1973
1973 could largely be seen to be the year of bands like Pink Floyd, Genesis and the Who, three bands which would release three themed landmark albums that have continually stood the test of time. The year also gave us future commercial giants in Aerosmith and Queen who also put out their debut albums this year, but they would be about a year or so from putting out some really great albums, especially in Aerosmith's case. 1973 though was a strange year concerning ‘heavy music’ as it featured some really dud albums by highly acclaimed acts like Deep Purple and Uriah Heep thus creating a quality hole, in fact 1973 would actually see Ian Gillan pack his bags and leave Deep Purple, too many egos in one place! The year would also see a number of very good straight-up hard rock albums, that sacrificed more complex and intricate arrangements in favour of a more basic and direct approach. But this was then countered by some acts that put out albums that weren’t overly heavy at all, but in spirit they certainly belonged in this list for the year. Of the established other big guns, Led Zeppelin were back, Grand Funk Railroad were reborn and it was business as usual for the mighty Black Sabbath to keep order in the house. At last America would give us some really good acts that would finally go the distance and last for more than an album or two! Glam rock was still riding high on its commercial wave in the UK and again it was highly influential on some of the albums and bands on this year’s list, as they were the year before. Space rock and think no further than Hawkwind when it comes to this sub-genre, would also add another diverse wheel to this year’s list as well.