I need some hard rock recommendations. Newish acts, please. I still love my AC/DC, Van Halen, Aerosmith, Queen, etc., but looking for something fresh (for lack of a better word). Trying not to stray to far into heavy metal. Nothing against metal, I like plenty of it, but I really want some good ol’ hard rock. Lately, I’ve been listening to Audioslave (yes, I know they are no longer together), Foo Fighters, Default, Weezer, and 3 Doors Down.
Was also going to suggest Wolfmother. They remind me a bit of Led Zep.
The other night, as I was pulling the car into the garage, I heard a song on the radio that caught my ear. I looked the song up on the radio station’s web site when I got inside… it was a band called Saving Abel, and the song was called “Drowning”. I bought it on iTunes, and it’s pretty good. (One interesting thing…nearly every track on their album has the “explicit” flag on iTunes. 
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Eagles of Death Metal, which interestingly enough, are not actually eagles nor do they play death metal.
I think Muse would fit with some of the classic rock bands you mentioned.
Well, this might be a little more hard and a little less rock then you were thinking, but my first thought when people ask for this kind of suggestion is always Sleepytime Gorilla Museum.
Check out the songs 1997, Sleep is Wrong and & The Donkey Headed Adversary of Humanity Opens The Discussion for three different sides of the band. It’s experimental and dark, but good. They are a fun band to see live.
Maybe too metal? I don’t know, I’m not much of a metal guy as a rule. Probably too arty since that’s more my bias.
I second Muse though. Good stuff there.
Definitely some Muse, but not all their tracks are hard rock, or even rock “pwoper” (in-joke). Here’s some of the best videos of their hardest-rocking tracks, and if you’re like me, it’ll only take two or three of these to make you a big fan:
“Stockholm Syndrome” live at the Big Day Out festival (Australia), 2004. Other bands have released songs under this now-homonymic title (Blink-182, I’m looking at you!), but accept no substitutes! Matt does two shuffle dances (look for it), all the while melting maybe 100,000 faces with his furious guitar riffing; listen for the two phaser-blaster-like sound effects he pulls from his guitar, too (a gimmick he’s largely abandoned in recent years). In case you were wondering, Muse has probably used this song as their grand-finale and/or closer more often than any other since 2003… although they’ve also used it as a blood-pumping opening track.
“Hysteria” live at the Earl’s Court festival, U.K., 2004. It’s almost unfair that frontman Matt Bellamy (lead vocal/guitar/keyboards/songwriting) gets the lion’s share of critical plaudits for his musicianship, because the other two in this power trio are virtually as good on their respective instruments. “Hysteria” is beloved by Muse fans for being an especially good showcase for the skills of bassist Chris Wolstenholme. This particular performance sees those pyrotechnics balanced by some truly spectacular axmanship by the guitarist as well, so the effect on the listener is rather akin to getting hit by a double-barrelled shotgun…
“Cave” and “Agitated,” both live at The Astoria, London, June 7, 2000. FYI, at the time of this show, the drummer was 21 and the other two, still 20, but they’d already developed an awesome level of both musicianship and showmanship at that time. “Agitated,” an early B-side (most rockers would give their left nut to have their A-material be as good as Muse’s three-dozen-plus B-sides and various non-LP and unreleased songs), sums up Muse’s appeal: hard, frenetic rock with clever, jagged riffs and rhythms, elevated by a soaring melodicism (and, often, Matt’s almost incomparable falsetto voice). Matt goes absolutely mental on “Cave” towards the end… I defy you to find a more impassioned [or insane] guitarist. (And yes, that’s duct tape holding his guitar together. In those early days, he was doing his own guitar mods, cutting blocks of wood out of his guitars to install various effects pedals and stuff – hence the duct tape.) Just two months ago, Muse unveiled a radically different version of “Cave” for their current tour, a jazzy, piano-based version, and there’s lots of videos of that version on YT already. It’s nice; it’s relatively sedate and more grownup, I suppose; but I know which version I prefer…
“Fury” live at the Teenage Cancer Trust Concert, Royal Albert Hall, 2008. Holy crap, another scorching live performance of… a B-side. IIRC, “Fury” was the B-side of a Japan-only edition of one of their singles (arrrrgh!), although they do play it on occasion in concert. Don’t be fooled by the leisurely tempo on this one; it’s a heavy-metal hard rock classic in the same general vein as The Beatles’ “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)” (not that it’s a soundalike or anything; far from it).
“Assassin” live in L.A., 2007 (I think). There’s a local windbag introducing the band for the first 38 seconds, but the artistry of this performance (especially the guitar intro) makes it worth it. Yes, Matt’s playing the guitar right though those spins… what’s the point of spins, jumps, etc. if you can’t play through them, right? 
Okay, that should be enough to get you started. Have fun discovering them on YouTube and don’t forget the B-sides!
Two of my three suggestions have already been taken, so I’ll just second “Eagles of Death Metal” and “Queens of the Stone Age”. Both of them kick-ass and are coincidentally related. Josh Homme of QOTSA and Jesse Hughes of EODM are buddies and, I believe, have played on each others albums.
My third recommendation is almost anything by Jack White. That includes “The White Stripes” as well as his side projects “The Raconteurs” and “Dead Weather”.
Edited to add “The Black Keys”. Awesome blues roots rock.
I saw Jetboy open for Alice Cooper recently. They sounded pretty good. Unfortunately, there seems to have been some personnel issues since then.
Thanks for the recommendations, keep 'em coming, filling up my Zune as we speak.
I’ve also heard good things about “Them Crooked Vultures” featuring Dave Grohl, Josh Homme, and John Paul Jones.
Airbourne - Runnin’ Wild, Too Much, Too Young, Too Fast, Diamond In The Rough ---- this is the best AC/DC music in like 25 years; pity the guys in AC/DC can’t do it this well anymore, but thankfully we got these new guys to replace them.
Orange Goblin - Some You Win, Some You Lose, Beginner’s Guide To Suicide ---- their older stuff might be too sludgy for you, but their last 2 albums were pretty much straight up hard rock.
Blood Island Raiders - I Am The King ---- these guys are friends with OG.
Baroness - Isak, Wanderlust ---- excellent heavy prog rock.
Kyuss - Green Machine, Gardenia ---- long gone great stoner desert rock band ---- Josh Homme’s band long before QOTSA.
Porcupine Tree - Fear Of A Blank Planet, Time Flies (edit) ---- another excellent heavy prog rock band.
All of that is new stuff (like, from the last 2-3 years) except Kyuss, but I thought you might like them.
I was looking forward to recommending Airbourne myself, till I came to this post. 
Good call on the Porcupine Tree as well. A bit more progy than I would have suggested, but a great band none the less, and one that any one with an ear for the harder rock should enjoy.
I like the debut album from Chickenfoot, Soap on a Rope being my current favorite.
I haven’t listen to their album, but Check my Brain by Alice in Chains is awesome. It’s like an AIC song being played on a warped record.