5 Comments October 30th, 2010

What is the difference between Hard Rock music as opposed to Heavy Metal?

Senator Padme Amidala Skywalker asked:


Is Metallica Hard rock or Heavy Metal? I know AC /DC is but what about Guns Roses or the Scorpions? Would they be hard rock or heavy metal?i still don’t quite get the diff but I love both Classic rock too!

Sarah
This entry was posted on Saturday, October 30th, 2010 at 8:00 am and is filed under heavy rock. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

5 Responses to “What is the difference between Hard Rock music as opposed to Heavy Metal?”

  1. Emma Says:
    November 2nd, 2010 at 12:14 am

    Austin

    I love both Classic rock too

  2. Jacob Says:
    November 2nd, 2010 at 4:01 pm

    Christian

    Heavy Metal is generally faster and more aggressive, where Hard Rock would be more maintaining to the rock sound but just lower or faster or generally heaver then normal rock.

    and Metallica is definitely Heavy Metal, except for St. Anger and Load and Reload, you could argue that they are more Hard Rock then Heavy Metal.

  3. Brianna Says:
    November 4th, 2010 at 12:02 am

    Lily

    The difference is mainly in the singer’s voice and the drum, in heavy metal the voice will tend to be more aggresive and powerfull while the drum will be more powerfull with faster beat.

    While in hardrock the voice will be a bit less agressive and clean.

    Theres differences in the lyrics too.

  4. Morgan Says:
    November 6th, 2010 at 11:20 am

    Jos

  5. Gabriel Says:
    November 8th, 2010 at 4:26 pm

    Natalie

    Hello Senator Padme ,
    What I’m gonna state is straightly based on my own view . So , here it goes :

    Hard Rock is the derived edgy , harder sound of early Rock with systematic distortions , basslines and drumlines (except verses) . Hard Rock sound is derived mainly from the Blues and from some bands of the British Invasion . So , Blues influenced bands like Steppenwolf , Free , Cream , The Jimi Hendrix Experience , The Yardbirds …etc.+ some edgy albums or tracks by The Kinks , The Beatles , The Who …etc. resulted in the surfacing of Hard Rock . Most critics and music fans will tell you that a great example of Hard Rock in its early days is STEPPENWOLF . Finally , Hard Rock themes and lyrics are usually about life and from life itself e.g. love , protest , homesickness , loneliness , sexual arousal … etc. Here are some samples of Hard Rock songs from many artists :

    Heavy Metal on the other hand is the result of too much Acid , Psychedlic , Blues and Classical arrangements (not to mention Proto-punk 1960s influence) . There’s much more distortion , heavy bass sound and drums with less systematic approach and most importantly the lyrics are about abstract sides of life , science fiction views , fears …etc. BTW , hippie bands like Deep Purple , Led Zeppelin , Iron Butterfly are great influences . However , the fisrt ever Heavy Metal band , yet lacking the abstract lyrics are Blue Cheer who started the monsterous sound . Then came Black Sabbath and Sir Lord Baltimore (Sabbath are the first 100% lyrical , sound Heavy Metal band) . Here are some examples :

    ***Bands like (Led Zeppelin) played on both ways Hard Rock an Heavy Metal . Here’s a Hard Rock song by Zeppelin driven by life lyrics and Blues :

    ***Here’s a Zeppelin song that’s kind of obscure , dark and Heavy Metal approached :

Leave a Reply