Top 10 Reasons Why Psychedelic Rock is Better Than Heavy Metal/Hard Rock

I'm a huge fan of Psychedelic Rock, so I figured I'd make a list about why I think it's better than Heavy Metal/Hard Rock. Although I do like Hard Rock as well, but just not as much. If you agree with this list don't be shy to add your own reasons if you want to. Remember this is just my opinion so don't get offended if you disagree, let's begin.
The Top Ten
1 Psychedelic rock has more variety than hard rock/heavy metal

Listen to both on acid in the woods. I was once an elitist metalhead. I thought there was no way anything could be better than metal. But as I grew older my mind opened wider. Psychedelic beats Non-Psychedelic. There's metal out there that's pretty psychedelic. But you can only get so psychedelic while keeping it metal. To be truly good music, its gotta touch on as many genres as possible. Metal elitists always go so far down that rabbit hole of metal bands until it's all they know and all they care about. The world of metal is a crowded one that will eventually wear you down if you don't get out and catch some rays once in a while.

Um, no. Currently metal is the most varied genre with about 30 major subgenres and many sub-subgenres. There are 2 big groups: extreme and non-extreme metal, and they offer different instrumentation, types of vocals, etc.
Psychedelic rock and hard rock don't have this scale of diversity.

Um, no, this is not true of heavy metal. It’s debatable with hard rock, but no, psychadelic rock is not more varied than heavy metal.

Yeh I think we can confirm that in general Metal is better :|

2 Psychedelic rock is a more creative genre than hard rock/heavy metal

I disagree because:
1) On average, metal has been creating one new subgenre every year since it was invented in 1970. This variety in metal is a result of constant experimentation and creativity;
2) Metal has evolved much more than psychedelic rock and hard rock. I mean, current metal sounds pretty different than metal in the 70s and even 80s;
3) I can't say psychedelic rock and hard rock have changed so much over time.

3 The musicians who make psychedelic rock are more talented than those who make hard rock/heavy metal

No. Heavy metal is more demanding than hard rock and psychedelic rock. Your average metal player (guitarist, drummer, bassist) is more skillful than your average hard rock and psychedelic rock player. Metal is known for its musicianship that is higher than the average in rock. Many non-metal bands die to be labeled "metal" because among musicians the label "metal" is like a guarantee band members are players above the average. But when the band isn't metal, this may not be true.

Wrong here, again agreed with MT. While he already explained metal I'd like explain that hard rock also demands a lot of talent along with metal. Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, Buckethead, Tom Morello, George Lynch etc are more hard rock than psych rock. And they're one of the most talented guitarists. Also, drummers like John Bonham, Keith Moon, Cozy Powell, Bill Ward are hard rock drummers.

Um, no. No genre definitively takes more talent or skill than another. Talent is natural aptitude to do something. Talent and skill are different.

It's one thing to be talented, it's another to have your talent stand out better than the rest

4 Psychedelic rock is more experimental than hard rock/heavy metal
5 Psychedelic rock influenced music more than hard rock/heavy metal

Not really, psych rock and hard rock was invented almost at the same time. In mid 60s. Psych rock was more likely rock n' roll, blues played with high distortion. Hard rock was also invented from blues, garage rock but it had so many developments. Power chords were more popular in hard rock than psych rock. You "Really Got Me" by Kinks for example. There wouldn't be a lot of metal songs if Pete Townshend's hadn't popularized power chords. Hard rock was also the genre that for the first time had growling "Boris the Spider" the Who. And also, Led Zeppelin had legacies along with Jimi Hendrix for using marshall amps.

Well, psychedelic rock was created before metal and probably was very influential. However, hard rock influenced metal, which is a huge genre.
Also, many things that are typical for metal, are currently used in non-metal rock genres (guitar and drumming techniques, vocal techniques, etc.)

Yes, it’s more influential than heavy metal, but heavy metal is an entirely different genre. Hard rock itself is what heavy metal stems from, and it’s basically what all rock music stems from. So, no.

6 Psychedelic music has better lyrics than hard rock/heavy metal

In my opinion, the genre with the best lyricism is folk. Metal can be lyrical but it doesn't always need to be. Metal can just be fun too.

I think metal has the most meaningful lyrics - about society, history, politics, personal struggles, grief, etc.
Psychedelic lyrics:
"Nicotine, valium, vicodin, marijuana, ecstasy and alcohol
C-c-c-c-c-cocaine" (x10, or something like that)
[the entire lyrics to Feel Good Hit of the Summer by Queens of the Stone Age]

7 Psychedelic rock has better instrumentation than hard rock/heavy metal

No, heavy metal has better and more complex instrumentation than both hard rock and psychedelic rock.
Give a listen to Wheel Of Time by Blind Guardian. How many psychedelic rock songs have its instrumentation and orchestration? And the complexity of its composition?

It depends on what kind of sound you are going for. Complexity doesn't always mean better, but simplicity can also get monotonous.

8 There's fewer bad psychedelic bands than there are hard rock/heavy metal bands

Because there are fewer psych rock bands in general.

"bad" and "good" are vague terms. Metal experiments more than any other music genre so it also takes bigger risks - as a result, more people may not like metal songs/bands, even when the song/band isn't bad for what it is (for example, a person that doesn't like extreme music wouldn't like a "good" death metal band).

9 Psychedelic rock has better album artwork

I have to say that there are pretty good album artworks in metal I truly enjoy. Check out these lists:
Top 10 Album Covers with a Nordic Charm
Top Ten Most Beautiful Blind Guardian Album Covers
Top 10 Metal Albums with Mythical Creatures on the Cover
Most Atmospheric Metal Album Covers

10 Psychedelic rock has more variety in lyrics than hard rock/heavy metal

Heavy metal? Sure I'll give you that. But there's loads of other metal subgenres that vary in lyrical themes as well. I have feeling when you say Heavy Metal you mean the actual subgenre and not metal in general for most of these points.

This doesn't sound convincing to me, especially without any reasoning and examples.

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