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Overview

In this lesson, we will consider the genres of hard rock and heavy metal, which emerged in the late 1960s and the early 1970s. The genre of hard rock grew out of the psychedelic rock tradition as well as the British blues revival movement. Like psychedelic rock, it focused on loud, distorted electric guitars. Like the blues, it was riff-based. The “hardness” of hard rock came from an emphasis on the bass guitar as well as on the bass drum. Heavy metal was an important outgrowth of hard rock. Also riff-based, heavy metal tended to have darker themes compared to hard rock.

Objectives

  • Identify the defining musical characteristics of hard rock
  • Identify the defining musical characteristics of heavy metal
  • Identify the important predecessors and early examples hard rock music and musicians
  • Identify the defining musical characteristics of Led Zeppelin’s style
  • Identify the early examples of heavy metal in the United Kingdom and in the United States

Led Zeppelin's Influence

Led Zeppelin

Led Zeppelin

During the 1970s, Led Zeppelin did not identify itself as a hard rock band. That label was applied to the group and its music retroactively. In retrospect, however, their riff-based music, steeped in the American blues tradition and accented with weighty drumming and heavy bass, is a clear representation of the aesthetics of the genre of hard rock. Some critics have also described Led Zeppelin as the first heavy metal band, but the members of the band have publicly disagreed with this label.

The band also codified a formal structure that would become the norm for rock bands from the 1970s to the present day. Like "Whole Lotta Love ♫," many rock songs featured a verse-chorus structure with a lengthy instrumental section separating a verse and chorus in the middle of the song. This form is also called an AABA structure, wherein each A contains a verse and a chorus and the B contains the instrumental interlude.

Led Zeppelin is also considered one of the primary influences on the development of stadium rock, that is, music suited to be performed in large arena venues. Stadium rock also refers to concert series or tours. Throughout the 1970s, Led Zeppelin consistently sold out enormous venues and successfully played to crowds of thousands.

Further, many critics and fans argue that Led Zeppelin set the standard for album-oriented rockor AOR, is music that was conceived to be heard in the context of an entire album, not as an isolated single, or AOR. AOR refers to music that was conceived to be heard in the context of an entire album, not as an isolated single. Led Zeppelin's disinterest in releasing singles and their ability to sell millions of albums without releasing any singles established them as prominent figures in the shift away from singles-oriented rock to album-oriented rock.

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-Henry Rollins
“You gotta look beyond the mainstream... the mainstream'll drown you, you know? There's always a pulse in the underground that I love. And the pulse in the underground is what keeps heavy metal alive.”
-Phil Anselmo
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