not a single word about beatles.
Prior to 1970 and Black Sabbath's arrival, the sounds that we now recognize as the building blocks for heavy metal were both scattered and accidental, making it impossible to pinpoint any other album or band as the genre's absolute Ground Zero. From the start of the British Invasion came the Who (Live at Leeds was, coincidentally, recorded the day after Sabbath's debut was released), the Yardbirds and the Kinks, all of whom were incorporating distortion and feedback into their records as far back as the mid-'60s.
Metal's roots in heavy blues came from Cream, the Jeff Beck Group, Iron Butterfly, Vanilla Fudge and, of course, Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin. Add to that group Steppenwolf, who are credited with coining the phrase "heavy metal" in "Born to Be Wild." Together, these acts proved that this sound was, in fact, commercially viable.
Perhaps the only group that came close to capturing heavy metal’s fatalistic outlook, sheer volume, and anti-social nature prior to 1970 was San Francisco’s Blue Cheer on 1968's thunderous Vincebus Eruptum. And yet, not even they hit the heavy metal bulls-eye.
