A classic hard rock masterpiece. A must-listen recommended album.

Pictured LifeScorpions

Scorpions Pictured Life

The Scorpions are a band from Germany that began their activity at the remarkably early date of 1965 as a hard rock group, then exploded in popularity from the 1970s onward to achieve worldwide fame.

They’re also known for having featured guitarist Michael Schenker—original member Rudolf Schenker’s younger brother—who joined at the young age of 17 when they debuted.

The band’s fundamental style solidified after guitarist Uli Jon Roth joined in 1974, and their fourth album, Virgin Killer, released in 1976, can be considered a peak in terms of its rich, accomplished content.

Known in Japan by the delightfully ’70s-style title Kyonetsu no Sasoridan (“Frenzied Scorpions”), the album showcases hard guitars ringing throughout—technical yet melodic—blending with wistful melodies in a way that seems especially appealing to Japanese listeners.

Incidentally, the original album cover became infamous for being banned and subsequently replaced.

Iron ManBlack Sabbath

Black Sabbath – Iron Man (1970)

Formed in Birmingham, UK, in 1968, Black Sabbath are not only pioneers of what’s known as hard rock but are also hailed as the founders of heavy metal, influencing every strain of heavy rock to come, including the alternative rock of the 1990s.

Over their long career, lineup changes—especially among vocalists—brought shifts in their sound.

This time, I’ll introduce their early masterpiece Paranoid, released in 1970 by the four original members, including Ozzy Osbourne, whose outrageous persona is beloved worldwide.

It was the band’s second album and a bona fide classic packed with many songs that later became their signature tracks.

Left-handed guitarist Tony Iommi’s inventive riffs; the rock-solid rhythm section of Geezer Butler and Bill Ward, whose playing conjures a heavy, ominous groove; and Ozzy’s vocals, brimming with occult overtones and overwhelming charisma—this is by no means immediately accessible music, but once you’re hooked, there’s no escape.

It’s a work brimming with a spellbinding allure—practically sorcery.

HysteriaDef Leppard

DEF LEPPARD Hysteria Official Music Video

Def Leppard is one of the flagship bands of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal that erupted in the early 1980s—known as the NWOBHM—and they achieved global commercial success.

They were scoring hits from their 1980 debut, but a major setback struck when their youngest member, drummer Rick Allen, lost his left arm in a car accident.

Even so, the band waited for Allen’s recovery.

Thanks to the development of an electronic drum kit that he could play with his right arm and both legs, and to Rick’s own relentless practice, he returned as the band’s drummer.

The album released in 1987, which can be considered their magnum opus, is Hysteria.

With high-quality sound production, superb songwriting, and tracks crafted by a united band, it’s packed with classics—supremely pop and catchy.

It’s an easy-to-listen-to masterpiece even for those who find overly heavy sounds a bit much.

Is This LoveWhitesnake

Whitesnake – Is This Love (Official Music Video)

Many former members of Deep Purple went on to become highly influential figures in rock history.

Among them, Whitesnake is the band led by David Coverdale, who served as vocalist during what is commonly referred to as the Mark III to Mark IV period.

After several breakups and reunions, the band remains active into the 2020s.

If asked to name their signature work, it would surely be 1987’s Whitesnake (also known as “Serpens Albus” in Japan), which became a massive hit upon its release.

Featuring the immensely talented young guitarist John Sykes, formerly of Thin Lizzy, the album is a bona fide classic that achieved major commercial success in the United States.

Centered on David’s sultry vocals, and elevated by the superb performances of masterful players—especially Sykes, who made significant contributions to the songwriting—the songs boast an unquestionably high level of quality.

It’s a stellar work that stands as a defining example of 1980s hard rock!

Back in the SaddleAerosmith

Aerosmith – Back In The Saddle (Audio)

The album title is extremely simple, but since the sound truly deserves to be called “THIS IS ROCK,” it can’t be helped.

Hailing from Boston, Massachusetts, the five-piece Aerosmith released their fourth album in 1976, which became an early major hit.

As a quintessential American hard rock band of the ’70s, they drew influence from British hard rock from the start while crafting a sound that uniquely distilled their homeland’s roots music—blues, country, and funk.

The many classics penned by the rock-solid songwriting duo of vocalist Steven Tyler and guitarist Joe Perry have earned high acclaim both at home and abroad.

Aerosmith’s Rocks unleashes a torrent of sound with overwhelming intensity—exactly the kind of music that embodies rock, as mentioned at the outset—and its groove, steeped in rich funkiness, is irresistibly cool.

Look at YourselfUriah Heep

Uriah Heep – Look At Yourself

Uriah Heep is a long-established British hard rock band that adopted its current name in 1969 after its predecessor and continues to perform even now in the 2020s.

They are a band that epitomized the heyday of hard rock in the 1970s, and their beautiful harmonies achieved through skillful choral work and their sound, which puts the Hammond organ front and center, have earned them great popularity here in Japan as well.

Their early landmark Look at Yourself, released in 1971 as their third album, was given the Japanese title Taijikaku, a term with a somewhat esoteric ring.

It’s a superb record that, while rooted in quintessentially British wet, wistful lyricism, dazzling twin leads, and progressive song structures, also possesses a distinctiveness that reflects the influence of American rock.

It’s a sound tailor-made for Japanese tastes, packed to the brim with the stylistic beauty of 1970s hard rock, freely shifting between quiet and explosive dynamics!

Foxy LadyThe Jimi Hendrix Experience

The Jimi Hendrix Experience – Foxey Lady (Miami Pop 1968)

Some may feel it’s odd to discuss Jimi Hendrix—the guitar god known as “Jimi Hen”—within the framework of hard rock, but his innovative guitar playing, with distorted tones delivered at what was, for the time, a devastatingly loud volume, can truly be called the prototype of hard rock.

Though his career lasted only four short years after his major debut in 1966, there’s no need to reiterate the monumental achievements Hendrix left behind.

This time, I’d like to introduce the landmark debut album released in 1967 under the Jimi Hendrix Experience name, Are You Experienced.

The original edition, which opens with Foxy Lady and its feedback-drenched guitar noise, is of course insanely cool, but there are also versions that kick off with famous tracks like Purple Haze.

If you’re new to Hendrix, I recommend listening to both!