In the beginning there was Black Sabbath.  And God looked and saw and He said, "Good Me, what is this noise?!!"

Ozzy, Tony, Geezer and Bill solidified the music that would come to be defined as "Heavy Metal", but around that same era (and even slightly before) there were other bands, not as well known, some not much remembered today, who contributed to the music's growth and popularity in the years to come.  The following are some of the essential early or proto-Metal records that I'm sure you all have or will soon be acquiring through Ebay, Craigslist or Amazon...

1.  "Black Sabbath" - Black Sabbath (1970)

Released on Friday the 13, 1970, this album, with its mysterious, autumnal cover art and mid-tempo doom-y songs was unlike anything being done at the time.  Forget Zeppelin's hippy-dippy, psuedo-mystical, blues-wannabe bluster, "Black Sabbath" heralded the coming of a new wave of working-class music that appealed to depressed, downer-ingesting youth the world over.  Ozzy's "normal-guy" vocals combined with Iommi's amazingly heavy riffs, Butler's frenzied bass-work and Bill Ward's bludgeoning drums were the musical rendition of their hometown, Birmingham, England's, industrial machines that pounded ceaselessly as the band rehearsed and refined their highly original sound.  While their second album, "Paranoid" produced more hits and made the band internationally famous, turning them into legends, this first album sometimes gets lost in the shuffle.  But tracks like "The Wizard", "N.I.B." and the namesake title song remind us of just how revolutionary Sabbath was...and how important to the movement they were.

2.  "Vincebus Eruptum" - Blue Cheer (1968)

 

While Blue Cheer's career was essentially over just as Sabbath's star was rising, this first album is still regarded as an important part of the evolution of Heavy Metal.  More distorted, more chaotic and more brutal than...well, than anything that was released in '68, "Vincebus Eruptum" still holds up to this day as a classic heavy rock album.  While subsequent Blue Cheer records saw the band pursuing a more psychedelic and bluesier type of hard rock, their first album remains a raw reminder of what lots of drugs and several Marshall stacks can accomplish.

3.  "Relentless" - Pentagram (1985)

Although Pentagram's first full-length album was not released until halfway through the 80's, the band itself had been performing under various monikers and with a rotating line-up since the very early 70's.  In fact, much of the material on "Relentless" was originally record during that era (hence its inclusion here).  The music finds the band as an early contender to Sabbath's throne - a sort of American counterpart, if you will.  Their talent is immediately apparent, and although many of the songs are wonderfully heavy and doom-laden, there is still a bluesy swagger that is so purely American that it sets them apart from the Birmingham boys.  Songs like "Be Forewarned" and "Lazy Lady" fall somewhere inbetween Sabbath and such bands as Deep Purple and other early, proto-metal acts such as Sir Lord Baltimore and Cactus.

4.  "Hard Attack" - Dust (1972)

New York's Dust only released two albums in their career, but those two albums are amazing.  Comprised of Kenny Aaronson, Richie Wise, and Marc Bell (who you might recognize under his more-familiar name, Marky Ramone), Dust is a great example of proto-Metal.  This, their second album, is considered by many to be superior to their first, eponymously-named record and I would concur.  Standout tracks include "Suicide", "Walk In The Soft Rain" and "Learning to Die".  Aaronson went on to play bass for Rick Derringer and Foghat, Richie Wise engineered the first few KISS albums and produced albums for none other than James Brown and, of course, Marc went on to drum for the Voidoids and, later, The Ramones.

5.  "Love It To Death" - Alice Cooper (1971)

While Alice Cooper (the group and the man) went on to expand and explore various musical styles and themes, the original sound that propelled the band to stardom was rooted in twin-guitar heavy rock.  This classic album brings you not only the hit single "Eighteen" but such amazingly constructed tracks as "The Ballad of Dwight Fry" and "Hallowed By My Name" thus setting the stage for the horror and blasphemy that would become so inextricably entwined with the genre in later years.  Face it, without Alice we probably wouldn't have KISS, W.A.S.P., Gwar, Marilyn Manson or any number of other extreme visual acts.  The follow-up to this album, "Killer", further exemplifies the hard rock horror that was scaring the shit out of parents all over the world in the 70's.

Next: Metal - The Formative Years

Rob Halford is gay

I don’t know if I actually remember this story happening of if I have just told the tale enough times that it’s gained a life of its own. Either way, its a memory that should be told.

I think I was a sophomore in high school; it was Yelm Washington in 1989 or 1990.

Between classes, my Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me cassette tape fell out of my book bag to the floor, those orange/red lips on the cover.  I bend over to grab it and get a hard bump from a passing kid.  He looks down at my tape and says something to the affect to “Those guys are a bunch of fags.  Are you some kind of fag?”

As I look up, I notice his Judas Priest t-shirt under his dirty denim jack (the ones with the sleeves cut off).  Common sense and fear were no where to be found in me at that moment.  I proceeded to tell Mr. Judas Priest T-shirt that actually the lead singer of Judas Priest was gay and I knew that Robert Smith of The Cure was married to a woman.  This is before Halford ‘came out’ on MTV (that was 1998) and the thought of this guy’s favorite singer in his favorite metal band being homosexual was more than he could take.

As rage filled him, I proceed to ask him if he had ever listened to the lyrics of Judas Priest or maybe had seen Halford in his leather cop outfit with a whip and bondage gear, straddling a motorcycle like no hetro man would, rock star or not.

This was 11 years after Sin After Sin, with the song Raw Deal when he sang lyrics that begin with describing scoping a gay bar in New York and end with him being tied up in a sack and beaten up by the ‘big boys’.

A song titled “Breaking the Law” and “Point of Entry”, an album called “Ram It Down” and “Hell Bent for Leather”?

It was somewhere around this point that the kid who had mocked my The Cure tape gave me a final push and stormed off red faced.

At this point, I wasn’t even sure Rob Halford was gay, but I had lashed out at this poor small town homophobic Judas Priest Fan and given a dose of truth.

 

By the way, Judas Priest is some good metal, even the bubble gum glam rock stuff from Turbo.

Judas Priest Downloads on Amazon.com

On 26, August 2005, the Metal Community lost one of its most endearing and original guitarists - Denis D'Amour (aka Piggy) of the legendary Canadian metalists, VOIVOD - to cancer.  Although the band was able to complete a full album (with another - the final Voivod album - on the way) using tracks recorded by Denis onto his laptop when he learned that he was sick, many believed it signaled the end of an era and live performances for the band.

But good news - Voivod is back to say thank you and goodbye to the loyal fans.  June 22nd will see the band as part of the Heavy MTL festival in Montreal and then again at this year's 2-date Texas Ozzfest (no concert date announced yet).   Guitar will be handled by Dan Mongrain of the Canadian thrash band, Martyr, who have been good friends of the band for years.  As most of you know, ex-Metallica bassist, Jason Newsted (Jasonic) joined Voivod after his departure from the Jaymz and Larz Show and contributed time, money and effort to getting the band back on their feet after some rough years.  However, Jasonic will not be able to play the Montreal show.  In his place will be...are you sitting down...?

 

Original Voivod bassist and founding member -  Jean-Yves Theriault - better known as BLACKY!!!

 

That's right, the Blower Bass is back after 17 years!!  Unfuckingbelievable...

 

Completing this special occasion will be an appearance by bassist/vocalist Eric Forrest (current E-Force) , who contributed mightily to keeping Voivod alive after the departure of original vocalist, Snake.  Of course, Snake is back in the fold and it will be interesting to see the set-list for this gig featuring both of these Metal Titans.  

This should be a fitting farewell to Piggy and to all of us, the fans, who have kept Voivod in our hearts and cd players all of these years.  I'm busting out my vinyl copy of "War and Pain" to commemorate the event, since Montreal, Canada is a little bit of a hike for this Olympia Headbanger.  All hail the mighty IRON GANG!!!

R.I.P. Denis

 

"loudest metal band"

Go ahead and google "loudest metal band"
You will notice the first page that comes up is Manowar’s Wikipedia page

Only a few paragraph’s for "loudest metal band"? WTF? I do like the timeline (below)
I sometimes forget that Ross the Boss and Kenny Earl Edwards never played together. A visual reference helps.

I’ll be listening to Black Wind Fire and Steel if anyone needs me.

Full moon light is calling me
My kigndom lies within
The mystic soul and lions heart
Brought by the talisman
The ecstasy of battle takes me
Where the falcons fly
Immortal youth was granted me
I will never die

Born of black wind fire and steel
Born of black wind fire and steel
Born to teach them all to heel
Born of black wind fire and steel

Pounded by the hammers
Of the giants of the world
I can see in darkness
Im the overlord
Single combat I await
My shadow brings them fear
The spikes upon my chariot
Will grind them when theyre near

Born of black wind fire and steel
Born of black wind fire and steel
Born to teach them all to heel
Born of black wind fire and steel

I am an outcast on the path of no return
Punisher and swordsman
I was born to burn
Black wind always follows
Where my black horse rides
Fires in my soul
Steel is on my side

Born of black wind fire and steel
Born of black wind fire and steel
Born to teach them all to heel
Born of black wind fire and steel

Metallic and Me Part Three: Butt Pride

From the song Where Ever I May Roam – Metallica’s Black Album

 

Words and Music by James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich

 “…And the road becomes my bride

I have stripped of all but pride

So in her I do confide

And she keeps me satisfied

Gives me all I need”

I can’t hear this lyric without replacing the words “all but pride” with “all butt pride”.

Pride in ones butt.  Isn’t that one of the 7 deadly sins?

 

I can’t help but(t) wonder what was going on in the studio, no one was giggling like a pack of 5^th grade boys making poop jokes while Hetfield was yelling “all butt pri-da”?

“Uh, take 27, Mr. Hetfield, better sing that lyric again, heh heh”

 

This was a band once compared to the Great Slayer and the Mighty Megadeath.

The band responsible for Kill ‘Em All, Ride the Lightening, and Master of Puppets.

Butt then.. Butt Pride.

Halloween, 1986 - First SLAYER concert

 

Dan's mom warned us before we left for Seattle.  She made sure we were well aware of the date and what happens on All Hallow's Eve.  Spirits - many of them EVIL and bearing us ILL WILL - are loosed upon this unholy night and damn near anything can happen.  We sat in stoned silence as she imparted this age-old superstition in a deadly serious tone.  Once in a while, I glanced at Dan to see if this was for real, but his swollen, reddened eyes only told the story of too-many bong-hits.  His mother rambled on about Satan's plan to seduce youth such as us, one of his favorite tools being the dreaded Heavy Metal music!

Finally, she wrapped up with a scriptural flourish and we were out the door, in Dan's diesel-converted Chevette and off to pick up the other two guys who were going to the concert with us, Clint and David.  Normally, we didn't hang much with these guys but they had weed and they needed a ride.  When we got to Clint's house we discovered they also had a fifth of rum but Dan demanded gas money, anyway.  These guys were basically clowns who we knew we would ditch as soon as possible once we were at the show.

We loaded up on weed, rum and gasoline and we were off to Seattle to see the mighty Slayer at the Moore Theater.

 

A little history - I saw an ad for Slayer's first album, "Show No Mercy", in the back of a Hit Parader or Circus magazine or some damn thing and immediately knew that I had to have it.  Living in a tiny redneck, blue-collar town, it wasn't the easiest thing to track down back in 198-whatever, but I managed it.  Got it on cassette.  Listened to it once and it scared the shit outta me.  Traded it to David (the same as above) for a KEEL tape.  But as time went on I grew to miss it.  I yearned for it.  I became obsessed by it.  I wanted it back.  I was ready to explore this new sound in a better, a more prepared, state of mind.  I finagled the tape back from David, who was really easy to finagle, and pretty much listened to it nonstop until the second Slayer album, "Hell Awaits" was released.  Now I was definitely a fan.  This band was pushing the envelope in a way that nobody else seemed to be doing. Metallica paled in the face of such a satanic onslaught.  Iron Maiden's "Number of the Beast" faded into the horror-movie scenario that it was meant to be and Slayer took center stage in my life, because they were the REAL DEAL.  

 

Now we were on our way to the Moore Theater, one of Seattle's oldest venues and purported to be, yes...haunted!  A haunted theater on Halloween night - is there no more perfect setting for seeing Slayer for the first time? 

 

Once in Seattle, we found a convenient parking garage and proceeded to partake of the good one last time.  In the process of doing this, David dropped Dan's sneak-a-toke into his cup of rum and coke and forevermore incurred Dan's wrath.  For the rest of the night, whenever he was around (which wasn't much as you'll see) he berated David mercilessly.  Luckily, Dan never travelled without a backup utensil.  When we were good and altered, we left the parking garage and entered into the Samhain night...

 

The first thing I was struck by was how many people had opted to wear a devil costume to the show that evening.  Many red-satin Satan's cavorted through the aisles of the Moore as I endeavored to take in the whole wild sight.  Of course there were other modes of costume that night, also - from the regulation headbanger gear of leather and spikes to the two, lovely blond twins who were right in front of us that decided to wear thin little polka-dot mini-skirts.  The odor of marijuana and beer wafted through the air.  Many people ignored the "NO SMOKING" signs and lit up with impunity.  People were moshing to the piped-in music over the PA.  Yelling at each other.  Yelling at no one in particular.  Chants of "Slay-Er!  Slay-Er!  Slay-Er!" would periodically rise and make the rounds for a few minutes before dying out to be replaced by more random screams and howls.

 

The opening band this night was seminal thrash act, Overkill.  They did their best, but this was clearly a Slayer crowd.  We were familiar with two of Overkill's songs - "Rotten To The Core" and "Hammerhead" - and they played both so we were okay with them.  After giving us the one-finger salute, which the audience heartily returned, they left the stage and we awaited the appearance of Satan's personal musical minions.

 

The experience was one I will never forget.  In swirling clouds of colored smoke, the band was relentless and personified all the rage, volume and excess that is Heavy Metal music.   Slayer had just released their now-classic magum opus, "Reign In Blood", and the guitars seared the air like razors slicing through our brains with Dave Lombardo's pummeling double-bass drums reducing what was left to pudding.  Speaking of razors - sometime during the concert I looked up at my arm (yes, up - as I was in a continuous state of raising the devil-horns) and noticed a razor-like gash that was dribbling blood.  To this day I have no idea how I got cut, but I took it as a sign and proudly wiped the crimson flow onto my KISW FM 100 ROCK t-shirt as a badge of brutality.  All the Slayer amenities of the time were present and in full force this night - Kerry King's 6-inch nail wristband; Tom Araya's introduction to "Die By The Sword" - (They say the pen is mightier than the sword, but I say FUCK the pen!  Because you can diiiiiie by the sword!); manic fans trampelling each other in the pit.  This was intensity.  Not even the D.R.I. show we had attended a couple months prior could compare to the ferocity and manic energy that was put out by the band and returned in full by the fans.  

 

At some point during the show, David decided it would be a good idea to try and crawl through the pit (in the Moore Theater it was literally a pit - the orchestra pit) and try to get past the security guys guarding the stage. What his purpose was in attempting this was never made clear and we didn't even know about it until after the show.  The result was predictable.  The beefy security guys tossed David out the side door, apparently injuring his arm in the process.  After the show, David claimed (through drunken tears) that his arm was broken and that he needed to go to a hospital.  Dan's response was "Fuck you, you got your own ass thrown out.  It's late and we're going home.  Besides you dropped my sneak-a-toke in your fuckin' rum and coke, dickhead".   A proper response, I thought.

 

The image that will always sum this show up in my mind happened about halfway through the gig.  Tom Araya, surveying the colorfully-attired Halloween night crowd, said to us, "I see you've all brought your upside-down crosses, tonight!", with a malicious grin.  In the next second, the lights were glaring off of hundreds of metallic satanic icons as the audience lifted thier Jehova-denying jewelery into the air.  Then the band launched into "Hell Awaits" sealing all our fates forever...

 

 

 

 

 

It was once rumored that the 74 minute CDR length was specifically set to be sure to be able to hold Beethoven's 9th Symphony in its entirety. (snopes.com)

I think it’s more likely the devil made it that length to be able to fit Slayer's Reign in Blood on a CDR twice.

Try it, it fits quite nicely

Metallica and Me Part 2: Enter the Sell Out

In August of 1991, Metallica released their “Black Album”.  Some time previous to that, they cut their hair and started wearing makeup.  Not Kiss style makeup, more Dave Navarro style make up.  They also were no longer a Metal band, they were a Rock band.  This wasn’t a bad thing for them, because it sold a bunch of albums.

The first song I heard a song off this album was Enter Sandman, I think on MTV .  No longer restricted to Headbanger’s Ball, Metallica was now a MTV darling.  The trimmed facial hair and eyeliner helped.

My Metal Friends were bummed.  The mighty had fallen.  Maybe this was just a phase and the thrash metal Metallica soon would return.

More Rock singles followed Enter Sandman: The Unforgiven, Nothing Else Matters, Wherever I May Roam, and  Sad but True.  Six minute plus power ballads.  Yuck.

Nope, not a phase.  This was Metallica.  A kinder, gentler Metallica.

Later in the summer of 1991, a band fronted by some dirty left handed kid from Aberdean WA released an album with a baby on the cover chasing some money under water.  Grunge was about to sell a butt load of albums and make some money.  Metallica’s spies in the industry had seen this coming.  They had sold out.

This didn’t make me like Metallica any more or less.  My liking Metallica less stage was coming soon.

Below is what the Black Album would look like if viewed in the dark

 

 

 

Download Enter Sandman

Download the Black Album

  invented it.

refined it.

defined it.

 

were metal until they were all killed and replaced by robots sometime in 1991.  Strangely, Dave Mustaine has managed to retain his metalness, or metalocity, if you will.  Although, someday, Mustaine and the Lars Ulrich robot are gonna eat each other's heads.

Any L.A. band following in the wake of  is not metal, with the exception of  who were actually around pre-Crüe, just nobody outside of Hollywood knew about 'em.

is not metal, and at this point, not even rock 'n' roll, except for Ace Frehley who was/is/will always be cool as all fucking get-out. 

 D.R.I. and Suicidal Tendencies are punk bands that became metal.  Entombed is a metal band that became punk and then reaffirmed their faith again in act of satanic bestiality so severe and offensive that we cannot even speak of it.

Neil Young, Iggy Pop and Roky Erickson are not metal but they could be if they wanted to.

is metal and to say otherwise will cause spontaneous inner-bleeding and fire of the spleen. 

 

is rock 'n' roll but Lemmy is metal.  Not sure how that happened.

 

If you're not sure if your favorite band is metal or not, you can refer to these helpful tips:

1.  If any member of the band is named after a demon or god in Christian theology, any of H.P. Lovecraft's "Elder Gods" or any viking/pagan deities they are metal.

2.  One guitar is hard rock, one rhythm and one lead guitar could be rock (AC/DC) or metal (Metallica, pre '91), twin lead guitars are metal, three guitars are southern rock.

3.  Any band whose name begins with "Bon" and ends with "Jovi" is not metal.

4.  Any band featuring a glockenspiel is not metal unless they spell it: glöckenspïel.

5.  If Scott "Wino" Weinrich is in your band, you are metal.  If Scott Weiland is in your band, you are not.  In fact, if Scott Weiland is in your band you are not even rock, you are shit.

 

I hope this has been helpful in clearing up a few things.