Hard Rock & Classic Rock
The riff gets heavier and the stages get bigger: Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Queen, AC/DC and the arena-rock giants.
Part of Rock
35 moments in this segment.
- — Cream — Crossroads. Clapton's blistering live 1968 Crossroads is a hard-rock guitar landmark.
- — Led Zeppelin — Whole Lotta Love. Led Zeppelin's 1969 riff monster helped invent hard rock.
- — Free — All Right Now. Free's 1970 riff-rock anthem is one of hard rock's most enduring.
- — The Who — Won't Get Fooled Again. The Who's synth-and-power 1971 epic is one of rock's great statements.
- — The Allman Brothers Band — Whipping Post. The Allmans' improvisational blues-rock defined Southern rock at the Fillmore.
- — Led Zeppelin — Stairway to Heaven. The 1971 epic that became rock radio's most requested song.
- — Deep Purple — Smoke on the Water. One of the most famous riffs ever, from Deep Purple's 1972 Machine Head.
- — ZZ Top — La Grange. ZZ Top brought Texas boogie to hard rock with La Grange in 1973.
- — Lynyrd Skynyrd — Free Bird. Southern rock's grand statement, and the ultimate concert encore, from 1973.
- — Bad Company — Can't Get Enough. Bad Company distilled hard rock to its swaggering essence in 1974.
- — Led Zeppelin — Kashmir. Zeppelin's towering 1975 epic married hard rock to orchestral grandeur.
- — Kiss — Rock and Roll All Nite. Kiss turned hard rock into a fire-breathing spectacle.
- — Nazareth — Hair of the Dog. Scotland's Nazareth gave hard rock one of its grittiest riffs.
- — Aerosmith — Walk This Way. Aerosmith's 1975 swagger would later spark the hip-hop crossover with Run-DMC.
- — Bruce Springsteen — Born to Run. Springsteen's 1975 anthem made him rock's great American storyteller.
- — Queen — Bohemian Rhapsody. Queen's 1975 six-minute opera-rock and its pioneering promo video changed everything.
- — Rainbow — Stargazer. Ritchie Blackmore and Ronnie James Dio built epic, mystical hard rock.
- — Thin Lizzy — The Boys Are Back in Town. Thin Lizzy's twin-guitar 1976 anthem is hard rock at its most joyous.
- — Blue Öyster Cult — (Don't Fear) The Reaper. Blue Öyster Cult's 1976 classic married hard rock and eerie melody.
- — Boston — More Than a Feeling. Boston's layered 1976 sound defined American album-oriented rock.
- — Eagles — Hotel California. The Eagles' 1976 title track became one of the best-known songs in rock.
- — The arena rock explosion. By the late '70s, hard rock filled arenas — Kiss, Ted Nugent, Foreigner and Journey.
- — Fleetwood Mac — Dreams. From Rumours, one of the best-selling albums ever, in 1977.
- — Heart — Barracuda. Ann and Nancy Wilson made Heart one of the '70s' fiercest hard-rock bands.
- — Foreigner — Feels Like the First Time. Foreigner perfected melodic arena rock in the late '70s.
- — Queen — We Will Rock You / We Are the Champions. Queen's 1977 double-anthem became the sound of stadiums everywhere.
- — Van Halen — Eruption. Eddie Van Halen's 1978 solo reinvented rock guitar overnight.
- — AC/DC — Highway to Hell. AC/DC's 1979 anthem, Bon Scott's last album, is hard rock distilled.
- — AC/DC — Back in Black. AC/DC's tribute to Bon Scott became one of the best-selling albums of all time.
- — Scorpions — Rock You Like a Hurricane. Germany's Scorpions became global hard-rock stars in the '80s.
- — Bon Jovi — Livin' on a Prayer. Bon Jovi's 1986 anthem became the sound of stadium rock.
- — Whitesnake — Here I Go Again. David Coverdale's Whitesnake topped the charts in the '80s hard-rock boom.
- — Def Leppard — Pour Some Sugar on Me. Def Leppard perfected the polished 1980s arena-rock sound.
- — Guns N' Roses — Sweet Child o' Mine. Slash's riff made Sweet Child o' Mine GN'R's only US number one.
- — Aerosmith — Janie's Got a Gun. Aerosmith's 1989 comeback proved hard rock could tackle serious themes.
