Heavy Metal

The Bands

   It wasn't a case of starting a musical form and everyone being so overwhelmed by it that they spontaneously jumped aboard. Heavy Metal grew slowly and picked bands up along the way as record companies realized there was a market for it. Couple this with how things evolve, where many similar ideas emerge independent of one another by people from all over.

    HM is plain old rock 'n roll with an emphasis on the power chords, the guitar sound that has that metallic twang. On the rock spectrum, metal occupies the end opposite soft rock, a few standard deviations from the center. That's what makes it so hard to define precisely- it's still all rock music. Lots of blurred edges. Where does this or that band fit in? 

   Since rock bands prefer to let the writers worry about labels, they don't feel constrained by how they're categorized. Sabbath didn't make every song as heavy as possible. AC/DC has a signature sound, but still had room for Slow Ride. I sure as hell don't know every band, but we'll see what we can come up with all the same.

Inspiration

   There were many offshoots from rock 'n roll when the 70s hit. Folk, Surf, Acid, Blues rock, Country rock (which seems like a redundancy), etc. A lot of styles came and went, but there has always been a trend toward a heavier sound. Even within careers, bands found their way to a harder sound. Check out early Deep Purple and contrast with the later stuff. Even the Beatles toyed around with some heavy stuff. This brings us to:

Deep Purple: I consider them one of the acts that informed heavy metal rather than belonged to the genre itself. It seems to be a matter of timing. 60s bands that kept it rolling into the 70s tended to end up on the harder edge of rock. DP had some classics that weren't HM in and of themselves, but inspired later bands that took the next step. 

Led Zeppelin: They exist in a bit of a gray area. Growing up, LZ was one of the first bands that people, who didn't like metal, spoke of when HM was mentioned. Fast Times at Ridgemont High has a line like that. LZ to me was a rock band that did play some heavy stuff, but was more noteworthy for the immense influence on subsequent bands. there aren't many late-70s and 80s HM bands that fail to pay respect to this giant of the era.

Cream, The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, Yardbirds, The Who,  The Faces: These were what the early metal bands (and later for that matter) listened to that made them want to be musicians. 

T. Rex: Odd band that was hugely successful for a time and melded fantasy with rock and had a couple of seriously heavy songs. Listen to the crunch of 20th Century Toy.

The Kinks: Pretty heavy band that walked the fine line of HM and rock. Their attitude was more in line with rock ' roll though.

Slade, Queen: Both bands created some great HM, but each marched to its own beat. Great rock bands that spawned imitators to our benefit.

Several others had influence, like Pink Floyd, Yes, etc. For every genre of rock, there's an accompanying metal category. Now, I'm told there's something called Classic Metal, akin to Classic Rock. What will they think of next?

Early Heavy Metal Bands

Black Sabbath: They got their (eventual) name from a Mario Bava film. The single biggest band in HM history. They were the definitive act in the art form. Elements of the occult, drug use, and horror imagery abound. As much as any one band, BS was responsible for the cries of Satanism that railed against HM. The thing is that snap judgements only make people look silly. If critics looked into BS (and metal in general) more closely, they'd realize it's as much showmanship as anything. 'Sabbath didn't think of things like that seriously- it was simply part of the show. Beyond that, song titles are often misleading. I suppose it's easier to shoot at large targets and not worry about particulars.

Uriah Heep: From the Dickens character. Fantasy was UH's mainstay, and atypical metal elements like keyboards were used extensively. Ken Hensley, a "renaissance man" among musicians, provided most of the writing and also the Hammond Organ, some guitar work, some vocals, and probably worked as the roadie for all I know. Lesser known today, they were as heavy as anything. check 'em out.

Alice Cooper: 'She asked me why the singer's name is Alice. I said listen, baby, you really wouldn't understand'. They were fooling around with one of those ouija boards and the name popped out. Alice was the band's name, then eventually the singer's name as he progressed through a solo career with many iterations. His music traversed the map, but got darker and heavier until his emergence from a semi-retirement in the 80s with a consistent metal sound. For my money, the first speed metal song was their Long Way to Go (1971). Alice has used humor throughout his career, sometimes merging with his favorite theme- horror. Listen to Vincent Price's speech in the intro to The Black Widow for an example of that. During his show-stopper, Alice executes himself in various ways during his shows. He's someone who brought theatrics to HM concerts, and the list of those in his wake is endless.

UFO: Although known mainly for the amazing Doctor Doctor, UFO was  one of those steady acts that soldiered on through the years and has left a decent legacy. Noteworthy is the international flavor that would become common in later years in rock and roll with Michael Schenker's addition to UFO in 1973. 

Scorpions: Germany's early big-name entrant into HM, the scorps have a tremendous list of great songs. Best of the Rockers 'n Ballads is required listening.

April Wine: Canadian foray into HM, even if they're not very well-known outside of Canada and the northern states. Oowatanite, Comin' Right Down on Top of Me, and Roller are good starter songs. Harder, Faster is one of the better albums out there.

AC/DC: The Thunder from Down Under is legend. Perhaps the most universally popular HM band ever. Pretty much any album is solid start to finish. Rhino Bucket from the early 90s and Airbourne more recently are excellent progeny from the Aussie greats.

KISS: Immensely successful band that was the Motley Crue of its day. Costumes, makeup, dark imagery- they're all here in this band. While fans may be split on it, for my money it was the guitar sound of Ace Frehley that carried them. Destroyer shows the band at its heaviest and sappiest all in one LP.

Judas Priest: Mid-70s standard-bearer for HM, 'Priest is one of the big names and will be until they carry the band members off the stage. Rob Halford helped bring extreme range to HM vocals- always in the list of best vocalists ever. Screaming for Vengeance is a good way to get acquainted with them.

Also worthy of mention:

Rush, Sweet, Nazareth, Montrose (early Sammy Hagar), Blue Oyster Cult, Thin Lizzy, Motorhead,  Rainbow, Riot, And Styx.

Did I leave some off? Sure. There will always be arguments as well as to who to include. Who's metal and who's not, etc. Rush was for about the first album, and a great one it is. Styx was until about Cornerstone in '79. It's not designed to be all-inclusive, just a good way to start a conversation.