12 Hard Rock Bands Who Succeeded By Never Selling Out

Led Zeppelin's fingerprints can be found all over the hard rock scene. Ever since their inception in the late 60's, the band took the blues rock that had been permeating the British Invasion and brought it to places it had never been before.

While the band's first album was mainly blues rock, the rest of their catalog saw them playing with everything from psychedelia to practically inventing hard rock with Led Zeppelin II. Whereas you would expect a more straight-ahead pop melody from your rock bands, Zeppelin was all about taking their audience on a journey with their music rather than just playing the hits of the day.

One could argue that their more balladesque material tends to feel a bit bloated in recent times, but there was never an instance where those more heartfelt moments felt insincere. From the brutal hit of "Thank You" to the sad lament of "All My Love," each softer song still feels like its coming from a genuine place deep in their soul. It's also a testament to the band's collective identity that after the death of John Bonham, the band decided to call it quits rather than continue with a new drummer. We may not being seeing new Zeppelin down the road, but what we do have to sift through has influenced multiple generations of hard rockers.