Who invented heavy metal?

[notreligus]

The inventor of the vacuum tube?

It all depends on how we view the question.

Solid State Randall amps have been very popular with metal bands.

 

[notreligus]

A Brief History of Metal | Heavy Metal 101 @ MIT

 

[bekkilyn]

Interesting. Still, this is a metal cover of classical composers, not the composers themselves. Do you think that classical composers we're the first metal musicians? I suppose the cannons in 1812 Overture may have been something like metal to the 19th century ear, although adjusting for the time period holds many problems.

in any case, I love this kind of discussion on music! None of it matters, really, but it's fun & brings together interesting people into interesting friendships.

May God continue to bless us all!

I think it's more of a thing that rock and roll, and then later heavy metal, was influenced by many different composers and styles of music even as the musical instruments themselves became electrified and could make sounds in ways that weren't previously available. I often think that if J.S. Bach and others had access to these newer inventions, they would have at least experimented with them too, and perhaps created some compositions that may seem like rock or even heavy metal to us today.

But because the baroque, classical, etc. composers were big influences on many rock and metal musicians, they are in some way ancestors of heavy metal.

 

[timothyu]

1966 pre anybody. At the time this would have been considered heavy as there was nothing like it. First heard it as seat filler music at a Stones concert a few weeks after it was recorded.. Still like it today.

 

[Kenny'sID]

Solid State Randall amps have been very popular with metal bands.

I agree, but as far as beginnings, some of these effects were only possible through the use of tubes. While I figure solid state can do a pretty good job these days, and it'll only get better, some still swear by the vacuum tube.

Off topic, but as I understand it, even HD TV would be better if they used the old style CRT (vacuum picture tube), it's just no longer feasible to use for several reasons.

 

[timothyu]

Quantity outranks quality these days.. much like in the music industry.

 

[Chesterton]

Blue Cheer deserves honorable mention because their debut album was called Vincebus Eruptum in a typeface that was difficult to read. If they'd put an oomlat or two in there, they'd get full credit.

 

[GreekOrthodox]

I think it's more of a thing that rock and roll, and then later heavy metal, was influenced by many different composers and styles of music even as the musical instruments themselves became electrified and could make sounds in ways that weren't previously available. I often think that if J.S. Bach and others had access to these newer inventions, they would have at least experimented with them too, and perhaps created some compositions that may seem like rock or even heavy metal to us today.

But because the baroque, classical, etc. composers were big influences on many rock and metal musicians, they are in some way ancestors of heavy metal.

You mean like here at the 1 minute mark?

 

[Sir Robbins]

Distortion even in the 50's and 60's did not metal make as the songs were melodic. Even Sabbath although borderline metal, was still melodic. The true metal came when it lost any sense of melody and became primitive driving beat and nothing more, ideal for musicians who couldn't play guitar but knew how to distort and bend a string into anger. It was the end of a decade of head music and definitely decades of melody. Hard rock still dominated the metal scene in popularity through the 80's even if many confused many hard rock groups with metal. But the mindless metal influence continues today in an industry of bland offerings where like automobiles, everything sounds the same.

True metal is the modern day classical music style. The kind you describe is rubbish to a metal head like me. It is just noise but that's NOT the case with early metal styles...

The early examples of Metal are of course Black Sabbath and even Deep Purple but Purple was more known as hard rock back then as with Rainbow when Richie left Purple. Iron Maiden are the masters of the genre though. They came along in 1975 but their sound and style lead to the formation of other genres of metal like thrash... I assume your idea of metal was the death sound and speed of it that was a turn off for you? It is for me too but man has Iron Maiden kept it together. They even wrote a song about Jesus on their last album.

You want a phenomenal example of the music? Listen to the "Somewhere in Time" album from Maiden. Not the type of metal you describe but definitly true metal....

 

[timothyu]

but man has Iron Maiden kept it together. They even wrote a song about Jesus on their last album.

And yet in real life they are your typical straights. Real showmanship to match the music.

 

[bekkilyn]

True metal is the modern day classical music style. The kind you describe is rubbish to a metal head like me. It is just noise but that's NOT the case with early metal styles...

The early examples of Metal are of course Black Sabbath and even Deep Purple but Purple was more known as hard rock back then as with Rainbow when Richie left Purple. Iron Maiden are the masters of the genre though. They came along in 1975 but their sound and style lead to the formation of other genres of metal like thrash... I assume your idea of metal was the death sound and speed of it that was a turn off for you? It is for me too but man has Iron Maiden kept it together. They even wrote a song about Jesus on their last album.

You want a phenomenal example of the music? Listen to the "Somewhere in Time" album from Maiden. Not the type of metal you describe but definitly true metal....

One of my shining life moments was the opportunity to see Iron Maiden live for their Powerslave tour back in the day. I even used the cover of that album for part of a school presentation on ancient Egyptian symbolism and hieroglyphics.

 

[Sir Robbins]

One of my shining life moments was the opportunity to see Iron Maiden live for their Powerslave tour back in the day. I even used the cover of that album for part of a school presentation on ancient Egyptian symbolism and hieroglyphics.

truly envious of you for that. I first saw them in 2000 on Brave New World. Been on every tour except 2 of them since.... Missed Dance of Death and Edward the Great but Early days tour on I was there... They're fantastic every time

 

[Citanul]

The only opportunity I've had to see Iron Maiden was on The Book of Souls tour, and it was probably the best concert I've been to. They know how to put on a show, without all the theatrics overshadowing the music.

 

[ArmenianJohn]

Black Sabbath. There are other "proto-metal" groups that were on the verge of what we would call Heavy Metal but Sabbath really defined the genre with their music and everything else extrapolated from them. Proto-metal would be groups like Zeppelin and Deep Purple. Interestingly, Deep Purple is tied closely to Black Sabbath and then many, many bands rose out of those two groups (Whitesnake, Dio, Rainbow, etc.)

 

[ArmenianJohn]

The only opportunity I've had to see Iron Maiden was on The Book of Souls tour, and it was probably the best concert I've been to. They know how to put on a show, without all the theatrics overshadowing the music.

They are really awesome. I love them, they're one of my favorite bands. It's funny you say "without all the theatrics" because they're actually a bit more theatrical than a lot of heavier groups.

 

[ArmenianJohn]

One of my shining life moments was the opportunity to see Iron Maiden live for their Powerslave tour back in the day. I even used the cover of that album for part of a school presentation on ancient Egyptian symbolism and hieroglyphics.

I only saw them for the first time in my life this past September. However, I frequently get to go see my friends' Iron Maiden cover band here in NY. Still it was amazing to see the real band FINALLY! LOL

 

[Citanul]

They are really awesome. I love them, they're one of my favorite bands. It's funny you say "without all the theatrics" because they're actually a bit more theatrical than a lot of heavier groups.

What I meant was that the music stands on its own without the theatrics. Without the theatrics it would still be an amazing concert, and the theatrical elements enhance it rather than take it over.

 

[public hermit]

Black Sabbath. There are other "proto-metal" groups that were on the verge of what we would call Heavy Metal but Sabbath really defined the genre with their music and everything else extrapolated from them. Proto-metal would be groups like Zeppelin and Deep Purple. Interestingly, Deep Purple is tied closely to Black Sabbath and then many, many bands rose out of those two groups (Whitesnake, Dio, Rainbow, etc.)

I wholly agree. Something distinctive happened with Sabbath that was different than say, with Led Zeppelin. I have always said Sabbath was less blues-based than Zeppelin, but I don't know if that's it.

I did get to see The End Tour in 2017. It was fantastic! I was so impressed that those old guys could still hammer it out. I was a little bit nervous because I'm not as young as I used to be and didn't want to get caught up around a bunch of rowdy kids. But it was mostly older folks just like me, haha. It was great!

 

[Sir Robbins]

I wholly agree. Something distinctive happened with Sabbath that was different than say, with Led Zeppelin. I have always said Sabbath was less blues-based than Zeppelin, but I don't know if that's it.

what made them different was really Tony's guitar tone... There was nothing like it then and was the precursor for future metal bands to use. Listen to that tone here

 

[Citanul]

I wholly agree. Something distinctive happened with Sabbath that was different than say, with Led Zeppelin. I have always said Sabbath was less blues-based than Zeppelin, but I don't know if that's it.

I've heard Martin Popoff put forward the argument that heavy metal only really came into its own when it left the blues behind, and that's something that I would be inclined to agree with. So that does point to Black Sabbath being the first metal band as they moved away from the blues quicker than Led Zeppelin did. As a side note, that might explain why metal took off in Britain initially more than in America as blues persisted longer with the latter's heavier bands.

And I think that Led Zeppelin's influence was ultimately more on hard rock than it was on metal. Admittedly, in the early days there wasn't much distinction, but as the two diverged hard rock's roots were more in Led Zeppelin than Black Sabbath, and vice versa for metal.

Also, the idea of having a band fronted by a singer with pin-up looks and an incredible voice is very much a Led Zeppelin thing. They weren't necessary the first to do so as you had The Who (and possibly others) already doing that, but they solidified it. Granted, metal bands often follow that template too, but the I'd say that the "rock god" frontman is bit more of a hard rock thing.

The other band often brought up in these discussion (and which has been in this thread) is Deep Purple, and I think they helped metal move away from the blues as they incorporated ideas from classical music, and the prominence of musical virtuosos in metal can probably be traced back more to them rather than Zeppelin or Sabbath. Not that the musicians in either of those two were shabby by any means, but Deep Purple took it a bit further.