Blue Cheer - Vincebus Eruptum LP

Blue Cheer looms large in the annals of hard rock, laying down the sonic foundations of heavy metal and serving as a crucial influence on the birth of punk, grunge and stoner rock. While the rest of the rock world was mellowing out and embracing the spirit of the Summer of Love, the seminal San Francisco power trio was churning out ballsy blues-rock anthems whose fuzz-heavy, adrenaline-charged intensity helped to alter the course of contemporary music.

Vincebus Eruptum, Blue Cheer's landmark 1968 debut, is widely regarded as Ground Zero of the heavy metal explosion. The album, featuring the classic Blue Cheer lineup of guitarist Leigh Stephens, bassist/vocalist Dickie Peterson and drummer Paul Whaley, includes the trio's mind-melting reading of Eddie Cochran's "Summertime Blues," which became a Top 20 single, along with such raw, overdriven originals as "Doctor Please" and "Second Time Around" and distinctive reworkings of the blues standards "Rock Me Baby" and "Parchment Farm."