The Roots of Heavy Metal

topofsm wrote: ^I suppose the term metal had to have changed, rather than the boundaries being pushed. Cause let's face it, if Led Zeppelin was metal today, we'd have to say that My Chemical Romance, Green Day, and any pop-punk or regular punk band more intense than them as metal. Let's face it, those bands have more distortion, screaming, and more frantic drumming than LZ, Black Sabbath, or Deep Purple. Though if they were called metal in the 70's, then they certainly were metal in the 70's.

talking about roots of heavy metal and not real metal bands, right?

so, i'd have to say: Blue Cheer, Atomic Rooster, Grand Funk Railroad, Iron Butterfly, Lead Zeppelin and of course Steppenwolf...

I believe the term was first used to describe a Humble Pie performance...never understood why bands like Black Sabbath,Uriah Heep, Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin aren't considered metal because they didn't sound like the groups to come after them. It seems the idea of metal changes from one generation to the next; the fact that something older doesn't sound like the metal today doesn't make it any less metal- these older bands had the same boundary pushing mentality...just my two cents

This is THE real metal:

Edited by Alberto Muñoz - April 28 2009 at 13:22

The Kinks are the origin of all things. Forget the Big Bang theory.

I've often thought Beethoven's 5th was Classical Heavy Metal.

Metal didn't evolve out of nowhere...the bands cited contributed to metal to be certain, and so did Cream, Hendrix, and a host of others. Sabbath was the first truly metal band. BTW, in the 80's and 90's just as many metal bands cited Zeppelin as an influence as Sabbath. It was with the advent of grunge who leaned on sludge rockers like the Melvins that Sabbath really took a more center stage.

Heavy metal , the genre that   we known today was promoted at large scale by Iron Maiden and Judas Priest.  Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Motorhead,etc each of them with contribution to the genre. Sabbath had doomy riffs over slow and groovy music but combined with heavy arrangements, Priest and Maiden delivered the heavy metal music to the large public and Motorhead gives the speed in heavy arrangemets. If about the heavy metal term , yes Steppenwolf was the first one who sad "heavy metal Thunder" in Born to be wild. Anf if about Led Zep, Uriah Heep, Purple - they are hard rock bands with prog leanings - not metal at all.

I've been a metal fan for ages and obviously, I'm one of the select few chosen to be a Progressive Metal Team member at this side and to me, Led Zep ain't metal.
Reading lots of interviews of guys that played metal in the generation after Sabbath (the 80s stuff, thrash etc) and they all cite Sabbath as an influence, but few if any of those guys even talk about Led Zep as being metal, let alone an influence.
That G aeolian chug towards the last 1/4 of the song Black Sabbath is IMO, the first true, proper metal riff.



Edited by Petrovsk Mizinski - April 28 2009 at 02:19

Black Sabbath


The End.