10 Best Hard Rock Albums Of The 1960's

After becoming disillusioned with the Yardbirds, it seemed that every departing guitarist became legendary in his own right. From the early days of Eric Clapton to the Jeff Beck era, the blues outfit always seemed like a right of passage for the blues rock guitar slinger. Out of all the players who put in their time with the Yardbirds, Jimmy Page had plans that would completely overshadow the typical blues rock collective.

Quickly assembling Led Zeppelin, Page came through with one of the greatest debuts in rock history, with each member bringing their own spin to the group. While Page was the riffmaster on songs like "Good Times Bad Times," John Bonham's backbeat had the muscle of 3 drummers combined. As John Paul Jones brought a professionalism to the band's sound, Robert Plant's fantastic wail was like Little Richard if fed through the blues belt of Janis Joplin.

While it's definitely hard rock, the band also have slower tracks like "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You" and "Your Time Is Gonna Come," both of which still have a ton of heaviness even when being banged out on acoustics. However, "Dazed and Confused" was the song that showed that this band were going to places outside the confines of the blues. Though the debut was impressive at the time, no one could have predicted just how big the band would get in just a few months.