MUSC 309 Lecture 17: Heavy Metal
I. Intro to Metal
A. More aggressive strain of blues rock developed in late 1960s
B. Drew inspiration from Rolling Stones, The Who, Cream, and particular Jimi Hendrix
(show chart)
1. Reaction to the Beatles (or rather, reputation of the Beatles)
2. And other British invasion pop rock bands
C. Eventually takes on characteristics that combine blues, acid rock
1. Extended improvisations, including long drum solos
2. Use of guitar distortion, feedback, other noise effects
3. Powerful, loud active drumming
4. Riff-based
5. Blues-influenced guitar
6. Modal harmonies
7. Frequent doubling of bass and guitar lines
8. High, harsh, dramatic blues-edged vocals
9. Highly engineered sound - reverb, echo
10. Relies heavily on power chords
D. Eventually spawns two related, essentially intertwined styles
1. Retains strong ties to the blues - hard rock
2. More affiliation with acid rock, dark imagery - heavy metal
E. Early hard rock/proto metal bands
1. Cream
2. Steppenwolf
a. Song Born to Be Wild uses the phrase "Heavy Metal Thunder"
b. Gained wide exposure due to use in film Easy Rider (1969)
3. Vanilla Fudge
4. Iron Butterfly - In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida (17 minutes)
5. Led Zeppelin - we'll come back to
F. Earliest band that clearly represents new style that will come to be called heavy metal -
Black Sabbath
II. Black Sabbath (Ozzy Osbourne, Tommy Iommi, "Geezer" Butler, Bill Ward
A. Originally English blues band called Polka Tuck
1. Name then changed to Earth
2. Then, finally, Black Sabbath
B. Aggressive reaction to psychedelic culture of San Francisco, Woodstock (show clip)
C. Most of characteristics of metal displayed in first, and largest hit, Paranoid
1. Hard-driving eight-beat rock rhythm
2. Power chords in bass, guitar outline harmonies, but don't create sense of motion
toward harmonic goal
a. Demonstrate, if need be, with blues changes
b. Can't just leave hanging on V
c. But if take away all but skeleton of the chords, sounds OK
3. High, aggressive vocals
4. Very dense texture
5. Fast
6. LOUD
7. Dark subject matter
8. Riff-driven
9. Modal guitar solo
D. Deep Purple
1. Once listed in the Guinness Book World’s Record as loudest rock band
2. may also hold a record for the most changes in personnel
3. Originally pop oriented, with significant influence of blues
4. Keyboardist Jon Lord encouraged the group to pursue more progressive
musical ideas
a. 1970’s Concerto for Group and Orchestra, a collaboration with the
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
b. Made classical music, esp. that of Baroque period (Bach, Handel,
Vivaldi) core influence of group
c. Album sold poorly, and Richie Blackmore steered band toward hard
rock
d. Both influences evident in Highway Star
II. Liberation of Rock
- By mid-1960s rock musicians begin to assimilate various stylistic influences into central rock style
- Also, freer rhythmic approach
- Results in number of bands that defy easy classification
II. The Who (Roger Daltry 1944- ; Pete Townshend 1945- ; John Entrwisle 1944 -- 2002 ; Keith
Moon, 1947-1978)
A. Odd combination of blues rock, garage band and art rock
1. Fit into niche between the Beatles and the Stones
2. Part of the "second wave" of British Invasion bands
B. Early career --
1. Pop sound, that exibited conflicts between hard-edged rock (Daltry) and artistic
intellectuality (Townshend)
2. Started as the High Numbers, name changed to the Who in 1965
3. Part of image, sound start to come together when, during 1965 gig, Townshend
accidentally smashed guitar
a. Crowd went wild
b. So Keith Moon destroyed his drum kit too!
c. Became part of act
d. Physicality, stage behavior important characteristic of band
i Windmill strumming of Townshend
ii. Jumps, leaps, splits
iii. Daltry strutting, mike twirling
iv. Pissed-off, openly hostile on stage
d. If the Stones were anti-Beatles, kind of grubby, dangerous, then the
Who were openly menacing to older crowd
i. Not only didn't conform to pop sensibilities
ii. Earliest demonstration of punk aesthetic
4. Also affiliate with electronic technician Jim Marshall
i. Start to employ stacks of Marshall amps on stage
ii. Comes to be known as "Marshall stack"
iii. Loud, and encourages feedback and distortion
5. First hit - I Can't Explain (1965)
6. Followed closely by musical extension of stage personae - My Generation
7. Albums begin to integrate more experimental techniques, sophisticated musical
ideas
7. Ex. Won’t Get Fooled Again
a. Intro – synthesizer
i. Provides alternative tone color
ii. Functions as rhythm guitar – lays out 8 beat rock rhythm
b. Active, melodic bass line
c. Irregular drumming by Keith Moon
d. Long song
i. Introduction
ii. As well as long interlude
iii. And extended instrumental solos
5. Influences?
a. blues rock
b. Early rock and roll, especially Chuck Berry
c. Early Beatles and Stones
d. Trad jazz – Entwistle and Townshend (playing banjo!) were in a band
together, called the Scorpions
e. Surf sound of Duane Eddy
f. Motown and soul
II. Led Zeppelin often credited as first heavy metal band
A. Debatable
1. Certain parts of output suggest
2. Some don’t
B. Can argue that Zeppelin one of the most important band in the development of heavy
metal
1. Show transparency
2. Point out chronology problems (Aerosmith after; most devoted imitators)
3. And influence problems (Grand Funk and American metal heavily
impacted by Zeppelin)
C. Unquestionably most important in development of hard rock
1. Influence evident in almost every metal or hard rock band of the 1970s and 80s
2. Huge impact on vocal and lead guitar styles
3. And the way songs created
D. Even larger – often unacknowledged - impact on interaction of recording companies
and artists, touring, importance of the single, and the business of rock
E. Also, dubious distinction of being one of most popular rock bands in the world, yet
(until recently) hated by critics, press
III. Led Zeppelin
A. Jimmy Page (1944- )
1. Started guitar at age 15, influenced by skiffle craze, but primary influences
Chuck Berry, guitarist James Burton (on Ricky Nelson records)
2. At age 17 recruited by London band Neil Christian and the Crusaders
a. Started to develop a reputation as THE guitar ace in England
b. But touring too much strain on health
3. Quit band, but shortly became one of the most popular studio musicians in UK
a. Played on a huge number of singles
b. Ex. Kinks “You Really Got Me” – Jimmy behind the fuzz tone
c. Also on The Who “I Can’t Explain,” singles by Them, other lesser
British Invasion bands
4. By ’66 bored with session scene, joins Yardbirds when asked to “reinforce”
Jeff Beck
a. Band split up in 1968, with roster of tour dates to be filled
b. Jimmy retained name, decided to form new band
c. Recruited…..
B. John Paul Jones [John Baldwin (1946 - )]
1. Another popular English studio musician
2. Played bass on countless rock/pop hits of mid 1960s
C. Robert Plant (1948- )
1. Relatively unknown vocalist who performed with various bands ‘round
Birmingham
2. Recommended by one of Page’s first choices
3. Once Page heard him, and unique vocal style (“primeval wail”), was hired
4. He recommended
D. John Bonham (1948-1980)
E. All had strong ties to blues, R&B
1. Particularly Plant, Page
2. Not same diversity of stylistic influences as, say, Beatles, at beginning
3. But Page, Jones used to playing anything and everything
F. Played first tour as New Yardbirds, but then changed name to Led Zeppelin
III. Characteristics
A. Riff-based style
1. Most early songs based on bass riff
2. Riffs used different ways in different songs
a. Often change or shift over duration (ex. Black Dog – will get to)
b. Or different riffs used in different sections (Ex. The Crunge)
c. Or drop out for solos, choruses, etc (Ex. Celebration Day)
B. Engineered with reverb, echo, distortion, and other sound effects
1. Some produced by unorthodox methods, not electronic
2. Examples
a. Bonham lined bass drum with foil
b. Page playing guitar with violin bow
3. But frequent use of multitracking, double-tracking in concert
C. Unbridled emotionalism
1. Huge contrast to other bands of their time
2. Probably one of reasons were critically panned
D. Influence of blues on style, but something different
1. Hard-edged rock sound steeped in the blues and the psychedelic rock of the late
‘60s
a. Blues roots often not acknowledged
b. Even blues covers aren’t always recognized as such
c. Ex. Jesus Gonna Make Up My Dyin’ Bed
In My Time of Dying
2. But multitude of other influences – surface in individual songs or albums,
rather than in overall sound
a. World music, especially Indian and Arabic (Ex. White Summer/Black
Moutain Side)
b. reggae (D’yer Mak’er)
c. Celtic, English folk music
d. country music and bluegrass (Ex. Hot Dog)
3. But blues influence still there
a. 12-bar blues on every Zeppelin album
b. Blues lyrics frequently tossed into songs, live performances
c. But not as much of focus for tunes as Stones
E. Diversity of style
F. Plant’s vocal style
1. Extremely high voice for rock singer
2. Influenced by blues shouters of R&B
3. Voice changes timbre and texture, like a guitarist
a. Shrieks, moans, vocalizations
b. Can sing in variety of styles, depending on song
G. Page guitar style
1. Avoids clean sound
2. Prefers distortion, thick texture
3. Frequently employs pedal effects, feedback
4. In general, sound more important than notes
5. With Hendrix, founder of metal guitar style
H. Loud, active drumming
1. Variety of percussion sounds
2. Mixed or additive meters, or irregular accent patterns, common
I. Sonically vast
1. Loud and edgy
2. Wide range of textures, but songs often end with dense, rich texture
IV. Example of style: Stairway to Heaven
A. Zeppelin’s masterwork
B. Began as instrumental framework
C. Then defined as sectional form AA’BC
1. Acoustic introduction with Renaissance sounds(A)
2. Successive additions of instruments (A’)
3. Switch from acoustic to electric instruments (B)
4. Final climactic section
5. Set off by short, instrumental bridge
D. Essentially strophic within sections
1. Each 3-line strophe to same melody
2. New melodic idea (or variant) introduced in each section
E. Folk-music influenced melody, and folk-like delivery
F. End-weighted – texture and tension gradually build to last section
1. Twelve-string guitar “fanfare”
a. Metrically complex – additive meter
b. Leads into guitar solo
2. C section vocals very different
a. aggressive, hard-edged, shouting vocal tone
b. Short melodic idea over guitar/bass riff
3. Final guitar solo slows tempo
4. A capella statement, metrically free of last line of first strophe as tag line
G. Never released as a single
1. track was fully 8 minutes long
2. pop and rock songs still limited to 3-4 minutes to facilitate radio play
3. DJs jammed into their play lists (particularly AOR stations)
4. Fans bought the album as if it were a single
5. All of a sudden, longer tracks OK with studios
6. From the beginning, focus on albums, not singles
a. By 1970 outsted Beatles as most popular band in U.K., even though had
never (and would never) released a single in Britain
b. Only had a handful of singles reach the top 10 in U.S.
c. Though every album by the group hit the top 10 in both countries
V. Another characteristic of Zeppelin – performance style
A. Like Stones, had front man and guitar god
1. Both extremely visible
2. Focus actually Page, rather than Plant
B. Drummer Bonham given feature every concert
1. Idea of rock drum solo quite new
2. Originated with Ginger Baker of Cream – “Toad”
3. Similar song – Moby Dick – was Zeppelin acknowledgement of drummer
4. But much longer – often 10-15 minutes in concert
C. Improvisationally oriented band
1. Like Grateful Dead, once on stage songs were a framework for improvisation
2. Long guitar, keyboard solos
3. Frequent exchanges of ideas between Plant, Page
4. Free jams
D. As a result, concerts usually 3-4 hours long, without opening band
E. Example - Dazed and Confused
1. Cover of song by American folk singer Jake Holmes
2. As recorded - starts with descending chromatic scale in bass
a. Long-standing (17th c.) association with grief and despair
b. Ostinato – repeats over and over
c. Distorted guitar line sketched above
3. Leads into first verse
4. Break - riff doubled by guitar an 8ve higher, and 8ve above that by second
guitar track
5. Second verse
6. Break
a. triplet feel in bass
b. Followed by riff doubled by guitar
7. Third verse
a. Starts like previous break, but develops into extended improvisation
b. Call and response exchange of motives between guitar, vocals
c. Triple-time section
8. Last verse, bass riff returns with vocals
9. On Led Zeppelin I, 6 minutes 20 seconds
10. In concert….
a. More extended improvs.
b. Violin bow solo, to emulate distortion and effects added in studio
c. Movie graphics too
VI. The “Heavy Metal Band” issue
A. Black Dog
1. Considered by many THE representative Zeppelin song
2. Instantly recognizable riff
a. metrical intricacy – constant displacement of beat in relation to drums
b. show transparency
c. creates sense of momentum
d. Also destroys expectations – ‘cuz don’t know what to expect
3. Stop times – blues
4. Barreling guitar solo
5. Loud, sharp drumming – like a rhino in a tutu
B. Compare to Battle of Evermore
VII. Impact
A. I’ll definitely buy as godfathers of heavy metal, and father of hard rock
B. Shatter 4 minute barrier for songs – and fix importance of AOR radio
C. Set expectation for concert length
D. Change in concert circuit, and way business was done in re: tours
1. Tours generate bulk of income, rather than promote albums
2. Zeppelin re-negotiates artists’ take from concerts
a. Previously, got 10% of money from ticket sales
b. Zeppelin (and everyone after) took 90%
E. Establish importance of the album as primary revenue generator