The classic era
As the hard-rock genre diversified and graduated from halls to arenas, these are the guitarists who defined the sounds and styles of the decade.
THE DAWN OF the ’70s saw hard rock emerge as the predominant form of rock, a loud and brash style that excelled in arenas and stadiums, to which touring acts had graduated. Next to Led Zeppelin, two of the biggest groups of the time were Deep Purple and Grand Funk Railroad. After exploring pop and prog in the late ’60s, Deep Purple found their groove with their Mark II lineup in 1970, releasing In Rock, the album that broke them into the mainstream.