Favorite metal song

[toddvj]

Someone just asked, What is a metal band, or what is the metal sound, I don't know if I can answer that, but, I know what it ISN'T, it isn't Power Ballads, that's for sure. Don't get me wrong, I liked some of the HairBands, but those guys made power ballads. Have you ever been to an AC/DC show, Judas Priest, ever remember hearing a power ballad at one of those, Hell no. Led Zep to me was Heavy Metal, one minute pounding you with sounds and rhythms you have never heard before, while swirling around the room in a sonic assualt on your mind, full metal attack, then the next minute, lay you back with some beautiful acoustic guitar lick, a soft passage. They are the band that defines;Heavy Metal, they RULED the 70's, Robert Plant, the lead singer everyone wished they were, what a voice, what range, the FrontMan; Mr. Page, another old yardbird, enough said; the Rhythm section; John Paul Jones, multi talented, sorta invisible bassist, keyboard player, always there in the background, and last but not least, Bonzo, a very complex style drummer, perfect for these guys, some will say, the best drummer ever, I won't argue that point. That's my take on a Heavy Metal Band, as far as the sound of Heavy Metal, Gee, I'm not sure, how about, GIBSON Guitars through a WALL of MARSHALL AMPS turned up to 11!!!!!

You're kinda "ramblin" there. Are you saying AC/DC and Judas Priest aren't metal because they don't do power ballads? (I don't really consider AC/DC a Metal band, anyway). Or are you saying Led Zeppelin is a metal band because they did do Ballads? Or are you trying to say something else entirely?

[oldbuckster]

Led Zeppelin wrote the book on Heavy Metal, a thundering barrage, one minute, then a soft passage the next, the name itself, Led (heavy) Zeppelin (lighter than air), two different extreme's. Heavy Metal means different things to different people. AC/DC, Priest are metal bands that chose NOT to do ballads, that's fine, that's their style. Zep on the other hand did it all, no limits on them.I'm not sure how others define Heavy Metal, I'm not sure I can give it one definite answer as to what is Heavy Metal, but I do know this, I never heard the term used until Led Zeppelin stormed onto the scene, and the rest is history. Maybe the problem is putting names on music, why Heavy Metal, Hard Rock, Death metal, Speed Metal, Grundge, Punk Rock, the list goes on, bottom line, it's all just music, listen and learn.

[Joe Shmoe]

I kind of group hard rock & heavy metal together.... like you stated, it's hard to differentiate sometimes.

[BobbyT]

I can't believe noone has mentioned Motorhead. They're the band that started the speed metal style of Metallica and the like. I believe Black Sabbath was the first real Heavy Metal band with thier dark heavy sound. Yes Led Zepplin were great but Sabbath had the sound. My .02.

[Joe Shmoe]

AH yea...I have a 2 disc greatest hits by Motorhead... who can forget "Ace of Spades" or "Orgasmatron"

[Heideana]

I agree it is hard to differentiate between hard rock and metal. I tend to think of hard rock sounding maybe more romantic and rooted more directly in the blues, while heavy metal is darker, more stripped down and rooted in blues via acid rock.

In terms of power ballads, I think Zep defined the structure with "Stairway to Heaven"...everything that follows is derivative(although I've heard a few things by the Smashing Pumpkins and Weezer that seems to side-step reappropriation.). As I think about it, I hear a lot of Donovan's influence on prepping my ear for Led Zeppelin.

It might be that I'm older, since no one else seems to remember Blue Cheer and Steppenwolf? "Astrodominy" and "Careful with that Axe, Eugene" are probably the first things I remember hearing that made me think of heavy metal...

[oldbuckster]

I agree it is hard to differentiate between hard rock and metal. I tend to think of hard rock sounding maybe more romantic and rooted more directly in the blues, while heavy metal is darker, more stripped down and rooted in blues via acid rock.

In terms of power ballads, I think Zep defined the structure with "Stairway to Heaven"...everything that follows is derivative(although I've heard a few things by the Smashing Pumpkins and Weezer that seems to side-step reappropriation.). As I think about it, I hear a lot of Donovan's influence on prepping my ear for Led Zeppelin.

It might be that I'm older, since no one else seems to remember Blue Cheer and Steppenwolf? "Astrodominy" and "Careful with that Axe, Eugene" are probably the first things I remember hearing that made me think of heavy metal...

I mentioned Blue Cheer earlier, and Lemmy and Motorhead, Hat's Off to them both.I do have a question though, Do you really think that "Stairway to Heaven",is a power ballad? Would you lump it in with power ballads from Warrant, White Snake,the Crew,Poison, you know what I mean? I don't believe they are in the same league as the ZEP, not even close.Ballads, the best at ballads is Aerosmith, really, who does a ballad any better than Steve Tyler? Tyler can sing them, and Joe Perry's guitar never stops playing all the way through them. In the 70's I considered Aerosmith a great rock band,"Toys"and my favorite "Rocks", but over time I think they've mellowed, and ballads are what they're best at, and they are still a good band.

Steppenwolf, now they are a different story. Who didn't grow up with,"Born to be Wild", "Magic Carpet Ride",sunglasses on, cocky, brash young dudes we were, come on admit it, all you old farts. Heavy Metal Thunder, John Kay led us down that road, and alot of us followed, and some remain. Songs of our youth, god, life seemed so much simplier back then. My favorite by Steppenwolf was,(don't laugh)"Monster", what an albumn, to me, it is one of the greatest protest albumns ever.Steppenwolf making a statement about the times, and John delivering the message like he had never done before, great stuff. I will not bore you guys anylonger, but I do en joy this, good post, whoever started it! One last thing before I go, Have we become the "old men" that the Who used to sing about? Where would you place the Who in this picture? Long Live Rock!

[Heideana]

Sorry Oldbuckster, I missed your Blue Cheer when I first read the thread! Their second album "Inside/Outside", was a favorite of mine to blast and dance as a kid...Monster was pretty cool too! [<)]

Oh my no! [] I'd never lump STH with any of the bands you mentioned. I meant that it defined the format, particularily the way the tempo keeps picking up during the song as it starts out slow and acoustical with the sudden huge electric onslaught of a suspended chord. Now the song sounds trivial I think because of overplay, but the first play was magical and I'd never heard anything like it. It certainly blew away the doom/gloom of those first two Sabbath albums in one fell swoop as I recall.

Also, probably at the risk of offending folks, at the time I tended to find most "power ballads" from bands that followed Zep to be a bit hollow. By the time Journey was blasting the airwaves I'd taken refuge in jazz and bizarre bands like Amon Duul II. There was also a stint in blues and new age and it wasnt' until I heard something by the Smashing Pumpkins that I really started to tune back into rock. I'd forgotten about Aerosmith because they kinda seem like new comers/youngsters to me although I agree with you about Steve Tyler...

In terms of placing the Who in my schema of heavy metal, I'd place them in "hard rock" because of their Mod roots and the way their sound always seemd too clean and refined for heavy metal. Flipside is that there ani't no denying that they were loud...really heavy decibels levels, and if I recall things correctly, early Marshall's were essentially designed around Pete Townsends' desire for ever increasing volume. I'm thinking its' really hard to keep from being those "old men", especially in the face of hip-hop and rap where it seems a lot of that anger has gone...

[oldbuckster]

Heideana; You must admit, this is an interesting post, I hope we haven't taken post over, but I find this interesting, and hate to drop it. Scrape away all the phrases, aren't we really talking about classic rock, and how over the years, it has been changed, or shall I say, remolded it self? Inside/Outside; classic Blue Cheer, you also feel STH was overdone, You are so right about that. Seemed like every wedding, every school prom, was a Stairway To Heaven theme,YUK, but a good song none the less. You mention Journey, boy they sold alot of albumns, but so did Foreigner, Styx, the faceless, hitmaking, chart topping record selling groups. No wonder you turned to jazz, rock became bland, stale, radio muzak. Rap, Hip-hop, don't do much for me either, do you really have to swear so much to make a point? How often do you hear swear words in old classic songs? Did you need swear words to know what they were talking about?

When all else fails, there is Bob Marley and the Wailers, they helped me through the bland period of rock. A great songwriter, frontman, with great vision, and backed by a pretty fine group of musicians. Great stuff. I've rambled on long enough, time to let others in, didn't mean to bore you. Peace!

[Heideana]

I was worried about taking the thread over too, especially since it was pretty well developed before I jumped into it. However, it caught my eye and I couldn't help myself from commenting...

At the risk of continuing to hijack it, I have to say Bob Marley lead me into the Police and U2. Its' kinda trippy to think of U2 as some quirky Irish band with some really interesting guitar stuff and a bad singer...look at them now! I still don't like Bono's vocals, but they certainly have come up with some different takes on hard rock...where would they fit in the heavy metal schema?

[oldbuckster]

Heideana, It's been awhile, and we seem to be the only ones using this post, so here I go again; The Police, hard to believe they were born during the Punk movement, no punks there. A very talented trio of musicians, who kinda took reggae music, blended with a little pop/rock, and you have the Police. Great stuff they did, always had wonderful sound, and Sting, I do not care for his solo career, his vocals always fit the songs. Never mind that he is a great bassist, he was the perfect frontman for that band. Stewart Copeland on drums, long drink of water that guy, solid, steady, excellent drummer. The guitar was never out front enough for me, kinda in the background behind the other guys, but I think that's the sound they wanted. They broke-up after "Synchroncity", which I feel was the right thing to do, that was their masterpiece, they would never top that disc. ARTISTS, is the only word to describe them.

U2; what a story these guys are. A little band from Ireland, where does one begin; A band born in a terror filled country, friends, family being killed daily. Four guys join together to form a band, and over a 20 year period become a musical force. Say what you want, they speak out about the worlds troubles, and deep down, are a protest band. Much in the vane of say, Jefferson Airplane/ Starship, their music has something to say, though most don't hear that.I think Bono has a great voice, very under rated, much like Axel Rose, great range, perfect frontman for that group. I tend to buy most of my U2 on DVD, a real good place to start is;"Rattle and Hum", great insight into the group, and what they are about. Alot of black and white footage, but that's fine, well worth the price.Jump ahead to U2 go Home live from Slane Castle, Ireland; a bare bones, welcome home, to Irelands own band. Strip away the lights, the fancy stage, this is a Rock band come home to their "Tribe". These guys can play, and play they do, wonderful show. If you want CD's please try "War", "the Joshua Tree", great discs, must have U2. I guess the tie in to the metal scene would be the protest angle, no band today, is more politically based than U2. World hunger, the Aids epidemic, and poor undeveloped countries are important issues facing us today.

I look at some of the groups others have posted, and frankly, I know nothing about them. That's fine, that's what they know and like, and that's the way it should be. Music is such a great thing, so many different forms for so many different people, there is something for everyone. Music, to me, is the sound track of life on a big radio, what station you choose to listen to, is up to you. Me, I like the Classics! Did I answer your question?

PS: I don't like everything U2 has done, some of it late 80's to mid 90's is alittle to poppie, techno for my tastes, Just the band trying something different.