Ozzy Osbourne of Black Sabbath performs at Ozzfest 2016 at San Manuel Amphitheater on September 24, 2016, in Los Angeles, California. In 1968, Steppenwolf dropped the smash hit 'Born To Be Wild', which borrowed heavily from the biker culture of the time and for the first time featured the words "heavy metal" in the lyric. Later in the decade, bands like The Who, Cream, Iron Butterfly and Blue Cheer further contributed to the sound with dropped tuning, fuzzier guitars and faster riffs. While these influences might have laid the basic groundwork for metal, none of them in retrospect would really fit into the genre's style, even by the early yardstick of the 60s. The culmination of a lot of these experimental methods is probably best exemplified by The Doors, who with their magnetic live performances featuring songs that would progress well pas the 10-minute mark, pushed the boundaries of what a band traditionally could do on stage. Other bands that dabbled with the sound include The Beach Boys and The Ventures. A prime example of this is Dick Dale's 'Misirlou', which any fan of Quentin Tarantino or The Black Eyed Peas will instantly recognize. On the other side of the pond, the same blues influences trickled into the Californian surf rock wave which furthered the use of distorted guitars and more importantly, used fast picked riffs to create a sound that was heavier than ever before. Meanwhile, their partners in the British Invasion, The Beatles, infused elements of cheerful pop to create yet another enduring sound. In the 60s, Led Zeppelin adopted the blues influences to create a never-before-heard sound. Their distorted guitars and overdriven amplifiers laid the road to the heavier sound that would arrive in the next decade. The adoption of the electric guitar into blues by pioneers like Muddy Waters and Pat Hare in the 1950s could be seen as the amniotic stage that birthed rock music. Through their 49-year career, they released nineteen original studio albums, a host of B-sides, rarities and remasters, sold over 70 million records worldwide, bagged two Grammy awards (and four nominations) and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006.Īs the band adds another feather to its cap (or crown of thorns in Sabbath's case!), let's take a look at the crucial role the legendary band played in reshaping rock history and paving the path for one of the most technically complex, theatrically loud, cult-following garnering genre that is metal.Īs mentioned earlier, it's hard to place a finger on one exact act, song or moment that sparked the inception of metal. The announcement comes just a year after Sabbath embarked on their final tour, performed their final gig at their hometown of Birmingham, England, and ultimately disbanded. Last week, it was announced that to celebrate half a century of Sabbath's long and influential career, the heavy metal pioneers will be awarded with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2019 Grammy Awards. (Photo credit: Getty Images)Įven the Recording Academy, which generally stays clear of rock-centric acts, is acknowledging the far-reaching influence of the band. (L-R) Tony Iommi, Ozzy Osbourne and Geezer Butler of Black Sabbath pose in the press room during the 56th GRAMMY Awards at Staples Center on Januin Los Angeles, California. Of course, no art is born in a void and transitioning styles and genres are more shades of grey than black and white, but you'll hardly find anyone in the music industry who would think twice before endorsing Sabbath as the godfathers of metal. In fact, if one were to trace the history of metal music and try to pinpoint a single act which served as a tipping point where rock branched off into the strange and dark era of metal, Black Sabbath would be as close as it gets. Sure, Zombie employed some poetic flair to get his point across but the crux of his message essentially shows how widely influential Black Sabbath has been (and still is) in the landscape of metal music. That's what Rob Zombie said in an interview with Sam Dunn for the 2005 rockumentary 'Metal: A Headbanger's Journey'. Either you're playing it slightly different or fast or slow, but. Anything everyone else does is just basically ripping it off. "Every cool riff has already been written by Black Sabbath.
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