Gavin B.

I recently listened to feed of a radio show in which pop music provocatuer John Lydon (Sex Pistols, Public Image Ltd.) was a guest deejay. Surpisingly Mr. Lydon's first selection was Paranoid by Black Sabbath which he described as "brilliant" but Lydon went on to say that Paranoid was the only great song Ozzie ever wrote.



I always thought the whole heavy metal thing began with early psychedelic bands like Iron Butterfly, Vanilla Fudge & Deep Purple. The first song I ever heard with a heavy metal sound was In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida (1968). The song may not technically be a heavy metal song but it laid the groundwork for the future. The version below is 4 minute radio cut of the original epic 17 minute version. Blue Cheer were the Ramones of the early psychedelic era.


It should be noted that "Iron Butterfly" is one of the more inspired band names to come out of that era. I purchased Iron Butterfly's first album Heavy simply on the basis of the band's cool name and the psychedelic artwork on the cover. I still have my original vinyl edition of Heavy in my record collection.



The first group to describe their own music as "heavy metal" was the San Francisco based power trio Blue Cheer. I saw a 1968 interview with Blue Cheer vocalist and bassist D1ckie Peterson in which he described Blue Cheer's music as "heavy metal", which is the earliest usage of the "heavy metal" term that I've heard. Blue Cheer was the loudest band and most visceral sounding of those early psychedelic bands and they took their cues from Hendrix, Cream and Who and turned the volume up several notches. Blue Cheer transformed Eddie Cochrane's rockabilly classic Summertime Blues into a blitzkreig assault of musical power. Notice in the video that Blue Cheer even had the fashion look and stage presence of the many of heavy metal bands that followed in the Seventies.

jackhammer

If you are looking some great classic Metal then the U.S 80's trio The Rods are criminally underated:



The Newcastle (U.K) 80's band Tank were so good too although there is definitely a whiff of Motorhead in there:

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zeppy111

METAL WEEEEEEK!

Pelican - American Post-Metal outfit who really know how to chug and chug and chug their songs into beautiful masterpieces. Check out - City of Echoes 2007

That is all I have to say... I love this band!

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My Blog (album of the day): http://musicfromthesouth.blogspot.com

Mojo

@Antonio - I had to check out that Foreign Objects track, given the other two bands you posted. I love that Acid Bath record and Electric Wizard are one of my absolute favourite bands. It sounds like it might be something I could get into. I looked them up and ill grab that 2 disc collection at some point i think.

@Alfred - i've been meaning to check out Genghis Tron for some time now. They seem to be forever touring and playing the same venue here frequently. Where would suggest i start? How many records do they have?

@ Hank - Absolutely nothing wrong with EyeHateGod, Sleep and Melvins! I've never heard Dystopia though. What are they like? And also yes, i think there should be a number of metal sub-genres that have their own weel at some point down the line. I wouldnt let this week get bogged down in sub-genre debate though. If its heavy metal, it qualifies as far as im concerned.

@ Gavin - very nice, informative write-up. Thanks! I dont know what it is about Blue Cheer though, they just never did it for me. I should give them another go at some point.

@Anteater - I remember you talking about Strangeways recently. I gave that a listen and it's not something i feel i would listen to i'm afraid but i'm also sure that i could find a lot of stuff from that genre thats worse than that! I'm also not a Leppard fan. However Devin Townsend, i really need to make more of an effort. I really do like what i have heard when i have heard tracks here and there but the only album i own is Ziltoid. In your opinion, what should i be getting next?

@Jackhammer - that Rods track is fantastic! Terrible name for a band but i think i could get right into this. And Tank, i remember you have mentioned these before. I'm starting to think i downloaded some of their stuff now, i'll have to check. If i did, they are on an old hard drive. There is certainly a whiff of Motorhead in there but that doesnt matter, Motorhead were never the most original band themselves were they? It still sounds good. Plus they are local lads, i should get on this.

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Last.FM | Echoes and Dust

James

Damn, I didn't know Sludge counted. Sweet!
WARNING I KNOW NOTHING ABOUT NON-SLUDGE METAL THIS STUFF MAY VERY WELL SUCK



Big Business are a sweet band.

So are Capricorns, an immense Instrumental Sludge band.

The Melvins have already been posted but they are of course my favourite Sludge band ya can't beat em.
Okay in fear of overrunning this thread with Sludge this is the last track before a new subgenre.
Buried At Sea

Okay, some stuff that isn't Sludge now.
This In Solitude band are pretty great all I know about them is that they are Swedish though.

I like me some Mercyful Fate

Shoegaze Metal:The Angelic Process

And Megadeth who for some reason haven't been mentioned

Engine

I really like that. The best 80s metal bands in the US borrrowed a lot of punk without sacrificing any metal. I need to chec kthis out

I also really enjoy this Tank song.

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Like an arrow,
I was only passing through.

jackhammer

Behold one of the finest Heavy Metal songs ever:

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Alfred

They have two albums and one EP. The EP is very raw and the most "grindcore" thing they've done. Dead Mountain Mouth is a very good album, and the favorite of many fans, but my personal favorite is Board Up The House. Board Up The House is a lot more progressive, melodic, and focused on the electronic aspect of their sound than Dead Mountain Mouth. That being said, it's still quite brutal when it wants to be. IMO, it's a near-perfect album and I highly recommend it to anyone, though a lot of fans dismiss it as being too tame.

So it depends what you're after. Both albums are great, so you really can't go wrong. I just think that Board Up The House is a deeper, more satisfying album.

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Antonio

yeah, glad you liked it. also just so you know, this was a previous band from the guitarist/singer and drummer of CKY, that's how i heard of them at least. but yeah, there's a different version of this song that fit more towards CKY's musical style, but i think this version is the best one.

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Hank The Drifter

Good enough for me, just wasn't sure.

Dystopia is a Sludge band that takes elements of Crust and combines them together. I'm a big fan of the band but a lot of people are turned off due to the vocals. The vocals are certainly different, and I can see why they are disliked by some people. Most people seem to either love Dystopia or hate them. If you're interested in checking them out, I suggest starting at the early stuff and come foward to the newest stuff they released. Unfortunately the band is broken up.

Human = Garbage (Comp.)
The Aftermath (Comp.)
Dystopia (Full Length)

Is the order I would recommend checking out the Dystopia albums in. You essentially get all of the bands material with those three releases, but if you're a big enough fan you can go back and get the rest of the releases. Anyway, not to take anymore of your time up with my mindless babble here is a song.

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“If a song can't be written in 20 minutes, it ain't worth writing.” - Hank Williams