History of Heavy Metal Thread

[Certif1ed]

Originally Posted by Unknown Soldier

Whenever I think of really heavy early 70`s albums, I think Deep Purple and "In Rock" I think both Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin etc came nowhere close to this for heaviness.

If you get hold of one of the really early UK presses of II (although I've read that some German and even some Canadian presses are better), you may change your mind on Led Zep.

It's an astonishingly heavy album - but it's a wierd, delicate sort of heaviness, if that makes sense. Under the right conditions - decent source + decent playback system - it's the heaviest album ever produced.


Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, likewise, has some astonishingly heavy moments - but the albums that preceed it, while undoubtedly massively influential on post NWoBHM bands, lack that certain something in comparision.


And I almost agree with "In Rock" - it really is an incredibly heavy album, with many metal elements in place. I concur that Lord adds a special something to the heavy sound - the Hammond B3 is capable of a really snarly growl which gives me goosebumps, and Lord has a way of hitting the "heavy spot", especially on "Speed King". Gillan's vocals are amazing too - as, of course, are Blackmore's solos, which are the furthest away from pentatonic bluff of all the "big 3".

Somehow, though, Purple's music still lacks the "weight" of "Immigrant Song" or "Whole Lotta Love".

Could be my system, I suppose - I own first pressings of all Sabbath's albums, Zep II, III and IV (try finding a first press of I for less than £300 these days!), and "In Rock", and I'm using these for comparison, not some artificially tweaked CD.

The earliest UK press of Zep II is such a bad boy that it made the needle jump on my old system, and I sold it, thinking it was scratched. So many have done the same before me... it's not scratched, it's simply that the first release is famous for being mastered too loud for "cheap" systems.


It's a close thing - and much of it is down to production / mastering / end user taste, but I think Zep win the heaviness war - even though I think they're the least metal of the 3.


Ignoring production, I think that both Jeronimo and Buffalo had far heavier sounds than any of them, were much closer to metal - and they had that stomp/swagger thing going on at a raw level

[Flyingpig]

Originally Posted by Certif1ed

The plan here is to explore each stage of the development of heavy metal, on a year-by-year basis.

To get things started, we need to identify what it is that makes the Heavy Metal sound/style, and that is different things to different people.

It makes sense to me to have Heavy Metal defined as the music produced by the NWoBHM bands of the late 1970s. Although the acronym stands for "New Wave of British Heavy Metal", there was no clear "Old Wave" - that is, most bands, with very, very few exceptions, that played "metal" before the NWoBHM are also widely described as "Hard Rock", "Heavy Rock" or even "Progressive Rock", and the music is decidedly different.

With that definition, we have some boundaries by which we can identify traits in earlier music as being a precursor to metal, and formulate the history more successfully than the often ludicrous attempts you read elsewhere!

How often have I read that the term "Heavy Metal" is derived from some old book title (as if to try to lend it some sort of literary creedence!) and that it "originated in bands of the 1960s, such as The Kinks", or in the lyrics of some song or other.

Sorry, but this won't do - I mean to explore the 1960s and before in order to find out where the roots are, look at hard rock bands other than the usual suspects (Blue Cheer, Steppenwolf, Iron Butterfly, Vanilla Fudge, Purple, Zep and Sabbath) and really get intimate with the musical development.

In order to keep things as interesting and readable as possible, I'll put this analysis into the next post.

Didn't the Beatles invent it with Helter-skelter? I used to think that they made that 'cause they were inspired by Led Zep but then found out it predated the zep sound.

[Certif1ed]

Originally Posted by Flyingpig

Didn't the Beatles invent it with Helter-skelter? I used to think that they made that 'cause they were inspired by Led Zep but then found out it predated the zep sound.

Helter Skelter was on The Beatles (The White Album), which was released in 1968.

It's got a good, heavy riff, but as for its metal credentials, I've never been convinced - why not "Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" (1967) - or, if a Heavy riff is all it takes, "Keep on Running" by the Spencer Davis group (1965), which I posted earlier.


The heavy sound encapsulated by Gibson+Marshall stack is all there in the music of The Who (the first band to actually have a Marshall Stack) from 1965 (and possibly before - again, this was all posted earlier in this thread), and then there's that awesome heavy phrygian mode guitar tremolo of Dick Dale from 1962 to consider, along with the slightly earlier guitar+drums revolution of Sandy Nelson in 1961.

The Zep sound is rooted in Cream and the Yardbirds (1966 or thereabouts) - Zep aren't really the epitome of Metal, they just inspired a significant part of its development - as I think the rest of this thread shows.

Other heavy acts that predate Helter Skelter include The Doors, Iron Butterfly, Vanilla Fudge, Arthur Brown and Spooky Tooth - all far more credible genre-starters. One could even argue the case for The Troggs, who wrote "Wild Thing" (based on the way older classic, Louie, Louie) or Blue Cheer, of course.

Yet I don't really hear metal in hard rock until around 1971 - I'm pretty sure that Jeronimo (posted above) is the earliest example, with Buffalo not far behind.

Unless anyone knows of anything earlier, though, I think the real credit goes to The Sweet in 1973, who brought the music, attitude and image together for the first time.

[Certif1ed]

Can't believe I left this classic out of the 1972 posting!




The Edgar Winter Group's version is the heaviest, of course... (turn it UP!!!)




...and what self-respecting history of metal thread would leave out Wishbone Ash???




/edit

...and THIS by Focus



...obviously, Hocus Pocus is the one I'm referring to. I just like this clip because it includes Sylvia - and some awesome guitar work from the criminally underrated Jan Akkerman.


/stops before any more obvious ones spring to mind

I just can't stop myself - The Scorpions from 1972

[Unknown Soldier]

Originally Posted by Certif1ed

Can't believe I left this classic out of the 1972 posting!




The Edgar Winter Group's version is the heaviest, of course... (turn it UP!!!)




...and what self-respecting history of metal thread would leave out Wishbone Ash???




/edit

...and THIS by Focus



...obviously, Hocus Pocus is the one I'm referring to. I just like this clip because it includes Sylvia - and some awesome guitar work from the criminally underrated Jan Akkerman.


/stops before any more obvious ones spring to mind

I just can't stop myself - The Scorpions from 1972

For some reason I can`t see your video selection but out of interest which Wishbone Ash song had you selected?

[Unknown Soldier]

Originally Posted by almauro

Thanks to Jon Lord's crushing organ. He was the "Fifth Element".

Its quite amazing the influence that a great organ player can give a band, in Ray Manzarek, Jon Lord and Dave Greenfield for example. The music of the Doors, mk.2 Deep Purple and early Stranglers will always be remembered, these are three groups that I can put on at anytime and its not just for the brilliance of these group`s frontmen but also for the organ players as well.

[Certif1ed]

Originally Posted by Unknown Soldier

For some reason I can`t see your video selection but out of interest which Wishbone Ash song had you selected?

Warrior from "Argus".

There are probably better and heavier choices - especially from Pilgrimage - I just happen to like Warrior and its Epic feel.

[Certif1ed]

Originally Posted by Unknown Soldier

Its quite amazing the influence that a great organ player can give a band, in Ray Manzarek, Jon Lord and Dave Greenfield for example. The music of the Doors, mk.2 Deep Purple and early Stranglers will always be remembered, these are three groups that I can put on at anytime and its not just for the brilliance of these group`s frontmen but also for the organ players as well.

Dave Greenfield is a highly underrated keyboard player - and The Stranglers are one of my all-time favourite bands (more so than Spooky Tooth!).

[Unknown Soldier]

Originally Posted by Certif1ed

Dave Greenfield is a highly underrated keyboard player - and The Stranglers are one of my all-time favourite bands (more so than Spooky Tooth!).

There is a Stranglers thread on here in the punk section and it was kinda amazing just how few people had heard of them, most of their fans were old Brits like me