10 Pairs Of Famous Rock Albums That Came Out On The Same Day
5. Van Halen - Van Halen & Stained Class - Judas Priest
Once in a very rare while, on special, magical days, an album will come along that is almost completely original. February 10th 1978 was one of those days.
This was the day that Van Halen put out their self-titled debut. With tracks like Eruption, their version of You Really Got Me, and Runnin' With The Devil, the band revolutionised rock, setting the stage for the rise in two-handed tapping's popularity that would follow and essentially inventing the hair metal genre.
Your mileage will vary on whether that's a good thing or not.
Across the pond, Judas Priest also released an album that contained the seed of a brand new metal subgenre.
Stained Class has many great songs on it, but Exciter is the one everyone remembers. Its blistering pace and undiluted violence laid the groundwork for the speed and thrash metal strands that would take off over the next few years.
Though they may not have been seen as such at the time, both of these records were instrumental in establishing genres that would dominate the 80s rock scene. For better, or for worse.