Teach me to appreciate Metal?

Cafe Society
61

Based on your reaction so far, I’d say they are not essential. Later, I’d say Saxon is a band worth hearing when you want to hear them, but they aren’t essential to the development of the genre.

I’m at work, sitting in the dark backstage and waiting for bad things to happen, so it’s somewhat more difficult for me to link lots of songs right now, but if you look on YT for any of the bands I mentioned, you’ll likely find their most popular songs coming up at the top of the list.

If I’m getting this right, you were 14 in the early 1980s and were into punk rock?*

Well, if you listened to rock radio during that time, from like 1982-1988, you’ll recall lots of those bands I listed and their bigger songs once you start listening.

The thing to keep in mind is that eventually, because of money, the ballads became the thing for hair metal bands, but initially, they were more like turbo-charged rockers with no discernible philosophy other than “woot girls and beer (and drugs)!”

*FTR, I turned 14 in late 1980 and I was into punk rock, the punk rock that was too arty to be just punk that some people then called new wave, etc. and into '60s psychedelic rock. Gary Numan, The Clash, Jimi Hendrix, The Germs, DKs, X, XTC, Cramps, 13th Floor Elevators… heck I still listen to them, come to think of it. :smiley:

62

No I’m a couple years younger than you actually. I became aware of modern music around the time Kurt Cobain killed himself and after being heavily into post grunge (Smashing Pumpkins etc) in middle school, I ended up in the punk scene around 96. My gateway bands were actually The Swinging Udders and Social Distortion. But I have always been a music nerd (a requirement of the scene at the time) and quickly swallowed up all the back catalogue with The Clash being probably my favorite band still today, and Dead Kennedys and Black Flag being my favorites back then. But I also played guitar and was big into Cream and Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple and all the heavy 60s and early 70s guitar stuff too. So all the hair metal stuff happened when I was 6 or 7. I remember older kids being into Poison Motley Crew (they spell their name weird right?) and Warrant and Guns and Roses were obviously huge. But a lot of it was a joke by the time I was really old enough to think about it.

I’ll find some stuff.

63

Okay; cool. That helps me figure out what you might have encountered already.

Based on the part that I bolded, I’m pretty sure you and I will get along fine musically. :smiley:

Yep, everyone you mentioned at the end there was a primary hit-making hair-shaking spandex wearing rock star type of band back then. Poison was lame, Motley Crüe’s music wasn’t really cool enough for the umlaut but we let it slide because they partied hard and lived the rock star lifestyle, Warrant was a lot of talent with poor direction and songwriting and Guns N Roses were the rockingest that a hair metal band could possibly be because where, say, Poison were clearly naughty guys telling you how bad they were, GNR were clearly truly bad guys telling you how lame you were. Significantly different attitudes and presentations: Poison was singing “girl I want to fuck you” while GNR were singing “girl I’m gonna fuck you”.

IMO GNR kind was a put-up-or-shut-up moment for people seeking to make heavy metal or rock music. They drew the line and said “we’re standing right here, midway between the ballsiest, hardest rocking rock that ever was and the sanitized version of rock that they want to sell to the public… you’re either trying to rock harder than us or you admit you can’t rock this much, but we’re the line of demarcation now!”

By the time grunge hit a couple of years later, metal was ready for some fragmenting and rebuilding.

64

I’m going to say something that is guarantied to start an argument among metal heads, but you absolutely must listen to Metallica’s “Black Album” (it’s actually self titled). Lots of the old school fans don’t like it because it isn’t thrash, but dammit, it’s an amazing album.

Later on, if you want more straight-to-the-point stuff, which it seems like you might, try hardcore. Bands like Hatebreed and Madball.

Stay away from math metal/noise metal for a while. That’s next level shit. I’m a dyed in the wool metal head and it’s still tough for me to wrap my head around some of that.

65

I don’t know… if you liked the earlier albums (“Kill 'Em All”, “Master of Puppets”, “Ride the Lightning”, you’ll probably like “One” as well. It’s in the same vein as those earlier albums.

The Black Album is where they change; it seems to be about 1/2 songs that might have been on earlier albums(“Enter Sandman”, for example), and half ballads, which at the time of release, were very perplexing. After that, they sort of shifted into being more rock, less metal IMO.

As far as Anthrax goes, “Among the Living” is probably the gold standard, although “State of Euphoria” is pretty good too. “Persistence of Time” is one I liked back in the day, although in retrospect, it was somewhat of a deviation from their established sound.

66

I know One, don’t really like it. I don’t really like Master of Puppets all that much either. For me Metallica more or less ends being worth it after Ride The Lightning. I like Kill 'Em All the most, but that might be for nostalgic reasons. YMMV of course.

67

Screaming for Vengeance was as advertised. It’s going onto my “metal that I have liked” playlist.

I am putting Ministry onto my metal to try playlist. I’m slotting it in after the Thrash stuff though just to try to keep things semi chronological.

Up tomorrow looks like Merciful Fate - Don’t Break the Oath, King Diamond - Abigail and then Anthrax - Among the Living again unless someone thinks otherwise.

68

Wanna know what a small world Metal/Hard Rock is? Thre’s this drummer named Mikkey Dee who is an absolute beast on the drums. He’s played with King Diamond. He’s played for a long ime with Motorhead. Now he plays with the Scorpions. Here’s a drum solo of his:

69

I don’t know how far you want to take this, NAF, but you might want to go to a concert. In my blood-soaked, maddened opinion you can’t really understand metal people until you’ve at least witnessed a mosh pit first hand. You don’t have to go into it, but it’s… well it’s hard to describe. Friendly violence? Insanity in motion? Comradely pain? When you fall, you get picked up… and thrown across the floor to do it all over again.

70

Have Napalm Death been mentioned? Cos Napalm Death were a hugely influential 80s act; their early grindcore is close to what Wire were to punk in a lot of ways: just how far can we deconstruct this genre back to its basic constituents before it becomes abstract noise? I mean, that is pure fucking Wire right there. John Peel loved the shit out of them.

71

Actually, I was gonna bring up grindcore after he makes it to thru to the start of death metal, since grind and death are related but grind is clearly the more extreme.

You’re totally right, tho: Napalm Death is awesome and VERY important.

72

Sorry to be posting so much apropos of nothing, but I just realized no has mentioned Accept yet. NAF, you’ve probably heard Balls to the Wall, but it seems like you’re at a good place to go deeper into the cleaner, well produced side of things that would eventually give rise to bands like Blind Guardian (one of my favorites) Symphony X and Kamelot. In other words good power metal (and GLORYHAMMER who take it to a hilarious extreme).

I seriously applaud you for making the effort NAF. Most people dismiss metal as nothing but noise to annoy your parents with. When you get to the present-day you’ll (hopefully) see it for what it is.

73

Great thread so far!

74

It’sbeen mentioned twice: Mahaloth mentioned Fear, Emptiness, Despair and I linked to You Suffer. Great band.

75

I love Wire! The only thing I have heard about Napalm Death is that they have a 1.3 second song, Fear Emptiness and Despair is on my Playlist for… Later. Not sure when. Some point after Death. I like micro songs too so I’m looking forward to getting there. The Decedent’s are another of my favorite bands that trade in micro music. They are a great band for when you want to listen to a lot of different songs but only have 5 minutes.

I have not heard of Accept and don’t think I know Balls to the Wall (I’ll listen in an hour or so.) Honestly in high school if it had a whiff of metal on it I treated it like plague with the exception Rage which I decided was rap and was ok to listen to. In college I got into some weird and experimental art music that is metal adjacent (Mr. Bungle, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, Primus) but that’s as close as I ever came. The whole genre just missed me.

I know Metallicas greatest hits (thanks to radio) and Korn that got radio play, system of a down that got radio play and probably nothing else. Turns out I know some Judas Priest (but didn’t know it). Oh, I went to a GWAR show once with some friends, but that wasn’t for the music. Basically if it wasn’t a radio hit in the mid 90s or considered a classic by the mid 2000s I got nothing.

76

So, looking them up Accept is Speed Metal?

Also they are German which is a nice change of pace. I’ll give one of their albums a spin. Allmusic recommends Restless and Wild or Balls to the Wall. If I have time I’ll try them both.

77

Not to beat the Metallica drum too hard, but by the time they were being played on the radio, they’d been making records for eight years, with most of their “classic” albums already produced.

The point when they started getting radio play (summer of 1991, “Black Album”) was kind of a turning point for them as far as the music they played. Not that it was necessarily bad, but it was definitely different.

78

That’s a good point. I probably don’t know anything off the albums people have suggested. I do know Enter Sandman, their cover of Turn the Page, and the song that is Johnny Got Hit Gun(whose name I don’t actually know. Is that One?). Probably a couple of others that I don’t know I know from a similar Era.

Edit: I also know Nothing Else Matters

79

Just finished Merciful Fate Don’t Break the Oath. I’m going to have to give that one a second listen, maybe with headphones. That’s more what I was hoping Iron Maiden Number of the Beast would be. Come to the Sabbath might be the best song I have heard so far? It doesn’t quite work for me, but I think that has a little to do with 80s production. There is a particular guitar sound they have that is just too processed for my taste. I don’t know exactly what it is they are using but it seems to be a similar sound on most early 80s lead guitar and I have a hard time hanging with that. Anyone know what I’m talking about? It’s like artificial fuzz distortion rather than real overdrive? Gives the guitars an almost synthesizer quality. But, I think on a second listen I’ll get past it. At the very least that closer did it for me. And King Diamonds vocals are fantastic. Looking forward to his solo stuff… Now! On to King Diamond.

80

So, King Diamond Abigail. I was not expecting a concept album. It was like musical audio book horror story, and a really fun story too! I am super happy I listened to this today. King Diamonds vocals are fairly insane, and the rapid shifts between growling and glass shattering falsetto seem like they shouldn’t work, but man do they ever.

I have no idea how this ties into the larger picture of the heavy metal world (other than sharing a singer with Mercyful Fate) but this was great.