An imprecise term, partly co-extensive with heavy metal, referring to a group of styles originating in the late 1960s as a response to and development of the prevailing counter-culture. Dominant techniques include deep-tuned drums and ringing cymbals played with a marked absence of local syncopation, and declamatory vocals inherited from Mick Jagger. The characteristic and frequent use of organs can be heard in the works of Deep Purple, the Doors and Steppenwolf, along with guitar riffs, power chords and boogie patterns largely from the blues-based playing of Cream, the Groundhogs and Led Zeppelin. Slower ballads mix these features with ringing arpeggios. Gary Moore's Victims of the Future (1984) encapsulates many of these techniques.
The subject matter of the songs emphasizes a misogynistic, macho sexuality and an unfocussed but often environmentally aware liberal politics. Hard rock, however, avoids heavy metal's leanings towards madness, violence and the occult. Steppenwolf's early Born to be Wild (1967), which popularized the term heavy metal, typifies hard rock's crucial connotations of rootlessness and individual autonomy. Like heavy metal, the style has found worldwide exponents. Leading performers include: Deep Purple, Whitesnake and Def Leppard in Britain; Meatloaf, Bon Jovi and Aerosmith in the United States; Bryan Adams and Rush in Canada; the Scorpions and Running Wild in Germany; StageDolls in Norway; Otokogumi in Japan and AC/DC in Australia.
T. Jasper and D. Oliver: The International Encyclopedia of Hard Rock and Heavy Metal (London, 1983, 3/1991)
M. Hale: Headbangers (Ann Arbor, 1993)
ALLAN F. MOORE