Another post in the series tracking the evolution of heavy metal and it's sub-genres. Post 3 covered the rise of heavy metal in the United States. There is a comprehensive index at the bottom of this post for previous posts in this series.
In this rise post just like the one before this bands that were likely called Hard Rock, Acid Rock, Heavy Rock, or some other label at the time will be listed. Those are but three of the labels for the sound that would come to define Heavy Metal that were in use prior to the term being adopted. There are often artists/musicians that do not like to identify themselves with the label Heavy Metal due to the stigma that sometimes can be associated with that label. The stigma does not change the fact that at their core the bands are playing a sound that fits very well within the label Heavy Metal.
It is possible I may list some bands or artists that are not metal, but may have influenced it's rise in some way. In such cases I will strive to explain their inclusion.
As with previous posts, my desire to make this series was inspired by the documentary series Metal Evolution by Sam Dunn and Banger Films. They had a great poster they flash to during the documentary series and so many of the names and sub-genres are never explored. I finally decided I'd like to study all of those elements on that poster, add my choices, and eventually go beyond what is on those posters.
Let Us Begin
The first act I wish to speak about and show examples of is not exactly Heavy Metal. They did contribute indirectly to the concept of Heavy Metal.
The Yardbirds
Band Started: 1964
Known for: Many songs. They are also known for being the incubator for several future famous guitarists such as Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, and Jimmy Page. While "The Yardbirds" itself is not really in any way like heavy metal, those guitarists would go on to be key players in the early sound. Their influence definitely was felt in the UK, but in many cases it was global or at the very least in the United States as well.
Eric Clapton - 1964
Jeff Beck - 1966
Jimmy Page - 1968
Cream
Band Started: 1966
Known for: Powerful distorted/fuzzy catchy lines. Incredible drumming, and guitars. This was covered in more detail on the second post in this series (Before there was heavy metal...). I personally believe that this song Sunshine of your Love has some very distinct metal feel to it. Another song from them very metal like is White Room.
Pink Floyd
Band Started: 1967
Known for: A great collection of music and "The Wall", but I have been informed that prior to Syd Barret leaving them they were indeed a heavier band and should be added here. I am thus, adding a couple songs as an edit. Thanks
The Master's Apprentices
Band Started: 1967
Known for: having crazy crowds and audiences that rivaled the Beatles. This was an Australian band that I am adding as an edit, as I'd never heard about them until
pointed them out to me.Slade
Band Started: 1969
Known for: "Glam Rock" inspired by David Bowie and others. Later on Glam Metal would seem to resurrect some of the aspects of this style. It is personally not a style that was appealing to me, but it does have a spot on the Metal Tree. Their song "Come on feel the noize" would be covered by Quiet Riot in the 1980s to great success.
Led Zeppelin
Band Started: 1969
Known for: Amazing songs, amazing front man, and figurehead guitar song "Stairway to Heaven". This is where Jimmy Page went to after The Yardbirds. A lot of people consider this the first true heavy metal band. I believe they are one among many, and aspects of their sound became hallmark parts of many metal acts.
Santa Barbara Machine Head
Band Started: 1969
Known for: They were very short lived. I learned about them today from
. Though I see they had Jon Lord on keyboards who would go on to be one of the primary members of all line ups of Deep Purple. If you look into this act you won't find a lot from them. I did find some youtube videos with their music.Black Sabbath
Band Started: 1970
Known for: Essentially creating the dark aspect of what would become heavy metal. For many they are considered to be the first Heavy Metal band. While my studies have concluded you can't really give this mantle to any one source I too find that SO many of the things that would become heavy metal were embodied in Black Sabbath. If I were forced to choose only one band as the beginning of heavy metal, this would be that band.
Black Sabbath - Live in Paris 1970 - has a guitar intro not exactly on the song, but pretty cool.
Iron Man - Live at the Beat Club 1970 - yeah, there is zero doubt THIS is metal.
War Pigs - Live in Paris 1970 - This is an awesome performance.
Deep Purple - Mk II Line Up
Band Mk2 Line Up started: 1970
Known For: Having multiple line ups, but the one that could first really be deemed as metal began with their mark 2 line up. They will appear again later in this post with the Mark 3 line up. They had a famous amazing keyboardist Jon Lord and of course the awesome guitar virtuoso Ritchie Blackmore. They are well respected in the Progressive Rock genre of music as well. It was when the album Deep Purple In Rock came out that they really began to show that future metal sound. They also created one of the iconic guitar players first songs. Smoke on the Water
Nazareth
Band Started: 1971
Known For: "Hair of the Dog", "Love Hurts", and numerous other songs. Those were their two big hits. Love hurts is obviously a ballad, you'll know it as soon as you hear it.
The Sweet
Band Started: 1971
Known for: Glam Rock. These guys like Slade were hoisting the Glam Rock flag. It is not a flag that appeals to me, but it is a sub-genre that essentially lead to things like Glam Metal. These guys definitely focused a lot on their looks. The song Ballroom Blitz is likely a song familiar to many of you.
Thin Lizzy
Thin Lizzy
Band Started: 1971
Known for: Three of their most popular songs are "The Boys Are Back In Town", "Jailbreak", and "Whiskey in the Jar".
Personal: For me their name will always attract my attention as they were a favorite of one of my all time favorite bass players Cliff Burton.
Queen
Band Started: 1973
Known for: Epic songs, "Bohemian Rhapsody", Flash Gordon musical, Highlander movie sound track, and so much more. Freddie Mercury was an amazing vocalist, and is still lauded and emulated to this day. He was not the only amazing thing about this band. This band could also be considered a Progressive Rock band based upon what they were doing.
Deep Purple - Mk III Line Up
Band Lineup Started: 1974
Known for: new bassist and new singer David Coverdale. This was a new and continuing to be early roots of metal sounding. In fact, David Coverdale will become the vocalist and front man for Whitesnake which will appear later in this post, which is very much known as a metal band.
The had a brief success with the song "Perfect Strangers" in 1984 as well - added as an edit. This seems to be the Mark 2 lineup reunited from what I can see.
Judas Priest
Band Started: 1974
Known for: Being likely the first metal band to not be heavily blues/pentatonic based. They also featured dual lead guitarists that perform interwoven duos and solos. They also went for the black leather look, and a lot of the style that would be identified as the metal look for some time. Rob Halford the vocalist is known for his distinct style of vocals as well. They have been around for so long I thought they were part of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal (aka NWOBHM), but in fact they predate that movement.
Rocka Rolla - Live - they hadn't found that distinct STYLE yet during this performance. This might be a bit surprising for fans that never looked into them back this far.
Victim of Changes - Live -1982 - this song is from their album Sad Wings of Destiny that came out in 1976. It shows more their look, and starts to show the first of what would become their iconic sound.
Diamonds & Rust - this is from their album Sin after Sin released in 1977.
Exciter - live in Japan 1978 - from their album Stained Class released in 1978.
Here is the same song in 2007
Judas Priest would go on to be very active in the Metal scene and in fact they still are. They did embrace some of the techniques in the Thrash Metal movement when they released the Painkiller album and I believe it is important to show some of their later music since they may not appear in those later posts as much. So from this point on is sounds that they developed much later than the general sounds in this post.
Rainbow
Band Started: 1975
Known for: Ritchie Blackmore left Deep Purple to start this band. He was joined by who would come to be considered one of the best metal vocalists of all time Ronnie James Dio. The band in the 80s named Dio was this vocalist. Dio would also be the vocalist for Black Sabbath after Ozzy left to start his solo career.
The vocalist here is Joe Lynn from the 1982 album Straight Between The Eyes.
AC / DC
Band Started: 1975 (albums not released internationally until 1976 - Australia only before that)
Known for: A very heavy and unique sound. With very interesting guitar work, and a unique approach to vocals. Bon Scott was the initial vocalist until his death, and his Charisma was supposedly a driving force. The Young brothers Malcom, and Angus Young are a core part of this sound as well. This band has so many amazing songs. They released the albums High Voltage, T.N.T., Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, Let There Be Rock, Powerage, and Highway to Hell all before 1980. In 1980 they would go on to release Back in Black. They have released 9 studio albums since that time.
T.N.T. - Live with Bon Scott - 1976
Jailbreak Official Video
Let There Be Rock - Live w/ Bon Scott
Rock 'N' Roll Damnation
Highway to Hell - Live w/ Bon Scott 1979
Official video of that song
The line up after Bon Scott is pretty fabulous as well. I think Back In Black personally is their best album. Every song on that album shines. It is clear that Bon Scott left big shoes to fill with his death. Back in Black showed the band was able to go on and shine with the new vocalist Brian Johnson.
Whitesnake
Band Started: 1978
Known for: David Coverdale after he left Deep Purple. They would end up being quite popular among some metal fans during the mid to late 80s when MTV was still always music and not reality TV. He was also known for being with Tawny Kitaen back then who was considered a goddess in appearance at that time. So David Coverdale was living the Rockstar life that many people dreamed about and that the recording industry intentionally cultivated.
Trouble - 1978 - UK TV performance
Still Of The Night video - 1987 - with Tawny Kitaen in the video.
Closing
As with the United States acts that were arising, music in the UK and Australia was going in interesting new and heavy directions. During the pre-1980 time period not many bands had adopted the label Heavy Metal though it had to start somewhere, and I believe this gives you some good ideas.
In future posts on the subject we'll be exploring the evolution of sub-genres, and where the music went to. We will also sometimes divert to an inspirational type of music like Progressive Rock or the Original Punk Rock movements which while not exactly metal themselves, they would go on to be instrumental in the formation of some of the metal sub-genres.
If you missed previous posts
- Metal Tree: [2nd Edition] Metal Genealogy - Family Tree - Evolution - Beginning of a series of posts [Metal Tree: 1]
- Metal Tree: [2nd Edition] Before there was heavy metal... [Metal Tree: 2]
- Metal Tree: [2nd Edition] The roots and rise of heavy metal in the United States [Metal Tree: 3] 1962 - 1980