10 60s Albums That Shaped Rock

In the late 60's, hard rock was mostly dominated by blues rock and psychedelia. There always seemed to be an outlet that hadn't been tapped into yet. Something visceral, something primal. Something...HEAVY.

At the tail end of the 1960's, a group named Black Sabbath hit upon an idea of using horror as a template for making their craft. Thanks to guitarist Tony Iommi's enormous guitar tone, the band made staggering riffs accompanied by terrifying lyrics. On this record, vocalist Ozzy Osbourne growls about everything from witchcraft to the occult to Satan himself on "N.I.B."

While this album did see an early 1970 release date, the recording of it was done in the 1960's, which is of particular significance. For heavy metal music, this is ground zero. When asked, the members of Sabbath tend to liken themselves to a hard rock band rather than metal. It may not matter though. This album alone was able to inspire metal as we know it.

Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple may have been planting the seeds for what would be known as metal, but Sabbath's heaviness then and now remains totally unmatched. If you consider yourself even mildly interested in heavy rock, this is mandatory listening.