"The Roots of Metal" Project

This morning's track is Black Sabbath's "Supernaut" which I've tagged as being an early example of stoner rock:

This morning's track is Black Sabbath's "Snowblind" which I'd suggest is stoner metal:

This morning's track is Black Sabbath's "Cornucopia" which I consider to be stoner metal:

I checked out Flower Travellin' Band's 1973 fourth & last 1970's album "Make Up" this week & found no metal there whatsoever. Instead, I discovered another very high-quality release that I'd suggest falls in between progressive rock & psychedelic rock (bordering on heavy psych). I genuinely love this band. They must have been a huge influence on a band like Boris.

I'm not talking about why Budgie were linked to metal back in the early 1970's. I'm referring to why they continue to be linked to metal today, despite not possessing the required attributes to warrant it, while others with stronger claims don't receive the same privilege. I'd suggest that it's almost certainly the Metallica link. Besides, it's been clear for a while now that you & I are working off different criteria when judging a release's metal credentials.

So was I. Being one of the heaviest things in the early 70s counts for a lot in that regard. How many albums have we come to the conclusion that despite being listed as metal have less metal than Budgie? We don't really need an much of an explanation for why the heavy rock band who sounds very similar to Sabbath in 1970 is considered to be metal today. If there are any other bands that do something similar, you can feel free to include them here.

Sorry I haven't been posting anything this past week, Christmas was busy and then my computer went all funky, not that we need much on Sabbath anyway.

Being one of the heaviest things in the early 70s counts for a lot in that regard.

I don't see why it counts for anything at all to tell you the truth. We're comparing these releases to the modern-day understanding of what metal is. Not what it was back then when it was still yet to be defined.

How many albums have we come to the conclusion that despite being listed as metal have less metal than Budgie? 

None as far as I can see. The two Budgie records are the only ones we've conducted track-by-track investigations on that I don't feel include any metal whatsoever. Every other release included at least one or two metal tracks. In fact, I'd suggest that Squawk" is the least heavy release we've covered thus far too.

This morning's track is Black Sabbath's "Laguna Sunrise" which I regard as being chamber folk.

Being one of the heaviest things in the early 70s counts for a lot in that regard.

I don't see why it counts for anything at all to tell you the truth. We're comparing these releases to the modern-day understanding of what metal is. Not what it was back then when it was still yet to be defined.

It does for a lot of people....a point you already acknowledged when you said we had differing opinions. Heavy is very much a factor for some people in a genre called heavy metal. Some people don't consider power metal to be metal because of that. Further, for the most part, in the early '70s you basically have them and Sabbath as your big (generally accepted) options, they sound fairly similar to each other and quite different from the sounds of even their immediate successors. People generally work off what they know, and if it quacks like a duck...

This morning's track is Black Sabbath's "St. Vitus Dance" which I regard as being stoner rock:

This morning's track is Black Sabbath's "Under The Sun" which I regard is being stoner metal:

This sees my final position being very similar to the first three Black Sabbath albums. "Vol. 4" is a stoner metal record as far as I'm concerned & is probably the most obviously so thus far too with literally every metal track on the tracklisting receiving a stoner metal tag from me. Tomorrow we'll begin a new release with Budgie's 1973 album "Never Turn Your Back On A Friend".

This morning we start a new release in 1973's "Never Turn Your Back On A Friend" third album from Welsh trio Budgie. The opening track "Breadfan" was famously covered by Metallica who metalized what I consider to be a hard rock song with a proggy section in the middle.

Let's get back into the swing of things after I've been away in Sydney for a few days visiting the family. Today's track is Budgie's version of Big Joe Williams' 1935 blues anthem "Baby Please Don't Go", a song that AC/DC also famously covered on their debut album "High Voltage" a couple of years later. Unsurprisingly, I find this one to be a blues rock tune.

This morning's track is Budgie's "You Know I'll Always Love You" which I'd suggest sits best under a contemporary folk tag:

I checked out the 1973 “I’m Just A Rock ‘n’ Roll Singer” third album from Lucifer’s Friend this afternoon. It’s a hard/progressive rock record with no metal to speak of.

This morning's track is Budgie's " You're the Biggest Thing Since Powdered Milk" which I'd suggest sits somewhere between heavy metal & stoner rock. It's close enough to qualify as metal in my opinion which makes it the first Budgie track to do so thus far.

This morning's track is Budgie's "In the Grip of a Tyre Fitter's Hand" which I regard as being hard rock:

This morning's track is Budgie's "Riding My Nightmare" which I'd suggest fits best under folk pop:

This morning's track is the closer from Budgie's 1973 "Never Turn Your Back On A Friend" third album "Parents" which I'd suggest sits best in the progressive rock genre. This leaves the album with just the one metal song overall & not meeting my qualification for metal status.

Today we're gonna start looking at a new release in the 1973 "Bias Studio Recordings" demo from Virginia doom metal pioneers Pentagram. Despite there being a strong hard rock feel to it, the opening track "Forever My Queen" is close enough to traditional doom metal in my opinion.

Also, I checked out Deep Purple's 1973 seventh album "Who Do We Think We Are" this week & there's no metal on there whatsoever. It's purely a hard rock record for mine so we won't be covering it here.

Today's track is Pentagram's "When The Screams Come" which I'd suggest fits best under a hard rock tag even though there are once again traces of traditional doom metal:

Today's track is Pentagram's "When The Screams Come" which I'd suggest fits best under a hard rock tag even though there are once again traces of traditional doom metal:

Sounds like a transitional track to me, but which leans more to the hard rock side of things rather than the trad doom, so I would tag this one as hard rock with a trad doom secondary. Sounds like a lot of the underground hard rock / heavy psych from '71/'72 but leaning towards a heavier and harder sound.

Today we're gonna start looking at a new release in the 1973 "Bias Studio Recordings" demo from Virginia doom metal pioneers Pentagram. Despite there being a strong hard rock feel to it, the opening track "Forever My Queen" is close enough to traditional doom metal in my opinion

I absolutely f---ing love this track and it has been covered by countless doom bands, so a definite trad doom tag for me.

Welcome to the thread Sonny. It's great to have your input. Today's track is Pentagram's "Walk In The Blue Light" which I would suggest is hard rock:

No argument from me here, Daniel. Definitely hard rock through and through.