Heavy metal music
In 1968, three British bands named Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, and Deep Purple formed to create a sound that would define a new genre. These groups drew from the blues rock of the early 1950s and the acid rock of the mid-1960s to forge a thick, monumental style. Blue Cheer released their debut album Vincebus Eruptum in January 1968, featuring a cover of Eddie Cochran's Summertime Blues that many consider the first true heavy metal recording. Steppenwolf followed with Born to Be Wild later that month, using the phrase heavy metal thunder to describe a motorcycle. The Jeff Beck Group released Truth in July, breaking ground for generations of guitarists with molten sounds. By September, Led Zeppelin made its live debut in Denmark as the New Yardbirds. The Beatles released Helter Skelter in November, one of the heaviest songs by a major band at that time. Iron Butterfly's In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida became an example of the transition between acid rock and heavy metal. Cream, a power trio featuring Eric Clapton and Ginger Baker, derived a massive sound from unison riffing and double bass drumming. Their albums Fresh Cream and Disraeli Gears are regarded as essential prototypes for the future style. The Jimi Hendrix Experience's Are You Experienced also influenced the genre heavily. Vanilla Fudge created loud, slowed-down arrangements of hit songs, bathing them in a trippy, distorted haze. Coven portrayed themselves as practitioners of witchcraft, using dark imagery in their 1969 debut album Witchcraft Destroys Minds & Reaps Souls. This marked the first appearances in rock music of the sign of the horns.
Heavy metal is traditionally characterized by loud distorted guitars, emphatic rhythms, dense bass-and-drum sound, and vigorous vocals. The electric guitar projects sonic power through amplification, serving as the key element historically. Guitarists maintain gain at moderate levels to retain open spaces while turning the amplifier up loud to produce punch and grind. Thrash metal guitar tone features scooped mid-frequencies and tightly compressed sound with multiple bass frequencies. Most heavy metal songs feature at least one guitar solo, which serves as a primary means for performers to express virtuosity. Nu metal and grindcore bands tend to omit these solos entirely. Rhythm guitar parts create a heavy crunch sound by palm muting strings with the picking hand and using distortion. Marshall Amps are frequently used to achieve this specific texture. The lead role of the guitar often collides with the frontman or bandleader role of the vocalist, creating musical tension as they contend for dominance. Heavy metal demands the subordination of the voice to the overall sound of the band. Deep Purple's Jon Lord played an overdriven Hammond organ to enhance the fullness of the sound. In 1970, John Paul Jones used a Moog synthesizer on Led Zeppelin III. By the 1990s, synthesizers were used in almost every subgenre of heavy metal. The prominent role of the bass is also key to the metal sound, providing the low-end crucial to making music heavy. Metal basslines vary widely in complexity, from holding down a low pedal point to doubling complex riffs along with guitars. Some bands feature the bass as a lead instrument, an approach popularized by Metallica's Cliff Burton in the early 1980s. Lemmy of Motörhead often played overdriven power chords in his bass lines. Heavy metal drumming relies on the trifecta of speed, power, and precision. A characteristic technique involves striking a cymbal and then immediately silencing it by grabbing it with the other hand. Black metal, death metal, and some mainstream metal bands all depend upon double-kicks and blast beats.
Black Sabbath and the numerous heavy metal bands they inspired concentrated lyrically on dark and depressing subject matter to an extent hitherto unprecedented in pop music. Their second album Paranoid included songs dealing with personal trauma like Fairies Wear Boots and wider issues such as War Pigs. Deriving from blues roots, sex remains another important topic running from Led Zeppelin's suggestive lyrics to explicit references in glam metal. The thematic content has long been a target of criticism for being juvenile or advocating misogyny and the occult. During the 1980s, the Parents Music Resource Center petitioned U.S. Congress to regulate the industry due to objectionable lyrics. In 1985, Twisted Sister frontman Dee Snider defended his song Under the Blade at a Senate hearing against allegations of sadomasochism. He stated the song was about his bandmate's throat surgery. Ozzy Osbourne was sued over Suicide Solution in 1986 after parents claimed their son committed suicide following listening to the track. Osbourne was not found responsible for the teen's death. Judas Priest faced a lawsuit in 1990 where parents alleged subliminal statements encouraged two young men to shoot themselves five years earlier. The case attracted media attention but was ultimately dismissed. In 1991, U.K. police seized death metal records from Earache Records in an unsuccessful attempt to prosecute the label for obscenity. Some predominantly Muslim countries have officially denounced heavy metal as a threat to traditional values. In 1997, Egyptian police jailed many young fans accused of devil worship after finding recordings during home searches. Malaysia banned Lamb of God from performing there in 2013 on grounds that lyrics could be interpreted as religiously insensitive. A study from 2009 suggests fans suffer from poor mental health at similar or lower rates compared to the general population.
For many artists and bands, visual imagery plays a large role alongside sound and lyrics. Down-the-back long hair is the most crucial distinguishing feature of metal fashion. Originally adopted from hippie subculture, by the 1980s and 1990s it symbolized hate, angst, and disenchantment of a generation that never felt at home. Long hair gave members power to rebel against nothing in general. The classic uniform consists of light-colored ripped jeans, black T-shirts, boots, and black leather or denim jackets. T-shirts are generally emblazoned with logos or other visual representations of favorite bands. Many performers used radically shaped and brightly colored instruments to enhance stage appearance. Fashion was especially important for glam metal bands of the era. Performers typically wore long dyed hairspray-teased hair known as hair metal. They applied makeup such as lipstick and eyeliner while wearing gaudy clothing like leopard-skin-printed shirts. Tight denim, leather, or spandex pants completed the look along with headbands and jewelry. Pioneered by X Japan in the late 1980s, the Japanese movement called visual kei emphasizes elaborate costumes, hair, and makeup. Bands like Kiss performed with white and black face makeup and spiked clothing. Gene Simmons extended his tongue on the 1977 Love Gun album cover claiming to have started the sign of the horns gesture.
Many subgenres developed outside the commercial mainstream during the 1980s such as crossover thrash. Editors of AllMusic and critic Garry Sharpe-Young have mapped the complex world of underground metal into categories including thrash, death, black, power, and related styles. Punk rock emerged in the mid-1970s as a reaction against overindulgent rock music. Sales of heavy metal records declined sharply in the late 1970s facing competition from punk and disco. Motörhead founded in 1975 became the first important band to straddle the punk-metal divide. British magazines like NME and Sounds took notice when Geoff Barton christened the movement New Wave of British Heavy Metal. Bands including Iron Maiden, Saxon, and Def Leppard re-energized the genre by toughening sounds and reducing blues elements. By 1980 NWOBHM had broken into the mainstream with albums reaching British top 10. Deep Purple broke up after Blackmore's departure while Led Zeppelin split following John Bonham's death in 1980. Eddie Van Halen established himself as a leading guitarist with his solo on Eruption from 1978 considered a milestone. His sound crossed into pop music when featured on Michael Jackson's Beat It which reached number one in February 1983. A scene developed in Southern California during the late 1970s featuring bands like Mötley Crüe and Quiet Riot. These acts incorporated theatrics and makeup of glam metal or hair metal bands. Def Leppard's videos for Pyromania made them superstars in America while Quiet Riot topped Billboard charts with Metal Health in 1983. The 1983 US Festival drew largest audiences for heavy metal day featuring Ozzy Osbourne and others. Between 1983 and 1984, heavy metal share of all recordings sold
increased from eight percent to twenty percent. MTV launched Headbangers Ball in 1987 devoted exclusively to metal videos. Guns N' Roses released Appetite for Destruction in 1987 recharging the Sunset Strip sleaze system. Jane's Addiction emerged from L.A. clubs identified with alternative metal trends. New bands like Winger and Skid Row sustained popularity of glam style. Since mid-1990s popular styles expanded definition including groove metal and nu metal incorporating elements of grunge and hip-hop.
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Common questions
When did heavy metal music originate and which bands formed it?
Heavy metal music originated in 1968 when three British bands named Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, and Deep Purple formed to create a new genre. Blue Cheer released their debut album Vincebus Eruptum in January 1968 featuring what many consider the first true heavy metal recording.
What are the defining musical characteristics of heavy metal sound?
Heavy metal is traditionally characterized by loud distorted guitars, emphatic rhythms, dense bass-and-drum sound, and vigorous vocals. The electric guitar projects sonic power through amplification while Marshall Amps are frequently used to achieve the specific texture required for the style.
Why has heavy metal faced legal challenges and censorship throughout history?
During the 1980s the Parents Music Resource Center petitioned U.S. Congress to regulate the industry due to objectionable lyrics leading to lawsuits against artists like Ozzy Osbourne and Judas Priest. In 1997 Egyptian police jailed young fans accused of devil worship after finding recordings during home searches and Malaysia banned Lamb of God from performing there in 2013 on grounds that lyrics could be interpreted as religiously insensitive.
How did fashion and visual imagery become central to heavy metal culture?
Down-the-back long hair became the most crucial distinguishing feature of metal fashion originally adopted from hippie subculture before symbolizing hate and angst by the 1980s and 1990s. Performers typically wore light-colored ripped jeans black T-shirts boots and black leather or denim jackets while bands like Kiss performed with white and black face makeup and spiked clothing.
Which subgenres emerged outside the commercial mainstream during the 1980s?
Many subgenres developed outside the commercial mainstream during the 1980s such as crossover thrash including categories mapped by editors of AllMusic and critic Garry Sharpe-Young. Punk rock emerged in the mid-1970s as a reaction against overindulgent rock music while Motörhead founded in 1975 became the first important band to straddle the punk-metal divide.