Tull are fucking terrible, never been able to get into them. Early Floyd is great but although I love Thin Lizzy and T Rex I don't see them as game changers, whereas Sabbath clearly were. The early Elton stuff is good pop when he avoids getting sappy but not really rocking at all, can't believe Elton had to hire Bernie to write those trite fucking lyrics either.

Deep Purple? Uriah Heep?

I love the connection that Deep Purple had to so much of mid 70s to 80s metal. It was amazing how they and Rainbow could do however many albums with an ever changing lineup, with big names, with no backlash at all. Dio, Tony Carey, Joe Lynn Turner, Vinnie Appice.

And they made a whole new mold with the Band and Orchestra album. To put your rock band with an orchestra was unheard of and was a fantastic album to boot.

A radio guy turned me on to Motorhead in maybe 84. No Sleep Til Hammersmith changed everything for me. It turned me on to stuff that I had to seek out, rather than what I was being spoon fed by Top 40 radio.

Smoke on the Water was my first favorite "metal" song.

Deep Purple certainly covered a lot of ground: Hush, Child in Time and Smoke on the Water don't even sound like the same band. Richie was great but I prefer Trower.





My favourite hard rock band of the 70s may be Free, underrated.