The Yearly Metal Project (With a Twist - See inside): 1982

I would mention Gentle Giant's eponymous debut, from the same year. Yes, it's probably not metal, but not all of the albums from the first post are, actually... and it's greater than LedZep III, at least. :p
 
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SixesAlltheway said:
1970 is a good year to begin with!
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I woudln't have minded having 1969 in there (Tull released a beauty of an album: Stand Up) but indeed, in 1970 things got somewhat harder. ;)

I do not like Hawkwind's debut album. Perhaps too acoustic, and just not that memorable songs as well. I prefer them a bit later.
From Mosh's list I definitely like Paranoid the most. Uriah Heep's album is nice as well, although most of it can't reach the level of Gypsy (what an opening riff!).

Other 1970 albums coming to mind, at the moment:

The same titled debut album by Wishbone Ash is pretty nice! Phoenix is one of their most iconic songs and Errors on My Way has lovely guitar harmonies. If I remember well, this album is one of Steve Harris his favourite ones. Another nice story:
The band's debut album became a reality when they were opening for Deep Purple in early 1970. Deep Purple guitarist Ritchie Blackmore was jamming during the band's soundcheck when Wishbone guitarist Andy Powell boldly plugged in and began jamming with Blackmore.
After the show, Blackmore recommended that MCA Records sign the band. Deep Purple producer Derek Lawrence produced this album, which features elements of blues, progressive rock, and psychedelic improvisation. The album was a success and Wishbone Ash would soon become one of the most popular rock bands of the early 1970s.

Another very enjoyable album is by David Bowie(!), called The Man Who Sold the World. Generally considered a hard rock and heavy metal album. Some riffs are really as if Sabbath could have made them up!
 
I ultimately decided to start with 1970 because of the release of the first Black Sabbath. There are a lot of "proto" metal albums out there, but I wanted to get straight to the "real" stuff. I would definitely recommend hearing the first two Zeppelin albums, the first King Crimson albums, and anything Blue Cheer for further context. I've also seen Kick Out the Jams cited.

There will definitely be non-Metal albums on these lists. There already are, as some pointed out, and that will continue. I wanted to include music that influenced the Metal scene.

Hawkwind's first album was pretty strange, I liked some things here and there. I was looking forward to hear some pre-Motorhead Lemmy, but as it turns out, he's not on the first two albums.

I'm listening to Uriah Heep now, really enjoying this. I can hear lots of British prog influence, but it's quite a bit heavier than the likes of Yes and Genesis. Also a bit bluesier, especially on Lucy Blues (go figure).

I'm already getting some context here. Listen to all of these albums and then listen to Paranoid. The album sounds even more powerful! It's heavier than anything else released this year really, very genre defining.

I edited the original post to include albums mentioned by others.
 
Immigrant Song should get more love.
It's on a non-metal album, but it's so "rampaging hordes across your stereo" a real genre defining track.
Hammer of the Gods indeed.
 
mckindog said:
Immigrant Song should get more love.
It's on a non-metal album, but it's so "rampaging hordes across your stereo" a real genre defining track.
Hammer of the Gods indeed.
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Agreed. I think I mentioned it already but Immigrant Song is by far the heaviest song they had done by then, maybe ever.
 
mckindog said:
Immigrant Song should get more love.
It's on a non-metal album, but it's so "rampaging hordes across your stereo" a real genre defining track.
Hammer of the Gods indeed.
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Immigrant Song is definitely 1 Led Zepplin song I can get behind. I'm generally not a fan of them.
 
mckindog said:
Immigrant Song should get more love.
It's on a non-metal album, but it's so "rampaging hordes across your stereo" a real genre defining track.
Hammer of the Gods indeed.
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...or not. I used to be a serious, downright fanatical Zepphead in high school, but since then I have changed my opinion quite a bit. They have absolutely amazing and underrated rhythm section and a competent guitarist, but one of the most annoying singers ever (I mean, I would sometimes rather listen to Billy Corgan than Plant) and there's no album of theirs I could listen to cover to cover and enjoy it, although they have some absolutely amazing one-of-a-kind songs like Achilles or No Quarter. Immigrant Song is, IMHO, not one of those. Plant is as obnoxious as ever, with that pseudo-scream. Also, it has no proper chorus, unless you want to count the "scream" and overall it's not that substantial in my book. The whole album is very meh, by the way. The acoustic experiments sometimes work (Gallows Pole), sometimes are so boring I want to bite my leg off (That's the Way), there's one excellent (though a bit overlong) blues exercise in Since I've Been Loving You and the Roy Harper song gets on my nerves so much I usually turn the album off completely by that point. Is there anything that wasn't already done better on the other albums? Cool cover, though.
 
The guitar work on Queen of Torture by Uriah Heep, I'm pretty sure we've all heard these licks before. :D Steve Harris was definitely listening to this in the 70s.

 
Forostar said:
Another very enjoyable album is by David Bowie(!), called The Man Who Sold the World. Generally considered a hard rock and heavy metal album. Some riffs are really as if Sabbath could have made them up!
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Just listened to this, definitely some Sabbath-y riffs on here. You could probably call this the earliest example of David Bowie's knack for adapting to contemporary sounds (he was doing this even on his last album). It is still rooted in that glam sound, but a lot more heavy guitars than on Space Oddity. Some twin guitar harmonies as well, which I haven't really heard much at all in these 1970 albums.
 
Black Sabbath debut also genre-defining, but pretty bland
Paranoid is so much better.
 
1971
Alice Cooper - Killer/Love It To Death
Black Sabbath - Master of Reality
Budgie - Budgie
Deep Purple - Fireball
Genesis - Nursery Cryme
Hawkwind - In Search of Space
Jethro Tull - Aqualung
Led Zeppelin - IV
Nazareth - Nazareth
UFO - Flying
Uriah Heep - Look At Yourself
Van Der Graaf Generator - Pawn Hearts
The Who - Who's Next

In 1971 we have bands who have begun to establish their sound and quite a few albums that would go on to become all time classics. It is clear that Sabbath had already made an impact as many bands not typically associated with Metal are beginning to harden their sound a bit.

Here we have Zeppelin going back to their roots a little bit with an album that is much heavier than III, although it still retains the folk element to some degree. Black Sabbath continue their dark and heavy sound with Master of Reality, the most notable tune being Children of the Grave. A slightly more upbeat album than Paranoid, but not lacking in sinister riffs.

On the progressive rock side of things, Genesis have their first of several breakthroughs with Nursery Cryme. Not a Metal album by an stretch, but there are certainly some heavy elements and a sound that would go on to influence Iron Maiden. Also influencing Iron Maiden is the more-Crimson-than-King-Crimson Van Der Graaf Generator with their seminal Pawn Hearts. Bruce Dickinson has frequently cited VDGG frontman Peter Hamill as an influence and it isn't hard to see why, they have a similar operatic tone and a sense of drama in their vocal delivery.

Lots of great albums here, again some old favorites for me as well as some I haven't heard before. Listening to Master of Reality now. Discuss!
 
Mosh said:
Black Sabbath continue their dark and heavy sound with Master of Reality, the most notable tune being Children of the Grave. A slightly more upbeat album than Paranoid, but not lacking in sinister riffs.
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Iommi downtuned 3 semi-tones lower, producing a "bigger, heavier sound". This album has some hypnotizing riffing! I like it more than than the first two Sabbath records. From 1971 certainly my favourite album!
 
I too love Master, on par with SBS and Sabotage, so much more than the first two albums or ever four. Not sure about the whole 1971, but out of the albums mentioned, it's definitely my favourite, barely edging out Nazareth's debut.
 
I don't like Alice Cooper, but for the sake of this thread I listened to both albums he released in 1971. Still not a fan. Killer was the best of the two and also had more songs I recognized. I can definitely see why they would be included in the Metal conversation this early though. Similar to David Bowie, these Alice Cooper albums had a heaviness to them and some pretty Sabbath-esque riffing. A lot of the lyrical themes found in Alice Cooper's work is also very characteristic of Metal.
 
Unexpected choice, but Who's Next is the best of the bunch
the live version of Won't get Fooled is heavy, powerful, angry - more metal than a lot of metal if you get my meaning.
When did Live At Leeds come out? That was such a heavy album.

Aqualung (the song) another classic that I'd say could have been considered metal at the time.

What do be people think of Stairway to Heaven?
 
mckindog said:
What do be people think of Stairway to Heaven?
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You see, I wrote above how I really don't like Zeppelin etc. Stairway to Heaven, however, is completely amazing. I don't care whether it's overplayed or whether it was stolen note by note. It has this very specific, haunting atmosphere, very unique IMHO, a great buildup and a powerful solo. This is one of the songs that are overplayed for a reason. It's not my favourite song by them (and probably not even in the Top 5), but it's very good, much better than July Morning, Manfred Mann's awesome Moog hysteria notwithstanding. ;)

I find IV much better than III overall, with great songs like StH, When the Levee Breaks (probably my favourite off the album), ... However they still couldn't resist to f*ck it up. Okay, Battle might be lifeless and bland, Sandy Denny or not, but I would tolerate that one. But Four Sticks or Misty Mountain Hop? What's the point? Pure filler, honestly. Going to California is quite catchy and emotional as far as their acoustics are considered, but still - it's not the reason why would I listen to Zeppelin.

Also, I love Cryme. It's funny, chaotic and very lively. I'd still probably prefer Selling, but it's a big improvement over Trespass or the debut.
 
Status Quo was heavy in the first half of the seventies. A while back I heard all their albums until On the Level from 1975 (afterwards they got more commercial sounding), but have some trouble with singling out one album in particular. In 1971 they served us the Dog of Two Head album, which isn't heavy all the way, but it had Someone's Learning, written by bass player Alan Lancaster. It has a noteworthy main riff, but check that breakdown in the middle.
 
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@JudasMyGuide agree wholeheartedly with your take on Stairway, overplayed for a reason.
But I also enjoy Evermore - atmospheric, evocative stuff.

@Forostar never would have pegged you as a Status quo fan given your dislike for simple blues-based stuff like Zep and AC/DC
 
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