1970s Hard Rock · Progressive Rock · Classic Rock

Pioneers of hard rock and heavy metal whose sound defined a decade.

Architects of progressive rock concept albums and immersive live experiences.

Theatrical rock virtuosos behind some of the most-performed anthems ever.

Riff-driven hard rock perfectionists with one of the best-selling catalogs in music.

The Birmingham band credited with inventing heavy metal.

Punk's most musically expansive band, fusing reggae, dub, and rockabilly.

Detonators of UK punk whose brief career rewired popular music.

Queens four-piece who invented the blueprint for fast, simple punk.

Boston's bad-boy hard rockers with a multi-decade comeback.

California country-rock harmonizers behind some of the best-selling albums ever.

British blues band that became a transatlantic pop-rock juggernaut.

Foundational hard rock outfit whose riffs anchor metal's lineage.

Canadian power trio synonymous with virtuoso progressive hard rock.

Symphonic prog architects whose long suites defined the genre's ambition.

Theatrical British prog band who later became 1980s pop hitmakers.

Bleak Mancunian post-punk whose two albums shaped a generation.

Face-painted New Yorkers whose theatrical shows scaled rock to spectacle.

Texas blues-rock trio whose long beards and tight grooves became iconic.

Florida southern-rock standard-bearers whose anthems define the genre.

Southern rock progenitors whose dual-guitar jams reshaped American rock.

Americana pioneers whose rural rock recast the country's musical past.

British supergroup behind a string of bluesy hard-rock hits.

British blues-rock outfit whose 'All Right Now' became a hard-rock standard.

Harmony-rich supergroup whose softer rock defined a folkier strand of the era.

Studio perfectionists fusing jazz harmony with cynical rock songcraft.

Horn-driven rockers turned soft-rock juggernaut over decades.

Layered guitar arena rock whose debut became one of rock's biggest sellers.

Bay Area arena-rock stars whose anthems remain karaoke staples.

Anglo-American FM-rock hitmakers blending hard rock and AOR.

Wilson sisters-led hard rock band among the most successful female-fronted ever.

Rockford power-poppers behind a legendary live album from Budokan.

Phil Lynott's Dublin band combining twin-guitar harmonies and storytelling.

Ritchie Blackmore's post-Purple project bridging hard rock and neoclassical metal.

Robert Fripp's restless prog institution and a touchstone of the genre.

Keyboard-led prog supergroup of arena-scale ambition.

Flute-fronted British prog band fusing folk, hard rock, and theatre.

New York post-punks whose 'Marquee Moon' rewired guitar interplay.

Iggy Pop's Detroit band, proto-punk torchbearers of confrontational rock.

Trashy NYC glam pioneers whose sleaze inspired both punk and metal.

Jonathan Richman's proto-punk songbook of wide-eyed everyday Americana.

NYC poet-rocker collective whose 'Horses' is punk's literary cornerstone.

Manchester punks who bottled tuneful angst into perfect three-minute songs.

Paul Weller's mod-punk band who topped UK charts in three short years.

London punks who released the first British punk single, then evolved into goth.

Bryan Ferry's stylish art-rockers who pre-figured post-punk and synth pop.

Marc Bolan's glam-rock band who turned boogie riffs into chart gold.

Wolverhampton glam-rock chant-makers who fueled British 70s pop.

British glam-pop hitmakers turned tougher rock as the 70s wore on.

Hereford glam-rock band whose 'All the Young Dudes' became a generational anthem.

British twin-guitar rock band whose 'Argus' helped invent the dual-lead style.

London hard-rock veterans of fantasy lyrics and classical-inflected riffs.

British band whose Schenker-era LPs became NWOBHM blueprints.

Christian Vander's avant-prog band whose invented language and zeuhl style remain singular.

Anglo-French Canterbury-scene band of cosmic prog whimsy.

Canterbury-scene pioneers blending rock with jazz fusion.

Canterbury-scene mainstays of warm prog whimsy.

Canterbury supergroup whose two albums are British prog touchstones.

Peter Hammill-led prog band of dense saxophones and wrenching theatre.

British prog band whose 'Snow Goose' is a melodic mid-70s gem.

British prog virtuosos of medieval polyphony and complex arrangements.

British prog-folk band of orchestral arrangement and Annie Haslam vocals.

Melbourne glam-rockers whose costumes and satire defined Aussie 70s rock.

Winnipeg blue-collar hard-rockers behind 'Takin' Care of Business'.

Halifax-formed band who became a Canadian classic-rock institution.

Winnipeg pioneers behind 'American Woman' and Canadian rock's first big export.

Toronto-formed band whose 'Born to Be Wild' coined 'heavy metal thunder'.

Young's ragged-glory band of feedback and moonlit Americana.