Pioneers of Heavy Metal

Metallica is one of the pioneers of the heavy metal music genre.

Courtesy of Paramount

It's always been a music genre surrounded in controversy - replaced members, name changes and break-ups have plagued many heavy metal bands. But there are some that managed to survive even the toughest circumstances and have paved the way for today's metal bands. Take a look at some of the pioneers of heavy metal!

*Heads Up* If you plan on picking up a few of these albums you should know that some of the songs, on a few of the albums, may contain the occasional naughty word. We're not talking about Eminem-style trash talking, but you'll want to check with your 'rents before blaring this stuff in the living room. Remind your folks that this is the music of their generation, maybe it'll help!

Heavy Metal Music - AC/DC

AC/DC hit the stage way back in 1973 in Australia. Brothers Malcolm and Angus Young were joined by drummer Phil Rudd, bassist Mark Evans and lead singer Dave Evans. But when Dave refused to go on stage, the group enlisted their chauffeur, Bon Scott to become their new singer. AC/DC pumped out numerous discs throughout the '70s and '80s, producing some of the biggest metal hits of the century - including TNT, Can I Sit Next to You Girl, Thunderstruck and Highway to Hell.

Heavy Metal Music - Def Leppard

Def Leppard emerged on the metal scene in the late '70s from Sheffield, England. It wasn't until the early '80s, however, that Def Leppard really got noticed. They started opening for peeps like Ozzy Osbourne and Judas Priest and tracks like Bringin' on the Heartbreak started getting MTV exposure. Other popular Def Leppard hits were Pour Some Sugar on Me, Foolin' and Hysteria.

Heavy Metal Music - Black Sabbath

Long before he and his family had their own reality TV show, Ozzy Osbourne was rockin' out on stage with his band, Black Sabbath. The band started out playing jazz-blues music and called themselves Polka Tulk. They changed their name to Earth a little while later and finally settled on Black Sabbath in the late '60s. Ten years later, with several discs under their belt (Black Sabbath, Paranoid and Master of Reality to name a few), Ozzy decided to break out on his own and attempt a solo career.

Heavy Metal Music - KISS

Just as famous for their crazy get-ups as they are for their music, Kiss broke out in their leather costumes and face paint in the '70s. These are the guys that are responsible for popularizing platform boot for men and fun tracks like Rock and Roll All Nite, Shout It Out Loud and Detroit Rock City.

Heavy Metal Music - Iron Maiden

Throughout Iron Maiden's lengthy career, they have had several different lead singers, but have always maintained their dark, metal style. Hailing from the UK, Iron Maiden was always far more successful in Europe than they were in the US but their 1982 disc, Number of the Beast, brought them international recognition. An Iron Maiden classic is the track Two Minutes to Midnight, which has no doubt been played at numerous New Year's Eve parties!

Heavy Metal Music - Motley Crue

Motley Crue has had a very rocky history but has managed to wrack up quite a few chart toppers in the past two decades. Motley Crue has broken up, replaced members and gone on several hiatuses but are once again back in the spotlight with the release of their greatest hits album, Red, White & Crue. These controversial guys also hit the stage for a reunion tour back in 2005.

Heavy Metal Music - Metallica

With a name like Metallica, how could we not include these hard rockin' guys? Metal fans were first introduced to Metallica in the early '80s with the release of discs like Kill 'Em All and Master of Puppets. In the next couple of decades, Metallica's popularity only grew but an image change in the mid '90s (they cut their hair short!), had some fans a little peeved. Their hard stance on downloading music and copyright infringement caused Metallica to lose some of their fan base too. For more on this historical band, check out their DVD, Some Kind of Monster, which follows the band as they record their Grammy-winning disc, St. Anger.
Metallica: Some Kind of Monster DVD Rating: