1972 was the year metal grew! By now, Black Sabbath and Deep Purple were bonafide arena headliners, Alice Cooper was persona non grata, and new metal bands were sprouting left and right. In other news, the 1972 Munich Olympics were marred by a terrorist attack which killed 11 Israeli athletes and the dam was about to burst on Watergate. Heavy times called for heavy music. These 10 albums answered the call.
10. Night Sun – Mournin’
Mournin’, Night Sun’s first and only album, is an enigma. Is it krautrock? Is it metal? For simplicity’s sake, and at the expense of creating a new microgenre tag that will be used and abused by metal nerds the world over, let’s call it krautmetal. Amazingly, this isn’t even the sole example of “krautmetal” released in ’72, or ever. Other ’72 releases that fit this tag are Scorpions’ Lonesome Crow and Tiger B. Smith’s Tiger Rock. However, neither touch the schizophrenic supremacy of Mournin’. If a crash collision of King Crimson’s musical virtuosity with the doom and gloom of Black Sabbath sounds too good to be true, check out this album and prepare to be dumbfounded.
9. Dust – Hard Attack
If the first comparison you make while listening to Dust is to Sir Lord Baltimore, you’d have good reason. Both bands hailed from New York, were power trios, and specialized in big, boneheaded riffs that just about nobody had the balls to attempt at the time…nobody except Grand Funk Railroad that is, who by now had laughed all the way to the bank, selling out Shea Stadium faster than The Beatles. But by ’72, Sir Lord Baltimore had disbanded and Grand Funk were about to dive headfirst into the Top 40 pool. Who better to fill the void than singer/guitarist Richie Wise, bassist Kenny Aaronson, and drummer Marc Bell?
Their second and final album, Hard Attack, foreshadows a lot of what was to come in the late 70s and early 80s. “Learning to Die” and “All in All” combine the energy of punk with the riffs of metal. “Pull Away/So Many Times” and “Walk in the Soft Rain” incorporate folksy acoustic passages, which almost certainly influenced Ashbury. And what better way to close out your career than with the disturbing, doom metal laments of “Suicide”?
So whatever happened to these forgotten pioneers? Well, Richie Wise discovered a little band called KISS, Kenny Aaronson became an accomplished session bassist, and Marc Bell changed his name to Marky Ramone. And the rest is history.
8. Uriah Heep – The Magician’s Birthday
In just two short years, Uriah Heep went from being knocked as a “C grade Jethro Tull”, to headlining the same arenas as Tull themselves. They had stolen the hearts and eardrums of every freaker, stoner, and hesher this side of the Atlantic. What better way to capitalize on their new found superstardom than with their second release of ’72 (more on the first in a bit), The Magician’s Birthday?
Musically, The Magician’s Birthday is a retreat to the progressive/folk stylings of their second album, Salisbury. Ken Hensley’s songwriting abilities shine on the epic opener “Sunrise”, the ominous “Echoes in the Dark”, and the delicate ballad that is “Rain”. The album’s centerpiece comes in the form of its 10+ minute closing title track, which features some of the most savage soloing of Mick Box’s career. Considering it’s a staple of the band’s live set to this day, I can only imagine how much fun Box has shredding his heart out every night.
7. Uriah Heep – Demons and Wizards
By 1972, metal was here to stay. This was more than just a bunch of doped up teenagers listening to music their parents didn’t understand. It was a worldwide movement, whether the bands partaking in it knew it or not. A movement that had now grown so big, you could witness your parents’ disgust firsthand when in between the latest Carpenters and Neil Diamond singles, Top 40 radio had no choice but to play Uriah Heep’s “Easy Livin'”.
While not the biggest metal hit of the year (again, more on that later), “Easy Livin'” cemented Heep as one of the hottest names on the arena rock circuit. The album it appeared on, Demons and Wizards, would go gold and take fantasy imagery within metal to the next level. From the Roger Dean cover art, to the lyrics of “The Wizard”, “Rainbow Demon”, and “Paradise/The Spell”, Demons and Wizards planted the seeds for an entire crop of bands to come.
6. Captain Beyond – Captain Beyond
Here’s the scene: It’s 1971. A few short years after gaining pop culture infamy with a 17+ minute dirge that’s intended to be listened to completely in the dark, your lead singer announces he’s leaving the band because he’s “found God” and plans on becoming a pastor. You laugh for a few minutes, asking yourself what’s in this weed, only to realize this ain’t a trip man. He isn’t joking.
That’s exactly what happened to Iron Butterfly. Exit Doug Ingle. Enter original Deep Purple frontman Rod Evans. Together, they created Captain Beyond and released an album that eclipsed their previous musical outlets. Legend has it the demos for this album were so impressive, they caused Duane Allman to sign Captain Beyond to Capricorn Records on the spot. If only Duane could’ve lived to hear the magic on their self titled debut.
Captain Beyond is a melting pot of all the great music the early 70s had to offer. It’s heavy, hard rocking, jazzy, progressive, psychedelic, and even spacey. No musical stone is left unturned. If all these descriptors make you question its metal cred, the fact that it’s one of King Diamond’s favorite albums should be enough to persuade you.
5. Wishbone Ash – Argus
Wishbone Ash is one of the most important non-metal bands in metal history. While technically progressive hard rock by definition, the archetypes set forth by their third album, Argus, shaped metal as we know it. The twin lead guitarwork of Andy Powell and Ted Turner influenced every band to follow: Mercyful Fate, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest. Even Thin Lizzy, who formed around the same time as Ash, were inspired to broaden their sound with twin guitars just a couple years later. All of these bands who you listen to on a daily basis wouldn’t have existed if it weren’t for Argus. And if they did, they certainly wouldn’t sound the way they do.
As if their musical contributions weren’t enough, Wishbone Ash also singlehandedly established the ethos for epic metal. The lyrical themes of battle and medieval times on “The King Will Come”, “Warrior”, and “Throw Down the Sword” would become commonplace by the 80s. So the next time you revel in the glory of Cirith Ungol, Manilla Road, and 90s Bathory, remember that it all started with Argus.
4. Bang – Bang
Everything about Bang can be described as “crazy”. They landed a record deal with Capitol after playing a chance opening spot for Faces and Deep Purple. Once they landed said deal, they recorded their debut album, Death of a Country, only for it to be shelved by Capitol. The head honchos didn’t think releasing a heavy psych concept album was the best move for a band they wanted to market as Grand Funk Railroad Jr. They sent the boys back to the studio to record their second album, which would be released as their debut, Bang. Are you following?
Despite its intentions of being “polished” and “radio accessible”, Bang did little to nothing in terms of sales. “Questions” was a minor AM radio hit. The rest of the album was largely rooted in Sabbathian doom (“Lions, Christians”, “The Queen”, “Redman”, etc.), though with more hooks and melody than your typical Sabbath fare. Those hooks and melodies would go unnoticed for decades until the early 2010s. Much like Pentagram, Bang has enjoyed a renewal of interest as one of the godfathers of American metal. As the old saying goes, better late than never!
3. Deep Purple – Machine Head
If Uriah Heep’s Demons and Wizards was the general public’s first taste of metal, Deep Purple’s Machine Head was the main course. The album peaked at #7 on the Billboard 200, while the lead single, “Smoke on the Water” made its way all the way up to #4 on the Top 40 charts. The album cemented Deep Purple as a household name, but not for the lead single’s infamous riff alone. “Highway Star” and “Space Truckin'” are staples of FM rock radio to this day.
Unsurprisingly, the majority of Purple’s live setlists draw heavily from Machine Head. On any given night, you can hear them play the three aforementioned hits, as well as the hard jamming “Lazy” and my personal favorite, “Pictures of Home”. It truly is a timeless album.
2. Blue Öyster Cult – Blue Öyster Cult
Before becoming arena rock superstars and an SNL punchline, Blue Öyster Cult was legitimately terrifying. Everything about the band, from the lyrics to the music to the imagery, was shrouded in a cloak of darkness. Who were these five mystery men from New York and what were they about? Their unholy marriage of drugged out doom riffs and the pseudo-intellectualism of The Velvet Underground caught the attention of many rock critics. Yes, even the pretentious scum who spent the last two years scoffing at Sabbath and Purple couldn’t deny the talent of BÖC. And how could they? All the college writing courses in the world couldn’t produce the poetry of “Cities on Flame with Rock and Roll”. Score one for heavy metal.
- Black Sabbath – Vol. 4
This week’s #1 was made possible by cocaine. How much exactly? A lot. Sabbath spent more on the Peruvian flake in 1972 than they did on the production of Vol. 4. The drug was so influential, it got its own love song (“Snowblind”) and a personal thank you in the liner notes (“We wish to thank the great COKE-Cola company of Los Angeles.”) Other highlights of Vol. 4 include “Under the Sun”, which took the intensity of Iommi’s riffs to new awe inspiring heights, and the hard rocking “Supernaut”. John Bonham reportedly labelled the latter, “The greatest Zeppelin song never written.”
Musically, Vol. 4 was even darker and heavier than its predecessors. Iommi’s guitar tone was thicker than drying cement, and the lyrical content was just as serious as Master of Reality, if not more so. Black Sabbath were now unstoppable, platinum certified, doom metal demigods: crushing anyone or anything that came in their way.
Honorable Mentions
- Alice Cooper – School’s Out
- Budgie – Squawk
- Jerusalem – Jerusalem
- Scorpions – Lonesome Crow
- Tarkus – Tarkus
awesome list every title a keeper crazy cool to see night Sun on the list