1970
If both 1967 and 1968 were the years of heavy fondling, it was 1969 that finally saw hard penetration and the baby being conceived, but it was in 1970 that the baby would truly be born and it was one hell of a birth! Led Zeppelin had already in 1969 set the yardstick of excellence for all heavy music with their two groundbreaking albums and they along with Grand Funk Railroad had become two of the biggest heavy acts around (they were already selling millions in the USA). Other talented bands which I've already mentioned in 1969, were now starting to get more acclaim amongst music fans and were becoming far more cohesive with their overall sound, despite the fact that huge sections of the music media were still deriding a lot of music at the heavier end of the spectrum. As for 1970 the year that will now be looked at, this would now see 'heavy music' gain even more momentum as the already established 'heavy acts' were now two and three albums down the line, and the heavy blues and psychedelic influences of most of these bands were now being fused into a more tighter hard rock sound. The year would also see, a whole host of very interesting new bands with some truly great albums and whilst some of these bands would never achieve the popular acclaim that they were surely due, their future influence would be highly noticeable to anybody listening to these albums. But 1970 would truly be remembered as the arrival of Black Sabbath, who would of course go on to become the most revered band in all metaldom and also be the first band to try and break out of the heavy blues and psychedelic inflluences of most of their counterparts. As a year 1970 produced even stronger albums album for album than 1969 did, with Black Sabbath's first two albums easily making the cut.