However, it was their self-titled debut album in 1970 that marked the birth of heavy metal. With its dark, heavy riffs and ominous lyrics, Black Sabbath set the stage for the metal genre.

Black Sabbath's third album, "Master of Reality" (on vinyl), along with their first and second albums, "Black Sabbath" and "Paranoid" (on CD), are the cornerstones of the heavy metal genre.

No Black Sabbath, no heavy metal as we know it. The musical elements that combined to form that life-affirming clangour that has resounded around the globe for more than 40 years now can be fairly ...