The History Of Metal

Yeah 'Spooky Two' is an incredible album- one of the best rock albums ever, and I reckon Spooky Tooth have a claim to being on the site as if Traffic are here, to me Spooky Tooth should be- they are a heavier version of Traffic.

1966-70 metal...hmmm....not really sure if there was much from that era you could call outright metal as such, yet has anyone mentioned Jeff Beck's first few albums 'Truth' and 'Beckola' that had Rod Stewart on vocals? Both are very heavy for 1968, and 'Truth' pre-empted Led Zeppelin's albums.

Iron Butterfly, in a sense, were heavy metal, as were Vanilla Fudge, as both did souped up heavy rock with lots of organ and guitar solos, with bombastic vocals. At first, Deep Purple were very much in the Vanilla Fudge mode as well.

Grand Funk Railroad formed in 1968, and were very heavy for the era too- they are often said to be one of the forefathers of grunge/metal.

Cream were an influence of pretty much every heavy rock band during the 1970s, in fact Eric Clapton has gone on record as saying 'we were the first heavy metal band....when we split Led Zeppelin filled the void'.

Mountain were a very similar band to Cream too, with massive, sludgy guitar riffs and thunderous bass playing.

Steppenwolf, lest we forget, were probably the first band to use the phrase 'heavy metal' in their classic 'Born To Be Wild', which is a great early metal song.

salmacis wrote: Steppenwolf, lest we forget, were probably the first band to use the phrase 'heavy metal' in their classic 'Born To Be Wild', which is a great early metal song.

I think that Born To Be Wild and Paranoid go hand in hand.

Ironically, I think that Metallica were the band that also revitalised and reinvented metal - at least twice.

"Kill 'Em All" was unlike any metal before it (except the bands that didn't really make it like Metal Church et al), and "Ride The Lightning" even more so. It's still an incredibly heavy album, with obvious roots in Black Sabbath (liberal use of tritones in the riffs - particularly "For Whom The Bell Tolls").

"Kill 'Em All" had influences from all over - but with a unique sound, albeit with slightly tinny production; Motorhead and Hawkwind stand out a mile, as do Priest.

"Master Of Puppets" was the world destroyer, though. While other thrash bands jumped onto the bandwagon - many with unique interpretations of the genre - "Master..." is practically a prog metal album with it's broad pallette of sounds and textures - but with the thrust still in the realms of thrash.

I use thrash as a meaningful cover-all term for bands that used the thrashing technique. Metallica, at this stage, were anxious to lose the branding, as it suggested something much simpler than the way they perceived themselves.

"...And Justice For All" was the result of Metallica rejecting the thrash label outright - but it still contains many thrash passages, and along with "Master..." remains a core influence on many progressive metal bands when they venture into thrash territory.

Death are probably the surprise long-lasting influence of that outpouring of thrash, since their style has evolved entire subgenres under the Death Metal umbrella, with Chuck's trademark grunts practically staple for many of the darker metal bands. And where would the entire Black Metal culture be without Venom? That "talentless" trio of Geordies had a massive impact that many strands of metal is still in the grips of.

Slayer created two of the most monumental albums in metal - "Reign in Blood" and "South Of Heaven", and again, the Black Sabbath influence is strongly present, but Slayer's style still seems to be peculiar to them.

Metallica revolutionised metal one more time with their self-titled album. The impressive wall of sound riffs are still a benchmark and have yet to be actually surpassed in terms of raw power. Sure others have produced mind-bogglingly heavy riffs and soundscapes, but I think that only Rammstein have come close to beating Metallica at the heavy game (with "Sonne" on the "Mutter" album).

In all of the development of thrash (convenient term only, remember!), it seems to me that it's probably as much the sound engineer's production as the actual music that has shaped metal to be how it is now - and the underlying metal sound has changed little since 1991. Less boxy, maybe, more brittle, certainly, but the developments of recent years have been in no way as significant as the changes Metallica brought about before they started thinking they were better than they actually were - probably the effect of all that money.

"Load"? Load of tosh if you ask me.

And what's with the hypocritical attitudes?

Anyway, never mind that - their contribution to metal is only surpassed by Sabbath, IMO.

And what's wrong with System of a Down? I love their Eastern-European style harmonies, great lead vocals and mad mood shifts. Who cares if they're popular? The single "Chop Suey" is genius in its insanity, "Toxicity"'s a great album, and "Mesmerize" is fun, if you don't already own "Toxicity".

Certif1ed wrote: Ironically, I think that Metallica were the band that also revitalised and reinvented metal - at least twice. "Kill 'Em All" was unlike any metal before it (except the bands that didn't really make it like Metal Church et al), and "Ride The Lightning" even more so. It's still an incredibly heavy album, with obvious roots in Black Sabbath (liberal use of tritones in the riffs - particularly "For Whom The Bell Tolls").Anyway, never mind that - their contribution to metal is only surpassed by Sabbath, IMO. And what's wrong with System of a Down? I love their Eastern-European style harmonies, great lead vocals and mad mood shifts. Who cares if they're popular? The single "Chop Suey" is genius in its insanity, "Toxicity"'s a great album, and "Mesmerize" is fun, if you don't already own "Toxicity".

I said that in another thread, too, and was brutally bashed for it. Metallica were THE big band that slammed the door to the NWOBHM and played something completely different. There were other, smaller bands that were different, of course ... Megadeth for once (a spin off if you will).

System Of A Down is great. Their first record is very experimental, Toxicity is more brutal, and Mesmerize ... i haven't heard it yet.

Certif1ed wrote: It's got better production than Toxicity - it makes the latter sound somewhat boxy by comparison. The songwriting isn't quite as strong, IMO, but there are some really great moments of SOAD style harmonies, an even stronger strong satirical edge to the lyrics and all the contrasts you'd expect. Some of it is a bit cheesey, the non-metal moments seem a bit amateurish somehow and "more of the same" - I'd like to see more development from this band. I didn't buy "Steal This Album", and I feel in no hurry to plug the gap. That said, it's definitely a new SOAD album, with all the ingredients you'd expect, and worth buying if you liked any of their other releases more than just a bit. /end mini-review

I guess that's the Rage Against The Machine effect ... I must say that I prefer bands who really try to move on in new directions, like Queens of the Stone Age for example. 

That's why I wondered why you thought Megadeth were a spin-off from Metallica - Mustaine clearly has his own style which is so strong that when he left/was booted from the band, the personality he put into Metallica left with him - which is largely why "Kill 'Em All" is so very different to "Ride The Lightning" IMO.

Megadeth's early material is so strong that I would hesitate to describe them as a spin-off, as that conjoures up images of a somehow lesser band. "Killing is My Business..." may be less consistent than "Kill 'Em All", but the emotions on the sleeve type response to Mustaine's being kicked out of Metallica is fascinating, and where the music is good, it kicks major ass, as they say - it's far more progressive in outlook than Metallica were at that stage in their careers.

Mustaine only appears on "Kill 'Em All" as joint songwriter on some songs. He was originally drafted in by Ulrich, who pretended he had a band in order to form one with James Hetfield in 1981. I believe that the posthumously released "Whiplash" EP features the original bassist Ron McGoveney playing bass - need to check.

Mustaine's heroin addiction was the reason for his sacking, AFAIK - a real pity given the man's obvious talent, but it's true to say that Metallica were supportive of Mustaine's band - or vice versa... I last saw Metallica in 1991 at the Milton Keynes bowl, with Diamond Head opening, then The Almighty and then Megadeth before Metallica hit the stage. Blindin' gig (I have a boot somewhere...)

I'm not sure why McGoveney was replaced - lack of talent, some cruel people might say. Burton was press-ganged from a support act called Trauma, and, while well-suited to Metallica, was not really the bass axe-hero many made him out to be. He was just damned good at his job, and liked to give a little flash every now and again. Not the Stanley Clarke of metal by any stretch...