Let's Get Heavy (Heavy Metal)

"Heavy metal is a universal energy -- it's the sound of a volcano. It's rock, it's earth shattering. Somewhere in our primal being we understand." - Billy Corgan

The Beatles were rock’s leaders, just like Elvis and Buddy Holly before them.

When they broke up, rock splintered. Prog rock continued the psychedelic journey into its graduate studies. Led Zeppelin took blues rock into mythical and mystical new lands. But not everyone was into these maturing genres.

They missed the excitement and the danger of early rock ‘n’ roll.

Peace, Love, and Black Sabbath

Everywhere isn’t Haight-Ashbury. Welcome to Birmingham, England. A grey, sprawling industrial heartland. A haze of smoke. Hiss of steam. A taste of coal in the air, stinging throats and painting brick buildings black. The grinding sound of machines an ostinato.

“Oh, no, no, please, God help me,” — lyrics from Black Sabbath, its eponymous song on its eponymous EP.

Hear the influences of Jefferson Airplane with the martial drums? The ripping guitar solos like Led Zeppelin? But what about those lyrics? That imagery? The snare drum wasn’t marching you into a new, psychedelic world. Those were war drums, leading you deeper into the pits of hell. Their hell. A Black Sabbath.

That religious imagery, an ultimate sign of rebellion, was fully formed and baked in from the band’s inception.

The Blues Got Darker

In the late '60s, Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, and Bill Ward started a blues-rock band called Earth. Tony had briefly played guitar with Jethro Tull, so they had some chops.

It’s hard to parse fact from fiction, since the band was such branding geniuses. But here’s the story: Geezer, fascinated with the occult, took home a book on black magic that Ozzy had given him. That night, he had disturbing dreams of a dark figure standing at the end of his bed. The book vanished, and Geezer shared the experience with the band. That dream, that foray into the dark, birthed a new style of music.

Horror Movies

Fresh off of Halloween as we are (and other scary realities), the concept of horror is top of mind. Similarly, when walking by the theater, Tony asked his bandmates, "Why do people pay money to be scared?”

The band realized that they had a choice. They could compete with the flower power blues rockers — or they could do the exact opposite. Taking their name from a 1963 horror movie, they clad themselves in black and turned to the occult.

He’s So Metal, His Fingertips Are Metal

Tony, the lead guitarist, had a job at the aforementioned Birmingham steel factories. Two of his fingers got caught in a machine, tearing off the tips. Undeterred, Tony fashioned prosthetic tips and detuned his guitar to make it easier to play. That darker, richer, and more foreboding sound complemented the aesthetic and added to the band’s mystique.

The End of the Summer of Love

Black Sabbath’s live performances challenged the rock world, with ominous lighting and lyrical themes about death, decay, and the hardship of life in 1970s industrial England. They climbed the charts and helped invent metal.

Here’s my favorite:

Hear the John Lennon inspired vocal effects? The chugging, insistant guitars? The psychedelic influence but in an unsettling way with ring modulators instead of a pleasing chorus or phaser?

I’ll leave you with these lyrics, also from 1970, in their song War Pigs:

Now in darkness, world stops turning
Ashes where their bodies burning
No more war pigs have the power
Hand of God has struck the hour

Day of Judgement, God is calling
On their knees the war pigs crawling
Begging mercy for their sins
Satan, laughing, spreads his wings
Oh, Lord yeah!

Breaking the Law (Judas Priest)

Lead singer, Rob Halford, joined Judas Priest, a local rock band also from Birmingham, in 1973. His powerful, operatic voice would push rock vocalists into the theatric, along with Queen’s lead singer, Freddie Mercury, who was emerging at the same time. Their combined fame and stage presence changed the very concept of the rock vocalist.

Also, note the band name. The biblical shock-value thing Black Sabbath started continues to influence metal bands to this day:

See how the guitarists are pointing their guitars? But notice how the bad boy rock imagery stays the same? Riding down the street in a convertible. It’s still rock ‘n’ roll at its core.

Here’s an epic live performance with Rob’s vocals in full showcase. They’re so good:

It’s important to note, Rob was a closeted gay men at a time when homosexuality was not culturally accepted. In 1998, he came out on MTV. The cultural impact of such an icon sharing who he was cannot be overstated. 1998 was a very different time, one I only vaguely remember. So watch this video through that lens and consider his leadership and bravery as you do:

If you’d like to learn more, Rob released an autobiography, and Rolling Stone published a summary as well.

Bang the War Drums (Iron Maiden)

Judas Priest and Iron Maiden are almost always mentioned in tandem. I guess Sabbath, Priest, and Maiden are like the founding fathers of metal lol.

The band formed in East London in 1975. East London was a lot rougher then than it is now. Now it’s hipster AF.

They started playing live in the late 70s, featuring galloping rhythms, war imagery, and a mascot, Eddie:

Check out how much more graphic and biblical the music had become:

Here’s my favorite song by Iron Maiden:

If that doesn’t make you want to play guitar, nothing will! Hell yeah! 🤘

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In upcoming posts in the History of Rock series, we’ll cover punk music and hair metal — two opposite (but related!) ends of a rock spectrum. For now, headbang and party on:

Also it’s so solid being back stateside after playing shows in Japan! If you want to hear how it went down and how performers today are keeping the spirit alive in this era, listen to this week’s podcast that powers through good things rather than bad things even and especially if they’re hard things! 🔨

Thanks for reading, internet friend,

Scoob