10 Perfect Albums That Started Rock Genres

There weren't that many rock genres to choose from back in the early '70s. Though the garage rock movement may have been happening over in the States, the psychedelic movement seemed to be dying out and most of the British rock and roll scene was turning to the blues to make their living, with guitarists like Eric Clapton being praised like deities. If Clapton was God though, Black Sabbath was the devil storming out of Birmingham.

While the idea for Black Sabbath started by having the band cutting their teeth as bluesy players, something started to shift once Tony Iommi started writing, penning licks that was enough to send shivers down your spine when you heard them. Taking their cues from horror movies and the darker side of life, Black Sabbath's debut is basically a bluesy version of what Hell might sound like, from the title track introducing you to a figure in black that's going to pull you down towards the underworld to Satan getting his own love song on NIB.

Even though this may have disgusted both fans and critics alike at the time, the kids that heard this when it came out were aching to hear more, looking for something a little bit heavier than what the Rolling Stones were putting out at the time. Sabbath already had a penchant for flirting with the dark side from time to time, but not even they realized that the metal scene was laying at their feet.