10 Hard Rock Albums That Changed Music History

Long before metal was even spoken of, hard rock was the substitute for anything that was considered a bit too intense for the mainstream radio stations to put on. In lieu of the sunny Flower Power music that was coming from Los Angeles, the rest of the world was desolate and cold, giving most people a grim picture about what the world was really like. The peace movement had its place, but the world was ugly too, and Black Sabbath gave us a look at just how dark this world can get.

Though some would argue that the first Black Sabbath album was the moment where metal came into existence, it's with this record that they really solidified their place in rock history, taking the blues traditions that they were already working with and spinning them into twisted tales of metal. Whereas the hippies may have been talking about the love movement that would triumph over evil, Sabbath was telling us of the real atrocities going on in songs like War Pigs or struggling with depression on the title track.

This wasn't just designed to get you out of your seat...there are some songs on here that are genuinely frightening when you hear them for the first time, like the lonely sounds of Planet Caravan or the sound of someone stomping across the land in the beginning of Iron Man. You can still hear the blues trickling back in every now and again, but we're on the verge of something a lot heavier here.