10 Songs That Started Hard Rock

When rock first got started in the 50's, it was just looked at as the hottest new fad to come out of the youth movement. While the parents humored their children by buying them the records, no one could have anticipated the impact this music genre would have across generations of kids.

Once the British Invasion bands started bringing over newer takes on the blues and pop tradition, rock's style began to turn a page. It wasn't all about just writing whatever party anthem you could over the typical 12-bar blues format. Suddenly, the guitar riff was born, which gave rock a unique sonic motif. Soon after, distortion was brought to the forefront to make those riffs blare out over massive audiences. What was originally just a fun hobby for teenagers became some of the most abrasive-sounding music the mainstream world had ever heard.

From the late 60's to the early 70's, rock went from being a young and naive style of music to a fully grown sonic force that would change the face of pop culture. With music changing rapidly by the year, here are the fiercest entries from the era when rock started to get mean.

The musical landscape of the psychedelic scene was a watershed moment for the rock genre. With its lush soundscapes and experimental instrumentation, bands no longer had to rely on simple riffs to write a rock hit. When King Crimson came to prominence around this time, they set the standard for what became known as metal and prog rock.

While most of the band's debut In the Court of the Crimson King is mandatory listening for any prog fan, "21st Century Schizoid Man" stands as the most forward-looking track of the era. The sound of the horns meshed with Robert Fripp's guitar bludgeons your eardrums as it seems to be signaling the impending apocalypse. The solos throughout the song are totally off-the-wall, with impressive runs of synthesizers and guitar pyrotechnics hitting you in a sonic haze.

Even when the song comes to a halt for the vocals, the mic being used is compressed in such a way that the voice distorts, making the vocals of Greg Lake sound like they are being chanted through a bullhorn. Thanks to an impressive sonic tapestry and a balls-to-the-wall performance, King Crimson showed just how dark the rock genre could actually get with "21st Century Schizoid Man."