10 Most Important Metal Bands Of All Time

Given how much they brought to the genre, it's strange not seeing a band of Sabbath's calibre at the top of this list. Though Judas Priest have earned their stripes as one of the greatest metal acts of all time, how do they compare to the unfiltered evil radiating through Tony Iommi's riffs? While Sabbath may have been the first instance of heavy metal music, Priest were the first band to claim the genre label.

Prior to Judas Priest, heavy metal was not so much a genre of music as much as it was a derogatory term for bands that sounded ugly. Once they rose to prominence, metal quickly blossomed into its own style of music far removed from anything that had come before. Instead of doing louder and heavier versions of the blues tradition, these songs took different sonic turns, with both KK Downing and Glenn Tipton trading off some of the most insane solos in the world.

Along with the musical touch, frontman Rob Halford set the example for every other metal frontman, from the way he dressed in denim and leather to the stratospheric scream that could reach to the back of any arena. Metal was still being born in the early '70s, but once Priest arrived on the scene, the heavy side of rock had found a new kind of congregation.