Songs that DEFINE Metal

Certif1ed · 10-07-2009, 03:13 AM

This thread is for songs, albums, bands, individual artists - stuff that defines what heavy metal is - lists, and a bit of waffle explaining why this selection defines the music.

So I'm gonna kick off with one man; Ian "Lemmy" Kilmister.

This dude IS heavy metal. He started out as a total rebel, forming a band called The Rockin' Vicars just to piss off his old man, who was a Priest.

He then came to the drug-capital of London, Ladbroke Grove, in 1967, where he then got jobs roadie-ing for Jimi Hendrix and The Nice before forming a doomy trip out band called Sam Gopal.

He famously joined Hawkwind in 1971, where he proceeded to pummel everyones eardrums with his hi-gain sound and frickin' CHORDS on the bass!

The rest is history - he was booted out of Hawkwind because of the inconvenience he caused them by getting nicked carrying amphetamines on a US tour, so he formed a band called Bastard - which he was then forced to change by the chicken record company who didn't even have the grace to release his first album.

Imagine if THIS had been released in 1975 when it was recorded - punk might never have happened!

Motorhead's 3rd album, "Overkill", released in 1978, features a title track which was to change the pace and intensity of metal for ever. The album cover alone says it all;

The bands 3rd album, Bomber actually scored a hit single in 1979, with the terrifyingly aggresssive title track,

then the band completed world dominion the next year with the LEGENDARY "Ace of Spades", which competes with "Bohemian Rhapsody" for the most number of times at number 1 and most ubiquitous rock song.

The biggest difference between the two songs is that no matter how often you hear it, you never get fed up with "Ace of Spades", - it just makes you want to grab the air guitar and thrash like crazy, push the pedal to the metal and don't forget the joker...

Unbelievably, Motorhead are still going, which makes Lemmy himself something like second in longevity only to The Rolling Stones. Or maybe 3rd to Cliff Richard. Who gives a ****.

Lemmy is THE metal God for the above reasons

Sodacake · 10-07-2009, 01:36 PM

Hey man do you like Motorhead?

Guybrush · 10-07-2009, 01:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sodacake

Hey man do you like Motorhead?

It's appearant he likes Motorhead, why do you ask?

Sodacake · 10-07-2009, 01:54 PM

/facepalm

BDenpy · 10-07-2009, 07:21 PM

Ace of Spades is one of the defining metal songs of my time that's for sure. I totally agree with the above poster. Whenever it comes on my IPOD, even if I'm on the train, I can't help but want to thrash away. Looks kinda weird though in public.

Certif1ed · 10-08-2009, 02:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sodacake

Hey man do you like Motorhead?

Yes, I cut my metal teeth on them, so to speak - but that's not the real point of this thread.

I was hoping for more critical reactions like "OK, so how does the music define metal then?" or examples of other bands that define the genre.

Maybe some modern bands do - Fear Factory, for example, seem to have created a sound that is now widespread, with bands like Killswitch Engage adapting it into a more melodic framework.

Or you could argue that Metallica define metal ultimately, since they released the first bona fide thrash album, then upped the ante, developing the sound and style into something that's far more ubiquitous than Motorhead's rock and roll based style.

There are so many possibilities.

mr dave · 10-08-2009, 06:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Certif1ed

I was hoping for more critical reactions like "OK, so how does the music define metal then?" or examples of other bands that define the genre.

Maybe some modern bands do - Fear Factory, for example, seem to have created a sound that is now widespread, with bands like Killswitch Engage adapting it into a more melodic framework.

Or you could argue that Metallica define metal ultimately, since they released the first bona fide thrash album, then upped the ante, developing the sound and style into something that's far more ubiquitous than Motorhead's rock and roll based style.

1 - that's cool and all but not well presented through the topic title. are you looking to define it in modern terms? or define it based on the originators? from the style perspective (sabbath) or from the use of the term (hendrix / steppenwolf)? there's really no ground to stand on to dispute your first post in this thread in regards to 'Ace of Spades', it's a great song and is totally effective at defining metal.

2 - too bad Fear Factory turned into a parody of itself after Demanufacture.

3 - if you could encapsulate metallica during its first decade i'd give the 3rd point but it's not really fair to them or their contemporaries.

M.C. D · 10-08-2009, 09:56 PM

I would say it is hard to say that metallica isn't the world's greatest metal band but there are those that are close.

I guess I am more on the serious side of things. I never fell for Motorhead, I guess because they had a sense of humor to their music. Like I never got into Van Halen either or other bands that take a humorous angle on things.
I also never got into Black Sabbath, never liked Ozzy's voice.

My metal list:
Pantera
Metallica
Megadeth
Testament
Slayer
Fear Factory
Machinehead
Biohazard
Life of Agony
later Judas Priest
select Iron Maiden
some Anthrax
Flotsam and Jetsom
Sepultura
Sacred Reich
Corrision of Conformity
Suicidal Tendencies
Linkin Park

Those are the bands that defined heavy metal in the 90's for me (I was a child of the 90's). Of course my list is not complete as I can't remember all of the band's i thought were great. I also used to be into some death metal as well. In any case, these were the more heavy bands, there are others on the fence like Alice in Chains or Soungarden, who were alternative and also heavy. And like I said I wasn't into bands that were had more of a sense of humor kind-of-deal, so they are kind of absent but I am not saying unimportant. The late eighties and early nineties made "late" glam rock, alternative and rap huge. I believe it also made metal huge as well.

Metallica made a big imprint with the "One" video on Headbangers Ball. For better or for worse, "Enter Sadman" opened them up to alot of people.

Certif1ed · 10-09-2009, 03:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mr dave

1 - that's cool and all but not well presented through the topic title. are you looking to define it in modern terms? or define it based on the originators? from the style perspective (sabbath) or from the use of the term (hendrix / steppenwolf)? there's really no ground to stand on to dispute your first post in this thread in regards to 'Ace of Spades', it's a great song and is totally effective at defining metal.

2 - too bad Fear Factory turned into a parody of itself after Demanufacture.

3 - if you could encapsulate metallica during its first decade i'd give the 3rd point but it's not really fair to them or their contemporaries.

I wasn't really making points, just suggestions.

Everyone has their own opinion on what defines metal - and it's not just one song or band that does that.

The main aim from my point of view (apart from just blatting about great metal music and raving about favourite songs/bands/albums) is to fuel my History of Heavy Metal thread;

It's difficult to write about the history of something that is forever evolving and means different things to different people without some kind of benchmark, which is why I've deliberately tried to steer clear of opinions in that thread (on the whole), and merely trace links back and let the music provide its own evidence.

It's also cool the way you broke it down into style, etc - although the first use of the term was not Steppenwolf, but Spooky Tooth/Art a year earlier

That's the kind of thing - I'm going to look at more bands/songs/albums the way I did with Motorhead/Lemmy and make the case for them being the ultimate definition, and break it down into more granularity - and it'd be cool to see other cases being made the same way.

Look at it as a kind of game, if you like, of who can provide the most convincing case.

I'm also looking for people to take things really seriously and say stuff like "u r all losers, dont u know that Slipknot rulez????" or some trollish stuff like that so I can have a good laugh.

mr dave · 10-09-2009, 03:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Certif1ed

It's also cool the way you broke it down into style, etc - although the first use of the term was not Steppenwolf, but Spooky Tooth/Art a year earlier

That's the kind of thing - I'm going to look at more bands/songs/albums the way I did with Motorhead/Lemmy and make the case for them being the ultimate definition, and break it down into more granularity - and it'd be cool to see other cases being made the same way.

Look at it as a kind of game, if you like, of who can provide the most convincing case.

I'm also looking for people to take things really seriously and say stuff like "u r all losers, dont u know that Slipknot rulez????" or some trollish stuff like that so I can have a good laugh.

hahaha i can get behind this idea although i'm not much for metal anymore.

what's the deal with spooky tooth? never heard of them or their metal claim - but i'm quite curious now hehe. as far as i've always known the 'heavy metal thunder' line from Born to be Wild was the first use of the term in lyrics. prior to that some journalists compared Jimi Hendrix's 'exp' track (the psychedelic noise opener to Axis: Bold as Love) to the sound of heavy metals falling from the sky and (supposedly) marked the first time the terms were used to describe music.

10-07-2009, 03:13 AM	#1 (permalink)
Certif1ed Music Addict Join Date: Sep 2009 Posts: 194	Songs that DEFINE Metal This thread is for songs, albums, bands, individual artists - stuff that defines what heavy metal is - lists, and a bit of waffle explaining why this selection defines the music. So I'm gonna kick off with one man; Ian "Lemmy" Kilmister. This dude IS heavy metal. He started out as a total rebel, forming a band called The Rockin' Vicars just to piss off his old man, who was a Priest. He then came to the drug-capital of London, Ladbroke Grove, in 1967, where he then got jobs roadie-ing for Jimi Hendrix and The Nice before forming a doomy trip out band called Sam Gopal. He famously joined Hawkwind in 1971, where he proceeded to pummel everyones eardrums with his hi-gain sound and frickin' CHORDS on the bass! The rest is history - he was booted out of Hawkwind because of the inconvenience he caused them by getting nicked carrying amphetamines on a US tour, so he formed a band called Bastard - which he was then forced to change by the chicken record company who didn't even have the grace to release his first album. Imagine if THIS had been released in 1975 when it was recorded - punk might never have happened! Motorhead's 3rd album, "Overkill", released in 1978, features a title track which was to change the pace and intensity of metal for ever. The album cover alone says it all; The bands 3rd album, Bomber actually scored a hit single in 1979, with the terrifyingly aggresssive title track, then the band completed world dominion the next year with the LEGENDARY "Ace of Spades", which competes with "Bohemian Rhapsody" for the most number of times at number 1 and most ubiquitous rock song. The biggest difference between the two songs is that no matter how often you hear it, you never get fed up with "Ace of Spades", - it just makes you want to grab the air guitar and thrash like crazy, push the pedal to the metal and don't forget the joker... Unbelievably, Motorhead are still going, which makes Lemmy himself something like second in longevity only to The Rolling Stones. Or maybe 3rd to Cliff Richard. Who gives a ***. Lemmy is THE metal God for the above reasons Last edited by Certif1ed; 10-09-2009 at 04:00 PM.*

10-07-2009, 01:36 PM	#2 (permalink)
Sodacake Music Addict Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 344	Hey man do you like Motorhead?

10-07-2009, 01:54 PM	#4 (permalink)
Sodacake Music Addict Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 344	/facepalm

10-07-2009, 07:21 PM	#5 (permalink)
BDenpy Groupie Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 3	Ace of Spades is one of the defining metal songs of my time that's for sure. I totally agree with the above poster. Whenever it comes on my IPOD, even if I'm on the train, I can't help but want to thrash away. Looks kinda weird though in public.

10-08-2009, 09:56 PM	#8 (permalink)
M.C. D Groupie Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 23	I would say it is hard to say that metallica isn't the world's greatest metal band but there are those that are close. I guess I am more on the serious side of things. I never fell for Motorhead, I guess because they had a sense of humor to their music. Like I never got into Van Halen either or other bands that take a humorous angle on things. I also never got into Black Sabbath, never liked Ozzy's voice. My metal list: Pantera Metallica Megadeth Testament Slayer Fear Factory Machinehead Biohazard Life of Agony later Judas Priest select Iron Maiden some Anthrax Flotsam and Jetsom Sepultura Sacred Reich Corrision of Conformity Suicidal Tendencies Linkin Park Those are the bands that defined heavy metal in the 90's for me (I was a child of the 90's). Of course my list is not complete as I can't remember all of the band's i thought were great. I also used to be into some death metal as well. In any case, these were the more heavy bands, there are others on the fence like Alice in Chains or Soungarden, who were alternative and also heavy. And like I said I wasn't into bands that were had more of a sense of humor kind-of-deal, so they are kind of absent but I am not saying unimportant. The late eighties and early nineties made "late" glam rock, alternative and rap huge. I believe it also made metal huge as well. Metallica made a big imprint with the "One" video on Headbangers Ball. For better or for worse, "Enter Sadman" opened them up to alot of people.