[en] The 270-MeV ⁵⁸Ni+^APd reaction was used for the first recoil-decay tagging measurement with Gammasphere coupled to the Fragment Mass Analyzer at Argonne National Laboratory. Level structures of ¹⁵⁸Hf and ¹⁵⁹Hf are identified for the first time, and that of ¹⁶⁰Hf is extended. The systematical behavior of the energy levels in neighboring isotones and isotopes, as well as the aligned angular momenta as a function of rotational frequency, are examined. (c) 2000 The American Physical Society