10 Perfect Hard Rock Albums Of The 1970s

Yeah, like you were going to go through this entire list and not see some sort of Zeppelin record here. I mean, when you look at the definition of hard rock in the dictionary, you could make the case for the definition being 'music derivative of Led Zeppelin.' Though the sounds of Zeppelin have almost dipped into cliches at this point, their fourth outing is everything you could possibly ask for in a hard rock record.

With the days of the British blues boom in the rearview, this is where Zeppelin really stretched their muscles with other song arrangements, going for music that was even dipping into the world of prog rock like the wonky time signature on something like Black Dog. Each of these songs could be indicative of one facet of their genius though, from Jimmy Page's Eastern fixation cropping up on the Battle of Evermore to the entire band cutting loose on the Little Richard knock off Rock and Roll.

The blues still hung around though, with the closer When the Levee Breaks featuring some of the most punishing drum sounds that John Bonham had ever committed to tape. And there's still nothing that comes close to topping Stairway to Heaven, complete with an arrangement that seems to be on the same level as classical pieces.

If you even want to call yourself a fan of hard rock, you need to have Zeppelin IV under your belt at some point.