5 Greatest Hard Rock Album Opening Tracks

At the end of the 60's, hard rock was just getting born with bands like Steppenwolf and Led Zeppelin providing tracks with a heavy amount of bite. Then with one album, Black Sabbath took hard rock to the edge.

The title track of Sabbath's eponymous debut is the clarion call for what would become heavy metal. After the ominous sound of rainfall, Tony Iommi's guitar riff pierces your eardrums like the sound of impending doom. As the riff dies down, Ozzy Osbourne starts to intone the tale of a figure in black who seems to be luring you into the deepest depths of Hell.

While metal is known now for its fast tempos, Sabbath proves that the true darkness come from the soul rather than speed as the riff slowly plods along with immense heaviness. As the initial riff dissipates, the band starts to pick up the tempo as Ozzy warns that Satan is now running amok across the Earth, bringing with him Armageddon.

This track forever changed the way that hard rock was made for decades to come. While there had been plenty of hard rock tracks before this, Sabbath were the ones that took rock music and gave it fangs.