10 Best Hard Rock Bands Of The 1970's
9. The Ramones
When the 70's reached its midpoint, it was clear that the line between rock epics and needless jamming was getting a bit too thin. With the scene bogged down in prog exercises that could go on for 20 minutes, rock needed a real shock to the system to regain its edge. Thanks to a gang of punks from Queens, rock was stripped back to the basics of badassery.
Armed with buzzsaw guitars and a relentless tempo, the Ramones helped pioneer the punk movement by playing faster and nastier than their contemporaries. Was it simple? Absolutely, but that was the point. The philosophy behind the Ramone's songwriting was to update the pop song model of the 60's and mold it into the hard rock world with frantic energy and a darker lyrical approach. Instead of talking about teen love, the band delved into the seedy underbelly of street life as they sang about prostitution, gang violence, and even occasionally sniffing glue.
By the time the Ramones arrived on the scene, punk was seen as a simple passing fashion that would die out by the end of the decade. With the help of British bands like the Clash and Sex Pistols, the Ramones took the punk aesthetic and turned it from a style to a movement.