Heavy Metal 1970s Albums

Accept presents the raw, heated blueprint of the hard-edged heavy metal the band would later refine.

Bomber, released by Bronze in October 1979, was the band's second album of that year and reached No. 12 in the UK. Official videos exist for the title track, "Dead Men Tell No Tales" and "Poison".

Recorded in 1975 and 1976, On Parole should have been Motörhead's first album. The label shelved it, and it did not appear until November 1979, by which time the band were established.

Motörhead's second album, released by Bronze in March 1979 and a UK No. 24. Lars Ulrich of Metallica has named the double bass drums on its title track as what made him want to play that way.

Down to Earth channels Rainbow’s sharp hard-rock attack and dramatic instincts into songs that arrive more directly and immediately.

Narita joins direct riffs, sharp twin guitars and Guy Speranza’s high, urgent voice in an early Riot statement.

Saxon's first album, released by Carrere in May 1979 under a name the band had taken only the year before. It is the record of a group still finding the sound it would define a year later.

Lovedrive brings Scorpions’ cutting riffs, wistful melodic sense and dramatic vocal character into an especially focused hard-rock statement.

Van Halen II keeps the explosive charge of the debut while placing more open melodies, lighter hooks and a buoyant party spirit at the center.

Never Say Die! finds BLACK SABBATH stepping beyond their usual world of monolithic riffs and oppressive weight.

Released in the United Kingdom as Killing Machine and known in the United States as Hell Bent for Leather, this 1978 JUDAS PRIEST album preserves the sharp…

Stained Class brings together JUDAS PRIEST’s twin guitars, cutting rhythms and Rob Halford’s extraordinary range in a concentrated statement of heavy metal’s…

Long Live Rock ’N’ Roll brings Ritchie Blackmore’s incisive guitar playing and Ronnie James Dio’s dramatic vocal storytelling together at a particularly high…

Obsession, recorded in Los Angeles and released by Chrysalis in June 1978, was Michael Schenker's last UFO studio album until his 1993 return.

Van Halen is a debut from 1978 that already presents the group with near-finished force.

Struck Down captures the band, still billed as Yesterday & Today, pushing a direct hard-rock attack.

Sin After Sin connects cutting guitar riffs, Rob Halford’s wide vocal range and aggressive rhythm, giving heavy metal a clearer outline.

Motörhead's debut album, released by Chiswick in August 1977 as WIK 2 and a UK No. 43. Eight tracks, and the first record by the three-piece of Lemmy, Eddie Clarke and Phil Taylor.

Rock City puts Riot’s sharp twin guitars, forceful rhythm and Guy Speranza’s high voice directly in front.

Taken by Force finds Scorpions pursuing both hard-rock sharpness and more dramatic melody.

UFO's sixth album, released in May 1977, their first with producer Ron Nevison and Paul Raymond, reached No. 54 in the UK and No. 23 in the US.

Technical Ecstasy builds on Black Sabbath’s established weight while reaching toward keyboards, more complex structures and changing melodic shapes.

Sad Wings of Destiny finds Judas Priest beginning to define heavy metal in its own language.

Rising rebuilds Rainbow with a new lineup and turns Ritchie Blackmore’s hard riffs and Ronnie James Dio’s fantasy-driven voice into a larger story.

Virgin Killer joins Scorpions’ hard-rock attack to Uli Jon Roth’s fluid, classically colored guitar sense.

UFO's fifth album, released in May 1976, added ex-Heavy Metal Kids keyboard player Danny Peyronel and was Leo Lyons's third production for the band.

Yesterday and Today captures the band later known as Y&T playing Bay Area hard rock with direct commitment on its debut.

Sabotage keeps Black Sabbath’s thick, heavy riffs at the center while widening the sound through sudden shifts, keyboards and stacked voices.

Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow is the debut in which Ritchie Blackmore, newly away from Deep Purple, met Ronnie James Dio’s rich voice and gave hard rock a mythic color.

In Trance moves Scorpions away from the longer progressive turns of its earliest work and toward tighter, sharper hard rock.

UFO's fourth album, released in July 1975 and produced by Leo Lyons, was their first to reach the US chart, peaking at No. 71 on the Billboard 200.

Rocka Rolla is Judas Priest’s debut, recorded before the band had fully forged the steel-like heavy-metal identity for which it later became known.

Fly to the Rainbow finds Scorpions before its later, streamlined heavy-metal identity, using Uli Jon Roth’s fluid guitar to blend psychedelic space, blues…

UFO's third album and first for Chrysalis, released in May 1974, introduced Michael Schenker and gave the band "Doctor Doctor" and "Rock Bottom".

Sabbath Bloody Sabbath is a turning point in which Black Sabbath keep the heavy-riff core of their first four albums while expanding their sense of…

Vol. 4 is Black Sabbath’s fourth album, a record that keeps the band’s heavy, ominous riff language intact while greatly widening its palette of tone…

Lonesome Crow is the Scorpions debut, far removed from the sharp melodic hard rock the band would later make its own.

Master of Reality is Black Sabbath’s third album, and the record that fixes heaviness not as simple volume but as low-slung resonance, deliberate space, and…

UFO's second album, issued by Beacon in 1971, is a self-produced space-rock record built around the long "Star Storm" and "Flying".

Black Sabbath is the debut on which Black Sabbath replaces rock’s usual sense of celebration with menace, slow-dropping riffs, and the weight of silence.

Paranoid takes the heavy, dark atmosphere Black Sabbath uncovered on its debut and sharpens it into shorter, more direct songs with distinct identities.

UFO's debut album, released by Beacon Records in October 1970, with Mick Bolton on guitar and three covers among its ten songs.