Heavy Metal

Shawn Guise And Tim Emig And Nathan Weaver

Birth And Origin

Heavy metal started in England with Black Sabbath in England playing dark melodies. Black Sabbath’s lead guitarist Toni Iommi lost his finger tips the day he quit his job in a machine shop, giving metal a new sound. The distorted guitar gave music a new face.

The 2nd British Invasion

In the late 70’s and Early 80’s many metal bands from different English Cities arrived in America giving American teenagers a new taste of music, and also a new way to rebel against their parents. Some of these bands Include Judas Priest, Black Sabbath, Def Leppard, And Iron Maiden.

Thrash Metal

In the early 1980s several bands emerged on the scene. Their music resembled that of the British who had invaded America in the previous decade but was a lot faster, heavier, and in some cases dealt with the Satanic side of life. Many bands like Slayer used the devil and devil worship as a gimmick to attract fans.

Some people took these shows too far. Bands were actually taken to court over suicides that were blamed for subliminal lyrics when the records were played backwards. In a famous case Judas Priest actually went to court together to testify that their songs did not hide any secret messages and that they had no hand in the suicides.

Thrash Metal

Thrash Metal bands Include: Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer, Skid Row, Anthrax, Pantera, Metal Church, Dokken, Helloween, Guns N’ Roses and many more.

Hair Metal

Hair metal refers to a genre of men who often looked like women and sang songs about Sex, Women, Heartbreak, drugs and so on. Hair metal was born on the L.A. Strip with its own look. Hair Metal was also known as “Glam Rock”

The bands sometimes looked like women. The big hair. Tight leather pants. Often the band would wear make up.

Societal Effects

Mothers didn’t like this genre of music. They saw it as a promoter of the devil, foul language and sex. Twisted Sister went to the trials for the “Parental Advisory” label where they argued and discussed the label. Dee Snyder showed that not all “metal heads” weren’t illiterate and were actually well educated individuals.

Societal Effects

Hair metal caused a lot of controversy. Many mothers found it appalling for their teenage daughters to be listening to this music because they found it very inappropriate.

Religious families also had the idea that by listening to Metal you were buying yourself a ticket to Hell.

Famous Hair Bands

Bands include Cinderella, Poison, Motley Crue, Nitro, SteelHeart, Warrant, Bon Jovi, Wasp

Metallica

Metallica formed in the early 1980’s. They put out almost 5 albums before becoming famous. They were leaders in the thrash metal scene. They lost their bassist in the late 80’s which somewhat changed their style of music. They have become one of the most famous bands in history.

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Guns N’ Roses

Guns N' Roses is an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California in 1985. The band, led by Axl Rose, has gone through numerous line-up changes and controversies since their formation. The band has released six studio albums, three EPs and one live album during their career.

The band's 1987 major label debut album Appetite for Destruction has sold in excess of 28 million copies and reached number one on the United States Billboard 200. In addition, the album charted three Top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, including "Sweet Child O' Mine" which reached number one.