1973

 

						THE YEAR IN REVIEW: 1973

1973 was the year when the early pioneers were no longer experimenting in the dark; they were refining, expanding, and in some cases outright dominating. Black Sabbath pushed deeper into their own mythology with Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, an album that showed a band evolving beyond the monolithic doom of their early years. The riffs were still crushing, but now wrapped in stranger harmonies, progressive structures, and a sense of theatrical dread that hinted at where metal would eventually go. It was the sound of a band refusing to stagnate, even as the pressures of fame and excess closed in around them.

Deep Purple, meanwhile, were in a state of explosive transition. The classic Mk II lineup was fracturing, but not before delivering Who Do We Think We Are, a record born from tension and exhaustion yet still packed with swagger. "Woman from Tokyo" became one of their signature tracks, and the band’s live power remained unmatched. By the end of the year, Ian Gillan and Roger Glover were out, setting the stage for the Mk III era and the heavier, funk‑infused direction that would follow. In 1973, Purple were both burning out and burning brighter than almost anyone else.

Led Zeppelin reached a new level of cultural dominance with Houses of the Holy, an album that stretched the boundaries of what a hard rock band could be. They weren’t getting heavier, they were getting stranger, more ambitious, more confident in their ability to bend genres to their will. Tracks like "The Ocean" and "Over the Hills and Far Away" carried enough weight to influence the next generation of hard rock players, while the band’s touring presence became a kind of traveling mythology. Zeppelin in ’73 were untouchable, a band operating on a scale no one else could match.

Elsewhere, the landscape was shifting in ways that would matter enormously later. Queen released their debut album, a record steeped in heavy riffs, metallic sheen, and operatic ambition. It didn’t dominate charts, but it announced a band with the technical precision and theatrical flair that metal would eventually embrace. Aerosmith also entered the scene with their self‑titled debut, planting the seeds of the hard rock mainstream that would explode later in the decade. Thin Lizzy were sharpening their twin‑guitar identity, Montrose delivered a blueprint for American hard rock with Sammy Hagar at the mic, and Budgie continued to push proto‑metal into stranger, heavier territory with Never Turn Your Back on a Friend.

1973 was also the year KISS formed their full visual identity, stepping onto stages in makeup and armor that would redefine the relationship between heavy music and spectacle. Even though their debut album wouldn’t arrive until 1974, the aesthetic revolution was already underway. Hard rock was becoming a culture, a visual language, a world unto itself.

Nightmare by Icecross is a stark, eerie slice of early heavy rock that blends doom‑laden riffs with a raw, almost claustrophobic atmosphere. The title track captures the band’s signature mix of heavy psych and proto‑metal darkness, giving the album a uniquely cold, unsettling character. It’s one of those underground 70s records that feels genuinely ahead of its time despite its rough edges. It would probably have been a huge record if the band wasn't from Iceland, but then again. It might not have had that claustrophobic icy feel to it if it wasn't.

By the end of 1973, the genre had split into multiple evolutionary paths: Sabbath’s dark heaviness, Purple’s virtuosity, Zeppelin’s grandiosity, Queen’s theatricality, and the rising American hard rock scene. It was a year of expansion rather than invention, a moment when the early blueprint of heavy music grew into a sprawling architecture. The groundwork was now fully laid for the explosion of metal in the late ’70s. 1973  widened the horizon of what heavy music could become.

ALBUM OF THE YEAR
1973

1. Black Sabbath - Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
2. Budgie - Never Turn Your Back On A Friend
3. Alice Cooper - Billion Dollar Babies
4. Ice Cross - Nightmare
5. Deep Purple - Who Do We Think We Are
6. Montrose - Montrose
7. Nazareth - Razamanaz
8. Buffalo - Volcanic Rock
9. Queen - Queen
10. Uriah Heep - Sweet Freedom

FORMED

AC/DC   Montrose   KISS   Quiet Riot   Witchfynde

DISBANDED

Flower Travellin' Band

LINEUP CHANGES

Rob Halford became the new vocalist for Judas Priest, taking over from Al Atkins who   departed at the end of 1972. John Hinch also joined the band as their drummer.   Tensions within Deep Purple led to vocalist Ian Gillan leaving and bassist Roger Glover   being let go, marking the end of the band's Mark II era. They were replaced by David   Coverdale and Glenn Hughes, respectively.   Guitarist Michael Schenker left Scorpions and joined UFO, replacing Bernie Marsden.   Uli Jon Roth replaced Michael Schenker in Scorpions.

IMPORTANT EVENTS

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IN MEMORIAM

Helmut Eisenhut (Scorpions drummer)

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