A little bit of history here and there, and hopefully a first step to expanding music tastes!!
KNUX PRESENTS... INTRODUCTIONS TO MUSIC GENRES
i. Heavy Metal
Metal is one of the most diverse genres of music there is. There's loads of information about it online so I don't need to go into too much detail.
A lot of people will go as far as saying it's all just noise! I used to find a lot of heavy music hard to listen to, but overtime (with help from bands who started metal) it has become one of my favourite styles.
Here we go...
There may be issues with copyright in different countries, so I've put the name of the song in bold above the videos.
Metal Influences
If you haven’t listened to metal before, it’s probably not best to dive into extreme technical death metal bands juuust yet.
To start off, here are two songs by arguably some of the most important influences on the genre of metal themselves.
The Beatles - Helter Skelter (1968)
I couldn't find the actual studio version of the song, but instead a live performance by Paul McCartney.
Many would go as far to say that this is the first metal song. It’s defintely the heaviest Beatles song, that’s for sure.
Deep Purple - Chasing Shadows (1969)
I wanted to include the song Child In Time, but I felt that a 10 minute song may be a bit long and proggy for some (that’s not to say you shouldn’t listen to it!) so I decided to choose this lesser known gem off their self-titled release.
Led Zeppelin - Communication Breakdown (1969)
This is a classic (the whole album is amazing to be honest), but this short and sweet 2 and a half minute song has fast guitars, bass and drums. For the time, this was really out there. It was one of the heaviest things going! Led Zeppelin shouldn’t be considered a metal band, but they were defintely influential on the genre itself. These dudes were the one of the first bands I really got into. Their early albums will always hold a special place in my heart.
If you dig this track, you may also want to check out these other Led Zeppelin classics: Whole Lotta Love, The Immigrant Song and Stairway To Heaven.
Queen - Father To Son (1974)
Not many people would consider Queen a metal band, but their earlier work is pretty damn heavy at times. This 6 minute epic is one of their heaviest tracks. Stone Cold Crazy is also a pretty heavy track, too. This is the band that made me wanting something heavier.
Heavy Metal
Black Sabbath - War Pigs (1970)
The first heavy metal band, Black Sabbath are one of the most important music artists of all-time. Their first album is very likely what drove the evil atmosphere surrounding metal music. It’s a great album, but it can be a bit depressive and dark for some. I would therefor recommend this song.
Black Sabbath have released 19 studio albums (technically 20) and have had so many line-up changes. You may be familiar with classic songs such as Paranoid and Iron Man. Their first 6 albums are essential. It’s so hard to choose what songs to listen to because pretty much everything during the Ozzy era was sheer brilliance, but that’s not to mean that the other eras should be ignored! Dio (vocalist in Rainbow), Ian Gillan (also the vocalist in Deep Purple), and Tony Martin are amongst the few you should check out.
Tony Martin’s era, I would say, is for advanced listening.
Judas Priest - Victim Of Changes (1974)
Judas Priest are literally gods. Rob Halford’s voice is seriously out of this world (example: Painkiller). In 1974, the band released their sophomore album, and I’ve never heard a single bad word about this record. This entire album is a classic, but Victim Of Changes is really the stand-out track, in my opinion.
Even if you don’t like the song that much, there is no denying that Halford’s voice is on another level.
Other Priest classics: Tyrant, Sinner.
The Scorpions - The Sails Of Charon (1977)
But believe me, there is so much more out there. If you are viewing these videos via YouTube, I’m sure you’ll find plenty more bands in the suggested videos.
I also hope to expand on other genres of metal if this takes off.
If anyone wanted me to do any other genre, or sub-genre of music, I’ll take the request on board. I’m pretty well versed in genres such as rock / prog / metal, and all the bits in between.
Always willing to share the love.
BUT PLEASE DO NOT BECOME A MUSIC SNOB!!
At the end of the day, what you listen to is what you listen to. There is nothing worse than someone with a Dark Side Of The Moon avatar ranting on about how there’s no more good music “these days” or that Justin Beiber sucks (not gonna lie, I love his new stuff). Music eletism is so stupid (trust me, I used to think nothing could compare to Queen).
Believe me, there are modern masterpieces being created all the time - you just gotta look for them!
ALWAYS RESPECT OTHER PEOPLE’S TASTE IN MUSIC, even if you don’t like what they listen to. BUT DO TRY AND EXPAND THEIR TASTE!!! just not in a way that’s patronizing or rude.
I hope you enjoyed and found this read helpful.
The More You Know!
