Black Sabbath’s debut album Black Sabbath was released on February 13, 1970. To many, it’s considered the birth of heavy metal, and those “many” aren’t wrong.

No one had sounded quite like Sabbath, and in five decades, no one else has sounded quite like them since. (We can likely thank Tony Iommi losing the tips of his fingers in a freak accident at a sheet metal factory for that.)

In honor of its anniversary, here’s a “By The Numbers” look at the album.

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• Age: 51

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  'Black Sabbath' came out February 13, 1970.

• Number of Tracks: 7

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  “Black Sabbath,” “The Wizard,” “Behind The Wall Of Sleep,” “N.I.B.,” “Evil Woman,” “Sleeping Village” and “Warning.”

• Copies Sold: 1 Million

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  (This is in the U.S. only. Worldwide sales figures are not available to the public.)
• Years it took for the album to be certified Platinum: 16

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  Certified by the RIAA on October 13, 1986.

• Hours it took to record: 12

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  Yes, you read that correctly.

• Months between Sabbath’s next album, ‘Paranoid’: 7

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  'Paranoid' was released on September 18, 1970.
• Time it took to say “Whoa…” upon looking at the album’s eerie cover for the first time: 5 Seconds

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  (Okay...that's not an exact science, but that number has to be close.)

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