I think Black Sabbath get way too much praise for starting metal, i think they are the most important, but too many people say it like they were the only band pushing for a harder heavier sound at the time, there were other bands who were also pushing hard rock to its harder limits, Blue Cheer and King Crimson were making loud over the top music during that same era, they dont get as much praise because they were no where near as popular, and because they didnt define the metal image quite like Sabbath did, and there were bands like The Yardbirds, The Who and The Jimi Hendrix Experience who pre-dated Sabbath with innovative music that was more intense, agressive and loud than anything else that was recorded at that time, Sabbath simply took that and made it even louder and more intense and more agressive, thus taking it to the next level, Ozzys singing and Iommi, Butler and Ward as a ensemble gave the band a special edge, but i think its ridiculous when people say they were the ONLY pioneer of metal, and the only influence that matters, several other hard rock bands had a good deal of influence on later metal bands, including Uriah Heep, Blue Oyster Cult, Deep Purple, Queen, AC/DC, Alice Cooper, KISS, Aerosmith, Rush and even Jethro Tull.
|