Hard Rock

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Hard rock, or heavy rock, is a genre of rock music which is tied in with heavy metal at several levels. The hard rock sound is typically characterized by heavily distorted guitars, potent riffage, and strong and solid drums which, along with the bass, constitute the rhythm section, while the vocals are often aggressive and draw primarily on expression, as hard rock vocalists often incorporate screams, wails, growls, raspiness and falsetto voice and other techniques that one rarely encounters in types of popular music outside of the rock music sphere. Hard rock is heavier, more aggressive and harsher than pop rock and many other types of rock music and is thus based on the same aesthetic as much heavy metal music is.

Hard rock emerged in the mid 1960s and early 1970s as musicians within various rock subgenres of that era (such as, for instance, blues rock, progressive rock, psychedelic rock, southern rock, boogie rock and garage rock among others) began experimenting with distortion, heaviness, intensity and aggression. The sound that such artists developed would eventually become the sound associated with heavy metal music in general, and the early hard rock sound is often considered identical to the proto-metal sound, and, at the time, the terms ‘hard rock’, ‘heavy rock’, and ‘heavy metal’ were synonymous.

As artists like Black Sabbath and Deep Purple, and later Judas Priest, began to gradually move their music away from its blues roots and into darker territory, ‘heavy metal’ began to be used with reference to the type of music resulting from this darker and more intense type of rock music, while many other artists who contributed to the establishment of the proto-metal sound retained their blues influences, and also began incorporating other elements into their music, and by the 1980s, hard rock was generally considered more commercially oriented and more melodic than heavy metal music. The histories of hard rock and heavy metal remained intertwined, though, as many hard rock artists would often take their music into heavy metal territory and incorporate elements from various subtypes of heavy metal into their music, while heavy metal artists would continue to draw on influences from both contemporary and early hard rock. Also, many artists would experiment with both heavy metal music and hard rock, releasing albums and singles some of which fall under the hard rock rubric while others fall under the heavy metal rubric. In addition, several subgenres and movements in heavy metal have close associations with hard rock - for instance, many NWoBHM artists would extensively draw on hard rock (some even being more hard rock than heavy metal), while glam metal is often conflated with hard rock.

The term ‘hard rock’ is used in a number of different ways. Sometimes, it is used as an antonym of ‘soft rock’ which refers to pop rock, folk rock and other types of rock music which do not emphasize distorted guitars – this definition is very broad and includes any type of guitar-driven rock, not necessarily related to heavy metal music, including punk rock, grunge and even Brit pop. Another broad definition is the use of the term ‘hard rock’ with reference to heavy metal music in general, while a more specific use of the term is restricted to blues-based pentatonic rock music performed with intensity and heaviness on distorted guitars, thus excluding many artists who combine rock with elements from heavy metal. Another definition, which is the one that the MMA operates with, emphasizes the heaviness of hard rock compared to other types of rock music as well as its relation to metal, placing hard rock within the sphere of heavy metal music on the scale of heaviness and intensity underneath traditional heavy metal, but above other types of rock music. On this definition the ethos that characterizes heavy metal music in general, is applied to hard rock as well, thus largely excluding rock genres like punk rock and grunge rock (with exceptions, of course), as well as individual artists and releases whose sound cannot be said to bear any similarity to heavy metal music or to have any relation to heavy metal music at all. This definition cuts across rock music subgenres, and will thus include artists from, say, southern rock or AOR whose sound involves a considerable amount of heavy metal elements while excluding other southern rock or AOR artists that do not integrate heavy metal elements into their music.

Inclusive Hard Rock Genres

Heavy Psych Also known as Psychedelic Hard Rock or Hard Psych, heavy psych is a fusion genre between hard rock and psychedelic rock developed by acts such as Blue Cheer and Vanilla Fudge in the late 1960's. As such many early heavy psych acts can also be found under proto-metal on the MMA. Like with all hard rock on MMA, heavy psych acts are only included if they have been deemed to have a relevance to heavy metal music. Examples of later heavy psych acts include Blood Ceremony (whose work also leans into doom metal), Purson and Jess and the Ancient Ones.

Heavy Prog Also known as Progressive Hard Rock, heavy prog acts add a harder edge to their core progressive rock sound, which may or may not include metal elements as well, but are still primarily progressive rock artists. Like with all hard rock on MMA, heavy prog acts are only included if they have been deemed to have a relevance to heavy metal music, though as always this distinction need not apply to every release the artist has made. Examples of acts in the MMA database with heavy prog releases include Porcupine Tree, Arena and Touchstone.

Sub-genre collaborators (+ child sub-genres (except Heavy Alternative Rock) & shared with Heavy Metal and Glam Metal):
  • 666sharon666 (Leader)


Biography written by Time Signature. The Inclusive Genre section written by adg211288.

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hard rock Music Reviews

KISS Alive!

Live album · 1975 · Hard Rock
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martindavey87
‘Alive!’, released in 1975, is the first live album by legendary American rock band, KISS. It’s often cited as their best album, period, and is the definitive summary of their music and legacy on one recording. So why do I feel like it’s a bit overrated?

Barely two years into their career, it’s impressive that this is the bands fourth release, and with three albums to draw material from, there’s a wealth of songs for their live shows. The problem is I’m just not really into those first few albums.

Don’t get me wrong, I love KISS. But my love of KISS pretty much starts from what would be their next studio album and onwards (that album being the fantastic ‘Destroyer’). Yeah, the live versions of those original songs sound better, and “how KISS are meant to be heard”, but mostly, those songs still don’t really do much for me.

That’s not to say that I don’t like this album, because I do. Despite the cheesy dubbed crowd noises, there’re still some great performances on here. Songs like ‘Deuce’, ‘Strutter’, ‘Hotter Than Hell’, ‘Cold Gin’ and ‘Rock and Roll All Nite’ probably sound better here than they would on their studio recordings, but then, that might also be because I rarely, if ever, listen to the studio recordings.

‘Alive!’ is no doubt regarded as a classic album, and sometimes considered one of the greatest live albums of all time, and that hyperbole may be the very reason why I feel it isn’t. I think it’s good, maybe even very good, but one of the all-time greatest? Sorry, to any KISS fans reading this, but no. Not for me. Just a “good” live album, but one that I’m not likely to listen to that often.

AEROSMITH Aerosmith

Album · 1973 · Hard Rock
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martindavey87
Released in 1973, ‘Aerosmith’ is the self-titled debut album by American hard rockers, Aerosmith. Showcasing a young band with a whole bundle of confidence and potential, this is hard rock in a similar vein to bands such as KISS, AC/DC or The Rolling Stones. No gimmicks here though, just solid songwriting and loads of energy.

The production on this album is good for its time, and holds up well. Vocalist Steven Tyler isn’t hitting the high notes like he does in later years, not yet anyway, but you can certainly hear the passion and charisma in his voice. The bands sound is still pretty grounded in the blues, having not taken on that harder edge just yet. But again, it’s all good, and we all know what’s coming over the next few years. Or decades.

Overall, this is just a good, solid rock album. At barely 36 minutes in duration, ‘Aerosmith’ absolutely flies by, and tracks like ‘Make It’, ‘Mama Kin’, ‘Walkin’ the Dog’ and early, huge hit for the band, ‘Dream On’, make it a worthy addition to any hard rock collection.

RUSH Caress of Steel

Album · 1975 · Hard Rock
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martindavey87
I knew early into my love affair with Rush that I was mainly a fan of their 80’s synth-heavy era. As a long-time prog fan, I gravitated to albums like ‘Grace Under Pressure’, ‘Moving Pictures’ and ‘Signals’. That’s not to say I disliked the bands more hard rock material, I just had a firm belief of what my preferences were. So, going through the bands discography from the start, 1974’s self-titled debut is a solid hard rocker that holds up today, but after that, it’s been all downhill so far.

1975’s ‘Fly By Night’ didn’t really do much for me, and sadly, neither does this, the bands third studio album, ‘Caress of Steel’.

Which is a shame, because Rush are one of my favourite bands, and the trio of Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson and Neil Peart have created some absolutely stellar albums over the years. But there’s just nothing about this one that clicks with me. There’s a couple of decent tracks, such as ‘Bastille Day’ and ‘I Think I’m Going Bald’, but I’m really not likely to listen to any of these by choice.

And to top it off, the Canadian’s make their first foray into full-on progressive rock territory, with two tracks reaching durations of almost 13 and 20 minutes respectively, but holy hell these tracks are boring! I absolutely struggle to keep listening without losing interest, oftentimes forgetting it’s even the same song I’m listening to.

And sadly, that’s ‘Caress of Steel’. As much as I love Rush, this album just isn’t resonating with me, and since their next studio album is a firm, prog classic, I think it’s time to move on to that one…

KISS Rock And Roll Over

Album · 1976 · Hard Rock
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martindavey87
‘Rock and Roll Over’ is the fifth studio album by legendary American rockers KISS. Impressively, it’s their sixth release (including a live album) within two and a half years, and follows on from ‘Destroyer’, an album that quite literally changed my life. However, impressive feats aside, this is very much KISS, by-the-numbers.

That’s not to say this isn’t a good album, in fact, this is oftentimes considered by fans to be one of their most popular releases. And after the creative peak of ‘Destroyer’ and the success of 1975’s ‘Alive’, KISS were really on top of the world. But for me personally, I guess when you’ve heard one KISS song, you’ve heard them all, it’s just a matter of how many of them I like. And while ‘Rock and Roll Over’ has its fair share of great tunes, it also has a number of fillers.

Tracks like ‘I Want You’, ‘Take Me’, ‘Calling Dr. Love’, ‘Hard Luck Woman’ (which could easily be a Rod Stewart song) and ‘Ladies Room’ sees the classic line-up of Stanley, Simmons, Frehley and Criss at their sleazy best, coming out with such gems as “put your hand in my pocket, grab hold of my rocket”, but hey, that’s what we expect from KISS, and on that, they deliver.

Overall though, while ‘Rock and Roll Over’ is a decent enough album, and with a duration of barely 32 minutes, it’s not exactly difficult to sit through. It’s just that I think there’s much better KISS albums out there. But still, this is KISS in a nutshell, and if you’re a fan of the band, then this is certainly a worthy addition to the collection.

RUSH Clockwork Angels Tour

Live album · 2013 · Hard Rock
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Warthur
Another Rush live set which offers plenty of material but which doesn't quite hit the mark, in part because of the annoying decision to have the crowd comparatively high in the mix, something which has affected their live releases from at least as far back as Rush In Rio. It's because these live releases of theirs tend to have accompanied DVDs, and are usually just the audio from the DVD transferred to CD with some touch-ups here and there - the problem is that if you're listening to a CD rather than watching a DVD, it's probably because you want to hear the music and can take or leave the live crowd ambience.

hard rock movie reviews

RUSH Chronicles: The Video Collection

Movie · 1990 · Hard Rock
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martindavey87
Originally released on VHS in 1990, ‘Chronicles’ features twelve music videos by rock legends Rush. Totalling at just over an hour, these are all available on YouTube, and thus, makes this DVD redundant. However, with that said, it’s Rush! While none of these videos are overly memorable, the music is absolutely fantastic, and in particular, focuses a lot on the bands’ 80’s synth-era material (my favourite Rush era). With hits like ‘Tom Sawyer’, ‘Subdivisions’, ‘Red Sector A’, ‘Distant Early Warning’ and ‘The Big Money’, there is no doubting the quality of the content here.

Still, the DVD format of these video compilations is obsolete, and only worthwhile to collectors like me. And while this one is heavily dated today, it’s still a great watch for fans, and if you come across it cheap, it’s more than worthy of being in your collection.

RUSH R30: 30th Anniversary World Tour

Movie · 2005 · Hard Rock
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Warthur
As with Rush In Rio, this came out in DVD and CD versions, depending on whether you want the visuals or just the audio. And as with Rush In Rio, the crowd is just a wee bit too prominent in the mix to my tastes - we heard them cheering at the start, gang, we don't need more reminders when they were there when the draw is Rush's music. Beyond the R30 Overture medley, this is largely the sort of thing we've heard extensively before, and generally speaking I find latter-day Rush live albums are less notable than earlier ones, in part because the band got so polished that the live renditions of their material don't really differ enough from the studio versions to feel fresh.

GUNS N' ROSES Welcome to the Videos

Movie · 1998 · Hard Rock
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martindavey87
‘Welcome to the Videos’ is a DVD compilation, featuring a number of music videos by legendary hard rockers Guns n’ Roses. With thirteen videos and totalling at about 70 minutes, it’s a decent enough collection for fans of the band. However, with no extras, or with various, rather prominent songs missing, this single disc DVD does leave a bit to be desired.

Sure, the tracks here are absolute bangers, including ‘Paradise City’, ‘November Rain’, ‘Sweet Child o’ Mine’ and ‘Welcome to the Jungle’, but in all honesty, I’ve never really been too interested in GNR’s music videos. Most of them seem pretty samey to me.

And with music videos readily available on YouTube, and approximately everywhere else these days, owning this on DVD is only really worth it for the die-hard collectors who must own everything.

KISS Kiss Meets The Phantom Of The Park

Movie · 1978 · Hard Rock
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Vim Fuego
KISS have long had a reputation for doing anything for a buck, and getting their name out in public. There are KISS coffins, er… sorry I mean KISS Kaskets, KISS cologne, KISS checkers, KISS Visa cards, and of course, the KISS comic books. Is it over-the-top tacky marketing of image over substance, or is it capitalism and market forces in action, and simply giving people what they want? With KISS, it’s an unclear mixture of both.

The Marvel Comics Super Special 1977 comic book saw Space Ace, the Demon, the Starchild, and the Catman battling villains Dr. Doom and Mephisto with their superpowers. The comic even has the band members’ blood mixed in with the ink. And so what does every comic book superhero want? A live action movie of course.

So the world got “Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park”, which first aired on the NBC network on 28 October 1978.

It’s like an overlong live action episode of Scooby Doo, but without the stoner humour. The plot is a bit convoluted. KISS are playing a series of shows at an amusement park. However the park is inhabited by a mad scientist who is supposedly developing animatronic robots for the park. But of course, he’s mad and therefore evil, so he’s creating robots of real people. He creates a Demon Gene robot which smashes up the park. While the band are busy performing, another robot is sent to steal their talismans, from which their superpowers come. And then it starts to get silly and confusing…

There’s more than half an hour of snoozefest before there’s any “acting” from the band themselves. None of the four had any acting experience, and the stilted delivery of their dialogue shows. Originally, all Space Ace was scripted to say was “Ack!” When the real Ace found out, he threatened to pull out unless he got some more lines. After demanding more lines, Frehley also didn’t show for filming some days, so his stunt double filled in. Peter Criss’ Catman lines were mostly feline puns, and his voice ended up being overdubbed anyway, as he didn’t turn up for looping (re-recording lines in post-production), and his broad accent. Gene’s Demon voice ended up either a demonic roar or a Satanic hiss.

Despite all the cheap and nasty sets, effects, and costuming, the fight scenes are actually pretty entertaining. There’s a kung fu fight after one of the concerts onstage and in the empty arena, and there’s a great slapstick/comic book-style brawl against various classic horror movie monster robots. And of course, there’s the climactic KISS robots vs KISS superheroes fight in front of a crowd going wild.

There’s concert footage interspersed through the movie. These parts offer sweet relief from the hammy acting. It was a real concert at a real theme park, set up especially to be filmed for the movie. After the real concert, the band also lip synched several tracks for filming. As you’d expect from KISS, the live performances are flamboyant and over-the-top. Perhaps a more traditional concert movie would have been a better idea?

So how did it all turn out? It was a fucking disaster of course! KISS hated it. For years, after, it was forbidden to mention the movie to anyone in the band. Gene Simmons compared it to “Plan 9 From Outer Space”, often considered the worst movie of all time.

Fans hated it. It got a worldwide release in theatres to a pretty tepid response. It was oddly popular in Australia, but this was probably because free tickets could be obtained by cutting 20 diamond shaped coupons from an ice confectionery cup called an "Icee" and pasting them onto a printed sheet.

KISS fans being what they are, eventually warmed to the movie. It slowly gained cult status, and was released on DVD as part of the “Kissology Volume Two: 1978-1991” box set. It’s one of those movies you see to say that you’ve seen it, but won’t remember well, and definitely won’t remember for the right reasons. The thought of a second viewing is a brand new horror show all of it’s own…

DEEP PURPLE The Video Singles

Movie · 1987 · Hard Rock
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martindavey87
Don’t get me wrong, I love Deep Purple, and I really enjoy the songs on offer here, but these videos are all pretty hilariously bland and uninteresting, and sure reflections of the times and music genre. Besides that, this DVD is barely half an hour long, and comes with no extras, and all these videos are available on YouTube. Not even some additional chit chat between the videos. So there’s really no point in owning this unless you’re an OCD collector like me, who needs to own everything. And even then, it only takes up space.

But I’m a collector, and I only paid 50p for this. So why not?

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