Black Sabbath’s self titled 1970 debut.
Generations of metalheads the world over owe their lives, allegiance, and gratitude to Tony’s fucked up hand.
this post was submitted on 01 Mar 2026
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Agreed! As a doom metal and stoner rock fan, I'm hard-pressed not to name a band from those genres not influenced by the album or the band.
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King Crimson - In the Court of the Crimson King
This basically started progressive rock. I also remember being in absolute awe when learning it is from 1969, it sounds soooo clean and somewhat modern (and very good, obviously).
Completely changed rock music
This one of funny because when reading about it I hit the feeling that they had no idea or plan to what they were doing. They just wanted to sell albums and get laid.
Then they drop this completely weird af, beautiful and haunting album which everyone of course tries to deconstruct and find the real meaning behind etc.
Just fripp and pals goofing about in the halls of the crimson king.
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Wendy Carlos' ‘Switched-On Bach’ turned synthesizers from a tool of avantgarde experimentalists into a mainstream instrument.
Captain Beefheart's ‘Trout Mask Replica’ remains probably the most widely cited avantgarde-rock album, perplexing listeners to this day. (Gotta say, I never had a problem with it, perhaps because I don't know music theory.)
Kraftwerk's ‘Autobahn’ is an obvious one, though ‘Trans-Europe Express’ and ‘The Man-Machine’ probably had more influence on synthpop and techno.
Lou Reed's ‘Metal Machine Music’ was trashed on release by critics, and returned en masse by the buyers, but it presaged industrial and noise music, and possibly noise-rock.
Then again, though industrial music properly started with live performances, if you wanted to revisit its roots, you'd listen to Throbbing Gristle's ‘The Second Annual Report’ or the more warmly received ‘D.o.A: The Third and Final Report’.
The ‘No New York’ compilation was exemplary of the ‘no wave’ experimental jazz-rock of the downtown NYC scene and gave the genre its name.
Liaisons Dangereuses' self-titled album was the progenitor of ebm, e.g. with the track ‘Los niños del parque’.
This Mortal Coil's ‘It'll End in Tears’ “set the template” for dream pop, although the sound itself was already around in the work of Cocteau Twins and the ethereal wave movement.
The Winstons' 1969 track ‘Amen, Brother’ didn't start anything itself, but the ‘Amen break’ is one of the most sampled in history, beginning with the 80s breakbeat, and with jungle, drum-and-bass and breakcore having been predominantly built on this one sample.
Napalm Death's ‘Scum’ is the origin of grindcore.
John Zorn's ‘Naked City’ is a landmark in jazz-fusion: although the concept existed before, no one mixed jazz with other genres so aggressively outside of free-jazz. (Though arguably the band Massacre anticipated Zorn's approach.)
The Prodigy's ‘Experience’ is said to have birthed edm albums as a concept:
Moby credited ‘Experience’ with changing his perception about dance albums; previously he felt that "dance albums had always failed [...] because they didn't work over the full length of the record. Mostly they were singles collections which was exactly what I didn't want to do," and noted that ‘Experience’ "impressed me because they'd managed to create a full listening experience which encompassed various styles. This was the kind of vision I had for my debut album."
The ‘Artificial Intelligence’ compilation on Warp started idm.
‘Wipeout’'s electronic soundtrack, along with its acid visuals and nightclub-oriented promotion (by Designers Republic) was a big factor in targeting the first PlayStation to college-age people, instead of kids as it was with previous consoles. This shifted the console market from kids' toys to entertainment for everyone.
Therion properly invented symphonic metal around ‘Symphony Masses: Ho Drakon Ho Megas’ / ‘Lepaca Kliffoth’ / ‘Theli’.
The ‘Hotline Miami’ soundtrack played a large role in the popularity of synthwave and the 2010s revival of associated genres like darkwave, coldwave, ebm, and to some extent post-punk.
If you're into edm, you might want to check out Ishkur's Guide to Electronic Music for various branching points.
Some very good suggestions, and not just the already well-known stuff among mainstream audiences from most of the other comments.
I would personally cite Cocteau Twins over This Mortal Coil, not only did they predate them, but Treasure is also the better (and more influential) record in my opinion.
Therion has been quite explicit with its acknowledgment of Celtic Frost as a major influence (even taking the name) - though their records suffer from subpar production, and one could argue Therion was able to fulfill the ambition of Celtic Frost.
One shouldn't mention no wave without mentioning Swans, who were massively influential to grunge, post-punk, post-rock and heavy music in general. The colossal Soundtracks for the Blind is their magnum opus.
Aside from Kraftwerk, the krautrock scene spawned several more highly influential groups, including Neu! (who invented the remix), CAN (cited as a major influence by Radiohead and many others) and Popul Vuh (pioneers of early ambient, electronic and "new age" music).
A few more suggestions not related to yours: Oddly enough Zappa hasn't been mentioned yet in the comments (as of writing this comment), probably the most influential pop music artist of the 20th Century, though his music can be challenging at times and not all of his humour has aged very well. We're Only In It For the Money is probably the best starting point.
Brian Eno - Apollo. Not Eno's first ambient album, but probably his most accomplished one.
Talk Talk - Spirit of Eden. It's hard to believe you are listening to what used to be a new wave band only a few years earlier if you play this record. It was so far ahead of its time their label dropped them amidst an acrimonious lawsuit.
Ulver has been cited as a major influence by modern electronic music artists (e.g., Carpenter Brut). Their output is extremely diverse and creatively shifts dramatically from album to album. I would recommend Perdition City as a starting point.
Godspeed You! Black Emperor - F#A#∞. Not coincidentally released shortly after Soundtracks for the Blind, a massive creative leap nonetheless and one of the defining post-rock records of the 1990s.
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My suggestions:
- Boston (self titled) pretty much transformed how music was produced, using the studio as an instrument.
- Jimi Hendrix - "Are you Experienced". Because a guitar had never been played like that before.
- Nirvana - "Nevermind". Arguably not the first grunge album, but it pretty much put the final nail in the coffin of 80's music.
Honorable mention: Pantera - "Cowboys from Hell" finally moved metal beyond fluffy hair and leather pants that had saturated the genre for too long, and effectively ended the glam era.
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Rubber Soul - The Beatles
To me this marks a turning point in the Beatles' output, from fun, rock 'n' roll/pop music, to serious artistry, more challenging themes and lyrics and more interesting instrumentation.
Sample track: In My Life
Dubnobasswithmyheadman - Underworld
Hugely important in British dance music, a total departure from their first two albums and the start of a run of classic electronic music. It's a shame they're still best known for Born Slippy, because there's so much more to Underworld than that, and it started here.
Sample track: Dirty Epic
The Velvet Underground and Nico - The Velvet Underground
Famously known as an album that not many people bought, but all of those who did started a band. Hugely influential, full of great songs, some gentle and fragile, others cacophonic and dissonant. A masterpiece.
Sample track: Venus in Furs
Seconding Rubber Soul. In the same way Pantera managed to separate metal from the glam, Beatles separated pop/rock from the campiness of earlier and contemporary bands.
I wrote down Pet Sounds as a majorly influential album and Brian Wilson has said that that cohesion and individual song strength of Rubber Soul was the inspiration that drove him to make it.
So i guess your pick inspired my pick!
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- Angel dust by faith no more. It has been cited as a massive influence by many huge 90s metal bands.
- Pet sounds by beach boys. Without it there would be no sgt Pepper (as we know it) and without that it's hard to say where pop would be today.
- The rise and fall of Ziggy stardust and the spiders from Mars by Bowie. While not being the source of the glam wave (hi t-rex) it really took it to a new level, along with the concept of stage personas.
As much as I enjoyed Pet Sounds when I was younger, it wasn't until it was pointed out to me that it was one of the first albums by a big act to not be written around live performance that I began to realise its significance. Almost every other album released on major labels at the time was in service of selling tickets to live shows, along with copies of the records. They were full of songs to sing and dance along to.
Pet Sounds was an album that was best enjoyed at home on a decent sound system.
Pet Sounds is a work of art that happens to contain some incredible pop music that must have pissed off the other members of the Beach Boys as they listened to it and tried to figure out how the hell they were supposed to perform it live. But Brian made a damn good go of saying what he needed to say with it, and that was what was important to him.
Pet sounds and Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band are what I think of as the first studio driven albums and I can to them later in life after just ignoring the pop song hits that always played on the radio.
Amazing sounds with a good set of headphones.
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Nas - Illmatic
While I can guess why, I'm not experienced enough with rap, hip, hop, or any combination of the three to be an authority on this, so could explain what makes the album hugely important?
Oh man, that is tough to put in words, but let me try. First of all, the lyricism. The way Nas rhymed and structured his verses was practically unheard of. Rakim could do it, Big Daddy Kane could do it. Not many others. So just in terms of rhyming skill and storytelling, he was up there. It was also one of the first (cohesive) street albums, with Nas just acting as the observer, with vivid storytelling about what he saw around him. You can clearly hear his influence in Mobb Deep's albums, for example.
Musically, it is quintessentially 90s East Coast rap, and it came out at a time where the focus was more on the West Coast (think NWA, Snoop Dogg). It has a cohesive sound despite having many different producers (Pete Rock, Premier, Large Professor, etc) on the album, something that wasn't really done before that time.
Also, there's not a single bad track on the album. 10 tracks, no filler.
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100%.
I would also put 36 Chambers by Wu-Tang Clan and Operation Doomsday by MF DOOM in the same tier of essential 90s NY hip-hop.
Michael Jackson - Off The Wall
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five - The Message
Sepultura - Roots
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DJ Shadow - Preemptive Strike
Rage against the machine's debut album & Evil Empire
Massive Attack - Mezzanine
Rage Against the Machine's first public show is on YouTube. It's remarkable how they arrived almost fully formed.
The debut album was released 13 months after that performance, but tracks like Know Your Enemy sound almost identical to the recorded version.
- Velvet Underground and Nico
- Bringing It All Back Home (Bob Dylan)
- Kind of Blue (Miles Davis)
Primus, I don't know anyone else that sounds like them. Sailing the Seas of Cheese.
I'd say for the same reason I posted Hendrix earlier: Primus deserves to be on the list because nobody had played a bass like that before.
While nobody else has (to my knowledge) gone full Claypool, using the bass partly as a rythm instrument has left its mark on many other basists.
not sure I understand what you mean, the bass has always been a rhythm instrument, its traditional role is to mark tempo and provide the root for harmony. do you maybe mean using it as a percussive instrument, like Claypool often does with muted slapping?
Yeah, percussive is a better word. And not in a typical funk-style slap bass either.
It's honestly kinda cool the ouroboros-like influence between Les Claypool and Geddy Lee. Les has always credited Rush as a huge influence, but then Geddy's playing has also gotten progressively slappy-er over the years just from hanging out with Primus
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IMHO, perfect albums that you can listen to from the beginning to the end without skipping anything:
- Guns n' Roses, Use Your Illusion 1 & 2
- Radiohead, OK Computer
- Portishead, Portishead
- Bjork, Homogenic
- Ramones - Ramones (1976)
- The Stooges - The Stooges (1969)
The Ramones' Ramones.
Factoid: They used the name Ramone based off a fake name Paul McCartney used at hotels, Paul Ramon.
Homework by daft punk had a kinda huge impact on french house
Radiohead OK Computer
Kidz Bop volume 1 launched an empire of children performing family friendly covers of pop songs that continues to weaken the fabric of humanity to this day.
I first encountered kidz bop about 2010ish when my wife's sister was playing it for her kids at a family gathering. I'm still scarred from the experience. That day I vowed if I ever had kids that travesty would never be allowed in my house. Since having a daughter I've endured Frozen, Taylor Swift, and Kpop demon hunters. But the evil that is Kidz Bop has never graced a speaker in our house!
WE BELONG TOGETHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaAAAAAaaaaaaaaAAAAAAaaaaaaaooooooouugghh
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Rush - Fly by Night
Their second album is the first where they found their prog rock selves.
From wikipedia: The members of Rush have noted that people "either love Rush or hate Rush",[170] resulting in strong detractors and an intensely loyal fan base. In 1979, The Rolling Stone Record Guide called them "the power boogie band for the 16 magazine graduating class".[171] A July 2008 Rolling Stone article said, "Rush fans are the Trekkies/trekkers of rock".[172] Rush have been cited as an influence by artists including Alice in Chains,[173] Anthrax,[174] the Cro-Mags,[175] Dream Theater,[176][177][178] Exciter,[179] Fates Warning,[180] Fishbone,[181] Foo Fighters,[182] Iron Maiden,[183] Jane's Addiction,[184] Living Colour,[185] Manic Street Preachers,[186] Megadeth,[187][188][189] Meshuggah,[190][191] Metallica,[178][192] No Doubt,[193] Pearl Jam,[194] the Pixies,[195] Primus,[196] Queensrÿche,[197] Rage Against the Machine,[198] the Red Hot Chili Peppers,[199] Sepultura,[200] the Smashing Pumpkins,[196] Elliott Smith,[201] Soundgarden,[202] Stone Temple Pilots,[203] System of a Down,[204] Testament,[205][206] Tool,[207][208] and Steven Wilson.[209] Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails said in the 2010 documentary Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage that Rush is one of his favourite bands, and he has also cited the band's early 1980s period in particular as a major influence on him in regard to incorporating keyboards and synthesizers into hard rock.[210]
I wanted to mention rush, but I couldn't narrow it down to one album.
On a related note, I got tickets to see Rush next year, as I figured it'll be my last chance.
I decided to treat myself:
That's as close to the stage as I could justify with my paycheck. Closer is ridiculously priced, even by ticketmonster standards.
Nothing - Meshuggah
It wasn't their first album by any means, but I think it was the most influential on metal music, it kind of spawned its own sub-genre (djent-core?). On this album they really honed in on the sound they made steps toward with Chaosphere, and it influenced the sound of metal moving forward into the late 00s and 2010s.
I haven't really been into metal as much as I was back when this came out, but it was really interesting to see this swedish metal band I randomly heard about in an AOL chatroom take off and become hugely popular and influential.
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"Bela Lugosi's Dead" is considered the harbinger of gothic rock music and has been immensely influential on contemporary goth culture.[23] In an article by The Guardian titled "Bauhaus invent goth", the newspaper ranked the song number 19 on their list of the 50 key events in indie music history
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bela_Lugosi%27s_Dead
DJ Shadow - Endtroducing
This singlehandedly brought to the forefront sample-based trip hop for all to hear. Soulful, haunting, melodic, and with an ever evolving back beat, filled with social consciousness. Herbie Hancock's Rock It introduced the world to the idea of turntables as instruments and Endtroducing was an album length love letter to that instrument.
Loveless by My Bloody Valentine influenced a whole genre.
On the other end of the scale you have Forever Changes by Love which has been an inspiration for lots of musicians without ever directly influencing a specific sound as far as I know.
Miles Davis:
- Kind of Blue
- In a Silent Way
- Bitches Brew
- Tutu
Cornerstone records from which everything from the Headhunters, Return to Forever, Mahavishnu Orchestra and the great exploration of jazz, psychedelic, rock and everything else in between.
Portishead - Portishead
No one had mentioned Stg. Pepper yet. Am album that took advantage of creative studio sound tricks to create sounds that were not easily possible to replicate during a love performance. An album that inspired so many others to push recording further.
Any album by William Hung, the songbird of our generation
There's a few second drum break on a 7 inch single from The Winston's that was successful as a sample called the amen break.
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