The beginning of hard rock

When looking back at the history of heavy metal, I must first venture into the '60's, when hard rock began.
James Marshal Hendrix was born in 1942. Influenced by B.B. King and Curtis Mayfield, he taught himself to play the guitar. His debut ('Are You Experienced') was released in 1967 and he is considered one of the most influential artists of all time.
Another band that emerged the same year as Jimi was 'The Doors'.
At the time, these bands were labeled "acid rock," but now-a-days I'd call them pioneers of hard rock. The same goes for Iron Butterfly and Deep Purple, whose debuts ('In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida' and 'Shades of Deep Purple') came in 1968, a year after Hendrix and the Doors.

The start of real heavy metal:

Led Zeppelin was a British band that was equally as innovative and influential as Jimi Hendrix. They released their debut, 'Led Zeppelin 1st', in 1969. Zeppelin was, at the time, not popular amongst the critics. They were called "over amplified blues," thus earning them the title of "heavy blues rock." But almost any metalhead (me included) credit them with being the general start of heavy metal, and a band who helped define the genre.

Another British band to form in the late '60's was 'Black Sabbath'. They were originally a blues rock band named Polka Tulk Blues Band, but then, several years later, they changed their sound as well as their name. The band wrote dark, ominous and heavy guitar riffs as an attempt to be the music's answer to horror movies. Today, they are considered to be the first "doom metal" band, and, since 95% of modern metal bands were influenced by them in some way, I call them epitome of heavy metal.

Both Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath continued releasing albums throughout the '70's, and these bands were the start of something called The New Wave of British Heavy Metal.

Metal in its infant stages

Another influential British band of the 1970's was Judas Priest. They released 'Rocka Rolla' in 1974 and continued releasing influential albums throughout the '70's and '80's. At the time these albums were simply known as heavy metal, but now-a-days they are labeled "hair metal." Another “hair metal” band from the ‘70's is Kiss. Their debut, 'Kiss', was released in 1974.

THE LATE ‘70'S:>

Another musician who really helped heavy metal become famous was Eddie Van Halen. He was a guitar virtuoso, and his debut in 1978 ('Van Halen') was a milestone in heavy metal. His band continued releasing albums throughout the next decade.

But by the late 1970's, when punk bands like The Clash, the Ramones, and Sex Pistols cropped up, heavy metal seemed to be dying. Luckily, two critical metal bands, who were apart of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, arose in 1980 and helped kill the uprising of punk. Motorhead is widely considered to be the start of “speed metal” (metal played really fast), and their album, <B00005NHO2> is a classic. The other band is 'Iron Maiden'. With metal popular again, the playing field was wide open for many other bands to come.

Two other metal bands who released classic albums in 1980. Those albums were AC-DC’s 'Back in Black' and Ozzy Osbourne’s 'Blizzard of Ozz'. AC-DC released albums in the ‘70's, but “Back in Black” is generally considered to be their best. And Ozzy Osbourne was the singer in the aforementioned heavy metal band from the 1970's, Black Sabbath. But Sabbath disbanded and nothing was heard from the band until Ozzy Osbourne formed his own band and released his debut. This album featured the standard setting guitarist Randy Rhodes (who was equally as talented as Van Halen).

The Golden Age of metal:

Since heavy metal was again the music of choice, many metal bands cropped up in the ‘80's. Since heavy metal was at it’s peak of popularity in the 1980's, I call this decade “The Golden Age of metal.” One particularly popular sub genre of heavy metal was thrash metal. Speed metal and thrash metal are essentially the same. Thrash incorporates speed metal’s extreme sound and extreme speed (speedy riffs and drums) into traditional heavy metal. As aforementioned, Motorhead were essentially the first speed metal band, and another thrash band adopted their name from Motorhead’s 1979 album, 'Overkill'. Overkill wrote their first song, “Unleash the Beast Within,” in 1981. This song is often considered to be the first thrash song ever.

But their first, full-length debut, 'Feel the Fire', dropped in 1985, after Metallica and Slayer introduced themselves to the world. Metallica may not have been the first thrash band on the scene, but they were second. Other bands released demos, but Metallica’s debut album, 'Kill 'Em All', was thrash’s first full length studio LP. Metallica were inspired by such bands as Motorhead and Iron Maiden, and they continued releasing albums throughout the 1980's and ‘90's. They are, in my opinion, the best heavy metal band of all time! After their debut was released in 1983, thrash metal really took off.

The band Slayer formed and released 'Show No Mercy' in 1983. I consider this to be the first “death metal” album, since it was a darker and heavier sounding thrash. Other thrash metal bands to emerge in the 1980's were Anthrax ('Fistful of Metal' in 1984), Dark Angel ('We Have Arrived' in 1984), Exodus ('Bonded by Blood' in 1985), Megadeth (whose founding member, heavy metal icon Dave Mustaine, was formerly in Metallica) released 'Killing Is My Business... And Business Is Good!' in 1985, Testament ('The Legacy' in 1987), and Death Angel ('Frolic Through the Park' in 1988.)

But thrash wasn’t the only genre of metal in the 1980's. With 'Morbid Visions/Bestial Devastation' in 1985, Sepultura helped further the death metal created by Slayer, as did Morbid Angel, who released 'Altars of Madness' in 1989. Sepultura later released three other albums in the ‘80's.

Also, since thrash was so popular in the that decade, few realize that industrial metal was created. The band Ministry may have not been the first industrial band, but they were the first to popularize it. Their debut, 'With Sympathy', was released in 1983, and they would continue releasing albums throughout the ‘80's, as well as the next two decades.

Essential metalhead listening thus far, in addition to the aforementioned albums:

'Led Zeppelin IV (aka ZOSO)'
'Paranoid'
'Screaming for Vengeance'
'British Steel'
'The Number of the Beast'
'Powerslave'
'1984'
'The Years of Decay'
'Ride the Lightning'
'Master of Puppets'
'Reign in Blood'
'Peace Sells...But Who's Buying?'
'Among the Living'
'Beneath the Remains'
'The New Order'
'Practice What You Preach'
'Altars of Madness'