10 Most Important Albums In Metal History

There's no real way to pinpoint the moment that metal came into existence. Ever since the early days of rock and roll, bands have wanted to see just how nasty their guitars could get, with historians pointing to stuff like the Kinks' You Really Got Me to the Beatles' Helter Skelter as the moment where metal started to rear its head. If you had to pick Patient Zero for what metal was going to be though, it has to be the first Black Sabbath album.

While there were definitely heavy acts that have come before Sabbath, no one had ever heard hard rock taken in this direction yet, with Tony Iommi morphing his bluesy background into demented guitar riffs that sent shivers down your back the minute you heard them. With the muscle of the rest of the band behind him, the lyrics were also a change of pace for what rock was known for, telling stories that were a lot more macabre than before like Lucifer's love song NIB or a paranormal demon coming for your soul on the title track.

As Ozzy Osbourne bellowed from the rafters on these tracks, rock fans who wanted something heavier than the Stones had finally found their answer, with millions of bands coming up in Sabbath's wake trying to outdo each other in terms of heaviness. The hippy generation may have still been in full swing by the end of the '60s, but Sabbath kicked down the door and gave us a look at what the darker side of life had to offer.