Best Hard Rock Bands of the 1970s

QUEEN - THE GREATEST BAND ON EARTH! Absolutely the most perfect band! They could do hard rock, as hard as any of them, minus the cacophonous screaming. Freddie's voice was so magnificent, and Not screeching, that that's probably why some don't consider them 'hard' rock. But they could do it all, from amazing thrash, like Stone Cold Crazy and Dead On Time, to the loveliness of Love Of My Life and Barcelona and Save Me. They were the most eclectic band ever, perfecting over 40 genres of music!
Maybe some of Brian's hard edge got tempered by Freddie's phenomenal vocals, but all 4 were such genius musicians, brilliant in everything they did. Freddie got the job done w/out resorting to the 'shriek' technique; his voice was too gorgeous to sound anything but gorgeous, but never to shy away from anything, he certainly didn't shy away from being hard rock all the way w/ Bri, Roger, and John right behind him, passionately displaying all their genius & talent!
QUEEN - BOLD - BRAZEN - ...more
You could never call the early albums pop by any stretch of the imagination.
Liar, Ogre Battle, March of the Black Queen et al. Obviously somebody has no idea who the band is.
Queen was truly the best one of a kind rock/hard rock band... Long live freddie...
70s queen, especially the first 2 albums, are metal. the next 5 albums are hard rock with some pop and ballads (they often usually rock out 1/2 way though)...I also love the songs innuendo and headlong from the 90s.

Rebellion! Queen sucks when compared to Led Zeppelin. The 70s were ruled by jimmy Page and Robert Plant. Freddie Mercury was great but Queen just wasn't hard rock. They were too soft. Led Zeppelin is one of the top bands in rock history ever...
Some of the most beautiful, blissful music of all time by four of the greatest artists of a generation that has gone through slow disintegration by society, change and frustrating misfortune.
Queen is not a hard rock band. They are definitely a rock band but they're not a hard rock band like Led Zeppelin who should really be number 1.
Zep by far. The rest are all Great, but I remember quite vividly many parties, cruizing, and flat out jamming, and Queen was never really included. We never considered them "Hard Rock" They were more "Chick Rock"

The most talented, creative, innovative, technical and advanced = THE BEST.
R. Blackmore alone is a whole music universe. The best guitar player on this list - the fastest and most technical. Jimmy Page himself admitted Ritchie had always been a step ahead.
The best band live (Made In Japan; other live performances - their improvisations can't be touched).
DP were ahead of their time, esp. their experiments with a new, non-bluesy heavy sound, now known as metal.
DP were "the globe's loudest band" of the 70s, officially listed in the 1975 Guinness Book of World Records. Their loudest show was in Copenhagen, Denmark, and there's an interesting fact - Lars Ulrich of Metallica was in the crowd. He was blown away and this show made him wanna play something that loud and fast one day. He was also mesmerized by Ian Paice double bass on Fireball (saw this for the first time).
Don't even consider smoke on the water... The entire in rock album, machine head and fireball and burn absolutely amazing
Cool band great singer

As progressive Rock goes, this band epitomized the art of Mastering your craft. 3 Men sounding like a 5-Piece (even live) were incredible musicians and have kept it going for 40 years intact
Rush took music to a new level! They created a unique combination of prog rock, hard rock, and other influences with is completely unlike any other band.
I only discoverer Rush some years ago. I wish I could have done it before as they are really great! Favorite albuns: "Rush", "2112" and "Moving Pictures".

Rush and Queen before Floyd. That is depressing. They are not even top ten. Wow!
Pink Floyd is likely so far above your head you just didn't get it.
Pink Floyd isn't hard rock and do not belong on this list...

The band became mainstream after improving after their debut album got panned. In 1978, Osbourne was fired and replaced with former Rainbow vocalist Ronnie James Dio. Who went to release 2 albums before leaving in 1983, only for Osbourne to return in 1992. ...read more.
This Cracks me up. You Look at Best Metal songs of the 70s and Sabbath Dominates. Yet here they are at ten. Good Grief!
Hard to choose between sabbath, zepplin, queen and bowie.. I'm not shure I even could choose, but sabbath should definitely be higher on this list.
What a ridiculous list Sabbath at 1 by a mile.
Sabbath, you can actually listen to them.

'Merica! Steven Tyler and Joe Perry rock! Dream on, mama kin, walk this way, sweet emotion, back in the saddle.

Uriah Heep, before Queen pioneered the thick harmonies coupled with a heavy guitar attack. Still musically valid and highly under-rated, they are still touring avidly to this day, unlike many of their contemporaries.
They were underrated, because they were mostly way way ahead of their time, hence the average, "mainstream" listener, too. Incredibly musical & experimental plus great lyrics... One could still go on...
One of the best bands ever and still going strong. Mick Box is a incredible guitarist
Still going strong

Best ever, they made what we now know as explosive rock. Genius riffs and incredible vocals from Bon Scott and Brian Johnson, RIP Malcolm and Bon
Best band ever!
These guys were good in the 70's, but it's in the 80's when they exploded

My favorite Rock and Roll band. I prefer it Rainbow over deep purple, especially Dio era. The riffs and the vocals of the first 3 albums are just too good.
Dio + Ritchie Blackmore = the most amazing, powerful and creative tandem ever.

Greatest American prog rock band of the seventies. They still are rocking 40 years later. Still an under rated band to this very day. First 5 albums are a masterpiece.

One of the best live acts of the seventies,Phil was one of the best song writiers of his day, the band was musically talented, and stayed true to just rocking out. Trulley defined what rock was all about...

KISS was the best visually and musically. Every fan had a favorite member an each member was distinct in many ways.
You wanted the best and you've got the best! The hottest band in the land... KISS!
Kiss was the best hard rock band of the 1970's...
Rock your face off!


This band was and still is seriously underrated. They had the three best guitar players ever: Gary Rossington, Allen Collins, Ed King (in the beginning), and Steve Gaines at the end. Not to mention their drummer (Artimus Pyle), bass player (Leon Wilkenson), and piano player (Billy Powell). The lead singer, Ronnie Van Zant, was a genius. They had so many amazing songs, but only a few get played. They should get way more recognition than they do. They should be higher.

Seriously why is this band, Van Halen, and Kansas always underrated, I mean they are all awesome, they give us a good feeling and let us forget about all the bad things and just feel happy when we are listening to their music, should be higher

Van halen not van Hagar
Eddie the legend



Extremely under-rated Scottish band ( Dunfermline ) of which I am particularly proud of, since my heritage is from this ancient capital
overlooked for far too long, influence on this scottish music scene is vast,
yet almost none existent by the current media fraternity, to their eternal shame

Great arena rock
A great intro album in 1973 that defined them as a hard rock contender right off the bat. Space Station No. 5, Rock Candy, Bad Motor Scooter, Rock The Nation...are all classics in the hard rock genre. Montrose may be positioned correctly in this poll, but their debut album along with Led Zep 1, Boston, Van Halen 1 and Zebra's first album are among the finest debuts ion hard rock ever!
Could not agree more with your list, even Zebra. Problem with Montrose is they did not get enough national airplay. If they had, things would have turned out way different.

Underrated band. Needs to be higher

