# Which band best typifies "hard rock"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [March 7, 2021, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-band-best-typifies-hard-rock/937397 "2021-03-07T18:47:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DaveRaver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daveraver/32/1078_2.png) [@DaveRaver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaveRaver)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2021, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-band-best-typifies-hard-rock/937397/1 "2021-03-07T18:47:28Z")
If you had to pick one band to represent “hard rock”, which would it be? ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2021, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-band-best-typifies-hard-rock/937397/2 "2021-03-07T18:48:49Z")
Off the cuff, I’d go with AC/DC. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2021, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-band-best-typifies-hard-rock/937397/3 "2021-03-07T18:53:26Z")
That’s a really good choice. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2021, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-band-best-typifies-hard-rock/937397/4 "2021-03-07T18:59:58Z")
Zeppelin, baby! ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2021, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-band-best-typifies-hard-rock/937397/5 "2021-03-07T19:02:20Z")
I think of Zeppelin as being more heavy metal than strictly hard rock, but I think that they, and AC/DC, are excellent examples. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2021, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-band-best-typifies-hard-rock/937397/6 "2021-03-07T19:05:05Z")
When do we start the Definition jihad? ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2021, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-band-best-typifies-hard-rock/937397/7 "2021-03-07T19:17:41Z")
Mmm, hard one. I think Cream. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2021, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-band-best-typifies-hard-rock/937397/8 "2021-03-07T19:19:30Z")
Deep Purple should be on the list somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2021, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-band-best-typifies-hard-rock/937397/9 "2021-03-07T19:20:51Z")
I agree, Led Zep is my first thought followed by Black Sabbath. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2021, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-band-best-typifies-hard-rock/937397/10 "2021-03-07T19:23:04Z")
Good suggestions so far, I’d throw The Who in there as well for consideration. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2021, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-band-best-typifies-hard-rock/937397/11 "2021-03-07T19:23:41Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > When do we start the Definition jihad? It won’t be started by me. 🙂 When I was younger, I didn’t really understand the difference between “heavy metal” and “hard rock,” and even now, that I do sort of grok it, it’s kind of a fluid distinction. Some bands (like Black Sabbath) are clearly heavy metal, some (AC/DC) clearly are not, but I supposed that they’re all hard rock. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2021, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-band-best-typifies-hard-rock/937397/12 "2021-03-07T19:24:57Z")
I like the AC/DC suggestion. They didn’t spend much time on ballads or nuance. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2021, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-band-best-typifies-hard-rock/937397/13 "2021-03-07T19:25:34Z")
Yeah, Zeppelin is the group that all the others followed at a great distance. I know that Cream and the Yardbirds and early Kinks all had elements that Zep built on, but they’re the one who put them together into a sound. As with the Beatles, everything changed after they pointed the way. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2021, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-band-best-typifies-hard-rock/937397/14 "2021-03-07T19:28:51Z")
All good picks. But I would go with the Who with Keith Moon on drums. They kicked serious ass back in the day when back in the day actually meant a long time ago. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2021, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-band-best-typifies-hard-rock/937397/15 "2021-03-07T19:30:14Z")
Let’s confuse things a bit by tossing out the first band to use the term “heavy metal,” but were definitely hard rock: Steppenwolf. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2021, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-band-best-typifies-hard-rock/937397/16 "2021-03-07T19:41:39Z")
Yeah, Sabbath to me is metal, more than “hard rock” but it’s all a continuum. Zeppelin I do think of as hard rock, but they early on were, as I understand it, regarded as metal. And they have a lot of imagery I associate with metal. But their early stuff especially was foundational blues-based hard rock. I also thought of Deep Purple, but they kind of fall into the same category. I like the Who being in this discussion. That would probably be my #2 choice. But I’ll stick with my off-the-cuff response now that I’ve had time to think about it, as if I had to demonstrate hard rock to an alien who has never heard it before, nobody distills it to its absolute essence like AC/DC’s 3-chord hard rock, with that powerfully, steady, stomping Phil Rudd drumming. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2021, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-band-best-typifies-hard-rock/937397/17 "2021-03-07T19:53:28Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I like the Who being in this discussion. That would probably be my #2 choice. But I’ll stick with my off-the-cuff response now that I’ve had time to think about it, as if I had to demonstrate hard rock to an alien who has never heard it before, nobody distills it to its absolute essence like AC/DC’s 3-chord hard rock, with that powerfully, steady, stomping Phil Rudd drumming. Even though I first mentioned The Who, there’s a case to be made for the answer to this question to be settled by the opening bars of “Back in Black”. I mean, if you needed to give an example of what you mean by “hard rock” to a group of aliens, I’m not sure what else you would need. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2021, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-band-best-typifies-hard-rock/937397/18 "2021-03-07T19:55:33Z")
It’s funny. That’s exactly the song that’s been ping-ponging in my head since I first opened the thread. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2021, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-band-best-typifies-hard-rock/937397/19 "2021-03-07T20:47:09Z")
Can’t understand how I could have forgotten about Bubble Puppy. From 1968. Hard? We’re talking granite. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/3Xgl8gSbbv8/hqdefault.jpg "BUBBLE PUPPY - Hot Smoke & Sassafras") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Xgl8gSbbv8) ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2021, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-band-best-typifies-hard-rock/937397/20 "2021-03-07T20:51:44Z")
Another vote for the Who. Or maybe The Who; I’m not sure which is correct. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-band-best-typifies-hard-rock/937397.md?page=2)