Judas Priest-Sin After Sin (1977)

In 1977, Judas Priest was still finding its way, and despite having released the commendable "Rocka Rolla" (1974) and "Sad Wings of Destiny" (1976), these were far from defining the style that would propel them to fame years later. For their next album, "Sin After Sin", they moved away from the dark and melancholic sound of their previous record, raising the tone and adding much more aggression that would lay the foundation for their future work. They distanced themselves from the blues influences that had shaped greats like Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, and Deep Purple, and with their incendiary guitar duels perhaps the best in history (with all due respect to other legendary bands like Wishbone Ash and Thin Lizzy) and the accelerated tempos in some tracks, heavy metal began to grow and take shape. Tracks include true anthems like "Sinner" or the amazing version of Joan Baez's "Diamonds And Rust".