1974 Metal & Hard Rock Albums

Get Your Wings finds Aerosmith keeping the raw charge of its debut while taking a major step forward in songwriting, playing, and sound.

Burn is the opening statement of Deep Purple’s Mark III lineup, with David Coverdale and Glenn Hughes turning a personnel change into fresh momentum rather than a defensi

Stormbringer takes the Mark III Deep Purple sound beyond the framework of traditional hard rock and captures the individual instincts of its members in especially vivid f

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.

Hotter Than Hell keeps the debut album’s direct momentum but moves KISS into a darker, heavier, more humid sound world.

Kiss captures KISS before the giant stage productions and worldwide fame, reducing the distinct personalities of four musicians to short, sharp rock-and-roll songs.

Rush is the debut on which the group that would later build elaborate suites and conceptual worlds first appears as a direct, hard-rocking three-piece.

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, and hard

Nightlife is Thin Lizzy’s fourth album and the point at which Scott Gorham and Brian Robertson begin building the twin-guitar foundation of the band’s later golden e