10 Best Hard Rock Albums Of The 1970s
9. Van Halen - Van Halen
As the 70's were nearing the end of its run, the hard rock scene had started getting a little bit stale, with glam rock taking most of the glory and disco starting to rear its head. The hard rock needed to learn how to rock again, and four guys from California were just the band to do it.
In Van Halen, hard rock had their new spokesmen with guitarist Eddie Van Halen delivering riffs that were melodic while also possessing the speed and power of a cruise missile. The vocal assault from David Lee Roth's bluesy swagger put the groove back in rock music, which was backed by the high-throated siren call of bassist Michael Anthony.
As the backbeat of each track drilled its way into your head, fans around the world knew that the metallic stomp of rock was far from dead. From the slow descent of "Runnin With the Devil" to the final hits of "On Fire," Van Halen pretty much wrote their greatest-hits album on their first outing. Little did the rest of the world know that this band was just getting warmed up for even greater glory in the coming decade.