Socio-Cultural Environment

The 2nd world war and the cold war made people think different. People, specially teens, started thinking new ways to change the world, to promote peace and to fight against ambition. Hippies appeared but rapidly changed their ideas and started using drugs and alcohol. Teens, who didn´t like their current situation started creating heavy sounds and hard lyrics to express what they thought. 

This front shows how heavy metal bands express
their ideas.

History



Cream, one of the first
bands of Hard rock.

In the mid-1960s, American and British rock bands started modification rock n´ roll, adding greater blues influence, harder sounds, heavier guitar riffs, faster drums rhythms and louder vocals. The first bands that started adding this elements were Cream, The Jimi Hendrix Experience and The Rolling Stones.

The first hard rock song was "Helter Skelter" by the British rock band "The Beatles":

Judas Priest, followed Black Sabbath and added important
elements to heavy metal.

In the late 1960s, bands started to include new guitar effects, faster riffs and a darker sound. Black Sabbath emphasized on a dark and heavy sound, playing lyrics related to hell, using loud guitar effects and screaming vocals. This created a new genre: heavy metal. However bands like Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin maintained a bluesy rock n´ roll identity. 

Eddie Van Halen, was the first
guitarist that used tapping on
guitar solos. 


In the 1070s, hard rock expanded and became very important. In the early 1970s Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin and the Rolling stones released their most succesfully albums, and new hard rock bands, such as Kiss, Rush, Aerosmith, AC/DC, Queen and Judas Priest, started appearing. Also, new guitar techniques, such as tapping and sweet picking, were released.

In the 1980s, heavy metal got more attention than hard rock due to the appearance of the NWBHM (New Wave of British Heavy Metal). Also, pioneer hard rock bands like Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin separated. However, Aerosmith, Van Halen and Bon Jovi continued playing classic hard rock. 

 

In the 1990s, the appearance of Guns and Roses and Skid Row influenced a lot of bands to mix heavy metal with some hard rock elements. also, AC/DC and Aerosmith regained a bluesy rock and roll sound with albums like "The razors edge" and "A little south of sanity".

Hard Rock Most Important Bands

The Jimi Hendrix Experience

Are you experienced?, first album
released by the band. Considered as
the best album of them. 

Rock n´ roll band formed in London on 1966. Consisted of Jimi Hendrix (lead guitar and lead vocals), Noel Redding (bass and back vocals) and Mitch Mitchell (drums). They released three studio albums, which are considered very important on the development of Hard Rock and Heavy Metal. The band was characterized by Hendrix´s great ability to play the guitar, his style and charisma. Jimi Hendrix has been considered as the best guitarist ever born and one of the best artists of all time. The Jimi Hendrix Experience added important elements to the genre, such as guitar effects and a little jazz influence.

Deep Purple

  

English Hard Rock band formed in 1968. Is considered as one of the most important bands of hard rock and one of the first Heavy Metal Bands. It was conformed by of Ian Gillan (vocals), Ritchie Blackmore (lead guitar), Jon Lord (piano), Ian Paice (drums) and Roger Glover (bass). It incorporated to the genre a greater blues influence and a heavier sound.

Queen

Scene of Bohemian Rhapsody, its most
important song. 

British hard rock band formed in London on 1971. Consisted of Freddy Mercury (vocals), Brian May (guitar), Roger Taylor (drums) and John Deacon (bass). Considered as one of the most important bands of the genre due to the incorporation of a lot of different elements to the genre, such as a great rock n´ roll influence, classic music influence, and even folk influence. Many of the most famous heavy metal and hard rock bands have cited them as an important influence, and the guitarist Yngwie Malmsteen has classified Queen as the most important band of neo-classical metal. "Bohemian Rhapsody" is considered as the best hit of all times. Also, Queen mixed some elements of heavy metal and hard rock, creating its own characteristic style.

Led Zeppelin

Led Zeppelin IV, considered as
one of the most important albums
of Hard Rock.

English rock band formed in the late 1960s by Jimmy Page (lead guitar), Robert Plant (vocals), John Paul Jones (bass and sometimes keyboard) and John Bonham (drums). Considered as one of the three most important bands of Hard Rock and Heavy Metal, along with Deep Purple and Black Sabbath. Gave the genre a reggae-folk style mixed with a great blues influence. One of Jimi Page´s solo (Stairway to Heaven) is considered as the best solo of all times. Jimi Page is considered as one of the best guitarists of all time and John Bonham as the best drummer of all time.   

Hard Rock and Heavy Metal

Heavy metal and hard rock can be very similar, but they are not the same. Heavy metal can be classified as a sub-genre of hard rock because it´s based on it. However, hard rock maintained a bluesy rock and roll identity, and heavy metal took a darker and heavier sound. Lyrics are also different; hard rock lyrics are about masculinity, drugs, alcohol and sex, while heavy metal lyrics are related to heaven, hell, Satan, demons, fictional characters and church. Vocals are different too; hard rock voices are nowhere near as screaming as heavy metal voices are. 

Smoke on the water, by Deep Purple, example
of Hard Rock.

Hellrider, by Judas Priest,
example of Heavy Metal.

Lyrics

Guns and Roses first album´s
front. It shows topics
that appear on hard rock lyrics. 

Lyrics are related with masculinity and sex. Sometimes, especially in heavy metal, lyrics are related with hell, demons, heaven and fictional characters.

Characteristics and Sound

Jimmy Page, Led Zeppelin,
playing Stairway to heaven´s solo.

The electric guitar is always emphasized, its used as a rhythm instrument (repetitive riffs) and as a solo lead instrument. Drums are, generally, fast and the bass supports the drums or the guitars. Vocals are growling, raspy and sometimes involve screaming or wailing. Sometimes, a melodic piano is used. It has a great influence of blues and rock n´ roll. Songs are almost always played on a higher tonality than rock. The guitar solo is a very important part of the songs, It´s long, fast and complex, maintaining a great blues influence.