(Continued from: The Story of Heavy Metal in 100 Songs – Part 3: Thrashing into the American Nineties)
Delving a little more into the subject of Hard Rock it’s important to remember that the distinction between this genre and Heavy Metal walks a fine line, often the subject of vociferous debate among the fan legions. In attempting to sample the essence of Hard Rock, one must indulge in the delights of Van Halen. The guitar skills of Edward Van Halen are writ in large in the legends of the Master Axemen – sharp, clean and mind-blowing. His famous opener – Eruption – kicked off their debut self-titled album in 1978, the appetizer for over two decades of glory to follow.
Ain’t ‘talkin ‘bout Love is another classic track summing up the Hard Rock attitude of the band, with original vocalist David Lee Roth, exploring the fascination of the genre for girls and the good life in the Eighties.
The band’s second era was defined by its second vocalist Sammy Hagar. The track Right Now from a Grammy Award winning album of the Nineties is a good sampler for Van Halen in this phase of its development.
Sadly, interpersonal relationships soured between band members, mostly due to ego issues over recording sessions with both vocalists for the Best of Van Halen – Vol 1 album. While Sammy walked out, the band decided that David’s ego was still too large to let him return to vocal duties and Van Halen effectively retired their axes. All the same, possibilities of the reunion of the original line-up can be tasted with the track Me Wise Magic. Listen and decide for yourself.
While this recommendation might seem a little populist, another not-to-be missed Hard Rock band is Guns ‘n Roses. In little less than a decade and with a handful of studio albums, this band put Hard Rock on the commercial music map in an indelible way. Always brash, outspoken and louder than life, the Guns’ essence is captured in their notorious recording Get in the Ring – don’t f**k with me and I won’t f**k with you!
You Could be Mine shows off a more metal edged side to the band. As for the rest of the repertoire, you probably know it already. If you don’t, find out about it. Or get the f**k out!
Grunge matured in the early Nineties as part of the larger Alternative music movement that looked to cast off the commercial trappings of the stadium rock dinosaur bands. It was about depth of emotion and bottom-heavy rhythms that hit the listener straight in the gut.
Essential listening includes bands and songs like Soundgarden with Outshined, Alice
Progressive Metal / Rock is a genre defined by the fusion of hard rock and metal styles and also lyrical exploration of specific conceptual ideas that the band might want to depict through musical expression. The themes and soundscapes created by the Progressive genre are always unique and open to interpretation – not always obvious at first listening.
Rush were pioneers of the Prog Rock genre and the album 2112 is an early masterpiece concept album from the band. The opening 2112 Overture and The Temples of Syrinx transport the listener into the futuristic totalitarian state on which the album is based. Rush also explore many lighter sides of life and human fantasy – Red Barchetta is reminiscent of every person’s escapist fantasy, with a classic automobile thrown in for good measure.
Progressive Metal grew more popular through the Nineties with bands like Queensryche, Dream Theater and Tool, who took this genre into layered levels with each subsequent album they recorded.
Queensryche is fondly remembered by fans for the 1988 concept album Operation: Mindcrime, with its tale of corruption, moral decay and personal redemption. While the band has apparently gone softer over the years, The Needle Lies shows off the technical precision with which this Band executes its metal sound, not soft from any angle. The subsequent 1990 recording of Empire shows off Queensryche at its commercial peak, with songs like Best I Can and Anybody Listening – touching listeners’ spirits and musically full of powerful arrangements. Thinking mans’ metal is what describes this band best. Go for a concert sometime and feel the subtle beauty of the music, probably with a glass of wine to keep you company.
Dream Theater has continued to race through the Prog Metal genre, from its inception in the album Images and Words. A masterpiece of progressive metal Concept Albums is found in its album Metropolis 2: Scenes from a Memory in which the tale moves seamlessly between the past and present. Sample songs include Strange Déjà Vu and The Spirit Carries On.
An interesting aspect of the Dream Theater sound is that it’s based on a five piece setup – Vocals, Guitar, Bass, Keyboard and Drums – each player a virtuoso in his own right. Remember Deep Purple anyone?
Tool is an extremely difficult band to describe, sounding grungy, progressive and hard rocking all at the same time. Try songs like Prison Sex, Bottom, Stinkfist and Aenima. And then spend some time on the Internet figuring out the lyrics. Or just don’t bother. Whichever way you look at it, Tool will get to you – with its infectious and pulsing grooves from the gut, darkly emotional vocals and rhythms that don’t leave your mind alone once sampled.
The genre of Industrial Metal is so named after two elements – its sound and recording format. The sound is laden with rhythmic beats that mimic an industrial assembly line with more harsh and abrupt exclamations of sound than normal guitar-driven metal. The recordings of most Industrial acts are often the creation of a single mind, sometimes in partnership with a couple of collaborators for specific recordings. This often leads to the genre being labeled as more synthesized than true blue metal playing. All the same, the masters of the Industrial genre are accepted as great live acts, regardless of their recording styles and composer quirks.
Nine Inch Nails – the creation of Trent Reznor – represents the pinnacle of Industrial Metal. Imitated from multiple angles and by multiple bands, Trent
A good sampling of industrial sound can be had with NIN’s Grammy award winning Wish (first time industrial metal was accepted in the mainstream), Starfuckers Inc and All the Love in the World. This is only the beginning, and if you like the sound of these tracks you can join the Cult following that Nine Inch Nails commands and start collecting the albums. There’s a whole world out there – and it’s not only inside Trent
Ministry – fronted by Al Jorgensen – is the other seminal act to be tasted in the Industrial genre. Try the harder side of this band with Just One Fix and some twisted humour with Jesus Built My Hotrod. And remember, this is not about your religion or the American dream.
Interestingly, some classic metal tracks can sound amazingly different and a lot more powerful when processed through the industrial grinder. The Black Sabbath classic Supernaut (loosely based on an LSD trip) takes on a new dimension in the version by 1000 Homo DJs.
The Goth Metal genre is not something that this article promised to dwell upon at inception. All the same, one cannot help including the iconic band Type O Negative. Fronted by Pete Steele, with his doom-filled and soulful vocals, this band epitomizes agony in all its shades of grey to black. Maybe he just had too many f**ked up relationships, maybe it rained too much where he lived – whatever the case, no other band has sounded as gloriously depressant.
Essential samplings include Christian Woman and Black Sabbath (tribute cover of the original song by Black Sabbath). It doesn’t get deeper, darker, slower or harder than this.
Thus ends this outing into the world of Heavy Metal.
While the intention was never to convert, it’s OK to come out of the closet now.
Wear that skull tee-shirt with pride, man; ditto on the leather jacket and boots.
The next time someone says Heavy Metal is just noise, just tell them to take a flying f**k.
What don’t kill ya make ya more strong! Amen!
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God Bless u for compiling this list!!!!!!
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