King Crimson’s ‘21st century schizoid man’ came out in '69, after the formation of black Sabbath but before their first album was released, and I think it has a decent claim to being a ‘metal’ song. There was definitely a vibe for that kind of musical experimentation around that time, although Black Sabbath can claim to be more defining of what ‘metal’ was.
You can waste all sorts of time on the net arguing with people about who started what genres. Then you start getting into terms like proto-metal, etc.
No personal issue with your choice because it’s a fucking awesome song, but if wanted to be one of those assholes I’d say it’s heavy prog rock, in the pool of music metal would later draw from. That said, I’m no musicologist, and somewhere right now there’s someone in a black t-shirt with a very cool but difficult to read band name on it reading this, aghast.
I think we can all agree that Black Sabbath is a cornerstone in what metal generally (and specifically sludge, stoner metal, etc.) developed into.
If that song doesn’t count, then I think you really do have to hand it to Black Sabbath as the defining progenitor of the genre. Even if it does, it was an impressive exploratory foray; Black Sabbath set up camp.
King Crimson’s ‘21st century schizoid man’ came out in '69, after the formation of black Sabbath but before their first album was released, and I think it has a decent claim to being a ‘metal’ song. There was definitely a vibe for that kind of musical experimentation around that time, although Black Sabbath can claim to be more defining of what ‘metal’ was.
Anyway yeah, agreed.
You can waste all sorts of time on the net arguing with people about who started what genres. Then you start getting into terms like proto-metal, etc.
No personal issue with your choice because it’s a fucking awesome song, but if wanted to be one of those assholes I’d say it’s heavy prog rock, in the pool of music metal would later draw from. That said, I’m no musicologist, and somewhere right now there’s someone in a black t-shirt with a very cool but difficult to read band name on it reading this, aghast.
I think we can all agree that Black Sabbath is a cornerstone in what metal generally (and specifically sludge, stoner metal, etc.) developed into.
If that song doesn’t count, then I think you really do have to hand it to Black Sabbath as the defining progenitor of the genre. Even if it does, it was an impressive exploratory foray; Black Sabbath set up camp.