History of Heavy Metal - Long Read

[Riff Addict]

I thought this was a good read as to the beginnings of Heavy Metal. Web link is at the bottom of post. Some opinions may vary of course.

The metal of MY generation, End of "Part I-111, I highlited in yellow... (Long Read)
Part I

When did heavy metal begin? It's hard to say. According to most metal annals, the first outbursts came from the Kinks with "You Really Got Me" and the Who with "My Generation" around 1964. As for the first heavy metal artist, that position belongs to Alice Cooper, whose band was founded in 1965 under the name The Spiders (that means the Coop has been at it for over 30 years!). However, heavy metal was not to truly flourish until the year of 1967 and Alice Cooper was to become embedded in the collective mind of the world until 1971 with the classic Love It To Death.

During 1966, the rock world was still absorbed by the Summer of Love, but it was about to witness one of its most important revolutions; bands like Golden Earring (formed in 1965), Cream, the Jimi Hendrix Experience, Led Zeppelin, Vanilla Fudge, Iron Butterfly, Steppenwolf, Blue Cheer, MC5, Deep Purple, Grand Funk Railroad, Free, Uriah Heep, Mountain, Humble Pie, Bloodrock, Black Widow, Cactus, and Black Sabbath came to being between 1966 and 1970, and struck the world with what Steppenwolf would call in one of its songs "heavy metal thunder" (the first time the term was ever used; originally used to describe the sound of a motorcycle). A new type of music, which borrowed heavily from rock and roll and the blues, was gaining influence on the youth of those times, which was already getting tired of the stagnant Summer of Love scene.

Cream and the Jimi Hendrix Experience were the first bands to give heavy metal a high commercial profile. The legendary guitarist Eric Clapton was part of the first; a band that remains a seminal power trio and heavy metal band that released such memorable songs as "Sunshine Of Your Love" and "White Room." During the course of four albums and two years, Cream became a prominently successful band that influenced the likes of Rush and Van Halen and would later spawn the also legendary Blind Faith. The Jimi Hendrix Experience was another musical trio, based around the guitar histrionics of the legendary Jimi Hendrix. Albums such as Are You Experienced? and Electric Ladyland drew thousands of ravenous fans that feasted on the music provided by the band that is often mentioned along with Janis Joplin and the Doors as a premiere rock unit.

Several new bands, such as the bluesy Foghat and Bad Company, the ferocious Budgie, and the legendary UFO were spawned by the growing heavy metal explosion, while others like Status Quo hardened their sound; but until 1973 the kings of heavy metal were undoubtedly Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, and Black Sabbath. They were bands with technical prowess and a compositional inventiveness and passion unseen before, which coalesced into the hardest music existing during those times. This era also marked the beginning of Satanic imagery in heavy metal, and of spectacular, energetical live shows.

The Satanic imagery came courtesy of two English bands: Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin. Led Zeppelin's guitarist Jimmy Page (formerly of The Yardbirds, a band that was critical in influencing heavy metal with its psychedelic distortion and in spawning legendary guitar players Page, Clapton, and Jeff Beck) had a strong personal fascination with the occult, while many of Sabbath's lyrics within their ample range of themes dealed with the occult. However, the Sabs did not claim to be Satanic, unlike many future metal bands; in fact, Ozzy Osbourne, vocalist of the band during those times, claims to have been scared off by fans wearing black robes and carrying candles with themselves.

The first few years of heavy metal (the music being called classic metal at times because of its pioneering status) are considered by most as the best era of the genre ever. Without a doubt, it is quite a memorable segment of this music's history. Led Zeppelin, unquestionably the most popular heavy metal band ever, created classics such as "Black Dog" and the Arabian "Kashmir;" but also had the brilliance of experimenting with forms of music such as reggae and folk. In fact, the latter was an essential part of the most widely known heavy metal song ever: "Stairway to Heaven." The masterfully created masterpiece was crafted by Page and vocalist Robert Plant to perfection and even today remains a constant radio staple.

It was, however, until 1970 that Black Sabbath inaugurated what many consider the "true" feeling of heavy metal. Gloomy, crunching, and foreboding, albums like Black Sabbath, Paranoid, and Master of Reality demonstrated the somewhat wicked musical direction of guitarist Tony Iommi and band members Ozzy Osbourne, Bill Ward, and Geezer Butler, through classic songs like "N.I.B.," "Paranoid," and "Children of the Grave." Bands such as Corrosion of Conformity, Metallica, and Nirvana were all influenced by the metal anthems provided by one of the genre's most memorable bands ever. Meanwhile, Deep Purple, after going through a progressive rock stint with vocalist Rod Evans and bassist Nick Simper, developed a solid slab of rock on their classic Deep Purple In Rock and would for a long time be heralded as true innovators of music. Ritchie Blackmore's classical guitar training, along with Jon Lord's synthesizers and Ian Gillan's piercing shrieks, was crucial in the development of heavy metal as it is known today.

During the mid-Seventies, six new bands were to also walk into the spotlight: the Blue Oyster Cult, Thin Lizzy, Judas Priest, Queen, Aerosmith, and Kiss. Judas Priest would be responsible for popularizing the concept of two guitarists in a heavy metal band; Aerosmith for bringing back the blues, sex, and drugs; Thin Lizzy for breaking through with aesthetical and musical flash and style; Queen for introducing perhaps the greatest degree of experimentation within music and the renewal of majestic melodies and harmonies; and Kiss for revolutionizing the art of live shows, at times presenting slightly macabre theatrics strongly reminiscent of Alice Cooper's.


While a number of heavy metal bands cemented their reputation as rock giants for years to come, certain bands would begin taking another highly popular form of music, progressive rock, into a heavier direction. Bands like Pink Floyd and Genesis had remained most of the time outside the heavy metal realms. Progressive metal would not come truly into being until the creation of Rush. On its debut album, Rush, the band had not yet acquired a tendency for the progressive; but by the time of Fly By Night and the acquisition of drummer Neil Peart, the band changed its approach and became more ambitious lyrically and musically, driving its progressive outings to their furthermost limits on albums like A Farewell to Kings and Hemispheres. Most other progressive bands, such as Emerson, Lake, and Palmer, Focus, Asia, and Marillion, only flirted with metal through their years of existence.

Unfortunately, metal was to stagnate completely in the late Seventies. Aerosmith, Thin Lizzy, and Black Sabbath were digging their own tombs because of their drug-consuming habits, Kiss had lost its charm because of over-commercialization, Deep Purple faded out due to personnel changes, and Led Zeppelin ended with the death of drummer John Bonham; only Judas Priest and Queen remained almost intact during these times. And not only were the greatest bands dying slowly, but every new band was just ripping off the old glory; metal was on its dying bed. Only a few bands were still thriving among the ruins, among them AC/DC and Rush; the former taking over the world with their three-chord attack, guitarist Angus Young's lunatic careening on the stage, and Bon Scott's hell-raising screams; the latter inspiring new generations of musicians with their progressive brand of music. Ted Nugent, formerly of the Amboy Dukes, released hyperactive gems like Cat Scratch Fever and Double Live Gonzo to much acclaim during the last half of the Seventies and would be another of the few surviving musical groups. Blackmore's Rainbow was the last of the great rock giants to die or metamorphose by the end of the Eighties, after Ronnie James Dio left the band amidst a flurry of clashing egos which had earlier produced melodic epics on albums like Rainbow Rising and Long Live Rock n' Roll.


Part II

Then came metal's sister music, punk, to save the rock scene from an untimely demise. A slew of new bands that could barely play their instruments and protested about fascism, their governments, and basically everyday life, were to take the spotlight with their raucous stage antics and their three-chord songs imbued with righteous fury. Influenced by the first punk outings of Iggy and the Stooges, the MC5, and the glittery New York Dolls during the 60´s and early 70's, the Sex Pistols, the Ramones, the Clash. Punk's greatest contributions to the punk/heavy metal scene were probably the wide use of slamdancing, the renaissance of energetic music, and the wide propagation of protests against the wrongdoings of society (an echo of Black Sabbath themes, included in songs such as "Children of the Grave," and "War Pigs").

While punk was taking over strongly among the youth, another raw and aggressive band would begin making an impact: Motorhead. Motorhead would signify the beginning of what is know today as thrash/speed/power metal, and which would later originate death metal. The band's first release, On Parole (1976) would only hint at the power unleashed in later albums released during the late 70's and early 80's, such as Overkill, Bomber, Ace of Spades, and No Sleep 'Til Hammersmith, which truly offered pedal-to-the-metal songs. Motorhead surprisingly attracted not only the metal crowd, but also many fiery punk fans, therefore marking the beginning of the union that would eventually result in the creation of hardcore.

Part III

While punk was shaking the foundations of rock n' roll, heavy metal came back with Judas Priest, Queen, the Scorpions, Accept, and the short-lived New Wave of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM). The highly important British invasion brought with itself bands like the acclaimed Diamond Head, Def Leppard, Iron Maiden, Saxon, Samson, Tygers of Pan Tang, Venom, Raven, and Sweet Savage, of which only Iron Maiden, Saxon, and Def Leppard were to survive (Saxon would enjoy a short-lived fame). Judas Priest would popularize the leather, studs, and spikes apparel that would characterize metal for years to come; the veteran Scorpions would increase their string of brilliant releases, such as Virgin Killer, Lovedrive, and Blackout, which featured the band's taste for both ballads and heavy songs; Accept would demonstrate its solid musicianship through classic albums like Breaker and Restless and Wild; and Queen kept breaking the barriers of music, in combinations such as thrash and melodic vocal harmonies in "Stone Cold Crazy", or the famous combination of rock and opera in "Bohemian Rhapsody."

Meanwhile, Iron Maiden brought back the mystic imagery of heavy metal while pounding out some of the heaviest riffs of their time in albums like Killers, Piece of Mind and Powerslave. They were to remain the heaviest band to rule the arena hard-rock circuit for years until the advent of Metallica. While Maiden pounded out harmonized and majestic guitar riffs backed by a thunderous bass (a combination commonly known as classic metal, not to be confused with the pioneering genre), Venom would truly begin the thrash metal genre with classic albums like Welcome to Hell and Black Metal, in which they also flirted occasionally with what would turn out to be death metal later on. Originally a band meant as a tongue-in-cheek project named Oberon, Venom were to become the most intense band of their time; and they would inspire, along with Motorhead, Judas Priest's Stained Class and Riot's distinguishable and energetical musical outbursts, young bands such as Metallica, Exodus, Slayer, and Mantas (which would later become Death) to start making their own brand of fast, aggressive music.

As in the past, the United States decided to bite back with a vengeance, which was embodied in the pop/glam metal explosion of the 80's. Van Halen was already there since 1978 and had become an arena band, hitting the world hard with Eddie Van Halen's guitar wizardry and David Lee Roth's wild show antics. The prototypical Journey had sold millions of records since its inception in 1972 with its keyboard-oriented metal, and later Angel and Foreigner would begin breaking through to the masses while Montrose released legendary music. But the real vengeance came in the early Eighties with Motley Crue and Ratt, two bands from Los Angeles which wrote relatively accessible songs that were big on hooks and strongly influenced by the likes of veterans Sweet and T-Rex. Both bands also took the glam images from bands such as Alice Cooper, David Bowie, the New York Dolls, Kiss, and Gary Glitter. Taking them to the extreme, glam metal bands began wearing women's makeup, leather outfits, fishnets, headbands, spikes, and whatever they could basically get their hands on. Motley Crue, perhaps the most important pop metal band of the 80´s, began the LA metal explosion in 1982 with Too Fast For Love, an album that was solely responsible for bringing heavy metal fully back into commercial circles; at the same time helping propel Ratt and the older Twisted Sister and Quiet Riot into stardom. "Round and Round," "We're Not Gonna Take It," and "Cum On Feel the Noize," respectively, broke each band over to mainstream audiences worldwide; a success that in turn paved the way for Bon Jovi.

Bon Jovi was the second most successful metal band ever, right after Def Leppard; selling millions upon millions of albums and releasing hit ballad after hit ballad. Slippery When Wet and New Jersey took the world by storm, as would Def Leppard´s Pyromania and Hysteria. These two bands perfectly learned how to take metal's harshness and mix it with pop's accessibility, therefore producing a perfect blend for the MTV-influenced youth of those days. Meanwhile, Motley Crue and Ratt innovated their own music with every album and remained successes for a long time, reflecting the darker side of pop metal. However, these bands obscured others which had as much to offer. Groups such as Kix, Faster Pussycat, and L.A. Guns, despite their strong material, never truly obtained the success they deserved, while bands like Kiss adapted to the ruling pop metal scene on songs like "Heaven's On Fire." Later on, the pop metal explosion would also obscure bands with harder or more classic styles, such as the acclaimed Thunder, G.U.N., and Junkyard; although others like the Cult and Jackyl did manage to surface.

However, pop metal eventually became too accessible and flashy and needed revitalizing. Whitesnake, which epitomized the common successful glam metal band, was already dying out despite its existence since the Seventies; only the strongest and best bands were surviving: Bon Jovi, Def Leppard, and Motley Crue. The scene needed a new type of band; a band that was not as polished and accessible, a band that came from the sleazy and edgy streets. Enter Guns n' Roses.

Guns n' Roses was what the pop metal scene needed; Appetite for Destruction was a searing, raw, and aggressive album, featuring Slash's bluesy guitar licks and Axl Rose's hanging-on-to-dear-life vocals. Guns n' Roses took the spotlight immediately with their mix of the Hanoi Rocks, the Rolling Stones, Aerosmith, and the previous pop metal bands with strong songs like "Welcome to the Jungle," "Night Train," and "My Michelle," while showing their softer side on "Sweet Child O' Mine." Guns n' Roses saved pop metal from commercial extinction and would eventually reign the scene along with Motley Crue, while Def Leppard and Bon Jovi enjoyed long breaks.
The coming of Guns n' Roses, however, would not prevent new accessible bands from appearing. Poison and Warrant were probably the best and most noticeable of these; although they weren't something completely new, their songs were original and catchy. However, their extreme use of makeup and glamorous clothing would incite critics everywhere to attack them as forgettable bands. White Lion was also an important pop metal offering; although some of the band's songs were trite, many of its material was quite impressive; especially songs like "Lights and Thunder," "Cry For Freedom," "If My Mind Is Evil," and "Leave Me Alone." Meanwhile, the bluesier Cinderella offered a string of honest and straightforward rock albums, and Tesla did likewise, shunning the glam image in the process. The far more experienced outfit Dokken was yet another strong feature of pop metal, displaying George Lynch's blazing fretwork, and a heavier influence of technical musicianship; while Europe blasted through the charts with the melodic masterpiece "The Final Countdown." Others like the Christian Stryper, the often criticized Winger and Great White, Mr. Big, Bad English, Damn Yankees, and Slaughter made up an important part of the scene. There was also the rather memorable Skid Row, but its line-up would eventually venture into much heavier grounds, despite the heavy success of its debut album: Skid Row.

The pop metal scene would also be responsible for bringing about the most popular and widely known female heavy metal musicians ever, who continued with the advances of the Runaways and the New Wave of British Heavy Metal Girlschool; the two bands most responsible for making rock a viable musical avenue for women. Joan Jett & the Blackhearts enticed admiration with the heartfelt "I Love Rock n' Roll," while Lita Ford would air on the music media through her single "Kiss Me Deadly." The two ex-Runaways members eventually lost their popularity, but they were responsible for influencing the creation of young new female bands like the velvety soft Vixen, the alternative L7, the obscure Phantom Blue, and the heavy and gloomy Drain S.T.H.

Meanwhile, a somewhat heavier and more classic approach to the genre was provided by several heavy metal legends during the Eighties. Black Sabbath, along with singer Ronnie James Dio, came back with Heaven and Hell and Mob Rules to much acclaim; both albums marking a stylistic change in which a more melodic approach was utilized. Meanwhile, Ozzy Osbourne, away from the Black Sabbath front, provided ardent fans with releases such as Blizzard of Ozz and Diary of a Madman, which featured prodigious guitarist Randy Rhoads and along with Dio's later solo releases would keep his type of melodic metal alive through the Eighties; partly due to efforts of newer melodic bands that stuck to heavy metal, such as the constantly evolving Savatage (originally a power metal band), the "Kings of Metal" Manowar, and Armored Saint, each with its own style. Several of the Seventies' legendary bands would make comebacks throughout the Eighties with different degrees of success, but there was no synchronized revival of the pioneering metal of old, partly because many bands had lost either their originality or the passion that had characterized their early impact.

To continue go here...http://www.neonblonde.com/st_hood/history.htm

[nroberts]

whose band was founded in 1965 under the name The Spiders (that means the Coop has been at it for over 30 years!).

Which would make this article about 10 years old...

Seriously though, I have a hard time taking a history of metal that call Bon Jovi "heavy metal" very seriously

Really, a lot of the bands mentioned I would qualify as hard rock (scorps, def lepard...), not metal...but everyone has their own opinions.

[Rythameen]

Originally Posted by nroberts

Which would make this article about 10 years old...

Seriously though, I have a hard time taking a history of metal that call Bon Jovi "heavy metal" very seriously

Really, a lot of the bands mentioned I would qualify as hard rock (scorps, def lepard...), not metal...but everyone has their own opinions.

I agree totally, whoever wrote that, doesn't know metal from a hole in the ground.

[Riff Addict]

Originally Posted by Rythameen

I agree totally, whoever wrote that, doesn't know metal from a hole in the ground.

Thats why I said opinions would vary....I consider old Def Leppard, Scorpions, Priest, to be "Heavy Metal". To me, in the 80's, any loud, guitar driven heavy music was "Metal" and that included many, many bands all lumped together. I don't consider Bon Jovi or the like to be Metal though...maybe Pop Metal?

[nroberts]

Originally Posted by Riff Addict

Thats why I said opinions would vary....I consider old Def Leppard, Scorpions, Priest, to be "Heavy Metal". To me, in the 80's, any loud, guitar driven heavy music was "Metal" and that included many, many bands all lumped together. I don't consider Bon Jovi or the like to be Metal though...maybe Pop Metal?

I would call Priest heavy metal but the others are more hard rock.

I wouldn't consider Jovi metal at all...not even in the same neighborhood. He doesn't even qualify as hard rock. Some of what he wrote is listenable, but it ain't metal, it ain't even heavy. Really the most you could say about him is Pop Rock; top 40 rock...glam rock maybe, but he seemed to have a little more taste than those guys.

[Riff Addict]

The article also includes Aerosmith, Queen, Kiss, and Thin Lizzy as Heavy Metal which is nuts. OLD Kiss and OLD Aerosmith were more along the lines of Pop hard rock but no way Metal and Queen & Lizzy were just rock. The me the Scorpions were a VERY heavy band and thats why I consider them Metal like Maiden and Priest. Sabbath was borderline Metal I guess.

[andrewtheshreddr]

sabbath borderline metal? .. .hm....!!!!!!!!!!

i agree with the scorpions VERY classic metal..

[Riff Addict]

Originally Posted by andrewtheshreddr

sabbath borderline metal? .. .hm....!!!!!!!!!!

i agree with the scorpions VERY classic metal..

I dunno....for some reason I consider Sabbath to be Hard Rock but the Metal label seems to fit other bands better like Priest and Maiden. I dunno why since its all really much the same in most ways.

[Goport]

. Judas Priest would be responsible for popularizing the concept of two guitarists in a heavy metal band

You know, I always figured Lizzy did this first. I guess they both had twin guitar lineups from 74 onwards but Jailbreak was the album that popularised it imo.

[Riff Addict]

Originally Posted by Goport

You know, I always figured Lizzy did this first. I guess they both had twin guitar lineups from 74 onwards but Jailbreak was the album that popularised it imo.

Lizzy not really a Metal band though but definitely a worthy mention. Good call...I love Lizzy and they surely made a huge contribution to hard rock guitar dominated music.

[P.J.]

Originally Posted by andrewtheshreddr

sabbath borderline metal? .. .hm....!!!!!!!!!!

i agree with the scorpions VERY classic metal..

Yeah borderline metal? I don't think so - they were metal.

I'd have to say via my music studies that Jimi Hendrix was the first true Heavy Metal musician. Jimi James and the Flames were playing in the Village around the same time as the Mama's And The Poppas. Jimi couldn't BUY a record deal here in the states - so he left for jolly old England. Jimi blew the doors off everyone over there. The first time he played in London was at a club called the Bag of Nails - and everyone was there - Lennon, Mcartney, Jagger.

Peter Noone said the first time he heard Hendrix, he felt as though he ought to quit playing the guitar from then on. Pete Townsend said he felt "a hell of a lot of pain" the first time he saw Jimi. Townsend said Clapton also "suffered from this".

Jimi was the first in many ways - which makes him I believe - the first Heavy Metal Guitar Player.

[Erf]

And so the debate rages on.........

All the bands mentioned above that are not considered to be metal, were considered to be metal bands in the time frame that they appeared in. Hindsight 20/20 or opinions of what someone believes is or is not metal from a different era does not change that fact. Yeah, I could sit here and say, such and such band to me is now more hard rock, or this or that, but it still cannot change what the era was presenting at the time or intention.

If I were to allow opinions, alot of the new metal stuff I would have to call, really crappy music metal. Or I cant sing so I scream or sound like a dying animal metal. But that would just be my opinion

[Sampson1]

Black Sabbath was more of a rock band that started some metal. AC/DC should dare not be called metal. Those loser death metal freaks should be thanking these guys.

[MusicIsNeat]

Not a bad analysis, and the article is definitely right about Motorhead.
On the other hand, I differ on the idea of calling, say, Bon Jovi "metal". Sometimes "rock" applies much more. Also, it left out some of the true founders of the heavier music such as DEATH (pre-slayer even) and
Sepultura. Both bands came out before or at the same time as Slayer, and were considerably heavier than
the Metallicas and Exoduses. And, as some seemed to have expressed already, some of the 70's and late 60's bands, while they undoubtably set the foundation for metal, are much more suited to the term "Hard Rock" or "Classic Rock". Although of you want to pick something from that ara, Black Sabbath likely fits the mold the most. On the other hand, I also agree with the sentiment that the "nu metal" stuff isn't metal at all. It's weak and whiny angst with 2 powerchords and real "simped out" if you will.

[pranav]

guys stairway to heaven the most famous metal song now thats just weird.