10 Hard Rock Albums You Need To Listen To With Headphones

Ever since Black Sabbath struck that first devilish interval, the race was on to see who could out-heavy the band next to them. From the 70's onward, each band coming out had to be louder than the rest, but would oftentimes muddy the integrity of their songs. While many bands toed the line between great songs and heavy riffs, Iowa is one of the only albums that is the best of both worlds.

Though Slipknot had already been known as a contender in the nu metal scene, the band really brought out every single crazy idea on this record, striking gold on sonic lacerations like "My Plague" and "Left Behind." The songs may be stellar, but more people remember this record for the bludgeoning they got from listening to it.

Under the watchful eye of Ross Robinson, the band went through the ringer to make this record as intense as possible, with Robinson going so far as to throw potted plants at the band as well as smearing hot wax across Clown's face in order to get a good drum performance.

It's almost hard to think that average humans could make something this heavy, but the 9 have the scars to prove just how much muscle went into making this beautifully disturbed album.