metal. In Britain, Oasis
Oasis (band)
Oasis were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1991. Originally known as The Rain, the group was formed by Liam Gallagher , Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs , Paul "Guigsy" McGuigan and Tony McCarroll , who were soon joined by Liam's older brother Noel Gallagher...
were unusual among the Britpop bands of the mid-1990s in incorporating a hard rock sound.
In the new commercial climate glam metal bands like Europe, Ratt, White Lion and Cinderella broke up, Whitesnake went on hiatus in 1991, and while many of these bands would re-unite again in the late 1990s or early 2000s, they never reached the commercial success they saw in the 1980s or early 1990s. Other bands such as Mötley Crüe and Poison saw personnel changes which impacted those bands' commercial viability during the decade. In 1995 Van Halen released Balance
Balance (Van Halen album)
Balance is the 10th studio album by American hard rock band Van Halen. It was released in 1995 and, to date, is the fourth and final Van Halen album of all-new material featuring lead singer Sammy Hagar. It was also a more complete divergence from their earlier, more heavy metal sound...
, a multi-platinum seller that would be the band's last with Sammy Hagar on vocals. In 1996 David Lee Roth
David Lee Roth
David Lee Roth is an American rock vocalist, songwriter, actor, author, and former radio personality. Roth was ranked nineteenth by Hit Parader on their list of the 100 Greatest Heavy Metal Singers of All Time....
returned briefly and his replacement, former Extreme
Extreme (band)
Extreme is an American rock band, headed by frontmen Gary Cherone and Nuno Bettencourt, that reached the height of their popularity in the late 1980s and early 1990s.Among some of Extreme's musical influences are Queen and Van Halen...
singer Gary Cherone
Gary Cherone
Gary Francis Caine Cherone is an American rock singer-songwriter. He is best known for his work with the rock group Extreme, as well as his short stint as the lead singer for Van Halen on their 11th album Van Halen III and subsequent tour. In recent years he has released solo recordings. In 2007,...
, was fired soon after the release of the commercially unsuccessful 1998 album Van Halen III
Van Halen III
Van Halen III is the band's 11th album and was the last studio album by American hard rock band Van Halen. It is the only Van Halen album to feature Gary Cherone on lead vocals...
and Van Halen would not tour or record again until 2004. Guns N' Roses' original lineup was whittled away throughout the decade. Drummer Steven Adler
Steven Adler
Steven Adler is an American musician. He is best known as the former drummer of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he achieved worldwide success in the late 1980s...
was fired in 1990, guitarist Izzy Stradlin
Izzy Stradlin
Jeffrey Dean Isbell , known by his stage name Izzy Stradlin, is an American musician and songwriter. He is best known as the co-founder and former rhythm guitarist of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, which he left at the height of its fame in 1991. Following his departure, he led his own band Izzy...
left in late 1991 after recording Use Your Illusion I and II with the band. Tensions between the other band members and lead singer Axl Rose
Axl Rose
W. Axl Rose is an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is the lead vocalist and only remaining original member of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he enjoyed great success and recognition in the late 1980s and early 1990s, before disappearing from the public eye for several years...
continued after the release of the 1993 covers album The Spaghetti Incident? Guitarist Slash
Slash (musician)
Saul Hudson , known by his stage name Slash, is a British-American musician and songwriter. He is best known as the former lead guitarist of the American hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he achieved worldwide success in the late 1980s and early 1990s. During his later years with Guns N'...
left in 1996, followed by bassist Duff McKagan
Duff McKagan
Michael Andrew "Duff" McKagan is an American musician and writer. He is best known for his twelve-year tenure as the bassist of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he achieved worldwide success in the late 1980s and early 1990s...
in 1997. Axl Rose, the only original member, worked with a constantly-changing lineup in recording an album that would take over fifteen years to complete.
Some established acts continued to enjoy commercial success, such as Aerosmith, with their number one multi-platinum albums: Get a Grip
Get a Grip
Get a Grip is the 11th studio album by American rock band Aerosmith, released in April 1993 by Geffen Records. Get a Grip was the band's last studio album to be released by Geffen before they returned to Columbia Records....
(1993), which produced four Top 40 singles and became the band's best-selling album worldwide (going on to sell over 20 million copies), and Nine Lives
Nine Lives (Aerosmith album)
-Bonus track :-Bonus tracks :-Bonus tracks :-Bonus tracks :-Artwork:...
(1997). In 1998, Aerosmith released the number one hit "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing
I Don't Want to Miss a Thing
"I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" is a song performed by American rock band Aerosmith for the 1998 film Armageddon. Written by Diane Warren, the song debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 . The song stayed at number one for four weeks from September 5 to September 26, 1998...
", which remains the only single by a hard rock band to debut at number one. AC/DC produced the double platinum Ballbreaker
Ballbreaker
Ballbreaker is the 13th Australian and 12th international studio album by the Australian hard rock band AC/DC, released in September 1995. It was the band's first studio album in five years, since The Razors Edge...
(1995). Bon Jovi appealed to their hard rock audience with songs like "Keep the Faith" (1992), but also achieved success in the adult contemporary genre, with the Top 10 ballads "Bed of Roses
Bed of Roses (song)
"Bed of Roses" is a rock song released by Bon Jovi in November 1992, from the album Keep the Faith. Jon Bon Jovi wrote the song in a hotel room while suffering from a hangover and the lyrics reflects his feelings at the time...
" (1993) and "Always
Always (Bon Jovi song)
"Always" is a power ballad by Bon Jovi. It was released as a single from their 1994 album, Cross Road and went on to become their best selling single, with 1.5 million copies sold in the U.S. and more than 3 million worldwide. The song reached #4 in the U.S...
" (1994). Metallica's Load
Load (album)
Load is the sixth studio album by the American heavy metal band Metallica. Released on June 4, 1996 through Elektra Records, it sold 680,000 units in its first week and debuted at #1 on Billboard 200. The album has sold over 5 million copies worldwide and is certified 5x platinum by the RIAA...
(1996) and ReLoad
ReLoad
ReLoad is the seventh studio album by the American heavy metal band Metallica. It was released on November 18, 1997 through Elektra Records. The album is a sequel or counterpart to the band's previous album, Load. It debuted number 1 on the Billboard 200, selling 417,000 copies in its first week....
(1997) each sold in excess of 4 million copies in the US and saw the band develop a more melodic and blues-rock sound. As the initial impetus of grunge bands faltered in the middle years of the decade, post-grunge
Post-grunge
Post-grunge is a subgenre of alternative rock that emerged in the mid-1990s as a derivative of grunge, using the sounds and aesthetic of grunge, but with a more commercially acceptable tone...
bands emerged. They emulated the attitudes and music of grunge, particularly thick, distorted guitars, but with a more radio-friendly commercially-oriented sound that drew more directly on traditional hard rock. Among the most successful acts were the Foo Fighters
Foo Fighters
Foo Fighters is an American alternative rock band originally formed in 1994 by Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl as a one-man project following the dissolution of his previous band. The band got its name from the UFOs and various aerial phenomena that were reported by Allied aircraft pilots in World War...
, Candlebox
Candlebox
Candlebox is an American alternative rock band from Seattle, Washington. Since their debut, the group has released four studio albums, which have achieved multi-platinum and gold certification, as well as numerous charting singles, a compilation, and a CD+DVD....
, Live
Live (band)
Live is an American rock band from York, Pennsylvania, composed of Chad Taylor , Patrick Dahlheimer , and Chad Gracey . Lead singer and principal songwriter Ed Kowalczyk left the band in November 2009....
, Collective Soul
Collective Soul
Collective Soul is an American rock band originally formed in Stockbridge, Georgia. Collective Soul broke into mainstream popularity with their first hit single, "Shine", which came from their debut album Hints, Allegations, and Things Left Unsaid, released in 1993...
, Australia's Silverchair
Silverchair
Silverchair were an Australian rock band, which formed in 1992 as Innocent Criminals in Merewether, Newcastle with the line-up of Ben Gillies on drums, Chris Joannou on bass guitar and Daniel Johns on vocals and guitars. The group got their big break in mid-1994 when they won a national demo...
and England's Bush
Bush (band)
Bush are an alternative rock band formed in London in 1992 shortly after vocalist/guitarist Gavin Rossdale and guitarist Nigel Pulsford met in a London nightclub. Realising they shared a love for such diverse artists as the Pixies, Bob Marley, The Jesus Lizard, MC5, Nirvana, Hüsker Dü, and Big...
, who all cemented post-grunge as one of the most commercially viable sub-genres by the late 1990s. Similarly, some post-Britpop
Post-Britpop
Post-Britpop is a sub-genre of British alternative rock, made up of bands that emerged from the late 1990s and early 2000s in the aftermath of Britpop, influenced by acts like Pulp, Oasis and Blur, but with less overtly British concerns in their lyrics and making more use of American rock...
bands that followed in the wake of Oasis, including Feeder
Feeder
-Technology:* Feeder , any of several devices used in apiculture to supplement or replace natural food sources* Feeder , another name for a riser, a reservoir built into a metal casting mold to prevent cavities due to shrinkage...
and Stereophonics
Stereophonics
The Stereophonics are a Welsh rock band now living in turners x that formed in 1992 in the village of Cwmaman in Cynon Valley, Wales. The band currently comprises lead vocalist and guitarist Kelly Jones, bassist and backing vocalist Richard Jones, drummer Javier Weyler, guitarist and backing...
, adopted a hard rock or "pop-metal" sound.
Survivals and revivals (2000-present)
It's My Life (Bon Jovi song)
"It's My Life" is Bon Jovi's first single from the album Crush. It was released on May 23, 2000. It was written by Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora, and Max Martin. The song hit #1 across several countries...
" from their double platinum-certified album Crush (2000). and AC/DC released the platinum-certified Stiff Upper Lip
Stiff Upper Lip
Stiff Upper Lip is the 14th Australian and 13th international studio album by Australian hard rock band AC/DC; it was released in 2000. The album was recorded at The Warehouse Studio in Vancouver, British Columbia and mastered at Sterling Sound in New York City. The album was produced by George...
(2000) Aerosmith released a number two platinum album, Just Push Play
Just Push Play
Just Push Play is the 13th studio album by American rock band Aerosmith, released on March 9, 2001. The album was co-produced by song collaborators Marti Frederiksen and Mark Hudson....
(2001), which saw the band foray further into pop with the Top 10 hit "Jaded
Jaded (Aerosmith song)
"Jaded" is a song by American hard rock band Aerosmith. It was written by Steven Tyler and Marti Frederiksen. It was released on December 21, 2000 as the first single off of the album Just Push Play...
", and a blues cover album, Honkin' on Bobo
Honkin' on Bobo
Honkin' on Bobo is the 14th studio album by American rock band Aerosmith, released on March 30, 2004 by Columbia Records. The album includes 11 covers and one original track titled "The Grind"...
, which reached number five in 2004. There were reunions and subsequent tours from Van Halen (with Hagar in 2004 and then Roth in 2007), The Who (delayed in 2002 by the death of bassist John Entwistle
John Entwistle
John Alec Entwistle was an English bass guitarist, songwriter, singer, horn player, and film and record producer who was best known as the bass player for the rock band The Who. His aggressive lead sound influenced many rock bass players...
until 2006) and Black Sabbath (with Osbourne 1997–2006 and Dio 2006-7) and even a one off performance by Led Zeppelin (2007), renewing the interest in previous eras. Additionally, hard rock supergroups, such as Audioslave
Audioslave
Audioslave was an American rock supergroup that formed in Los Angeles, California in 2001. It consisted of former Soundgarden lead singer/rhythm guitarist Chris Cornell and the former instrumentalists of Rage Against the Machine: Tom Morello , Tim Commerford and Brad Wilk...
(with former members of Rage Against the Machine
Rage Against the Machine
Rage Against the Machine is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1991, the group's line-up consists of vocalist Zack de la Rocha, bassist and backing vocalist Tim Commerford, guitarist Tom Morello and drummer Brad Wilk...
and Soundgarden) and Velvet Revolver
Velvet Revolver
Velvet Revolver is an American hard rock supergroup consisting of former Guns N' Roses members Slash, Duff McKagan, and Matt Sorum, alongside Dave Kushner formerly of punk band Wasted Youth. Stone Temple Pilots vocalist Scott Weiland was Velvet Revolver's lead singer from their formation until...
(with former members of Guns N' Roses, punk band Wasted Youth
Wasted Youth (American Band)
Wasted Youth was a hardcore punk band in early 1980s from Los Angeles, California. The band followed in the footsteps of Black Flag and the Circle Jerks, and were a prominent and popular act amongst the Los Angeles punk underground of the early 1980s.-Overview:The band consisted of Chett Lehrer,...
and Stone Temple Pilots singer Scott Weiland
Scott Weiland
Scott Weiland is an American musician, lyricist, and vocalist, most notable for his work with Grammy Award-winning rock band Stone Temple Pilots. Weiland is also known for his five-year career with supergroup Velvet Revolver as well as his own solo career...
), emerged and experienced some success. However, these bands were short-lived, ending in 2007 and 2008, respectively. The long awaited Guns N' Roses album Chinese Democracy
Chinese Democracy
Chinese Democracy is the sixth studio album by American hard rock band Guns N' Roses, released in November 2008 on Geffen Records. It is the band's first studio album since "The Spaghetti Incident?" , released exactly 15 years before Chinese Democracy, and their first album of original studio...
was finally released in 2008, but only went platinum and failed to come close to the success of the band's late 1980s and early 1990s material. More successfully, AC/DC released the double platinum-certified Black Ice
Black Ice (album)
Black Ice is the 15th Australian and 14th international studio album by the Australian hard rock band AC/DC. It was produced by Brendan O'Brien and released internationally on 17 October 2008. Guitarists Angus Young and Malcolm Young got together in London in 2003 to start composing tracks...
(2008). Bon Jovi continued to enjoy success, branching into country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
with "Who Says You Can't Go Home
Who Says You Can't Go Home
"Who Says You Can't Go Home" is a song written by Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora for the American rock band Bon Jovi's ninth studio album Have a Nice Day . The song was produced by John Shanks, Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora. It was released as the second single in North America in the first...
", which reached number one on the Hot Country Singles chart in 2006, and the rock/country album Lost Highway, which reached number one in 2007. In 2009, Bon Jovi released another number one album, The Circle
The Circle (Bon Jovi album)
The Circle is the eleventh studio album by rock band Bon Jovi. Produced by John Shanks, the album was released November 10, 2009, with the new single "We Weren't Born to Follow" premiering on radio August 17...
, which marked a return to their hard rock sound.
The Sword
The Sword is an American heavy metal band that formed in Austin, Texas, in 2003. Since its inception the band has comprised vocalist and guitarist John D. Cronise, guitarist Kyle Shutt and bassist Bryan Richie, and currently includes touring drummer Jimmy Vela following Trivett Wingo's departure in...
, California's High on Fire
High on Fire
High on Fire is a stoner metal band from Oakland, California, that was formed in 1998. Matt Pike, the band's frontman and founder, previously played guitar for the influential stoner doom band Sleep.-History:...
, Sweden's Witchcraft
Witchcraft (band)
Witchcraft is a Swedish hard rock band founded in 2000.-History:Magnus Pelander formed Witchcraft in 2000 in order to record a tribute to Pentagram's Bobby Liebling and Roky Erickson. The "No Angel or Demon" single was released in 2002 by Primitive Art Records which caught the ear of Lee Dorrian's...
and Australia's Wolfmother
Wolfmother
Wolfmother is an Australian rock band from Erskineville, Sydney. Formed in 2000, the group was originally a trio composed of vocalist and guitarist Andrew Stockdale, bassist and keyboardist Chris Ross and drummer Myles Heskett. Wolfmother released their self-titled debut album in October 2005,...
. Wolfmother's self-titled 2005 debut album
Wolfmother (album)
Wolfmother is the debut studio album by Australian rock band Wolfmother, originally released on 31 October 2005 in Australia. The album was later released internationally at various dates in 2006, with the addition of "Love Train" and a rearranged track listing...
combined elements of the sounds of Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin. Fellow Australians Airbourne
Airbourne (band)
Airbourne are an Australian hard rock band formed in Warrnambool in 2001. Mainstay members are Joel O'Keeffe on lead vocals and lead guitar, his brother, Ryan O'Keeffe on drums, and David Roads on rhythm guitar and backing vocals. They were later joined by Justin Street on bass guitar and backing...
's début album Runnin' Wild (2007) followed in the hard riffing tradition of AC/DC. England's The Darkness' Permission to Land
Permission to Land
Permission to Land is the debut studio album by British hard rock band The Darkness, released in the United Kingdom on 7 July 2003 and in the United States on 5 August 2003. The album topped the UK Albums Chart and reached number thirty-six on the American Billboard 200 chart...
(2003), described as an "eerily realistic simulation of '80s metal and '70s glam", topped the UK charts, going quintuple platinum. The follow-up, One Way Ticket to Hell... and Back (2005), reached number 11, before the band broke up in 2006. Los Angeles band Steel Panther
Steel Panther
Steel Panther is a glam metal band from Los Angeles, California mostly known for their profane and humorous lyrics as well as their exaggerated on-stage personas...
managed to gain a following by sending up 80s glam metal. A more serious attempt to revive glam metal was made by bands of the sleaze metal movement in Sweden, including Vains of Jenna
Vains of Jenna
Vains of Jenna are a rock band formed in Falkenberg, Sweden during January 2005. They have since relocated to Los Angeles, California. They will be performing around the States with the help of and -History:...
, Hardcore Superstar
Hardcore Superstar
Hardcore Superstar is a hard rock band from Gothenburg, Sweden. The band was formed in 1997 and continue on today. Hardcore Superstar have had several #1 hit singles, and Grammy wins in Sweden.-Bad Sneakers and a Piña Colada:...
and Crashdïet
Crashdïet
CRASHDÏET are a glam metal band from Stockholm, Sweden. They have released three albums: 2005's Rest in Sleaze, 2007's The Unattractive Revolution and 2010's Generation Wild.- Early years :...
.
Although Foo Fighters continued to be one of the most successful rock acts, with albums like In Your Honor
In Your Honor
In Your Honor is the fifth studio album by Foo Fighters, released on June 14, 2005 on BMG. It consists of two discs. The first contains up beat rock songs and the second disc contains mellower acoustic songs.-Development:...
(2005) reaching number two in the US and UK, many of the first wave of post-grunge bands began to fade in popularity. Acts like Creed
Creed (band)
Creed is an American rock band formed in 1995 in Tallahassee, Florida. Becoming popular in the late 1990s and early 2000s, the band has released three consecutive multi-platinum albums, one of which has been certified diamond, and has sold over 28 million records in the United States, with an...
, Staind
Staind
Staind is an American rock band that was formed in 1995 in Springfield, Massachusetts. For 16 years, the band consisted of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Aaron Lewis, lead guitarist Mike Mushok, bassist Johnny April, and drummer Jon Wysocki...
, Puddle of Mudd
Puddle of Mudd
Puddle Of Mudd is an American rock band from Kansas City, Missouri, USA. To date the band has sold over 7 million albums, and have had a string of #1 mainstream rock singles in the United States. Their major-label debut Come Clean has sold over 5 million copies...
and Nickelback
Nickelback
Nickelback is a Canadian rock band from Hanna, Alberta. Since 1995 the band has included guitarist and lead vocalist Chad Kroeger, guitarist and back-up vocalist Ryan Peake and bassist Mike Kroeger.. The band's current drummer and percussionist is Daniel Adair who has been with the band since 2005....
took the genre into the 21st century with considerable commercial success, abandoning most of the angst and anger of the original movement for more conventional anthems, narratives and romantic songs. They were followed in this vein by new acts including Shinedown
Shinedown
Shinedown is an American rock band from Jacksonville, Florida, formed in 2001 and founded by members Brent Smith , Brad Stewart , Jasin Todd , and Barry Kerch . A few line-up changes followed, and the band's current line-up consists of Smith and Kerch, the band's only two remaining original...
and Seether
Seether
Seether is a post-grunge/alternative metal band from Pretoria, South Africa, formed in 1999. The band is currently signed to Wind-up Records...
. Acts with more conventional hard rock sounds included Andrew W.K.
Andrew W.K.
Andrew W.K. is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, entertainer, and motivational speaker. He is the host of the television series Destroy Build Destroy.-Early life & career:Andrew Wilkes-Krier was born in Stanford, California, and grew up in Ann Arbor, Michigan...
, Beautiful Creatures
Beautiful Creatures (band)
Beautiful Creatures are a hard rock band formed in 1999 by guitarist DJ Ashba, formerly of BulletBoys, and singer Joe Lesté of Bang Tango. The group's current lineup is composed of Lesté , Delta Starr , Anthony Focx , Lance Eric and Justin Sandler...
and Buckcherry
Buckcherry
Buckcherry is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California formed in 1995. The band released two albums, Buckcherry and Time Bomb , before partially dissolving in the summer of 2002. In 2005, lead vocalist Josh Todd and lead guitarist Keith Nelson reformed Buckcherry and released a new album...
, whose breakthrough album 15
15 (Buckcherry album)
15 is Buckcherry's third studio album and the first with a new line-up, released on October 17, 2005 in Japan and on April 6, 2006 in North America. The Japanese version features two bonus tracks. "Crazy Bitch" was the first single off the album and enjoyed success on the pop charts. The second...
(2006) went platinum and spawned the single "Sorry
Sorry (Buckcherry song)
"Sorry" is the tenth single by Buckcherry, and the fifth from their third album, 15. It was not originally planned to be a single, but after increasing popularity on Mainstream radio, the band made a video and officially released the song.-Song meaning:...
" (2007), which made the Top 10 of the Billboard 100. These were joined by bands with hard rock leanings that emerged in the mid-2000s from the garage rock
Garage rock
Garage rock is a raw form of rock and roll that was first popular in the United States and Canada from about 1963 to 1967. During the 1960s, it was not recognized as a separate music genre and had no specific name...
or post punk revival, including Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club is an American rock band from San Francisco, California, now based in Los Angeles. BRMC is known for their garage rock, blues, folk revival, neo-psychedelia sound. They are influenced by bands such as: The Brian Jonestown Massacre, The Verve, The Rolling Stones, Oasis, T...
and Kings of Leon
Kings of Leon
Kings of Leon is an American rock band that originated in Albion, Oklahoma but formed in Nashville, Tennessee in 1999. The band is composed of brothers Anthony Caleb Followill , Ivan Nathan Followill and Michael Jared Followill Kings of Leon is an American rock band that originated in Albion,...
, and Queens of the Stone Age
Queens of the Stone Age
Queens of the Stone Age is an American rock band from Palm Desert, California, United States, formed in 1997. The band's line-up has always included founding member Josh Homme , with the current line-up including longtime members Troy Van Leeuwen and Joey Castillo , alongside Michael Shuman and...
from the US, Three Days Grace
Three Days Grace
Three Days Grace is a Canadian rock band, formed in Norwood, Ontario, Canada in 1992, originally under the name Groundswell. After a breakup in late 1997, the band regrouped in the same year under its current name and with a line-up consisting of guitarist and lead vocalist Adam Gontier, drummer...
from Canada, Jet
Jet (band)
Jet are an Australian rock band formed in 2001 while attending St Bede's College Mentone in Melbourne, . The band consists of lead guitarist Cameron Muncey, bassist Mark Wilson, and brothers Nic and Chris Cester on vocals/rhythm guitar and drums respectively...
from Australia and The Datsuns
The Datsuns
The Datsuns are a hard rock band from Cambridge, New Zealand, formed in 2000. To date they have released four albums and several singles, most of which have charted in New Zealand and/or the United Kingdom...
from New Zealand. In 2009 Them Crooked Vultures
Them Crooked Vultures
Them Crooked Vultures is a rock supergroup formed in Los Angeles in 2009 by John Paul Jones , Dave Grohl , and Josh Homme . The group also includes guitarist Alain Johannes during live performances...
, a supergroup that brought together Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl, Queens of the Stone Age's Josh Homme and Led Zeppelin bass player John Paul Jones
John Paul Jones (musician)
John Paul Jones is an English multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, composer, arranger and record producer. Best known as the bassist, mandolinist, and keyboardist for English rock band Led Zeppelin, Jones has since developed a solo career and has gained even more respect as both a musician and a...
attracted attention as a live act and released a self-titled debut album that reached the top 20 in the US and UK and the top ten in several other countries.
See also
- List of hard rock musicians
- Timeline of heavy metal musicTimeline of heavy metal musicThis is a timeline of heavy metal or hard rock, from its beginnings in the late 1950s to the present time.-Newly formed bands:*Blue Cheer*Cream*The Jimi Hendrix Experience*James Gang*Ten Years After*Vanilla Fudge-Newly formed bands:*Blue Öyster Cult...
- 2011 in hard rock2011 in hard rockThis is a timeline documenting the events of Hard Rock & Glam Metal in the year 2011. Lists upcoming events, album releases, newly formed bands, expected albums and links to similar pages...
- 2010 in hard rock2010 in hard rockThis is a timeline documenting the events of Hard Rock & Glam Metal in the year 2010. Lists upcoming events, album releases, newly formed bands, expected albums and links to similar pages...
- 2009 in hard rock2009 in hard rockThis is a timeline documenting the events of Hard Rock & Glam Metal in the year 2009. Lists upcoming events, album releases, newly formed bands, expected albums and links to similar pages...
- 2008 in hard rock2008 in hard rock-April:-June:-August:-September:-October:-November:...
- 2007 in hard rock2007 in hard rockThis is a timeline documenting the events of Hard Rock & Glam Metal in the year 2007. Lists upcoming events, album releases, newly formed bands, expected albums and links to similar pages...
- 2006 in hard rock
Further readings
- Fast, Susan (2001). In the Houses of the Holy: Led Zeppelin and the Power of Rock Music. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-511756-5
- Fast, Susan (2005). "Led Zeppelin and the Construction of Masculinity," in Music Cultures in the United States, ed. Ellen Koskoff. Routledge. ISBN 0-415-96588-8
- Guibert, Gérôme, and Fabien Hein (ed.) (2007), "Les Scènes Metal. Sciences sociales et pratiques culturelles radicales", Volume! La revue des musiques populaires, n°5-2, Bordeaux: Éditions Mélanie Seteun. ISBN 978-2-913169-24-1
- Kahn-Harris, Keith, Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge, Oxford: Berg, 2007, ISBN 1845203992
- Kahn-Harris, Keith and Fabien Hein (2007), "Metal studies: a bibliography", Volume! La revue des musiques populaires, n°5-2, Bordeaux: Éditions Mélanie Seteun. ISBN 978-2-913169-24-1 Downloadable here
- Weinstein, Deena (1991). Heavy Metal: A Cultural Sociology. Lexington. ISBN 0-669-21837-5. Revised edition: (2000). Heavy Metal: The Music and its Culture. Da Capo. ISBN 0-306-80970-2.