10 Greatest Hard Rock Album Openers

It's almost a no-brainer to put a band a back like Black Sabbath at the top of this list. They single-handedly took rock and roll in a heavier direction and championed a sound that would become the norm in metal music. Though Sabbath laid the groundwork, Metallica were the band that brought the harder side of rock and roll to the masses.

Many would initially flock to something like "Enter Sandman" as the band's greatest work, but when it comes to getting you ingrained in the album experience, it doesn't get any better than "Battery" from Master of Puppets.

Opening with a subtle lilt of acoustic guitars, the entire intro builds into a virtual symphony of six-strings before diving headfirst into one of the most savage metal riffs of the 80's. The song almost feels too fast for its own good, but even with all the aggression, everything is in its right place from James Hetfield's solid rhythm skills to Lars Ulrich's amazing fills (yes really.)

Compared to the other epic songs on the record, "Battery" remains pretty punchy, with the track getting the job done in just over 5 minutes. However, this is only the palette cleanser for what would become one of the greatest records that the rock world had ever seen.