This is a mix of my personal favourite 60's and 70's hard rock/metal songs and the more influential ones, songs that I think every metal fan need to hear. A mix of the most well-known songs to totally obscure stuff. If you think I have missed some important song you can always suggest me.
Cream - Disraeli Gears Sunshine of Your love; Tales Of Brave Ulysses (1967)
4.
Clear Light - Clear Light Street Singer (1967)
5.
Blue Cheer - Vincebus Eruptum Summertime Blues (1968): This is often considered as the first heavy metal song ever.
6.
Iron Butterfly - In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida (1968) : The entire album is great, although it is this 17 min long title track that is classic.
7.
Vanilla Fudge - Renaissance Thoughts (1968): The entire album is great.
8.
Gun - Gun Race With The Devil (1968): Brilliant song.
9.
Steppenwolf - Steppenwolf Born To Be Wild (1968): This is the first use of the term heavy metal in lyrics.
10.
Velvet Haze Last Day on Earth (1968)
11.
Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin Communication Breakdown; Dazed And Confused (1969): "Communication Breakdown" is often seen as a predecessor to speed metal.
High Tide - Sea Shanties Futilist's Lament (1969): This album is sometimes called the first prog metal album ever, although usually only considered as hard progressive rock, but among the hardest album from the 60's.
The 31 Flavors - Hair Distortions of Darkness (1969): The first doom metal song?
16.
Bent Wind - Sussex Sacred Cows (1969)
17.
Love Sculpture Farandole (1969): Early neoclassical metal.
18.
Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath Black Sabbath; N.I.B. (1970): "Black Sabbath" is probably the most influential metal song ever. N.I.B. is my personal favourite Black Sabbath song.
Randy Holden - Population II Keeper of the flame (1970); Heavy psych
26.
Black Sabbath - Master Of Reality Children Of The Grave; Into The Void (1971): "Children Of The Grave" is the closest from this time of an example of how heavy metal later would sound. "Into The Void" is perhaps Black Sabbath's heaviest song ever.
Pentagram - Be Forewarned Be Forewarned (1972): Released as a single 1972 under the name Macabre.
37.
Deep Purple - Machine Head Highway Star; Smoke On The Water (1972): "Highway Star" is often considered as the first speed metal song and is the most metallic Deep Purple song.
Uriah Heep - Sweet Freedom Pilgrim (1973): This is the most metallic Uriah Heep song, and a predecessor to power metal.
45.
Queen - Queen Keep Yourself Alive; My Fairy King (1973): "Keep Yourself Alive" is the most metallic song of the album. "My Fairy King" is my second favourite Queen song ever.
Aerosmith - Aerosmith Dream On (1973): One of the best hard rock ballads, although not very metallic.
49.
Queen - Queen II Orge Battle (1974): Sometimes considered as an early heavy metal song.
50.
Queen - Sheer Heart Attack Stone Cold Crazy; Now I'm Here (1974): "Now I'm Here" is my favourite song here, but "Stone Cold Crazy" is the more influential, since it is sometimes seen as the start of the thrash genre.
Black Sabbath - Sabotage Symptom Of The Universe; Meglomania (1975): "Symptom Of The Universe" is sometimes considered as one of the earliest examples of thrash. These two songs could also be considered as early examples of prog metal.
55.
Rainbow - Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow Man On The Silver Mountain; Temple Of The King (1975): "Temple Of The King" is a beautiful ballad, though it has nothing to do with metal.
Sorcery - Sinister Soldiers Last Good-bye; Slippin' Away (1978): I love the entire album, which is often called proto-doom metal. The epic "Last Good-bye" is my favourite song on the album, although it isn't the heaviest song.
75.
Rainbow - Long Live Rock 'N' Roll Gates Of Babylon; Kill The King (1978): "Gates Of Babylon" is my favourite Rainbow song, often seen as a continuation of "Stargazer", but darker. "Kill The King" is often mentioned as the first power metal song ever.
Legend - Fröm The Fjörds The Destroyer; The Wizard's Vengeance (1979): The entire album here is great. This album has been called the first prog metal album, although more often labeled as epic heavy metal.
79.
Thin Lizzy - Black Rose Roisin Dubh (Black Rose) - A Rock Legend (1979)
80.
Motörhead - Overkill Overkill (1979): Especially the fast drumming have been influential.
Thumbs up for providing an easy guide to the olden metal days.. i actually realized my collection is full of bands from the 90's onwards, and some few 80's..
Great list, but I can't help complaining of some bands mussing :
No UFO? They were great in the 70s
No Cream? Influential band, awesome blues rock.
No Wishbone Ash? They were great in the 70s as well.
Free would deserve a mention as well, even Bad Company.
No Hendrix??
Great list, but I can't help complaining of some bands mussing :
No UFO? They were great in the 70s
No Cream? Influential band, awesome blues rock.
No Wishbone Ash? They were great in the 70s as well.
Free would deserve a mention as well, even Bad Company.
No Hendrix??
I didn't think of these bands as metallic enough, perhaps ufo is, but I couldn't find any specific song to choose. If you have a suggestion of a song by any of these bands i may add them.
Great list, but I can't help complaining of some bands mussing :
No UFO? They were great in the 70s
No Cream? Influential band, awesome blues rock.
No Wishbone Ash? They were great in the 70s as well.
Free would deserve a mention as well, even Bad Company.
No Hendrix??
I didn't think of these bands as metallic enough, perhaps ufo is, but I couldn't find any specific song to choose. If you have a suggestion of a song by any of these bands i may add them.
Wishbone Ash is a hard rock band, with proggish influences in places (especially on Pilgrim and Argus), one of the first twin guitar bands. They were an influence on Steve Harris and Iron Maiden.
Hendrix and Early Clapton were an influence on a tone of hard rock and metal guitarists, they deserve a mention just for that reason.
As for UFO, any song from their third album (first one with Schenker on guitar) will do.
Great list, but I can't help complaining of some bands mussing :
No UFO? They were great in the 70s
No Cream? Influential band, awesome blues rock.
No Wishbone Ash? They were great in the 70s as well.
Free would deserve a mention as well, even Bad Company.
No Hendrix??
I didn't think of these bands as metallic enough,
yet you list Blue Cheer, Elf, Focus, Iron Butterfly, Steppenwolf. To name some totally non-metallic bands.
---- Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal
Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight
Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.)
05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996
Great list, but I can't help complaining of some bands mussing :
No UFO? They were great in the 70s
No Cream? Influential band, awesome blues rock.
No Wishbone Ash? They were great in the 70s as well.
Free would deserve a mention as well, even Bad Company.
No Hendrix??
I didn't think of these bands as metallic enough,
yet you list Blue Cheer, Elf, Focus, Iron Butterfly, Steppenwolf. To name some totally non-metallic bands.
I think of most of the songs I chose with those bands as closer to metal than the bands mentioned above, with the exception of ufo. At least Summertime Blues borders metal, although Blue Cheer as a whole isn't exactly metal. But I will add one ufo song. If you have any suggestion of some heavier song by the other bands you can suggest me.
Great list, but I can't help complaining of some bands mussing :
No UFO? They were great in the 70s
No Cream? Influential band, awesome blues rock.
No Wishbone Ash? They were great in the 70s as well.
Free would deserve a mention as well, even Bad Company.
No Hendrix??
I didn't think of these bands as metallic enough, perhaps ufo is, but I couldn't find any specific song to choose. If you have a suggestion of a song by any of these bands i may add them.
Wishbone Ash is a hard rock band, with proggish influences in places (especially on Pilgrim and Argus), one of the first twin guitar bands. They were an influence on Steve Harris and Iron Maiden.
Hendrix and Early Clapton were an influence on a tone of hard rock and metal guitarists, they deserve a mention just for that reason.
As for UFO, any song from their third album (first one with Schenker on guitar) will do.
I have added songs by Cream, Hendrix and Ufo. I will re-listen to Wishbone Ash to choose one song. But did Free have had that big impact, and if so, can you recommend me a song to check out?
Great list, but I can't help complaining of some bands mussing :
No UFO? They were great in the 70s
No Cream? Influential band, awesome blues rock.
No Wishbone Ash? They were great in the 70s as well.
Free would deserve a mention as well, even Bad Company.
No Hendrix??
I didn't think of these bands as metallic enough,
yet you list Blue Cheer, Elf, Focus, Iron Butterfly, Steppenwolf. To name some totally non-metallic bands.
If Blue Cheer is totally non-metallic, why are they labelled as heavy metal on this site?
Great list, but I can't help complaining of some bands mussing :
No UFO? They were great in the 70s
No Cream? Influential band, awesome blues rock.
No Wishbone Ash? They were great in the 70s as well.
Free would deserve a mention as well, even Bad Company.
No Hendrix??
I didn't think of these bands as metallic enough,
yet you list Blue Cheer, Elf, Focus, Iron Butterfly, Steppenwolf. To name some totally non-metallic bands.
If Blue Cheer is totally non-metallic, why are they labelled as heavy metal on this site?
because apparently some totally clueless nitwit put that genre tag there. And I see it is Vezzy, yep, clueless.
---- Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal
Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight
Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.)
05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996
Great list, but I can't help complaining of some bands mussing :
No UFO? They were great in the 70s
No Cream? Influential band, awesome blues rock.
No Wishbone Ash? They were great in the 70s as well.
Free would deserve a mention as well, even Bad Company.
No Hendrix??
I didn't think of these bands as metallic enough,
yet you list Blue Cheer, Elf, Focus, Iron Butterfly, Steppenwolf. To name some totally non-metallic bands.
If Blue Cheer is totally non-metallic, why are they labelled as heavy metal on this site?
And I see it is Vezzy, yep, clueless.
Probably, he must be influenced from Metal - A Headbanger's Journey and put Blue Cheer on Heavy Metal chart.
because apparently some totally clueless nitwit put that genre tag there. And I see it is Vezzy, yep, clueless.
Generally I think ms is too generous to what they call metal. I wouldn't call Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, UFO heavy metal. And Europe, yes, their first two albums, but not later.
because apparently some totally clueless nitwit put that genre tag there. And I see it is Vezzy, yep, clueless.
Generally I think ms is too generous to what they call metal. I wouldn't call Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, UFO heavy metal. And Europe, yes, their first two albums, but not later.
and all those bands are way more metal than Blue Cheer ever was.
---- Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal
Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight
Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.)
05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996
Ever heard of a band called Nazareth? Their album Hair Of The Dog was quite good. I hear the title track at metal shows all the time. Also think stuff like Boston, Kansas and Grand Funk Railroad would look good on here.
Ever heard of a band called Nazareth? Their album Hair Of The Dog was quite good. I hear the title track at metal shows all the time. Also think stuff like Boston, Kansas and Grand Funk Railroad would look good on here.
Yes, I know Nazareth. I have added that song.
GFR: I have never been a fan of that band, but I think they could fit in to the list, but if so I need you to recommend a specific song, because I have not found any I felt for.
Boston and Kansas: I'm not sure if they really belong here, but if you suggest me specific songs I will see if I add them.
GFR: I have never been a fan of that band, but I think they could fit in to the list, but if so I need you to recommend a specific song, because I have not found any I felt for.
Oh, easily We're An American Band. It's a classic. I'm not sure how influential, if at all, they were on metal, but that song is probably the best thing they've done. In addition, Rob Zombie himself covered it on his latest album. In the risk of sounding cheesy, it's one of those songs that just feels metal, if you get what I mean.
Boston and Kansas: I'm not sure if they really belong here, but if you suggest me specific songs I will see if I add them.
Boston would definitely have something off their first album, which is also a classic. Maybe something like Smokin' would work. Or even More Than A Feeling. I recommend the former, but it's up to you.
Kansas' most popular being Carry On, Wayward Son, I'd go for that. But I can see why you wouldn't want to add them.
On that note, I also recommend The Kinks "You Really Got Me", Blackfoot's "Train Train", Ted Nugent's "Cat Scratch Fever" or "Stranglehold" and the Sex Pistols' "God Save The Queen".
Oh, easily We're An American Band. It's a classic. I'm not sure how influential, if at all, they were on metal, but that song is probably the best thing they've done. In addition, Rob Zombie himself covered it on his latest album. In the risk of sounding cheesy, it's one of those songs that just feels metal, if you get what I mean.
That was released in 1973, and at that time metal had progressed further, so I doubt it is so relevant for metal. I think some song from their first two albums would be more fitting, since at that time there were not so many that heavy bands.
Written by Guest on 07.10.2013 at 18:44
Boston would definitely have something off their first album, which is also a classic. Maybe something like Smokin' would work. Or even More Than A Feeling. I recommend the former, but it's up to you.
Kansas' most popular being Carry On, Wayward Son, I'd go for that. But I can see why you wouldn't want to add them.
On that note, I also recommend The Kinks "You Really Got Me", Blackfoot's "Train Train", Ted Nugent's "Cat Scratch Fever" or "Stranglehold" and the Sex Pistols' "God Save The Queen".
Except for Kinks, I don't think any of these songs have had any relevance for metal. They were released the last half of the 70's, and at that time Judas Priest were releasing albums.
because apparently some totally clueless nitwit put that genre tag there. And I see it is Vezzy, yep, clueless.
Generally I think ms is too generous to what they call metal. I wouldn't call Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, UFO heavy metal. And Europe, yes, their first two albums, but not later.
and all those bands are way more metal than Blue Cheer ever was.
That doesn't make them metal.
And personally I think that "Summertime Blues" is more metal than any Led Zeppelin song, not than "Highway Star", but than most Deep Purple songs. UFO is probably the most metallic out of these bands, since they weren't equally blues-based. Still I don't find them heavy enough to be labelled metal, perhaps some of their songs could be accepted as such. Ufo is also the band out of them I like the least, I have always found their melodies too simple and generally uninteresting. My favourite tracks by Ufo are Love To Love and Only You Can Rock Me, but they are not their more metallic. I can see they had a big influence on metal, but many of the bands that were influenced by them were doing their thing better, for example Europe, which was one of my first favourite bands, has mentioned Ufo as their biggest influence for their early albums. What makes Europe so much better is that they have so much more talent for melodies, and also has a way more interesting singer. I most say though that both bands had great guitarists.
And you can't be serious calling The Final Countdown metal?
I have updated the list with the following songs:
The 31 Flavors - Distortions of Darkness
Bedemon - Child of Darkness
Flower Travellin' Band - Satori 1
Iron Claw - Claustrophobia
Sudden Death - The Zoo, My time is over
Supernaut - Darkness Falls
Jerusalem - Frustration
Necronomicon - In memoriam
Randy Holden - Keeper of the flame
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