50 YEARS OF METAL
Updated: Jan 17, 2020
Part I: From The Start ... the 1970s
February 13th 2020 marks the fifty year anniversary of Black Sabbath's self-titled debut. Metal was born! Driven by this extraordinary event, DENIM & LEATHER's "50 Years of Metal"series seemed to be the appropriate personal contribution to this occasion. While metal could trace its lineage back to the 1950s, it was during the late 1960s when all the constellations began to collide, resulting in the "big bang" of February 13th 1970! The rest is history. A history lived and written by us, the true fans of metal. Never in the music history has such powerful and revolutionary movement taken place. Fifty years later, continuing to ascend in its majestic glory, heavy metal is stubbornly evolving. Despite all obstacles, shortcomings and dismissals, throughout the years, bringing new elements to the fold, while always venerating its roots and past! The premise of this series is simple: five albums per year - some well known, many obscure gems, all contributing to the development of what became the vastest genre in music. (Please note: only one title per act, regardless of act's longevity and importance of other catalog entries; titles were not chosen based on commercial merit.) Segmented in decades, for easier navigation, the series rightfully begins with the 1970s. In this decade of exploration, heavy metal's formative years were not a product of "labels". Rather, an organic permutation and accumulation of new traits. Borrowing from the psychedelic, acid and progressive rock music, heavy metal found a way to take everything to a new level, a characteristic that heavy metal and its community embraced and continue to thrive on. It will be foolish to downplay the importance of hard rock, a clear denominator in the 1970s, and well beyond. Together with the progressive and psychedelic attributes, hard rock (heavy rock) played an important role in heavy metal's initial development, continuing to intertwine for the past fifty years. From the start ...
1970
BLACK SABBATH
(UK)
Black Sabbath
Released on February 13, 1970 (UK)/June 1, 1970 (US)
ATOMIC ROOSTER
(UK)
Death Walks Behind You
Released in September 1970
Progressive hard rock/proto-metal
TITANIC
(Norway/UK)
Titanic
Released in 1970
Progressive hard rock
SIR LORD BALTIMORE
(USA)
Kingdom Come
Released in December 1970
Hard rock/psychedelic/proto-metal
BLOODROCK
(USA)
Bloodrock
Released in March 1970
Hard rock/proto-metal
1971
BUDGIE
(UK)
Budgie
Released in June 1971
Heavy metal/proto-metal
URIAH HEEP
(UK)
Salisbury
Released in February 1971
Progressive hard rock/heavy metal
LEAF HOUND
(UK)
Growers of Mushroom
Released in 1971
Stoner/hard rock/proto-metal
FLOWER TRAVELLIN' BAND
(Japan)
Satori
Released on April 5, 1971
Psychedelic/hard rock/proto-metal
FRACTION
(USA)
Moon Blood
Released in 1971
Psychedelic hard rock/heavy psych
1972
DEEP PURPLE
(UK)
Machine Head
Released on March 25, 1972
Hard rock/heavy metal
BLUE OYSTER CULT
(USA)
Blue Oyster Cult
Released on January 16, 1972
Acid/psychedelic hard rock/heavy metal
DUST
(USA)
Hard Attack
Released in 1972
Hard rock/heavy metal
NIGHT SUN
(Germany)
Mournin'
Released in 1972
Progressive hard rock/heavy metal/heavy psychedelic
WARHORSE
(UK)
Red Sea
Released in March 1972
Progressive hard rock/proto-metal
1973
MONTROSE
(USA)
Montrose
Released on October 17, 1973
Hard rock/heavy metal
BUFFALO
(Australia)
Volcanic Rock
Released in August 1973
Acid/hard rock/heavy metal
GRANICUS
(USA)
Granicus
Released in 1973
Progressive hard rock/proto-metal
MESSAGE
(Germany/UK)
From Books And Dreams
Released in 1973
Hard rock/heavy psychedelic
NAZARETH
(Scotland/UK)
Razamanaz
Released on May 25, 1973 (UK)/ and August 1973 (US)
Hard rock
1974
QUEEN
(UK)
II
Released on March 8, 1974
Progressive art rock/hard rock/glam rock/heavy metal
EPITAPH
(Germany)
Outside The Law
Released in 1974
Progressive hard rock
PRIMEVIL
(USA)
Smokin' Bats At Campton's
Released in 1974
Psychedelic acid/hard rock/heavy metal
STRAY
(UK)
Move It
Released in 1974
Progressive hard rock/blues rock/psychedelic
TRAPEZE
(UK)
Hot Wire
Released in 1974
Hard rock/blues rock
1975
RITCHIE BLACKMORE'S RAINBOW
(UK)
Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow
Released on August 4, 1975
Heavy metal
UFO
(UK)
Force It
Released in July 1975
Heavy metal
ARMAGEDDON
(UK/USA)
Armageddon
Released in May 1975
Progressive hard rock/heavy metal
MOXY
(Canada)
Moxy
Released in 1975/1976 (US)
Hard rock/heavy metal
CRACK THE SKY
(USA)
Crack The Sky
Released in 1975
Progressive rock
1976
JUDAS PRIEST
(UK)
Sad Wings Of Destiny
Released on March 23, 1976
Heavy metal
OCEAN
(France)
God's Clown
Released in 1976
Heavy progressive
LUCIFER'S FRIEND
(Germany)
Mind Exploding
Released in 1976
Progressive hard rock/fusion
SOLID GROUND
(Sweden)
Made In Rock
Released in 1976
Hard rock/heavy psychedelic
TRUTH AND JANEY
(USA)
No Rest For The Wicked
Released in 1976
Hard rock/heavy psychedelic
1977
RIOT
(USA)
Rock City
Released on November 10, 1977
Heavy metal
BOW WOW
(Japan)
Signal Fire
Released on July 25, 1977
Heavy metal/hard rock
TEAZE
(Canada)
On The Loose
Released in 1977
Hard rock/glam rock
THOR
(Canada)
Keep The Dogs Away
Released in 1977
Heavy metal/hard rock
STARZ
(USA)
Violation
Released in 1977
Hard rock/heavy metal/power pop
1978
VAN HALEN
(USA)
Van Halen
Released on February 10, 1978
Hard rock/heavy metal
SORCERY
(USA)
Sinister Soldiers
Released in 1978
Heavy rock/heavy psychedelic/heavy metal/doom metal
HEAVY LOAD
(Sweden)
Full Speed At High Level
Released in November 1978
Heavy metal/power metal
MAGNUM
(UK)
Kingdom Of Madness
Released in August 1978
(recorded in 1976)
Progressive hard rock
THE GODZ
(USA)
The Godz
Released in 1978
Hard rock/boogie rock/heavy metal
1979
MOTORHEAD
(UK)
Overkill
Released on March 24, 1979
Heavy metal/hard rock/speed metal
MYTHRA
(UK)
The Death & Destiny EP
Released in November 1979
Heavy metal/NWOBHM
SAMSON
(UK)
Survivors
Released in June 1979
Heavy metal/NWOBHM
TKO
(USA)
Let It Roll
Released in 1979
Hard rock/glam rock
GAMMA
(USA)
Gamma 1
Released in July 1979
Hard rock/AOR/heavy metal
50 YEARS OF METAL
Part II: Metal For The Masses ... the 1980s
© 2020 by Emil Chiru