Black Sabbath and Kiss Cited Among Best ’70s Metal Albums

Black Sabbath, Kiss and Alice Cooper have been named in the 'Top 11 Metal Albums of the '70s' list by our brother site LoudWire in advance celebration of National Metal Day tomorrow, Nov. 11.

The video channel VH1 are responsible for declaring 11/11/11 as the formal day to salute the 'Metal' genre, prompting us to review that old bar-fighting debate for many of these bands; is it heavy metal or is it classic rock?

We're not really going there because clearly there isn't a definitive answer to that question. Both genres have enough common thread to jump the chain linked fence that divides them, and this list is proof of that.

Black Sabbath's 'Black Sabbath' and 'Paranoid,' both released in 1970, get two of the spots in the top three and rightly so with the "murky, ominous and unbelievably heavy" sound they project. Of all the bands listed in this poll, Black Sabbath best fit in the metal box and are the most deserving of this accolade.

Kiss' self-titled debut takes the number five position and Alice Cooper's 'Schools Out' comes in at number eight. Now, agreed, both of these records have their "heavy" moments but they're just a bit too melodic, theatrical and glam-like to be classified legitimate metal records. (Editor's note: We'll take Loudwire aside at our company's Thanksgiving dinner and explain the world to them a little better.)

Truth be told, the AC/DC 'Highway To Hell' listing could also be questioned but as promised, we're not going there. Well, we kinda did, but we'll stop. The fact remains; both 'Metal' and 'Classic' fall under the more important listing of 'Rock' and nobody can argue over that one. So, come Friday, no matter how you choose to best salute 'Metal' take the well beaten path of any real rocker and play it loud.

Loudwire's List of the Top 11 Metal Albums of the '70s