October 17, 2006
Refers to: The Esoteric, "Subverter" (2006); podcast ["Like a House On Fire"][1].Jimi Hendrix distorted black American blues. Heavy metal is the fusion of distorted and AMPLIFIED, guitar-heavy blues with psychedelic rock which originated in the late 1960s in Birmingham, England. [Black Sabbath][2], [Deep Purple][3] and [Led Zeppelin][4] are the holy trinity of metal, though Steppenwolf's "Born To Be Wild" is the first time the term "heavy metal" is mentioned in song. Of that trinity, the furious droning of Black Sabbath's early music remains linked most closely to the sound of metal today, in all its multiplying permutations. Philosophically, heavy metal was something of a nihilist movement; the result of the cultural and political disillusionment of the late 60s leading to a "life ain't always pretty" attitude which resulted in a "let's make our own worlds" manifesto. Life, death and all crimes and fantasies in-between continue to be central themes of metal music.King Crimson's Robert Fripp has repeatedly praised the metal culture for staying outside of rock's corrupt corporate system. Crimson itself was a forerunner of metal-listen to "21st Century Schizoid Man" from Crimson's 1969 debut "In The Court Of The Crimson King for the blueprint of the form to come. The Beatles' "Helter Skelter" from the White Album" (1968) is often cited as one of the earlier examples of heavy metal.Twelve Ancestors of Metal Bach heavy baroque Wagner sturm und drang The Who power chords The Kinks distorted guitar The Yardbirds more or less became Led Zeppelin MC5 fury The Stooges fuzzbox mayhem Cream heavy guitar & drum sound The Doors dark and mystical Blue Cheer psychedelic blues Vanilla Fudge ditto Iron Butterfly troglodytic beats + psychedelic blues. First album called "Heavy" (1968)Seven Archetypes of The Golden Age (1969-1973) Led Zeppelin I (1969) Black Sabbath Paranoid (1970) Uriah Heep Look At Yourself (1971) Led Zeppelin IV (1971) Jethro Tull Aqualung (1971) Deep Purple Machine Head (1972) Blue Oyster Cult Tyranny and Mutation (1973)Twelve Descendants of Metal Rainbow AC/DC Spinal Tap Judas Priest Iron Maiden Metallica Slayer Killing Joke Danzig Jane's Addiction Rage Against The Machine Wolfmother [1]: http://www.lawrence.com/podcasts/street_level/2006/oct/16/house_fire/ [2]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Sabbath [3]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_Purple [4]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Led_Zeppelin
Comments
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AlAlvin (anonymous) says...
ummm....no Motorhead on this list let alone Hawkwind?
October 18, 2006 at 3:05 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
thetomdotdot (anonymous) says...
Blue Cheer is the reason I play the piano. When I was nine, my dad came in the room while I was jamming to Vincebus Eruptum. He didn't say anything, but the guitar "disappeared" a few days later.
Vanilla Fudge is the reason I play the piano. When the other kids were showing off "Mary had a Little Lamb" or "Heart and Soul", I was plinking the opening riff to "You Keep Me Hangin' On". Gave me a bit of street cred with the rough kids who thought the piano was for sissies, which saved me from having to kick their asses.
October 18, 2006 at 8:52 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
tomking (Tom King) says...
AlAlvin: Certainly not a comprehensive list--you fill in the blanks. Hawkwind is a tricky one, though--is it prog or is it metal?
thetom: Bon Jovi is the reason I drink.
October 18, 2006 at 10:43 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
lazz (anonymous) says...
But where does Olivia Newton-John fit in?
October 18, 2006 at 1:27 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
tomking (Tom King) says...
Lazz: Between Danzig and Jane's Addiction. I think there's a video...
October 18, 2006 at 1:51 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
thetomdotdot (anonymous) says...
Olivia Newton-John is the reason I play the piano. Oops I mean Elton.
October 18, 2006 at 2:54 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
lazz (anonymous) says...
Grease is the word ...
October 18, 2006 at 5:19 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
quinno (Patrick Quinn) says...
Tom King is the reason I play the blogs.
Don't forget _Live at Leeds_.
October 19, 2006 at 8 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
leslie (Leslie vonHolten) says...
I'd like to add Guns & Roses for saving it in the mainstream in the late 80s--even if they could only maintain with one (maybe 2) albums.
October 19, 2006 at noon ( permalink | suggest removal )
tomking (Tom King) says...
Quinno: "Live At Leeds"... what memories that brings back. "Substitute" alone worth the price of the album (which was, what, $6.99 back then?). I spotted a digi remaster of concert footage from that show online the other day. Movie Night when you return?
October 20, 2006 at 10:48 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
quinno (Patrick Quinn) says...
It's a date.
October 20, 2006 at 3:34 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
AlAlvin (anonymous) says...
leslie: I'd like to add Guns & Roses for saving it in the mainstream in the late 80s--even if they could only maintain with one (maybe 2) albums.
If they cut all the crap from "Lose Your Illusion" cds they would have had a solid cd. Izzy was the driving force for the band.
October 21, 2006 at 3:34 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )