I enjoy many styles of music, but I really like to go back to my early years.
Some of my favorites go back to my late teens and 20's.
Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath are among my favorites.
Pioneers of hard rock, and some say heavy metal.
"vikesrule" wrote:
As a self-proclaimed expert on all things Metal, I'd drop Zeppelin but list Purple and Sabbath as proto-Metal. Purple gave Metal that "neo-classical" direction that's still prevalent today, but it was Sabbath that separated Metal from traditional rock 'n' roll by using a simple Jazz beat, of all things.
If you ask Tony Iommi today what kind of music they play, he'd tell you "heavy jazz." Why? Because of the beat. The beat is truly the only way to judge music. Like what's the difference between a polka and a march? They're both 4/4ths, right? So shouldn't they be the same? No, obviously.
Rock and roll has a do-da-do-do-da do-da-do-do-do-da beat and a thousand variations. Metal actually uses a Jazz beat, but it mimics the grinding of machines - BOOM-BASH-BOOM-BASH and a thousand variations.
Even Robert Plant (who I actually like very much) admitted Zeppelin was never really proto-Metal because of their beats.
Metal actually came from the industrial cities of England and if you listen to their early lyrics, they reflect it. Like listen to Sabbath's
Iron Man, a song about a soldier coming home with shell shock. Or Judas Priest's
Metal Gods, which was Cyberpunk before William Gibson's Neuromancer or the first Terminator movie. The song's about machines ruling people, which is what you saw when you worked in the industries. We don't work the machines, rather, we're slaves to them as any Working Class factory worker will tell you.
Speaking of machines, it was a machine that actually caused Metal's chords, which are usually 5ths. Tony Iommi worked in a factory and got two of his fingers on his left hand shredded, so he simply couldn't play normal chords. Even with two fingers on his left hand, he still played wicked leads (as you know), but today's Metal is still predominantly 5th chords.
Now that I've put everyone to sleep except for Metalheads, what am I listening to? Glad you asked. Heavy Metal, of course. Right now:
Primal Fear's New Religion (German power Metal)
Nightwish's Oceanborn (Finland, Symphonic Metal)
Children of Bodom's Blooddrunk (Finland, melodic Death Metal)
Dimmu Borgir's In Sorte Diaboli (Norway, Symphonic Black Metal)
HIM's Love Metal (Finland, Love Metal)
I've seen all these bands live except Primal Fear and Children of Bodom. I just recently bought my first CoB album and didn't even know about them until a few weeks ago. Yeah, I'm getting older but trying to keep current with my Metal.
Other bands that you've gotta listen to if you want to stay current with Metal - Opeth, who may be the most talented band in the planet right now. Their music is too weird for most people though. Everyone seems to hate Cradle of Filth, but I like them so much I've seen them twice live. I actually think they're quite talented. And of course Judas Priest, after almost 40 years, is still good.
My man Donald Driver
(thanks to Pack93z for the pic)
2010 will be seen as the beginning of the new Packers dynasty. 🇹🇹 🇲🇲 🇦🇷