10 Songs That Started Hard Rock

The Beatles' self-titled White Album was filled to the brim with innovations, from the experimental approaches to songwriting to the disparate musical styles each of the band's songwriters were pulling from. Right in the middle of the record, Paul McCartney delivered one of the most raucous songs of the era that perfectly offset the more ballad-heavy material.

For as furious as "Helter Skelter" sounds, the song originally started as a healthy form of friendly competition. When McCartney was looking through the music news one day, he came across an article detailing a new record by the Who, where it was described as one of the heaviest records ever made.

In a bid to outdo the Mod rockers at their own game, McCartney put together a song centered around a pummeling guitar riff and lyrics about a fairground slide. When he eventually brought it to the band, the song was given life through George Harrison's chaotic leads and John Lennon thundering away in the back.

The song is also notorious for Ringo Starr's performance, after which the drummer famously uttered his frustration of having blisters after the song had completed. From McCartney's screams to the rollercoaster-style guitar riffs, "Helter Skelter" is the moment when rock and roll became hard rock.