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When
did heavy metal begin? It’s hard to say. According to most metal annals, the
first outbursts came from the Kinks with "You Really Got Me" and the Who with
"My Generation" around 1964. As for the first heavy metal artist, that position arguably
belongs to Alice Cooper, whose band was founded in 1965 under the name The Spiders
(that means the Coop has been at it for 33 years!). However, heavy metal was
not to truly flourish until the year of 1967 and Alice Cooper was to become
embedded in the collective mind of the world until 1971 with the classic Love
It To Death.
During 1967, the rock world was still absorbed by the Summer of Love, but it was about to witness one of its most important revolutions; bands like Golden Earring (formed in 1965), Cream, the Jimi Hendrix Experience, Led Zeppelin, Vanilla Fudge, Iron Butterfly, Steppenwolf, Blue Cheer, Deep Purple, Grand Funk Railroad, Free, Uriah Heep, Mountain, Humble Pie, Bloodrock, the MC5, Black Widow, Atomic Rooster, Cactus, and Black Sabbath came to being between 1966 and 1970, and struck the world with what Steppenwolf would call in one of its songs "heavy metal thunder" (the first time the term was ever used; originally used to describe the sound of a motorcycle). A new type of music, which borrowed heavily from rock and roll and the blues, was gaining influence on the youth of those times, which was already getting tired of the stagnant Summer of Love scene.
Cream and the Jimi Hendrix Experience were the first
bands to give heavy metal a high commercial profile. The legendary guitarist
Eric Clapton was part of the first; a band that remains a seminal power trio
and heavy metal band that released such memorable songs as "Sunshine Of Your
Love" and "White Room." During the course of four albu
ms
and two years, Cream became a prominently successful band that influenced the
likes of Rush andVan Halen and would later spawn the also legendary Blind Faith.
The Jimi Hendrix Experience was another musical trio, based around the guitar
histrionics of the legendary Jimi Hendrix. Albums such as Are You Experienced?
and Electric Ladyland drew thousands of ravenous fans that feasted on the music
provided by the band that is often mentioned along with Janis Joplin and the
Doors as a premiere rock unit.
Several new bands, such as the bluesy Foghat and Bad Company, the ferocious Budgie, and the legendary UFO were spawned by the growing heavy metal explosion, while others like Status Quo hardened their sound; but until 1973 the kings of heavy metal were undoubtedly Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, and Black Sabbath. They were bands with technical prowess and a compositional inventiveness and passion unseen before, which coalesced into the hardest music existing during those times. This era also marked the beginning of Satanic imagery in heavy metal, and of spectacular, energetical live shows.
The Satanic imagery came courtesy of two English bands: Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin. Led Zeppelin’s guitarist Jimmy Page (formerly of The Yardbirds, a band that was critical in influencing heavy metal with its psychedelic distortion and in spawning legendary guitar players Page, Clapton, and Jeff Beck) had a strong personal fascination with the occult, while many of Sabbath’s lyrics within their ample range of themes dealed with the occult. However, the Sabs did not claim to be Satanic, unlike many future metal bands; in fact, Ozzy Osbourne, vocalist of the band during those times, claims to have been scared off by fans wearing black robes and carrying candles with themselves.
As
for the live shows, they were carried out by every band, most notably by Led
Zeppelin’s "rock till you drop" concerts that lasted about two hours; and by
Alice Cooper’s colossal shows, known to feature boa constrictors, mutilated
female mannequins, and Alice Cooper himself in a beheading spectacle. Bands
moved onstage, introduced bigger-than-life special effects into their shows
and recreated their music in front of fiery crowds of fans
The first few years of heavy metal (the music being called classic metal at times because of its pioneering status) are considered by most as the best era of the genre ever. Without a doubt, it is quite a memorable segment of this music’s history. Led Zeppelin, unquestionably the most popular heavy metal band ever, created classics such as "Black Dog" and the Arabian "Kashmir;" but also had the brilliance of experimenting with forms of music such as reggae and folk. In fact, the latter was an essential part of the most widely known heavy metal song ever: "Stairway to Heaven." The masterfully created masterpiece was crafted by Page and vocalist Robert Plant to perfection and even today remains a constant radio stapl
It
was, however, until 1970 that Black Sabbath inaugurated what many consider the
"true" feeling of heavy metal. Gloomy, crunching, and foreboding, albums like
Black Sabbath, Paranoid, and Master of Reality demonstrated the somewhat wicked
musical direction of guitarist Tony Iommi and band members Ozzy Osbourne, Bill
Ward, and Geezer Butler, through classic songs like "N.I.B.,
"
"Paranoid," and "Children of the Grave." Bands such as Corrosion of Conformity,
Metallica, and Nirvana were all influenced by the metal anthems provided by
one of the genre’s most memorable bands ever. Meanwhile, Deep Purple, after
going through a progressive rock stint with vocalist Rod Evans and bassist Nick
Simper, developed a solid slab of rock on their classic Deep Purple In Rock
and would for a long ime be heralded as true innovators of music. Ritchie Blackmore’s
classical guitar training, along with Jon Lord’s synthesizers and Ian Gillan’s
piercing shrieks, was crucial in the development of heavy metal as it is known
today.
During the mid-Seventies, six new bands were to also
walk into the spotlight: the Blue Öyster Cult, Thin Lizzy, Judas Prie
st,
Queen, Aerosmith, and Kiss. Judas Priest would be responsible for popularizing
the concept of two guitarists in a heavy metal band; Aerosmith for bringing
back the blues, sex, and drugs; Thin Lizzy for breaking through with aesthetical
and musical flash and style; Queen for introducing perhaps the greatest degree
of experimentation within music and the renewal of majestic melodies and harmonies;
and Kiss for revolutionizing the art of live shows, at times presenting slightly
macabre theatrics strongly reminiscent of Alice Cooper’s. And the Blue Öyster
Cult? They disappeared into oblivion after a series of forgettable albums released
in the 80´s. But during their halcyon days in the 70´s, they were an important
part of the hard rock arena circuit, combining beautiful 60´s harmonies with
searing guitars.
While a number of heavy metal bands cemented their
reputation as rock giants for years to come, certain bands would begin taking
another highly popular form of music, progressive rock, into a heavi
er
direction. Bands like Pink Floyd and Genesis had remained most of the time outside
the heavy metal realms, while others like Jethro Tull, Yes, and King Crimson
flirted with it more often on songs like "Aqualung," "Heart of the Sunrise,"
and "21st Century Schizoid Man," respectively. Characterized by complex song
structures, odd-time arrangements, and a highly technical and virtuous use of
instruments, progressive metal would not come truly into being until the creation
of Rush. On its debut album, Rush, the band had not yet acquired a tendency
for the progressive; but by the time of Fly By Night and the acquisition of
drummer Neil Peart, the band changed its approach and became more ambitious
lyrically and musically, driving its progressive outings to their furthermost
limits on albums like A Farewell to Kings and Hemispheres. Most other progressive
bands, such as Emerson, Lake, and Palmer, Focus, Asia, and Marillion, only flirted
with metal through their years of existence.
Unfortunately, metal was to stagnate completely in
the late Seventies. Aerosmith, Thin Lizzy, and Black Sabbath were digging their
own tombs because of their drug-consuming habits, Kiss had lost its charm because
of over-commercialization, Deep Purple faded out due to personnel changes, and
Led Zeppelin ended with the death of drummer John Bonham; only Judas Priest
and Queen remained almost intact during these times. And no
t
only were the greatest bands dying slowly, but every new band was just ripping
off the old glory; metal was on its dying bed. Only a few bands were still thriving
among the ruins, among them AC/DC and Rush; the former taking over the world
with their three-chord attack, guitarist Angus Young’s lunatic careening on
the stage, and Bon Scott’s hell-raising screams; the latter inspiring new generations
of musicians with their progressive brand of music. Ted Nugent, formerly of
the Amboy Dukes, released hyperactive gems like Cat Scratch Fever and Double
Live Gonzo to much acclaim during the last half of the Seventies and would be
another of the few surviving musical groups. Blackmore’s Rainbow was the last
of the great rock giants to die or metamorphose by the end of the Eighties,
after Ronnie James Dio left the band amidst a flurry of clashing egos which
had earlier produced melodic epics on albums like Rainbow Rising and Long Live
Rock n’ Roll.
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