The heavy metal rock genre: who invented it?
Where does Heavy Metal music come from?
It doesn’t really help to ask metal fans. They’re either too dumb or too messed up on the next line of six-packs to know. If you ask them, the ones with half a clue will tell you Black Sabbath, the band led by Ozzy Osborne. They’re right in one respect: Black Sabbath defined the darkness off the genre, with their satanic lyrics and the macho teen despair of their message.
Others will say, Judas Priest. It’s true in one respect: vocalist Rob Halford started the leather and chains look. He also happened to be gay.
Others will tell you it was Led Zeppelin. Certainly they were one of the early precursors, a band who rocked so hard that other bands were inspired to get that heavy. Many untalented groups joined the metal army after hearing Led Zep. Zep's John Bonham set the template for metal drummers, and Robert Plant’s high keening tenor yelp set the gold standard for metal’s vocalists.
Still others will tell you the inventors were Deep Purple, and here they are actually on to something. Deep Purple was the first successful band to consistently put out a heavy metal vibe, years before Black Sabbath existed. They were also a smart band, unlike most of their dumb acolytes: like Yes, they flirted with the idea of combining classical music with rock.
But they didn’t invent the music though.
It’s important to find out who invented heavy-metal, because the battle still rages over whether this is a respectable genre of rock ‘n roll or not. In some ways it can never be respectable, because it so easily becomes a parody of itself. It is, after all, the quintessential crude brainless bubba-stoopid boy stomp music.
Heavy metal has always been the dumb-fuck underbelly of rock ‘n roll. However, it has produced some great guitarists, which has kept critical interest in the genre alive. It takes a really good guitarist to transcend the stupefying cliché-diarrhea of the form. Only players as good as the guys in Metallica, Van Halen or Guns ‘n Roses have managed to keep metal half-way interesting. And chicks like Joan Jett.
However, to get back to who invented metal. If anybody can be said to have started heavy metal, it was the Kinks -- Ray Davies and his boys. Yes, the Kinks, even though they themselves were too smart to be a heavy-metal band. So this much can be said for heavy metal: its origin is highly respectable. It may be played by dumb boy bands, but it wasn’t invented by a dumb boy band.
The Kinks started the whole thing with a single song: their first hit, “You Really Got Me,” later covered by Van Halen. A great song.
John Lennon once claimed the Beatles started metal with his song “Ticket to Ride.” (He also said his band was more popular than Jesus.) He got it wrong. “Ticket to Ride” is a heavy song, but it isn’t as metal as “You Really Got Me.”
Why not? Because the Kinks came up with the one thing that defines metal, the one sound that launched a whole genre. Their innovation on “You Really Got Me” was this: they were the first to use a heavy fuzz riff guitar, which gave metal its most characteristic sound.
I hope this gives all you dumb-fuck metal fans a clue as to where your favorite dumb-fuck music actually comes from.
posted by Adam @ 6:57 AM
25 Comments:
And what music do you listen to, oh Adam?
If you honestly believe that all modern heavy metal follows the James Hetfield "hulk smash" prototype, you're less informed than the Joe Sixpack you presume all metal fans to be. Your attempt at talking down to a long-derided group of music lovers is sabotaged by your ignorance. Congratulations, jackass.
Hey, I guess I let my own tastes show, and shouldn't have derided the intelligence of metal fans. As someone has pointed out, Wagner is very heavy metal. It's the bombast of it that puts me off, so I started calling it dumb. Shouldn't have. Apologies. I like to listen to what could be loosely called Modern Classical, everything weird from Arvo Pert to Philip Glass, etc. as well as world music. In pop music I like folk rock -- Eagles, Byrds, Neil Young -- and hard rock -- the Stones, Creedence, etc. I also like power ballads, which have plenty of bombast, I guess. New Sounds on NPR every night at 11 pm. is my favorite music program.
Speaking of "dumb-fucks"...
Let's examine the history of metal, shall we?
Now let's see, here...if memory serves, Deep Purple cut their first album, "Shades of Deep Purple", in 1968, about two years (probably closer to a year and a half) before Black Sabbath actually cut theirs.
At the time, there was a lot of "heavy rock" running around the scene, so what Deep Purple was doing wasn't anything original. But the question is, was it metal?
In a word, no. Heavy Rock and Heavy Metal are two entirely different beasts. If you want to consider Heavy Rock to be Heavy Metal, instead of citing The Kinks, I'd probably push you in the direction of Jimi Hendrix, who undoubtedly laid down the template for future heavy metal guitarists, but was by no means a heavy metal guitarist himself.
And if you want to lay down claims of what guitarist started what trend (be it Hendrix with his look and his skill, Ray Davies with his heavy fuzz, etc etc, I could always point you in the direction of Buddy Holly also. Do you know what innovative technique Buddy Holly came up with? If not, go do some research and get back to me.
Now, if you'd really like to do some research and examine the whole look of the genre, we can take that back even further - Jim Morrisson of The Doors was undoubtedly a precursor to the frontman appeal.
Want to talk about theatrics? How about mentions for Elvis Presley, or Jerry Lee Lewis?
How about Steppenwolf, who actually coined the phrase "Heavy Metal" in verse with the song "Born to Be Wild"?
Hell, let's not forget about Bill Haley and the Comets - "Rock Around the Clock" incited riots in Germany and the song had a tarnished reputation forever after. That could arguably be the birth of metal, no?
Well, no.
All of this is fine and dandy (and true), but it's not the start of heavy metal, is it? Nope...none of it is. These are all examples of items that came to influence the future practitioners of the art.
That's right - art, dumb-fuck. Music is an art, ALL forms of music. Not just what you consider to be artsy. Moreover, it's not your dumb-fuck underbelly of rock and roll, you dumb-fuck. Seems to be a lot of "dumb-fuck" used in your dumb-fuck outburst about what you consider to be dumb-fuck music, so I do hope you'll allow me to continue on with your dumb-fuck trend and insert dumb-fuck into every dunb-fuck place I feel like, dumb-fuck.
I wasn't aware that the "battle was still raging" over whether or not metal was an "accepted" form of music. Considering how many heavy metal records have been released since, oh, 1970, it would seem to me that they've found an audience. What you're concerned about is whether or not metal will ever be mainstream and trendy at it's base. Let me resoundingly assure you that the answer will be no, simply due to it's basest nature.
And don't throw the 80's up at me, either...the whole glam-rock thing was called glam-rock for a reason: because it was not metal. Metal is, was, and always will be a fairly underground movement, not for the likes of those who are concerned only with the top 40 this week and what MTV is going to shove down their throats.
It's interesting to see who you actually refer to as a "talented" metal band, or a band with a talented guitarist. Joan Jett? Metallica? James Hetfield and Kirk Hammet, from a guitarists point of view, are two of the most overrated guitarists ever, frankly. More over, let's not even consider them, because Metallica hasn't been a heavy metal act since 1989, anyway.
Joan Jett? Are you sure you're conscious?
And as far as Van Halen's concerned, the only time Edward Van Halen ever flirted with metal was during the David Lee Roth era, when they were actually concerned with their own sound and not trying to emulate the Bon Jovi's and Survivor's of the mid to late 80's with Sammy Hagar. And Edward has certainly lost his touch with the guitar along the way - as he stands today, he's a shambles of his former self, and he's played the same guitar solo in live appeances since 1986.
Guns 'n' Roses? You said "At least [these bands] have managed to keep metal half-way interesting." I don't think there's any bigger dumb-fuck comment you could have made. If your only exposure to metal is what MTV has force-fed you over the years, than I truly feel sorry for you, because you have missed out on some really, really great music along the way.
Your obvious disdain for metal shines brilliantly (just couldn't resist the dig at Rob Halford being gay, could ya? Tells a LOT about you).
So where did HEAVY METAL, as we know it, come from?
You're totally right - and totally wrong.
It didn't come from JUST ONE BAND, dumb-fuck. It came from a culmination of everything mentioned. One band doesn't really deserve the credit, and probably never will because the genre is continually redefined by new artists who come up with a new angle.
Heavy metal is, at it's basest, music that's loud (usually). Other than that, it's really an open field and much more forgiving with experimentation than almost any other field of music. That's why the genre splits into so many sub-catagories...power metal, doom metal, speed metal, thrash metal, death metal, industrial metal, goth metal, progressive metal, shred metal, etc etc etc....the list goes on seemingly forever...
Of course, the dumb-fucks of this world who have NO concept of metal at all like to just consider this all the same thing and post illogical, uninformed blogs about the genesis of metal without actually researching it's history or have any real knowledge to base it on.
But fear not - need an authority? Ask a metal head.
Jeez, Anonymous, I apologized for the dumb-fuck comments, here and on Blogcritics. What happened, you got more upset at my apology than the post?
I stand by my two main points on metal history.
1) Deep Purple was the first real heavy-metal band.
2) The fuzz guitar on "You Really Got Me" started the sound of metal.
If you're so knowledgable, why don't you either refute these points with actual evidence, or present your own?
Why does it matter who was first? Oh yes that right we live in a society that has to be defined by whose first, or best or fastest. And this is why heavy metal has flourished, we metal heads dont care who was first or fastest or best. We like what we like (mainly loud guitars and double bass pedals), and we are smart enough to know that what MTV tries to feed to the masses is what the record labels pay them to feed to the masses. Fans of metal in many cases such as mine have grown out of the cookie cutter mold of pop music, into the vast open space that is metal.
I would suggest that the author of this blog listen to such albums as Therion's Sirius B and Lemuria, and Nightwish's Once. Both of the bands are heay metal bands but have incorporated elements of classical as well as opera.
It also appears that this blogger has not truely steped into the heavy metal genera, as he can only reference "metal" bands such as Metallica and Judas Priest. This was the face of metal in the 1980's, and the genera has evolved greatly in the 20 plus years.
The roots of heavy metal lay with the classical composers, such as Bach and Beethoven, and Wagner. Elements of classical music can be found in all generas of metal, and many metal musicians credit the classical composers as influences.
It shouldnt matter whose first, or who created the genera, or even if it is a acceptable genera. It clearly is as the metal band Nightwish held the number one slot on billboards album sales chart in the summer of 2004 holding off some of pop musics heavy weights in the Avril Lavigne, The Beastie Boys and Norah Jones.
Adam
If ignorance is bliss, you are a walking Garden of Eden.
Deep Purple themselves don't consider their music to be heavy metal, just hard rock. Roger Glover has said many times that he doesn't like heavy metal. Deep Purple's first three albums, with the orginal singer and bassist, are pretty far removed from even hard rock; it wasn't until Gillan and Glover came in and recorded "In Rock" that Deep Purple became somewhat heavier... but still not metal. Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Uriah Heep, Bloodstone... it wasn't just one band, or one musician, it was a movement towards something with more balls than the bubble-gum pop of the day.
By the way, look it up... Jimmy Page and Jon Lord played in the session that spawned "You Really Got Me"... which gives you Led Zepplin, Deep Purple, and the Kinks as tri-fathers of metal.
I don't go around calling you a pretentious art-fag for liking Phillip Glass...
This guy is a total ignorant about what METAL is.
The METAL genre has evolved so much and has became so rich that when someone just refers to HAIR BANDS (which made very good music anyway) or very well known mainstream acts like Metallica is clearly showing his lack of knowledge about the genre.
Man, read the lyrics of bands like Dark Tranquillity, Nightwish, Vader and then dare to say they are idiots (well, maybe you would not understand them anyway).
"I like...hard rock -- the Stones, Creedence, etc"
I think you owe it to me to come clean up the milk I just sprayed all over my monitor out my nose after reading that. Those bands are NOT hard rock.
And although Zep, Hendrix, DP etc contributed bits and pieces to heavy metal (I'd consider your opinion on the kinks contribution to be HIGHLY dubious), the true father of heavy metal IS Sabbath.
Probably the biggest contributer to making heavy metal, and the thing that gives it the heaviness is the chord progressions and scales. Tony Iommi was using scales and chords left for dead by trained classical, jazz, and blues musicians, because they were for lack of a better word, "fugly." He was also downtuning a load more than any of his contemporaries, I'm sure of that.
Next time you decide to write a crude rant on something you know little to nothing about, hold back on the smirnoff ice a tad bit beforehand, hmm?
Well well well, someone has a grudge don't they?
Heavy metal may be viewed by many as primitive, braindead music for the retarded (which, I will concede, it is many cases) but the fact of the matter is that heavy metal is one of the few genres left that has any musical talent of any nature. Dream Theater, Symphony X, Children of Bodom, Megadeth, Metallica (early years of course) all write music that is far superior in difficulty and complexity than any modern music. Yes, at times the lyrics may be very mundane and simple, but the group's musical prowess is where the true nature of the music lies. And still, as metal music is degraded for all of eternity by "those who know better", people stil hang off the testicles of bands like R.E.M. and U2, bands who demonstrated that it doesn't take music to be a musician, it takes bitching and moaning and the occasional vague poetic verse.
Now that I'm through with that... the inventor of heavy metal is a quite difficult topic indeed. Putting it on the Kinks is way way off (though they are a magnificent band that I enjoy quite a bit). Metal is not personified in fuzzed and distorted tones, it is personified in attitude. And while, "You Really Got Me" may have skimmed the surface of that attitude, it rarely gave birth to the genre as a whole. Black Sabbath were the true innovators of the sound and the music. Whether they were the first (debatable), they were the band that was the symbol of heavy metal, that every band with half a brain and a thimblefull of talent idolized and aspired to be. Yes, Deep Purple had a huge effect on the bands emulating Sabbath as well, as did many other bands. But the first band to truly lay down the groundwork for heavy metal as it is being made today (or, for a more optimistic time period, ten years ago), it is simply Black Fucking Sabbath.
P.S. You like modern classical music? Look into Symphony X and Dream Theater. They can and will re-educate you on the stereotypical "dumb metal music".
Jesse D.
NJ
"It’s important to find out who invented heavy-metal, because the battle still rages over whether this is a respectable genre of rock ‘n roll or not."
Does it really? And is the PMRC still in court with Dee Snider?
Please enlighten all us heavy metal troglodytes to the source of this discussion.
OH SNAP! You used your time machine to go back to 1985 and forgot to mention it! Oh my, you must be very flustered! I'll put a Smiths record on and make some cammomile tea for you.
Does someone have a link for an mp3 of Anal Cunt's "Artfag"?
Anyone?
I think in some ways you are correct in your assertion that the Kinks and their song "You Really Got Me" are the genesis of Heavy Metal. That one guitar riff and that guitar sound started something that resonates even to this day.
Said riff and sound were also created by a studio musician, one Jimmy Page. Pagey had just recently taken delivery of the second distortion pedal ever built by Roger Mayer(who would later achieve fame of a sort as the engineer and builder of Jimi Hendrix's effects pedals...). Jeff Beck, Page's friend and Yardbirds bandmate, commisioned the first one. Beck had already pioneered the use of howling feedback and screaming harmonics(achieved by overdriving his amps) while playing with The Yardbirds.
After The Yardbirds disbanded, Jimmy Page found himself sole proprietor of the name and obligations of that band. He formed a new group in 1966 and they performed as "The New Yardbirds" in order to fulfill contractural obligations. They released their debut album later that year under the name Led Zeppelin(a name suggested to Page by Keith Moon, the drummer of The Who, as a description of how their music would go over...). This debut preceeded Deep Purple's first release by almost 2 years.
The first documented use of the term "heavy metal" as relating to music was when a music journalist likened Led Zeppelin's sound to that of "the heavy metal thunder of cannon fire". Perhaps he was describing the sound of John Bohnam's drums. Bohnam as you stated IS the template for "heavy metal" drummers. Or maybe it was Page's roaring guitar sound(achieved with a distortion pedal. Hmmm....) or John Paul Jone's thudding bass or maybe even Robert Plant's "keening tenor yelp". Whatever it was, it was an apt description. And Led Zeppelin by definition, define Heavy Metal.
Amen.
Some very good points being brought up here. Myself, although being a Sabbath fan since a very young age, can admit that they weren't the complete originators. I agree with what many say here, in that it was a culmination of many things that came to define heavy metal. I do believe though, that Black Sabbath may have contributed the most, or at least took all the previous roots of metal, and set them in stone; The Satanic imagry (even though they were not "devil worshippers" themselves), overall darkness, and especially the sound- Sure, they didn't invent distortion, but they definitely did take it to different levels.
The original post was quite rude and showed bias and ignorance. But your apology and follow-ups show true class, I applaud you. It just saddens me, since links to this blog post look to be making the rounds on metal news sites, that the the flood of nasty comments soon to follow, will probably prove you somewhat right, and give a lot of us metal fans a bad name. :(
Your an idiot Adam. Oasis are the Beatles, Elvis Presley started Heavy Metal..."You really got me?" come on...you have to open your eyes and take your head out of your ass long enough to smell the aroma that is your being. Go rot in the same hole as Sharon Osbourne!!!!!
Adam,
After reading your taste of music, classical, it would be safe to say that a LOT of metal has roots in classical and there are douzens of classically influenced guitarists in Metal. You should check out Yngwie Malmsteen or Randy Roades. Both are great examples of classical music in Metal. Also, just a side note - Metal, unlike Rock, is known as a "virtuoso" genre of music. Unfortunately over the years, much of the music has swayed from that mark.
You said:
"Jeez, Anonymous, I apologized for the dumb-fuck comments, here and on Blogcritics. What happened, you got more upset at my apology than the post?"
I reply:
I, as a fan of the genre, and an musician in the genre, have had more than my fair share of shit-talking and insults from people like you over the years, knocking me, my music and my hobby, making remarks like "it's not music" and "You're not a REAL musician, you're a musical dumb-fuck and all you play is metal because you're so untalented" and so forth, ad nauseum.
Your little diatribe on the evolution of metal (and the ignorance of it's fans and artists) smells just the same as their stupid little rants.
You'll have to forgive me if your repeated use of the phrase "dumb-fuck" when describing the artists, the fans, and the industry in your post as a whole serves to irritate me.
And by the way, apology accepted.
You also said:
"I stand by my two main points on metal history.
1) Deep Purple was the first real heavy-metal band."
In that, you're wrong, because (allow me to paraphrase here) "...Purple was heavy rock, and remains heavy rock. Not heavy metal. The difference is in the material and it's presentation. [We're] not a metal band, per se, and never will be...Zep, Sabbath...they were metal. Sabbath more, truthfully. And that's me being truthful on that matter."
(The above is a paraphrased quote from Ritchie Blackmore when I spoke with him back in 1993 about people who like to consider Deep Purple the first heavy metal band. That's all the evidence to the contrary on that point there I consider necessary.)
You further said:
"2) The fuzz guitar on "You Really Got Me" started the sound of metal."
Again, I disagree with you on that, because there are quite a few examples of fuzz guitar in use before The Kinks applied the technique. If you're going to base that alone on the birth of heavy metal...I really don't know what to say, honestly. It certainly isn't, unless you're actually going to credit Chuck Berry for creating heavy metal, because Chuck was doing it in live appearances dating back to 1957 (or perhaps earlier). So maybe Chuck Berry invented heavy metal, then?
You finished up with:
"If you're so knowledgable, why don't you either refute these points with actual evidence, or present your own?"
I say:
I just did.
In the future, don't let MTV teach you about music, please.
You make some very good points, Anonynmous.
But: I'm sure Ritchie Blackmore is right to consider his band a heavy rock band rather than a heavy metal band, but listen, I was alive and living in London at the time, and to my ears it was a new heavy rock sound, which Black Sabbath copped. It sure sounded like metal to my ears, even if its creator Blackmore says it's heavy rock. But I take your point, if Ritchie himself says it wasn't heavy metal, I have to take his word for it.
To my mind, that Kink fuzz sound was the first time a guitar sounded like that, and was used as the first heavy metal riff. No way did Chuck Berry EVER produce a sound like that. The post about Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck by Ed, in which he details the story of the distortion pedals built by Roger Mayer for them, comes closer to the truth than I ever knew.
Anyway, thank you for accepting my apology. I was rude and thoughtless in my original post, and I'm sorry for having been such an asshole. I salute your dedication to heavy metal. It's not totally to my taste, but I acknowledge its power and the virtuosity of its best practitioners.
You said:
"You make some very good points, Anonynmous.
But: I'm sure Ritchie Blackmore is right to consider his band a heavy rock band rather than a heavy metal band, but listen, I was alive and living in London at the time, and to my ears it was a new heavy rock sound, which Black Sabbath copped. It sure sounded like metal to my ears, even if its creator Blackmore says it's heavy rock. But I take your point, if Ritchie himself says it wasn't heavy metal, I have to take his word for it.
To my mind, that Kink fuzz sound was the first time a guitar sounded like that, and was used as the first heavy metal riff. No way did Chuck Berry EVER produce a sound like that. The post about Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck by Ed, in which he details the story of the distortion pedals built by Roger Mayer for them, comes closer to the truth than I ever knew.
Anyway, thank you for accepting my apology. I was rude and thoughtless in my original post, and I'm sorry for having been such an asshole. I salute your dedication to heavy metal. It's not totally to my taste, but I acknowledge its power and the virtuosity of its best practitioners."
I reply:
Thank you. Furthermore, I apologize for my outbursts, which were probably equally (if not more) uncalled for.
I'm not going to deny that you cite some good examples, however, IMO, the origins of metal are probably best looked at in other areas.
Cheers and thanks for a lively debate.
I am glad that this issue is so open for debate. I personally was quite offended at first, thinking "Who is this guy?" and "Who does he think he is?" Now, after reading some of these posts, particularly your's Adam, I have to say I am impressed with how quickly everything is placed neatly back into context. After checking out some your favs Adam, I'd have to say that you have found yourself very uninformed, much to your own disadvantage I'm afraid. Well, I would enjoy the opportunity to point you away from the garbage you have been exposed to (even I won't take all your creedence away, when you deserve much by a lot of what you said) and suggest checking out what amazing things heavy metal has blessed us with (my opinion of course). I start with Opeth, whose latest effort "Ghost Reveries" just kicks my @$$! The more haunted cabaret styles of Arcturus, or even wierder with Ulver. Lastly, and to make this not too painfully long, always close to my heart is Nightwish. The creme-de-la-creme of female fronted metal with sharp-toothed edge and REAL soul.
Finishing, Adam, I am pleased to see the imact of such uner evaluated statements has come around and caused you to see things a little clearer. However, and once again, you do have a point with regards to some of your statements. However, Metallica is not where I would be going when I am discussing the pluses of metal. Sorry, had to say it. And Black Sabbath only carried on the Satanic dark thing from well before them. Everyone, check out Witchcraft Coven from the sixties who, when they threw in the towel, had their female member, a young Joan Baez, go on to sing "One Tin Soldier". History lessons all over the place.
That's all guys. Remember, all generalizations are wrong.
Jim
From extensive research, Heavy Metal (or the original 'sound'), first originated from the city Birmingham in the UK. The first sounds of 'metal' came from bands consisting of workers of the Metal foundries/factories of the UK Midlands, and the flavour soon spread worldwide.
Ozzie wasn't exactly the first, but he was certainly there at the get-go.
It is very hard to establish the very first Heavy Metal band, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Rainbow, Judas Priest, Led Zeppelin, they are all god examples of the very first bands that brought Heavy Metal into our ears. BUT, I will not stand still reading you say Metal fans are either way to dumb or way to drunk to know. As I read in a comment before, ignorance is a bliss and you are blessed as God can be
dude, Wagner started that whole mystical viking thing
lyraka.com/ourfatherofmetal/index.html
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