10 Bands That Started Hard Rock
7. The Yardbirds
When you hear about the greatest artists of all time, The Yardbirds tend to get brought as your favorite rock bands' favorite rock band. Throughout rock history, everyone from Alice Cooper to the guys in Aerosmith have done nothing but praise these stalwarts of the British blues boom, who took the sounds of psychedelia and turned it into blues flavored pop rock. If you really want to know the importance behind them though, it's that they gave us some of the greatest guitarists in the world.
Being a bit of a revolving door behind the fretboard, each respective guitarist who made their way through the Yardbirds back in the '60s seemed poised for greatness, starting with Eric Clapton at the start. Long before he became the Slowhand we know today, Clapton was a real madman with The Yardbirds, who's manic energy he would take on to Cream. In the market for someone else, The Yardbirds quickly expanded their sound by having two amazing guitarists for the price of one, with both Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck cutting their teeth before moving on to their respective outfits.
As much talent made their way in and out of the Yardbirds, the more exciting sounds of Beck, Page, and Clapton would just get refined a little bit further down the line. Though the Yardbirds might not have as many hits to their name as their contemporaries, their purpose felt more like an incubation chamber for some of the greatest minds to ever pick up a guitar.