10 Perfect Songs That Started Hard Rock

As the British Invasion started to sweep across the world, American bands were really left to play second fiddle to some of the Brits. The Rolling Stones may have been copying from the likes of Muddy Waters and other bluesmen from the Mississippi Delta, but acts like the Byrds weren't exactly setting the world on fire in the same way Mick and Keith were in their prime. The States did have an answer to the British Invasion though, and that involved cranking your amp to 10 and tearing the entire club to the ground.

While acts like Iggy and the Stooges and even the Velvet Underground were the first breed of what would be considered punk rock, the MC5 hit on something a lot more primal with Kick Out the Jams, taking the basic bluesy structure and turning it into absolutely anarchy. Though you can probably learn the basics of this tune fairly quickly, it was all about the attitude that you brought across onstage, taking the psychedelic edge of what was going on in California and putting that tough Detroit spin to it.

As for the bands that have come afterward, this track has practically become the national anthem for the next generation of hard rockers, where all are free to turn their amps up as loud as they can and not give a damn what anyone else thinks of you. Other bands may have been trying to go political around this time, but you only get this runaround once, so you might as well kick out the jams for as long as you're able to.