# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2021, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-band-best-typifies-hard-rock/937397/21 "2021-03-07T20:52:18Z")
I was just listening to “If You Want Blood, You’ve Got It” when I read the thread title, and of course first choice is AC/DC. Like others have said, if I want to show someone the true essence of rock, I play them AC/DC. The Who also is a good choice, and I throw in another band that was almost always hard rock, but not heavy metal, ZZ Top. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2021, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-band-best-typifies-hard-rock/937397/22 "2021-03-07T20:58:12Z")
I’d look to the garage for the essence of Hard Rock. **The Sonics** [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVWAE6n_G4Q) ---
**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, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-band-best-typifies-hard-rock/937397/23 "2021-03-07T21:11:08Z")
Another possible contender: Montrose [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/FxsSw-bp--c/hqdefault.jpg "Montrose - Rock The Nation") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxsSw-bp--c) ---
**Author:** ![jaycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat/32/3015_2.png) [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2021, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-band-best-typifies-hard-rock/937397/24 "2021-03-07T22:29:50Z")
My vote goes to Rod the Mod and the boys. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/8MiDMvNxWrI/hqdefault.jpg "SMALL FACES - SHAKE, SHUDDER, SHIVER") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MiDMvNxWrI) ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2021, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-band-best-typifies-hard-rock/937397/25 "2021-03-07T22:41:10Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Off the cuff, I’d go with AC/DC. That was the first thing I thought of too. They have the combination of fame and always-being-on-point in hard rock and never straying too far into metal, progressive, or punk (in their famous incarnation). If there were still some of those hard rock stations that proudly proclaim that they play “Rock. And nothing butt rock”, I’d know that AC/DC would be on the menu. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2021, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-band-best-typifies-hard-rock/937397/26 "2021-03-07T22:41:42Z")
Why does that album cover say _Small_ Faces? But speaking of another spinoff of the Small Faces, how’s about **Humble Pie** as a contender? ---
**Author:** ![jaycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat/32/3015_2.png) [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2021, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-band-best-typifies-hard-rock/937397/27 "2021-03-07T22:42:59Z")
That was their name at the time. They dropped the “Small” some time after. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2021, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-band-best-typifies-hard-rock/937397/28 "2021-03-07T22:49:29Z")
No. Small Faces ended when Steve Marriott left. The rest of the band joined Rod and the Wood brothers to form Quiet Melon which changed its name to Faces after releasing four singles and Al Wood left. ETA: It looks like their American label used Small Faces on that record without anybody’s permission. ---
**Author:** ![jaycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat/32/3015_2.png) [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2021, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-band-best-typifies-hard-rock/937397/29 "2021-03-07T22:55:09Z")
Interesting, I had never heard of Quiet Melon, though they show up on Discogs. AllMusic has this to say: " With [Marriott](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/marriott-mn0000040312) gone, the group needed a replacement singer and lead guitarist and divided up the two jobs, finding artists to fill them in [Rod Stewart](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/rod-stewart-mn0000293896) and [Ron Wood](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/ron-wood-mn0000336639). Immediate having sunk below the waves in a sea of long-delayed bankruptcy proceedings, the new group moved to the much bigger and more stable auspices of Warner Bros. Records; the name “[Small Faces](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/small-faces-mn0000423267)” endured, attached to one Warner album before they officially morphed into [Faces](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/faces-mn0000423267), an incarnation under which they went on to international glory for a time, before [Rod Stewart](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/rod-stewart-mn0000293896) finally eclipsed them as a solo act. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2021, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-band-best-typifies-hard-rock/937397/30 "2021-03-07T22:58:21Z")
> [@jaycat](#): > > My vote goes to Rod the Mod and the boys. Yes, also good call. You might as well throw in the Stones ca. 1968-72. All classic hard rock. ---
**Author:** ![BrickBat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@BrickBat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrickBat)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2021, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-band-best-typifies-hard-rock/937397/31 "2021-03-07T23:17:13Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > 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. I’m kinda’ the same way. Hell, I remember hearing the band ‘Iron Maiden’ interviewed, and as to what is hard rock, heavy metal, NWOBHM ( New Wave of British Heavy Metal ) they were just like, “who cares? We just consider ourselves a rock band” even though their sound can rock harder than a cement pie in the face. Might be sort of like someone discussing different beers. Stout, Porter, Lambic, IPA, Bitter, wheat: those are all ales, and all ales are beer. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2021, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-band-best-typifies-hard-rock/937397/32 "2021-03-07T23:59:10Z")
When I read the OP’s question, I actually said out loud “Led Zeppelin’s first album”. But that’s because it follows the chronology of my teen years. The Kingston Trio had given me a love of live music in '61, Dylan blew me away with his songwriting in '63, Beatles expanded my mind in '64, but it was _Zep’lin_ that got me rocking in '69. Still remember turning down the lights, gently putting that stylus on the first song, and _“Good Times, Bad Times”_ shook the hippie basement we were hanging out in. From that point on, life would rock, and it’d be hard. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2021, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-band-best-typifies-hard-rock/937397/33 "2021-03-08T01:06:29Z")
The Who or AC/DC seem to fit the bill pretty well. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2021, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-band-best-typifies-hard-rock/937397/34 "2021-03-08T01:08:40Z")
Hmm, how about AC/DC? If not them, then The Carpenters. ---
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2021, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-band-best-typifies-hard-rock/937397/35 "2021-03-08T01:20:12Z")
I LOVE the Who but I wouldn’t say they “best typify” hard rock because Moon was too all over the place. He was all over the place in a way that the band managed to use perfectly, but he was not a pocket drummer and his playing did not have the sense of urgency that Bonham did. For that reason I would place Zeppelin as the Platonic ideal of a hard rock band, and Sabbath would be a refinement of that sound. Zeppelin did it first though, so my vote would have to be Zeppelin. ---
**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 8, 2021, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-band-best-typifies-hard-rock/937397/36 "2021-03-08T01:26:16Z")
I’m kind of surprised that no one has mentioned Van Halen or KISS yet…so I will. (You might well categorize KISS as “glam”, but there’s no denying they rocked extremely hard) ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2021, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-band-best-typifies-hard-rock/937397/37 "2021-03-08T01:31:14Z")
I wouldn’t go with Cream or Led Zeppelin as the archetype because while they undoubtedly produced some hard rock, they had a substantial focus on blues. To me, The Who or AC/DC are better choices simply because they did nothing but hard rock ---
**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 8, 2021, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-band-best-typifies-hard-rock/937397/38 "2021-03-08T01:34:48Z")
Yeah, I can’t think of an AC/DC song that isn’t hard rock. Which I can’t exactly say for the other bands mentioned in this thread. ---
**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 8, 2021, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-band-best-typifies-hard-rock/937397/39 "2021-03-08T02:11:35Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > To me, The Who or AC/DC are better choices simply because they did nothing but hard rock Hmmm…regarding The Who, there’s a reason they assumed the “Maximum R&B” moniker in the beginning. Before Pete’s original material came to the forefront, their early setlists featured Motown and James Brown covers and they later went on to put their own unique spin on Mose Allison (jazz/blues) and Eddie Cochran(rockabilly) tunes. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2021, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-band-best-typifies-hard-rock/937397/40 "2021-03-08T02:15:38Z")
True but I guess almost all bands go through a “doing covers before they hit it big” phase and I’m not sure it’s fair to count that. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-band-best-typifies-hard-rock/937397.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-band-best-typifies-hard-rock/937397.md?page=3)