The Unsung Greats of Classic Rock

Classic rock is a term used loosely to describe the albums released in the early to late 70's by artists which have become legendary and therefore 'classics".




Most of these albums/artists were highly original and would become influential on many other bands for generations to come. No matter what era you were born in since the 70's almost ANY band you listen to would have been influenced by artists and bands from this era. So even if you are now only in your teens and you find you favorite band sounds "totally original" you can bet your bottom dollar that they were influenced by someone from this era ( even if they don't even know it!)



The seventies was a great era for music because it truly was a ground breaking time for original music. Nothing was copied, or rehashed, everyone had their own sound even though, as always in music, the 70's was a continuance and evolution of music from the 60's, but it matured more fully in the 70's.



Bands and artists such as Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Jimi Hendrix , Free, Allman Brothers, Queen, Black Sabbath, Cream, David Bowie, Status Quo are all examples of acts who made their start in the 60's but found their sound and style in the 70's, and therefore gave rise to many other bands who then added their own flavor to these styles.



Lesser known bands such as Uriah Heep, Wishbone Ash, Grand Funk Railroad, Scorpions (who became quite huge in the 80's), and Thin Lizzy are worthy of mentions but would not necessarily be known as legends, where as other acts such as Queen became absolutely huge and remain so to this day.



It is the same with "guitar heroes". Almost every guitarist no matter what age has heard of or has listened to Hendrix, Clapton. Jimmy Page etc but there are other extremely talented and influential guitarists who are less well known that should be in the legend status as well. Two such examples are Richie Blackmore from deep purple and Michael Schenker from UFO. You will find some modern players such as Kirk Hammet and Dimebag Darrel were heavily influenced by Michael Schenker, but Schenker has not really achieved "god like" status such as some of his contemporaries like Jimmy Page and Eric Clapton.



I could go on for hours about classic rock and there are hundreds of excellent albums that are still available today, (and some fine ones deleted) but some songs and albums rate a special mention for their guitar prowess and are worth your time to have at least a quick listen.



Heres a quick list or lesser known gems of classic musical genius that are worth a listen



Deep purple:

Guitarist: Richie Blackmore:

Choice albums: Made in Japan and Deep Purple in Rock

Songs: Highway Star, Child in Time.

Some of the most blistering guitar work you will ever hear recorded in the early 70's and held the Guinness Book of Records title as the loudest recording ever made!



UFO:

Guitarist: Michael Schenker.

Choice Albums: Phenomenon and Force It.

Songs: Rock Bottom

One of the most exciting and dynamic solos ever recorded, he was about 18 at the time!



FREE: (later to become" bad company" another excellent act!!)

Guitarist Paul Kossof

Album: Best of Free.

Songs: All Right Now, Fire and Water, .Mr. Big [live]

Simplistic and slow style excellent natural tone, all feeling!!! A Les Paul plugged straight into a marshal, no pedals and no tricks.



WISHBONE ASH:

Guitarists: Andy Powell & Ted Turner.

Choice albums: Argus and There's The Rub.

Excellent melody and twin harmony lead breaks, copied by many acts since! Very complex arrangements



I know I have missed many other guitarists and bands here, but the thought is to give an idea of the amount of unearthed 'gems' there are to be heard apart from the obvious legends!!



Matt is a guitar enthusiast who lives and breathes anything guitar related. He's been playing for a long time and loves talking about guitars with everyone. You can find him frequently playing on his porch. Check out free tips, online lessons, and a guitar forum at Axebay- Used Guitars



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Motorhead - Ace of spades

Igor Stravinsky once remarked that the baroque composer Antonio Vivaldi didn't write 685 concertos, he wrote one concerto 685 times. It could be similarly argued that every hemi-semi-demiquaver recorded by Motorhead in its 20 years of existance is a minor variation on the group's triple-speed signature song "Motorhead," written by Lemmy Kilmister shortly before he was booted from English prog-bores Hawkwind in 1975: distorted bass amped up to the point of insanity, Kilmister's throat-cancer roar, drug-marathon imagery, incomprehensible soccer choruses, and thrashy, trebly, speed-freak guitar crusted over the top like a ripe scab.




Motorhead's formula is pretty much everything you could want in an unfashionable rock band, even if you discount the grinning mechanized skulls, biker paraphernalia, and profoundly unwashed appearance. It seems like an obvious move in retrospect, but Killmister may have been the first Brit to plunder the Detroit Iggy/Nuge/MC5 thing the way Beatles took over Chuck Berry and Little Richard. Motorhead was the loud, wet fart punctuating the Mentos commercial of late-'70s British rock, and Motorhead-influenced groups from Discharge to Metallica dominate loud working-class music to this day; as a teenager, a pre-Metallica Lars Ulrich was president of a Motorhead fan club.



1980saw Ace of Spades, probably Motorhead's greatest studio album, with Kilmister's bad-neighbor policy rendered as crunch and spit and blood; tune for tune it's almost the evil twin of AC/DC's Back in Black, released the same year. Busy Motorhead also found time for a classic collaboration with Girlschool, the St Valentine's Day Massacre EP, an inspiration for the grrrl-rock bands of the '90s.



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Slipknot - A Lingering Musical Talent

Based in Des Moines, Iowa, Slipknot has been entertaining adoring fans for more than ten years with their alternative metal, heavy metal, nu metal, and rapcore albums and singles. The group, which is currently on hiatus, has been attracting a following with their rather extreme musical and performance style since 1995.

Background Information

Consisting of nine members, Slipknot has produced the majority of their music under the Roadrunner label since 1997. The band utilizes a common guitar arrangement, showcasing the talents of a lead and rhythm guitarist, as well as a bassist. A unique characteristic associated with the band is that unlike other groups, Slipknot includes two percussionists alongside their primary drummer. Through their evolution, Slipknot moved from near growling vocal sounds to the more recent melodic-infused style, while the lyrics have always presented aggressive tones and dark subject matter, including anger and nihilism.

Brief Career History

The group was known during its early years as The Pale Ones, Meld, and Pyg system before settling on their current name. It was during that time that most of the songs appearing on the album "Mate.Feed.Kill.Repeat" and later productions were created. Before Joey Jordison became a part of the band, the lead drummer position was given to Shawn Crahan (the founder of the group). It was Crahan who wished to create a distinct tribal resonance and what he called a wall of sound by using three drummers. Jordison is credited with later designing the band logo, which capitalized the k to pay homage to one of their major influences, Korn.

Over the years, many changes occurred in the lineup of the band. After the release of their first album on Halloween 1996, lead vocalist Anders Colsefini was moved to percussion and replaced with Corey Taylor. Colsefini left the band soon after, just before the group solidified a deal with Roadrunner Records. A self-titled album followed, and the group began to make their rounds touring with Ozzfest and achieving platinum sales status in 2000. This was a first for any album associated with Roadrunner Records.

A second album, "Iowa," was released in 2001, as the band once again toured, appeared in several different concerts, and was nominated for a Grammy in 2002. After the release of their fourth album, which continued to experiment with different song structures, additional tours were booked; a live album was released; and after a Grammy win for Best Metal Performance for "Before I Forget" in 2006, an interview with Corey Taylor revealed the group would take a break until 2008 while band members worked on side projects.

Current Members

Designated numbers and the masks identify current Slipknot members. Sid Wilson (0, turntables) wears a skull mask; Joey Jordison (1, drums) wears a white Japanese Noh mask with black lines; Paul Gray (2, bass guitar) wears a Hannibal-Lecter-type mask; Chris Fehn (3, custom percussion and backing vocals) wears a Pinocchio-style mask connected to a leather hood with zippable mouth; James Root (4, rhythm guitar) wears a white Jester mask; Craig Jones (5, keyboards) wears a mask with black needles coming from all directions; Shawn Crahan (6, custom percussion, backing vocals) traded a happy clown face for the look of a bloody, bandaged clown; Mick Thompson (7, lead guitar) wears a metal face with a grill-style mouth cover; and Corey Taylor (8, lead vocals) wears a Leatherface stitched face mask.

Former Members

Over the years, Slipknot has made a handful of changes to their lineup, especially with their guitar players. Former band members include Donnie Steele (guitar); Greg Welts (percussion); Josh Brainard (guitar and backing vocals); John Green (guitar); Quan Nong (guitar); and Patrick Neuwirth (guitar).

Discography and Musical Achievements

Released under a small record company based in Nebraska in 1996, "Mate.Feed.Kill.Repeat" became Slipknot's first album. Under Roadrunner Records, the group has reached two-time platinum status with their second album, "Slipknot" (1999), followed by the 2001 platinum record "Iowa"; the 2004 platinum record, "Vol. 3 (The Subliminal Verses)"; and the 2005 "9.0 Live." An anticipated album is currently scheduled for a 2008 release. The single "Duality" from their 2004 album reached the Top 10 lists across U.S. modern rock and mainstream rock charts.

Slipknot's work has also appeared on a series of major motion picture soundtracks, including "Rollerball" (I Am Hated); "Resident Evil" (My Plague); "Resident Evil: Apocalypse" (Vermillion); "Scream 3" (Wait and Bleed); and "Freddy vs. Jason" (Snap). Over the years, the band has released a couple of DVDs which have reached a multiple-platinum sales status. "Welcome To Our Neighborhood" (1999), "Disasterpieces" (2002), and "Voliminal: Inside The Nine" (2006) has all become popular DVD selections.

Overall, the band has appeared on a wide range of major national and international tours, such as Ozzfest and various events in Stockholm and Japan. The group easily reached the level of Grammy award status, as nominations for the Best Metal Performance and Best Hard Rock Performance were bestowed upon singles from three out of four of their albums. In 2006, they took home their first Grammy.

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"Machine Head" - Deep Purple

Is there any rock dude who hasn't heard of the immortal "Smoke On The Water"? For some it's the most overplayed piece of crap in the history of music. For some, the intro is the ultimate guitar riff.

Luckily for Deep Purple, the album that included this classic isn't just good for that one song. "Machine Head", released in 1972 by this supergroup, is worthy of being called one of the most prominent rock albums in the development of the heavy metal and speed metal genre. For all guitar-inclined musicians all over like myself, it is a treasure chest of kick-ass riffs and a combination of classical-music-meets-blues inspired licks.

The album kicks off with the fast-paced "Highway Star". One of their most recognizable songs, it boasts of complicated guitar and organ solos by Ritchie Blackmore and Jon Lord, respectively. It was so popular that Nintendo presented a version of the tune in their video game, Rock N' Roll Racing. "Highway Star" is definitely one of my favorites. We used to jam this song in our cover band and everytime the solo part comes, I get goosebumps all over.

"Maybe I'm Leo" is a somewhat slower piece with a bit of groove going on while "Pictures of Home" begins with an emphatic display of mastery of the drums by Ian Paice. Like most of the songs in this release, both tracks have more that its share of fretboard brilliance by Blackmore and keyboard fireworks by Lord. But the latter has a little something that others don't have - a rare bass solo by Roger Glover!

The next track, "Never Before", is the shortest in the list. Aside from that, I felt that this is their weakest track. However, that would be a result of comparing it with the overall might of the other songs in this partuicular album. Compared to any lesser rock songs, this is defintely topnotch.

The last three songs closes the "Machine Head" experience with a loud bang. "Smoke on the Water" doesn't need any introduction anymore. The next song "Lazy" sounds like a jam to me. It starts out with a Lord organ intro, then followed by an exchange of solos between him and Blackmore. We all know that Blackmore has been declared numerous times a guitar god, but Jon Lord wasn't gonna make Ritchie walk all over him in this instance, or any other instance for that matter. Jon Lord is unquestionably one of the most talented organ player I've ever heard.

Finally the last song "Space Truckin'" has probably the most kick-ass intro riff in the whole set for me. This is the song that I really want to play with our group but unfortunately for me I'm the only in our band who likes it. I wonder why this never reached the same status as "Smoke on the Water". On the other hand, I think it's better that way. With this scenario, there is a healthy balance between overly popular songs and tunes with less exposure that won't undermine the legacy of this brilliantly-crafted tour de force.

Release: 1972

Tracks listing: 1. Highway Star; 2. Maybe I'm A Leo; 3. Pictures Of Home; 4. Never Before; 5. Smoke On The Water; 6. Lazy; 7. Space Truckin'

Band members: Ian Gillan - vocals, harmonica; Ritchie Blackmore - lead guitar; Jon Lord - piano, organ, keyboards; Roger Glove - bass guitar; Ian Paice - drums

Enrico Monsanto is a freelance writer. He writes mainly about guitars, music and sports-related topics. Most of his work can be seen at his blog,

http://monsaint.blogspot.com

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System Of A Down Steal This Album Rock Music CD Review

System Of A Down, the richly talented Rock group have released their latest CD titled Steal This Album and Wow! It's really a good one.

This CD grabs your attention right from the outset with Chic 'N' Stu and won't let go until the very last note of the very last song Streamline, which by the way is another great track.

Steal This Album is a pleasantly varied, mix of 16 tracks that are very well written and brilliantly performed songs by these clearly talented musicians. Most of the songs display a lot of the kind emotion that makes for a really great listen. Clearly drawing from what I can only imagine are their own real life experiences. At different points touching on the most real emotions of love, and the pain of failed relationships can certainly be heard.

One of the refreshingly nice things about this CD is the way all of the participating artists seem to be really enjoying themselves. Combine that with the overall presentation and you've got one of System Of A Down most impressive releases ever.

If you're a System Of A Down fan this is a CD your collection flat cannot be without. In fact, this is one of those CDs that you don't even have to be a fan of lname, or even Rock to know is good. It's just good music. Period.

While the entire CD is really very good the truly standout tunes are track 11 - Highway Song, track 13 - Ego Brain, and track 16 - Streamline.

My Bonus Pick, and the one that got Sore [...as in "Stuck On REpeat"] is track 1 - Chic 'N' Stu. It's a great track!

Steal This Album Release Notes:

System Of A Down originally released Steal This Album on November 26, 2002 on the Epic label.

CD Track List Follows:

1. Chic 'N' Stu

2. Innervision

3. Bubbles

4. Boom!

5. Nuguns

6. A.D.D.

7. Mr. Jack

8. I-E-A-I-A-I-O

9. 36

10. Pictures

11. Highway Song

12. F**K The System

13. Ego Brain

14. Thetawaves

15. Roulette

16. Streamline

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The Origins of Metal From the Beatles to Black Sabbath

It is widely known that the origins of metal music can be traced all the way back to the mid 1960s, maybe even before than that, but metal bands did not come into existence until the formation of Black Sabbath and Deep Purple. However, many bands had touched upon the sounds that they focused on (i.e. heavily distorted guitars and power chords) before they started to hone in on the potential of the driven sounds.

In 1964, for example, The Kinks released You really got me, which was centred around distorted over-drive guitar riffs. However, a lot has got to be said for the guitar playing on The Velvet Underground's debut album, The Velvet Underground and Nico. The influence of the distortion on I'm waiting for my man (1967) and the feedback on Heroin are clearly early forms of metal music. Lou Reed later released a solo album called Metal Machine Music (1975), which was a collection of distorted feedback loops. On the album's notes, Reed claimed to have invented metal music.

The late sixties would see the heavy metal sound gain more even drive in the mainstream release of Helter Skelter on the Beatles' White Album (1968). The heaviest sounding guitar song to that date, Helter Skelter is clearly an important step in the evolution of metal music and the reality is that is was written by Paul McCartney. Helter Skelter is definitely high up the ranks of proto-metal.

It's no surprise then that in the same year as the White Albums was released that both Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath formed, although in all fairness Jimmy Page had already started to develop his own interpretation of distortion, feedback and fuzz tone in his earlier band, The Yardbirds, along with Jeff Beck and Eric Clapton.

Led Zeppelin, exploded onto the music scene out of the break up of The Yardbirds with their debut album, Led Zeppelin. It featured heavy distortion, but the band's varying influences meant that their music wasn't solely rooted in metal sounds.

However, it was the formation of Black Sabbath and Deep Purple that created the concept of the metal band. Black Sabbath, Paranoid and In Rock all surged on the heavy metal bands' stake on musical history. Originating in Birmingham, Ozzy Osborne and the rest of Black Sabbath ploughed into the metal music scene, giving it a focal point along with Deep Purple. This focal point expanded with the start of Judas Priest in 1969. Also originating in Birmingham, Judas Priest's first album, Rocka Rolla, was the beginning of a massive musical legacy that has let to 35 million album sales worldwide.

Lots of other bands and artists contributed to a greater or lesser extent to the beginnings of metal music. Jimi Hendrix's fuzzed up riffs, for example, are a major source of inspiration for metal music even to this day. Iron Butterly's In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida is another good example of proto-metal music.

However, if Lou Reed says he's the inventor of metal music, who am I to argue.

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Megadeth United Abominations Album Review

The new Megadeth album, "United Abominations", is considered as a sonic assault, in the first album which featured a stable line up since their album "The World Needs A Hero" David Mustaine speaks up his mind on nuclear war and government corruption in the United States.

In first impression, the songs in the album are similar to other Megadeth's late albums. The music focuses on the song structure and the guitar rhythm without insane speed and technique. Megadeth is an old rock band, but they can play with the same intensity with other groups younger than their age. The album is steady and easygoing while full of lyrical message. Mustaine tries to deliver instead of the skill show-off as in "Rust in Peace."

The album starts with a song with a catchy tunes in "Sleepwalker". This is the typical song same with the opener of the previous album "The System Has Failed", the song full with unique lyrical structure that unfortunately never reach the peak as Megadeth's songs use to be. "Washington Is Next" has catchy chorus and faster speed. "United Abominations" is definitely the catchiest song in the album, as it becomes the title of the album. Next comes "Never Walk Alone...A Call To Arms," a long paced song slipping in the middle of the album. The songs after "United Abominations" unfortunately get worse in comparison to the previous songs. "Gears Of War" is full of metal frenzy yet too amateur for Megadeth's reputation. The same music also goes for "Blessed Are The Dead" and "Play For Blood." The next remake of "A Tout Le Monde" which features Cristina Scabbia from Lacuna Coil fails to impress since it is played the same with its previous version in "Youthanasia." Cristina Scabbia's voice barely heard in the song and Glen Drover's guitar solo are lame and out of technique. The last three songs "Amerikhastan," "You're Dead," and "Burnt Ice" do not come any better. The closing of the album gives an impression that the album completion is rushed so that they just grab any song to fill in the album. The guitar solo is painful to hear and lack of creativity. Dave's guitar sounds chaotic, but Drover's is actually good, only he's an artist who can only re-create others' works and without creativity.

The sound quality in "United Abominations" is no good compared to "The System has Failed" album. The album sounds as if it is made not in a professional recording establishment, but in a home studio. The good thing about this album is that it can easily be listened to. The sound is average and not full of music and instrumental distortion.

To Megadeth fans, even though they buy the album, this album is disappointing. The songs are not as what they may have been expected. There are no heavy metal music, only simple hard rock. Mustaine fails to do a great job this time.

Gretchen Gordon loves rock and roll and other pop music.

She routinely writes reviews on albums and you can see more of her reviews here.

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Review of Heavy Metal - Music From the Motion Picture

Of all the music I own, this collection of tracks in Heavy Metal, has to be one of, if not, my favorite. I have constantly upgraded the media - from wax to CD - ripped the CD to mp3s - lost the CD - accidentally deleted the mp3s - downloaded from iTunes. The music from this album, release in 1981, has held up well over the years.

Some will argue that the music is not "metal" and to an extent this is true. But the "metal" in the title is from name of the movie "Heavy Metal" of which this album is the soundtrack. There are some tracks that are early versions of metal (Nazareth, Black Sabbath for example.) These, mixed with the other tracks, provide a good cross-section of the music of the early eighties - metal, hard rock, pop, and I guess a Devo category which defies categorization (new wave maybe.)

Heavy Metal the movie is an animated collection of vignettes released in 1981 with the sci-fi and fantasy magazine Heavy Metal serving as its inspiration. The magazine was and is famous for its nudity and violence and the movie contains an ample portion of each though not to extent of the magazine. The soundtrack to the movie is sixteen tracks from a variety of artist and was released on a double album.

The songs from the solo artist rival, or in some instances, are much better than anything they have done elsewhere. Blue Lamp is one of Stevie Nicks' best solo releases ever. Donald Fagan, just coming off the breakup of Steely Dan, shows his jazzy style in True Companion. What Don Felder does here is just as good or better than anything he has ever done, with or without the Eagles.

Blue Oyster cult wrote several songs for the soundtrack to the movie but it was a song they didn't write for the movie that made the cut. 'Veteran of the Psychic Wars', cowritten by BOC's Eric Bloom and the science fiction/fantasy author Michael Moorcock, has been covered by the Finnish metal band Tarot and by Metallica.

Tracks from early metal bands (but not too early) Black Sabbath and Nazareth blend well with the hard rock from Riggs and Sammy Hagar. Hagar is at the height of his solo career. The two songs from Jerry Rigg's pseudonynous band are better known than anything else they have ever done. The song Prefabricated, is translated from the french and is by the band, The Trust.

Cheap Trick recorded "Reach Out" and "I must be Dreaming" for Heavy Metal. Power ballad "Open Arms" from Journey also appeared in the soundtrack to the movie "The Last American Virgin."

The high quality "Queen Bee" was probably Grand Funk Railroad's most notable track during their early eighties reunion. Grand Funk was one of my favorite bands from the 70's (it's also Homer Simpson's favorite band.)

Hard rock, guitars, keyboards, strong vocals - if you're looking for this sound, it's all here.

Bob has varied interest in many subjects literature, electronic gadgets, music, technology, history, philosophy, investing, and religion. He has recently authored a help guide to digital photo frames which can be found at http://www.digitalphotoframesearch.com.

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Led Zeppelin

Led Zeppelin is the #1 Rock and Roll Band of All Time

I've been in rock and roll all my life and I'm well aware that The Rolling Stones have been called the best rock and roll band. Don't get me wrong because I love Mick and the Stones, and the Beatles were my major musical influence, but here's why I think that Led Zeppelin is the best rock and roll band of all time:


BEST PLAYERS First of all, John Bonham was the best rock and roll drummer ever to walk the face of this planet, and that's an informed opinion coming from a former professional drummer. John played drums unlike anyone else ever did, still does, or ever will, and that fact is continually demonstrated in the astounding breadth and depth of his recorded work. He had complete independence in all four limbs, he slammed his drums harder than anyone else, and he did it with speed and total precision, never once dropping the beat. His beats were innovative and creative, and John was never stuck in simple grooves. His fills were innovative, creative, complex, and technically brilliant, he knew when to keep it relatively simple (i.e. Kashmir), but he was always in the stratosphere of drumming. And to top that all off, John created a giant drum sound which is unique. It inspired a host of imitators who were able to imitate the sound of his snare drum, but only with a simple backbeat. At the time that Led Zep was formed, Jimmy Page could have gotten any drummer in the world to play with him, and he chose John. There's not one single drummer alive or dead who can begin to touch John's power, creativity, speed, precision, and technical brilliance. I've heard that Jimmy still feels the same way about John as I do. Secondly, Jimmy Page has always been one of the best rock guitarists ever, right from his earliest days as a session player and the beginning of his real public stardom in the Yardbirds. I believe that Jimmy is the most brilliantly prolific of all the great rock and roll guitarists. I suspect that Jimmy would agree with me that Jimi Hendrix was the one true genius of guitar because he came from another galaxy in terms of his sound and his use of feedback. But unfortunately, Jimi died and we will never know how much further he would have progressed. When I listen to Jimmy's solos using the violin bow, I get the urge to put him on the same pedestal as Hendrix and wonder which galaxy they both came from. As a songwriter, Jimmy used his superior ability to play lead guitar to create actual song structure. Led Zep's songs use not one or two of Jimmy's incredibly powerful, complicated and unbelievably SEXY riffs in each song, but there are four, five or more riffs in some songs. Jimmy's riffs differ from each other within each song, and also from song to song. His lead guitar playing can be HARD and sexy, he can be sensitive and beautiful, and he can be technically brilliant, all in the very same song. Thirdly, John Paul Jones is a bass player who attained a level of brilliance comparable to Paul McCartney. Just like McCartney, John could play beautiful "melodic" bass (i.e. "Ramble On"), he could play as fast as it gets, but he also knew when to keep it simple and just hold down the bottom although I think he was incapable of doing that without utter sophistication. No one at all can touch those two on bass, and John also played consistently brilliant keyboards - piano, organ and synthesizer. The intricate way in which he wove his bass guitar playing into, through, and underneath Jimmy's guitar playing is nothing short of perfection itself. And last but not at all least, Robert Plant had an incredibly high vocal range, emotionally as well as in terms of octaves. Just like Dylan was for his own music, Robert's voice was perfect for Led Zep's music and there's no other singer who could possibly have fit in. As a professional singer, I'm knocked out by Robert's vocals on both a technical and an emotional level. Robert understood the concept of using his voice like a musical instrument, creating fascinating sounds without using lyrics. And Robert co-wrote with Jimmy too. A lot of the time you can't understand his lyrics and I've heard that was Robert's intent because just like Mick Jagger, all he cared about at that time was that you connect with the emotion and the energy in the totality of the music. But when you can get the lyrics (like in Stairway to Heaven, their tribute to Janis Joplin), you find a great piece of poetry. And on top of all that, Robert had the best "oooh yeahs" in the business!
CREATIVE SONGWRITING Hardly anybody has ever covered Led Zep songs for very good reasons. Their song structure is based on their vastly superior playing abilities and there's no one who can actually play what they played. I'm talking about songs that are not based on simple chords like all other rock and roll is. Jimmy and Robert based their songs on Jimmy's riffs and on his chordal tonalities that to this day stand alone as being unique. I'm also talking about length of songs that maintain a constant and intense high, up to 11 minutes in length without resorting to an overly repetitive chorus. I know from Robert's solo work after Led Zep that he also uses unusual tonalities in his writing, but even without actually knowing this I would have to assume that due to Jimmy Page being an erupting fountain of brilliant guitar work, the majority of the non-vocal music creation came from Jimmy. The Beatles certainly deserve abject worship for John and Paul's creative songwriting ability, no question about that. Certainly Mick and Keith wrote a slew of classic, historic and truly memorable rock songs, but the very nature of their comparatively simple rock and roll structure and basic similarity to each other in terms of using major and minor chord progressions, simple and basic rock and roll rhythms, and verse/chorus/bridge approach defines them as being less innovative when compared to Robert and Jimmy.
SUM TOTAL OF BRILLIANT WORK Here they outdistance The Stones because most of the Stones' albums have "fillers", which are songs that do not hit the same intense high that got slammed in all their best ones. However, I'd like to say that I don't think either Mick or Robert is capable of recording anything short of a brilliant vocal. The Beatles actually exceed Led Zep in terms of numbers of great albums that constitute a greater body of brilliant and uniquely innovative work that literally broke new musical ground with every single song they recorded. The Beatles were simply The Beatles, and they were the most creative rock and roll band ever, from being the best singers and songwriters ever right down to their individual charm and charisma. But without denigrating their gorgeous, sensitive and original style of playing, what they recorded is not the heavy type of rock and roll that either the Stones or Led Zep played. George, Paul and John were all brilliant and creative guitarists, but because they did not improvise on stage, they were not really master guitarists. I love and respect Ringo as both a person and as a very creative drummer who mastered the art of drum sounds. He has his own unmistakable Ringo style for both, but he's not really a master drummer in the sense of being able to play with great speed and dexterity. I'm talking about 9 Led Zep albums chock full of brilliant and intensely high songs - I don't know how many hours of great rock and roll listening that is. There's not a single weak track among all that work, and there's simply no question that they consistently broke new ground musically. Their debut album is still the best one of all time (including Cream's), and Coda, their "swan song" is equally perfect.
STAGE PRESENCE Led Zep was there when the concept of "rock and roll star" was still evolving. I will grant that the Stones at least deserve honorable mention as the best rock and roll band but it's mostly because of their impressive touring record and Mick's superstar stage presence with his ability to put on a great show every single time he appears. And he's still doing it at age 60 for goodness sake! My point isn't that Led Zep necessarily had the best stage presence, just that they did have a true rock star sexual aura.

I could go on about Jimmy Page's abilities as a producer, and there are other aspects to their greatness like the length of time they were together without a change of band members. And the life they actually led as archtypical wild rock and roll bad boys equals the life led by the Rolling Stones in intensity, if not length. Both bands are perfect examples on an artistic level of what I call FORM = CONTENT, which in this case means that these two rock and roll bands personified the rock and roll life.

In conclusion, the above four categories do enough to fully qualify Led Zeppelin for my not-so-humble award. There will never be another rock and roll band to approach the stratospheric musical heights that Led Zep reached. The Recording Industry Association of America, who has the correct statistics, lists Led Zeppelin as the third best selling musical act/artist in history. The Beatles are first, with 166.5 million albums sold in the USA alone, Elvis is second with 117.5 million, and Led Zep is third with 106 million. I think it's very significant that those statistics are becoming geometrically times greater than the number of albums that they sold during their performance lifetimes. What has happened and is happening is that the young people of today are discovering them in droves because they are coming of age sexually and they recognize and connect with the most powerful musical example of that sexual power. They are buying their CD's, shirts, posters and other memorabilia. And frankly, I'm thrilled.

Peter Cross is a singer/songwriter/producer/Web Master. You can find this article at: Led Zeppelin is the #1 Rock and Roll Band of All Time and his home page at: Rock and Roll with an Immortal Soul. The "best of” Peter Cross CD is A Hard Day at The Orifice. All work protected by Library of Congress Registration No. TXu1-257-177.

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Singing Instruction - To Belt Or Not to Belt

First of all, lets get on the same page when we talk about "belting". I'm talking about the way we sing when someone important yells "I can't hear you". We begin to push and shove and try to sing LOUDER. Our veins pop out in our neck, we take a fighting stance, firmly set our jaw and SING. Tension is everywhere.

Yet invariably we are still told " you're still not singing loud enough."

I suppose, if you were on stage with no microphone, and a band or orchestra behind you, and a big audience, "belting" might help you be heard a little better. But centuries have passed with opera singers doing just this, only without pushing their voices - or "belting". Opera singers have the uncanny ability to make their voices heard over the orchestra, without a mic...and they do this without forcing. This has to do with years and years of training, and some special physical equipment most of us aren't blessed with.

Think about this: do you really need to "belt"? Maybe so, if you are performing opera or musical theatre without a mic and with a small, soft voice. My only advice if this description fits you is to find other kinds of music to perform.

I'm really speaking to the singers who perform pop, rock. country and musical theatre with microphones. Mics are essential to these types of singers. So, if you have a mic, why would you ever want to "belt"?

Let's suppose you front a rock band and your vocal amp goes out while you are singing. The rest of the band is pounding away and so....you start to yell the song. Funny thing. The audience still won't hear you no matter how loud you try to sing. The human voice simply isn't capable of competing with a rock band. So, if you don't want to stop the song you might as well keep singing it at the volume most comfortable for you. They aren't going to hear you anyway.

There are exercises and techniques which will add punch, power and volume to your singing voice, but they take some time to learn. If you are too often feeling pressured by yourself or others to "belt" it out:

• Ignore them.

• Ride your mic closer or turn up your volume in the mix.

• Add more high mids and treble to your vocal mix.

• Buy a mic which is made to boost the highs and high mids.

• Find a good voice teacher and learn how to do it right.

• Purchase a good singing course and learn how to do it right.

Want to learn more easy techniques to improve your singing? Download my powerful new FREE ebook: "TIPS & TOOLS FOR ALL SINGERS" at: http://vocalvision.com/ad1.php

Al Koehn is a nationally recognized voice teacher, known for achieving amazing results with simple techniques. http://vocalvision.com

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Jimi Hendrix - A Vibrant Artist

On November 27, 1942, the US saw the birth of an amazingly talented musician and artist in the persona of Jimi Hendrix. Born as Johnny Allen Hendrix, he had his name changed to James Marshall and eventually took the nickname "Jimmy" from his father, James Al Hendrix. His father recalls the small Jimmy using their broomstick as a guitar. This prompted him to give little Jimmy a ukulele. The boy's passion for playing guitar never dwindled since then.

Although he has no formal education in this field as he was not even able to write or read musical pieces, in just four years after starting his career, he was already recognized that time by his unique and moving style. With such expertise, he was able to render vibrant and creative rock music through distortion of sounds and feedback with a combination of fuzz and other styles in a fascinating way.

During the Woodstock Music and Art Fair Festival in 1969, people who witnessed him play a renegade rendition of the "Star Spangled Banner" in his own musical jive, may still smile until this moment whenever they look at the USA flag as they sing The American National Anthem.

Other than his unnerving music, he was also famous for his sense of fashion. He would always be spotted wearing medallions, scarves and rings, and, of course, his signature hairstyle.

Even in his untimely death in 1970 -- with some details still remaining a mystery -- his artistry did not die. This electric guitarist and popular 1960s icon even transcended this era as until now, his effects on the new generation is still revived every time they listen to his youthful and raving music, which has captured the kind of energy trapped in the young, and will continue to hold sway for more generations to come.

Pollux Parker is an adventurer who loves discovering secret island getaways in each country he visits. Pollux also likes to collect USA Flag and buy cheap USA Flag.

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The Strange Days (mostly nights) of Guns N' Roses

Kenny "Axil" Rose (Lead vocals), D.J. "Slash (Lead guitar), Joshua "Duff" McKagan (Bass Guitar/backing vocals), Terry "Izzy" Stradlin (Rhythm guitar/backing vocals) and Chuck "Matt Sorum" Johnson (Drums/Percussion) make Guns N' Roses. The group has ridden a wave of success and failure spanning decades, which is almost unknown in the Heavy Metal music scene. Many fans of Guns N' Roses believe that Guns N' Roses is a Heavy Metal Rock band that is larger than large and has a collection of songs and hits not known to the Heavy Metal music scene since the Sex Pistols.

The lives of the band members have come under scrutiny of the public eye when the members' experiences with drugs and sexual exploits came to the knowledge of the general public. The penchant for generating negative press dims in the light of their breathtaking song-writing and energetic performances. Their 1987 album, Appetite for Destruction, is undoubtedly a benchmark that many other albums and bands have failed to measure up to.

The fame of Guns N' Roses continue to rock the world of Heavy Metal music with the rancorous songwriting and Slash's vigorous guitar performances. Slash has been featured in various popular guitar magazines countless times and the band itself has been featured on many other magazines, newsletters and newspapers.

Guns N' Roses popped into the music scene when the music scene was dominated by pop music and pop-metal and the future of Guns N' Roses seem blurry at the point. But they proved the critics wrong when songs many consider raw and an uglier version of rock & roll came galloping into the charts full speed. The members of Guns N' Roses are definitely not known to behave in an angelic way - and they've never tried to behave in any other way, in fact, the members are known to be 'ugly', 'misogynist', 'violent'....but they are also known to be 'funny', 'individualistic', 'vulnerable' and sometimes 'sensitive'.

Guns N' Roses music is very basic and gritty - honest to a fault. They are everything true heavy metal music should be. Listening to Guns N' Roses, listeners will soon realize that their music can evoke a wide range of emotions, from anger to sadness, from devotion to hatred.

Guns N' Roses released their first EP in 1986 which grabbed attention of heavy metal music lovers all around the world. The release of the EP led to their first debut album, Appetite for Destruction. The album didn't start selling until almost a year later, as the group toured and performed in numerous live shows. Only when attention was given by MTV by playing "Sweet Child of Mine", the album shot straight for the number one spot! Taking opportunity of their sudden fame, they re-released their debut single "Welcome to the Jungle" and it instantly rocked its way to Top Ten. Other albums and songs followed including "Patience" and "One in a Million". They started work on their follow-up album in 1990 and it's in the same year that Adler was fired and replaced by Matt Sorum from "The Cult". In addition, Dizzy Reed on keyboards was also introduced. The recordings for 1 new album turned into 2 new albums - "Use your Illusion I" and "Use your Illusion II".

"Use your Illusions I and II" initially sold very well until Nirvana's "Nevermind" broke their successful stride. Rose took over the band with a change of attitude and as a result, Stradlin, one of the best songwriter of all times, left Guns N' Roses in 1991 and he was replaced with Gilby Clarke (Kill for Thrills). It wasn't until 1993 that the fans of Guns N' Roses could come to terms with the change because Stradlin had an important role to play in the band. Their following album, The Spaghetti Incident, did garner good reviews but it still failed to capture the kind of spirit that was apparent in the early days of Guns N' Roses. Guns N' Roses appeared to have lost their edge and many thought that they were out of the race for good. The situation was further worsened with the departure of, yet, another band member, Slash, leaving Rose as the last of the original cast for Guns N' Roses.

In 1999, the first original song in 8 years for Guns N' Roses, "Oh My God" was released and it was featured in "End of Days" film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. The new lineup for Guns N' Roses consist of Rose, Finck, Buckethead, Stinson, Brian Mantia, Paul Huge, and Dizzy Reed. The new Guns N' Roses continue to play and perform wherever they can but they generated some bad press when former members of Guns N' Roses were BANNED from watching their performances. Soon Paul Huge joined the lineup of EX Guns N' Roses members and was promptly replaced with Richard Fortus (former Love Spit Love). Fans and critics alike are waiting to see what the new lineup can come up with while the group of ex-GNR members continues to enjoy celebrity status.

Dean Erickson. Journalist, and web site builder Dean Erickson lives in Texas. He is the owner and co-editor of [http://www.all-guns-n-roses.info] on which you will find a longer, more detailed version of this article.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dean_Erickson

Heavy Metal Music - Headbang To The Rhythm

Can you imagine life without music? It's very difficult to imagine no doubt, but one thing is certain, life would have been dull and boring had it not been for music. In fact you can never come across a person who says that they have never hummed a tune in their life or that they do not love music. Well everyone cannot become great singer, but we all exercise our vocals in the privacy of our bathrooms. If anyone says that they do not sing in the shower, chances are likely that are they are lying. Heavy metal music is a genre of music that evolved in the late 60s and early 70s. Heavy metal music is also referred to as metal music, and this music reached the zenith of its popularity in the 80s and many subgenres of music evolved from heavy metal music. The sounds associated with heavy metal music consisted of heavy guitar and drum centered sound with highly amplified distortion of fast guitar.

Devoted fans of heavy metal music are referred to as headbangers and metalheads world wide. Heavy metal music is characterized by loud distorted guitar sounds, dense drum and bass sound, emphatic rhythm combined with vigorous vocals. A typical heavy metal music band consists of a bassist, a rhythm guitarist, a drummer, a lead guitarist and a lead singer or vocalist. The vocalist may or may not play an instrument. Today heavy metal music has a variety of styles namely power metal; progressive metal and symphonic metal and most of the present day bands often make sure of the electronic keyboard. The heavy volume used in heavy metal music is a vital element of attraction towards the music for fans, especially for live performances. Most popular theme for songs of heavy metal music is violence, fantasy, sex and the occult.

Physical gestures are a vital part of heavy metal music and this is very much evident during live performances. Moshing, headbanging, hand gestures like devil horns, stage diving, air guitar and crowd surfing are very popular among singers and fans of heavy metal music. If you are thinking that heavy metal music is just a form of entertainment, then think again. Researchers have recently found out that heavy metal music can be a great source of comfort to teenage children. The study has found out that teenagers who regularly listen to heavy metal music cope better with pressures as compared to their peers. So now if you find out that your teenage child is hooked to heavy metal music you can just simply rest easy.

Heavy metal music has several subgenres. Underground metal is one of the broad categories of heavy metal music and there are five categories under this namely: death metal, trash metal, black metal, doom metal, gothic metal, power metal and trash metal. The sound that was developed by trash musicians was mush faster and aggressive then the original heavy metal music. Some of the popular heavy metal musicians and bands are Guns N Roses, Iron Maiden, Poison, Bon Jovi, Ozzy Osbourne and Deff Leppard.

Tom Janison is a music fanatic. He loves downloading music of all his favorite artists. http://www.ez-tracks.com is one of his favorites sites for free music, Heavy metal music, Love Songs, Nickelback, Akon, free MP3 downloads and online music.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Tom_Janison

Musicians: How to Look for Band Members

Looking for band members is never an easy task. You may first want to ask yourself what exactly you're looking for - whether it is to join an existing band or find individual members to start your own band. Obviously, both have their differences and this should be answered first before you start your grueling search.

Join an existing band.

This is a great way for enthusiastic musicians to gain some playing experience right away, although it is sometimes harder to find these kinds of opportunities. These are established bands that are looking for single or multiple members for various reasons (their guitarist overdosed on cocaine, bass player got fired for drinking problems, etc). This might go without saying, but make sure you really do like the type of music a band plays before deciding to join their group! There are many musicians I know that play in a band where they don't even like the music they play, all just to "gain experience" to get their foot in the door and hopefully move on to greener pastures. It can't be stressed enough that if you don't like the music you play, you're going to do a half-assed job at it, so why bother?

Also, know your playing experience and limits. For example, if you've only started playing guitar learning all Green Day songs for a few months, don't expect to join a thrash metal band that requires you to do sweep-picking, fast arpeggios, or any other insane guitar techniques. Make sure you choose a band where the technicality of the music they play is comfortable with your own skill level as a musician.

A huge advantage for joining an established band (maybe) is that most of the back-end stuff is already taken care of. This includes tasks such as finding an agent/manager to book your gigs, song development, contracts with music labels, etc. All you have to do is show up for rehearsals and play shows as scheduled.

A good resource to start finding these bands in need is going to your local rehearsal studios where most of them lurk. These are places where any musician can pay for a room to rehearse. Best of all, all the musicians you find there are often in your local area. Check out the bulletin boards where frequent bands post up classified ads that may go something like:

"Looking to join a band that rocks?! We are in need of a guitar player with lots of experience! Our influences include: Megadeth, In Flames, Black Sabbath, and many more! If interested, please contact Todd at xxxxxxxxxx."

Or even better yet, post up your own classified ad on the bulletin board so bands can contact you instead. Local, independent music stores often have a bulletin board for classified ads as well. These are some of the best free ways to find band members in your area.

Disadvantages of joining an existing band.

First and foremost, you have to learn all their songs usually in a limited period of time. The band might have a show coming up and you have to be able to play all their songs flawlessly note-for-note. Needless to say, this might be stressful for some musicians (except if their music is very straight forward and easy with pure 3 note power chords).

Another disadvantage is often your own music creativity is limited. Most bands prefer their original tunes to be played and carried on without any radical change. For example, if you just joined a band and replaced their old guitarist, the way the former guitarist played a particular solo, is the way the band wants it to be played by you. Often you must follow the same note structure of a music piece composed by another musician.

Organizing your own band.

This is where you try to find individual musicians to start a new band, usually with similar music skills and backgrounds. Thinking of starting a band is the easy part, but the actual process of searching for the right people is harder than most people think. There are tons of musicians out there in the world but only a small percentage of those you may be compatible with. In addition, ask yourself: are you going to play in a band just for fun, or are you trying to make a living out of it? This will influence where you are going to start looking.

The internet is becoming a popular method for musicians to find other musicians. If you search "looking for musicians" in Google, you will easily find over 12,400,000 results - so how do you find what you're looking for? Many ads posted in classifieds sections and on popular music forums will vaguely have descriptions such as this:

"Guitar player looking to form a band."

Well, that's just great.

Try refining your search to keywords such as the area you are in, what position you are looking for, etc. Example: "Looking for bass players in Toronto". The first search result is an ad posted on http://www.craigslist.org, which by the way is an excellent place to get started. Try to only focus your attention on well-written ads that describe the musician, which includes how much playing experience he/she has, the types of music they are willing to play, and the intention of playing in a band. Or you may also want to post your own ad in music community forums and add a link to your audio/video samples that will likely interest more candidates. Audio/video samples that show off your best work are often the most influential factor of candidates contacting you back.

Be consistent with this. Chances are you won't find someone right away on your first few posts, so try to refresh your ads on a weekly basis (but don't spam!).

The internet is a large resource but don't just rely solely on it. You may find you have better luck looking in local magazine's classifieds ads section where it's more direct. Also, because musicians have to pay to get their ads published in magazines, it shows that they are more serious about organizing a band.

Don't limit yourself in a location.

If you are serious about starting a career as a musician, you don't just search for bands or members only in your local area. Living in smaller towns and cities won't give you very many options in choosing the right band or member for you. Expand yourself to larger urban cities where the potential to find band members is greater.

Finding band members is like finding a good job. Know exactly what you want before searching, always have a good portfolio ready, and be consistent in your pursue. Goodluck!

Kenny Auyoung

Webmaster @ [http://www.getmeaband.com] Looking for a band? Search through our directory of musicians to find band members in your local area.

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Using a Lick Library to Hone Your Guitaring Skills

Especially in the rock music genres, the word "lick" is used to refer to a pattern or phrase that consists usually of either a series of musical notes or a short phrase and is often played in melodic lines or in solos. More often than not the term is used in reference to the guitar playing rock musicians. Some musicians recommend that one of the best ways to learn the guitar would be to practice licks, collect a variety of them in a lick library and learn how and when to utilize them so that you will be able to create good solos.

A lot of time is devoted to the practicing of scales when a person is first learning to play the guitar. There is not much benefit to that approach. There is a better way to utilize the practice time.

Scale practicing is not all lost. When you scale practice you are able to build up the strength and agility in your fingers. You will be training your ear for the patterns of the scale. You are learning the fret board notes. But if you think about it, scales itself is not music. Even the notes you play in a chord or in a solo did originated from a scale; you are playing them differently.

In music such as the rock, the blues and jazz, notes not in the scale are quite often used. Another point is that your scales practice does not help you when it comes to playing chords, solos and licks which are the building blocks of most guitar songs.

Here are a few suggestions for what you can do instead. When you are accompanying songs on the guitar, chords are mainly what you will be playing. So you should practice your chords. If you want to play them you will have to begin practicing them.

Continuing to practice scales do not help you do that. Another thing you can do is to practice playing licks. Practicing lick you have accumulated in your lick library will give you all the benefits that scale practice provides. Also, it allows you to directly utilize you skills in your songs.

It is a good idea to collect a large number of licks in a lick library and you will become skilled at knowing exactly when to utilize them when you begin to create your own solos. Another thing you can do is to practice intervals. This will bring it all together, because you will be able to play anything when you hear, and then play the intervals with the guitar.

Train yourself to think intervals instead of in scales and it will allow you to make creative solos and licks. Keep practicing licks and intervals, but also be certain to practice whole solos also. If you can learn a complete solo, that would provide you with a good finger workout. It teaches you the construction of solos.

This is a more productive process that continuing to practice scales. So these are the alternative methods you can use when learning to play the guitar. You will still get all the benefits that the scales practice gave you.

A good way to be able to improvise a song on your guitar is to build a foundation of both riffs and licks. It is said that successful players had all created a well memorized riffs library and also a lick library. While practicing, they would totally absorb their licks from many sources, so they will be prepared if the opportunity arose for them to perform a solo or give an improvisation. That process of learning through the lick library makes improvisation very easy because you will be able to blend you tunes.

There are several strategies you could use when approaching learning to play guitar. Utilizing a lick library is only one of them, but it has been proven to be effective. Learn more about using a lick collection to hone your skills as a guitar player.

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Learn to Play Heavy Metal

The heavy metal genre of music is known for exacting highly intense emotions from the audience; and this is precisely what separates it from other contemporary music genres. Once you develop a taste for heavy metal, you are unlikely to find any other music style so cathartic. If you are an intense person and have occasionally listened to heavy metal bands, you are sure to have a desire to learn to play heavy metal. However, the first step towards learning it must start with knowing the history of its origin.

Born out of the experiments of late 1960s, heavy metal took the shape of a separate class only during 1970s and 1980s. It originated from the fusion of old blues and rock styles and finds its uniqueness in heavy guitar distortions. The earliest music that could be termed metal came from bands such as Led Zepplin, Deep Purple and Black Sabbath in the 1970s.

The later bands shed most of the blues influence and added more speed and loudness. You can find metal lessons in books, CDs, DVDs and also on many websites. An important thing is to keep away from irrelevant lessons and focus only on what is essential for metal music. Your lessons should be more focused on techniques like scales, harmonics, palm muting, tremolo picking, etc which support the aggressive metal style of playing guitar.

The learn heavy metal guitar course by Phil Wheatley is a complete beginner course for players who are venturing into the metal guitar niche. This course gives you a run through in exactly what a metal guitar player will require to start playing fast. With a detailed coursebook and more than 10 video lessons, the course available for download is the fastest means to learn to play the guitar for anyone. Phil Wheatley has offers some interesting advice on playing metal guitar on his blog and this is a good way to read the latest news in the music scene.

Heavy metal music is played at a faster pace and in a rather forceful style. Mastering strong and heavy notes as well as riffs will greatly improve you metal skills. These are important things to be kept in mind when you are looking for lessons to learn to play metal guitar. But do not allow yourself to be overwhelmed with the tricks of metal music and keep in mind that you are learning so that you can have fun. And you will sure succeed with patience and practice.

Check Out Beginner Metal Guitar Lessons Today. Read Our Learn Heavy Metal Guitar Review At GuitarPlayerWorld.com.

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Gorman heavy metal beer swilling expert

Gorman's back and looking for your input, come on guys follow my Blog and watch out for some fantastic news and views. Give me your comments and insights into everything metal and lets share our rock and metal experiences. Look out for this metal minded soul, stage diving at a venue near you.

Great news!! I am compiling my music collection and will be publishing a huge list of everything heavy on this very Blog anytime soon. Join in the mayhem and send me your lists, how many metal bands can we find must be thousands out there. Start at the beginning with all groups "A" lets keep it alphabetical and see how we go..

I'm off to the pub... later.

Some nice easy listening vids for you ...!!!

Gorman's Rock and Metal Ultimate Guide.

Hi Gorman here, your Rock and Metal music connoisseur extraordinair inviting you to ask me anything rock and metal. Watch this space!!! for all your heavy metal and rock news, gossip, reviews and more.... coming very soon! right here! later dudes...

Can you imagine life without music? It’s very difficult to imagine no doubt, but one thing is certain, life would have been dull and boring had it not been for music. In fact you can never come across a person who says that they have never hummed a tune in their life or that they do not love music. Well everyone cannot become great singer, but we all exercise our vocals in the privacy of our bathrooms. If anyone says that they do not sing in the shower, chances are likely that are they are lying. Heavy metal music is a genre of music that evolved in the late 60s and early 70s. Heavy metal music is also referred to as metal music, and this music reached the zenith of its popularity in the 80s and many subgenres of music evolved from heavy metal music. The sounds associated with heavy metal music consisted of heavy guitar and drum centered sound with highly amplified distortion of fast guitar.

Devoted fans of heavy metal music are referred to as headbangers and metalheads world wide. Heavy metal music is characterized by loud distorted guitar sounds, dense drum and bass sound, emphatic rhythm combined with vigorous vocals. A typical heavy metal music band consists of a bassist, a rhythm guitarist, a drummer, a lead guitarist and a lead singer or vocalist. The vocalist may or may not play an instrument. Today heavy metal music has a variety of styles namely power metal; progressive metal and symphonic metal and most of the present day bands often make sure of the electronic keyboard. The heavy volume used in heavy metal music is a vital element of attraction towards the music for fans, especially for live performances. Most popular theme for songs of heavy metal music is violence, fantasy, sex and the occult.

Physical gestures are a vital part of heavy metal music and this is very much evident during live performances. Moshing, headbanging, hand gestures like devil horns, stage diving, air guitar and crowd surfing are very popular among singers and fans of heavy metal music. If you are thinking that heavy metal music is just a form of entertainment, then think again. Researchers have recently found out that heavy metal music can be a great source of comfort to teenage children. The study has found out that teenagers who regularly listen to heavy metal music cope better with pressures as compared to their peers. So now if you find out that your teenage child is hooked to heavy metal music you can just simply rest easy.

Heavy metal music has several subgenres. Underground metal is one of the broad categories of heavy metal music and there are five categories under this namely: death metal, trash metal, black metal, doom metal, gothic metal, power metal and trash metal. The sound that was developed by trash musicians was mush faster and aggressive then the original heavy metal music. Some of the popular heavy metal musicians and bands are Guns N Roses, Iron Maiden, Poison, Bon Jovi, Ozzy Osbourne and Deff Leppard.

Tom Janison is a music fanatic. He loves downloading music of all his favorite artists. http://www.ez-tracks.com is one of his favorites sites for free music, Heavy metal music, Love Songs, Nickelback, Akon, free MP3 downloads and online music.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Tom_Janison

Heavy Metal Bands erupted on the scene in the late 1970's and since then have split into many sub-sets and styles. Each style carries its own variation with other styles mixed in. What we now call Traditional is usually a grouping of some of the original bands that were around before the genres split. Some examples of these groups include Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, and Deep Purple.

Heavy Metal Styles

Black - Originates from Speed metal, Thrash metal and hardcore punk in the early 1980's. Black metal has had much opposition from mainstream culture due to many of its bands having an anti-Christian worldview. Typical instruments include vocals, electric guitar, bass guitar and drums.

Death - Originates from Thrash metal and early Black metal in the mid-1980's. Uses heavily distorted guitars, blast-beat drumming, and deep growling vocals. Inspired by groups such as Slayer, Celtic Frost and Kreator.

Doom - Originates from classic heavy metal, especially Black Sabbath albums of the early 1970's. Uses slower tempos and a much heavier and "thicker" sound. Lyrics tend to evoke a sense of dread, doom or despair.

Drone - Became more popular in the early 1990's. Drone metal melds Doom metal with the long duration tones of drone music.

Folk - Developed in Europe in the mid 1990's. It fuses classic heavy metal with traditional folk music through the use of folk instruments.

Glam - Also known as "hair metal", it arose in the late 1970's and stayed popular through the 1980's. It combined the looks of glam rock with the power chord hard rock style of music.

Gothic - Combines heavy metal with gothic rock. Originated in the early 1990's from a mixture of death metal and doom metal. Popular bands include Paradise Lost and Anathema. Lyrics are brought out through gothic fiction and personal experiences.

Groove - Sometimes referred to post-thrash, originated in the early 1990's from genre's including thrash metal and hardcore punk. A popular Grove Metal album would be Pantera's Cowboys from Hell.

Industrial - Draws from heavy metal and industrial music using sequencer lines, distorted vocals, sampling, and repeating metal guitar riffs. Established in the late 1980's, popular bands include Fear Factory, Ministry and Nine Inch Nails.

Metalcore - Gets the name from a fusion of hardcore punk and heavy metal. Metalcore is different from other punk metal bands because of the emphasis on slower and more intense breakdowns that are conducive to moshing.

Neo-Classical - Heavily influenced by classical music, Neo-classical metal is a very technical music performance that was established in the 1970's and 1980's.

Nu-Metal - Developed in the 1990's, this music blends both hip-hop and grunge with classic heavy metal. Popular bands include Korn, Deftones and P.O.D.

Post-Metal - Originated in the early 2000's, post-metal is characterized by minimal vocals with distorted guitar and heavy atmospherics. The group, Isis, is usually credited with originating and making popular post-metal music.

Power - Originating in the mid 1980's, it is a mixture of classic metal with speed metal which adds in a symphonic element, usually through the use of keyboards.

Progressive - Established in the mid 1980's, progressive metal is a mix of classic heavy metal with progressive rock. Early bands mixed heavy metal from groups such as Metallica and Megadeath with progressive rock bands, namely Rush and King Crimson, who were already fusing some heavy metal into their music.

Sludge Metal - Originating in the late 1980's, sludge metal is a mix of both doom metal and hardcore punk. It is aggressive with shouted vocals, contrasting tempos and heavy distortion. It moves through slow paced songs that have brief hardcore tempos.

Speed - Established in the 1970's and 80's, speed metal is characterized by extremely fast and technically demanding song sets. While still popular today, more prevalent is the toned down version of speed metal called thrash metal. Motorhead and Judas Priest were two of the most influential bands of this genre.

Thrash - Originating in the early 1980's, thrash metal descends from speed metal. It is characterized by low-register guitar riffs and shredding style lead work. The "Big Four" of thrash metal are Metallica, Slayer, Megadeath and Anthrax.

There are many other types of Metal that cross genres to create their own style, including Alternative, Avant-garde, Christian, Crust Punk, Extreme, Funk, Grindcore, Rap, Symphonic and Viking Metal and others.

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