The Story of Metal

I have touched upon the beginnings of heavy metal music, in my first post. There is something that is important to note before we get started. Rock and metal bands have always had a stage presence. The live show was as integral to the success of their music as the albums were. Back in the day, a live performance was the advertisement for the album. Today, the digital age has changed things. That approach has now flipped. The album is now the enticement to go to a live show. I say performance and show because the word concert doesn’t even begin to describe the experience of a live show. When you see a metal or rock show, you get the music, pyrotechnics, and a theatrical show. When you go see an artist live from any other genre, it’s just not as exciting as good live metal or rock band like Iron Maiden. 

Theatrics was always part of the show, just look at Kiss or Alice Cooper. That is why when MTV first appeared in the 80’s, metal bands where the first on with their music videos. Because they were camera ready. They had the theatrics, and knew how to perform. It’s like opera with electric instruments.

The history of metal is not that long in retrospect of our entire shared history. Only from the late 1960’s to now, so almost 50 years. Even though metal music is relatively young, there are hundreds if not thousands of bands within this genre with millions of fans around the world. Now we must ask the question, what differs one band or artist from another in this genre? If you were to compare Pantera and Deep Purple, you could distinctly tell the difference sonically. But attitude about the music and the scene are also part of the equation. Look at Alice Cooper, he has a stage show like no other. Performing stunts of his own decapitation, it’s like watching theater. And of course Punk influenced many later musicians and it is reflected in the music. There’re many subgenres such as Early Metal, which is Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, and the like. Thrash Metal, Shock Rock, New Wave of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM, although not so new anymore), Progressive Metal, Black Metal, Death Metal, Grindcore, Groove Metal, Pirate Metal (yes it exists), and so many more in the metal family tree. 

Heavy Metal as it’s known, is a genre of music that started from the working class factory workers in Birmingham, England. Birmingham, one of the birthplaces of metal, was much like Detroit back in the day. A gritty gloomy place where the mass population were working class that worked in factories. Because of the environment the music reflected the musician’s upbringing. Of course you can listen to a Zeppelin song and think that it’s not overly gloomy. But it wasn’t until the formation of Sabbath and the tragic accident their guitarist Tony Iommi incurred, which made the unique sound which is a milestone in the tale of metal. Although they are the creators of this music genre, their musical influence stem from the blues, jazz, and classical music. If we had to go back to the beginning of where the sound came from in rock music, it can be heard as early as The Kinks song “You Really Got Me” with that crunchy sound made by cutting the amplifier with a razor blade.

After hearing this, the first Marshall amplifier was created. Marshall is as synonymous with metal as leather and studs. Of course there are many other examples in classic rock that can be categorized as having this sound. But even though I said that metal music is a British invention, the US was also integral to the foundation of this music, like Aerosmith and Ted Nugent. The roots of metal were born from the working class and it has evolved into a technical and theatrical show. Heavy music founded itself from multiple genres. From the classical compositions to the hard rock anthems. 

Album Review: The Book of Souls

After a 5 year interim, Iron Maiden has finally released their 16^th studio album, The Book of Souls.

     I.                    First Impression

The Book of Souls, was released on September 4^th, 2015. This album’s music will surely stimulate your senses and rock your soul like their last album The Final Frontier in 2010. The Book of Souls is everything I hoped for and more from Iron Maiden. Nowadays, bands are only releasing EP’s and singles. But in true Iron Maiden fashion, they came out with a double album. A whole 92 minutes of an amazing performance from the opening track “If Eternity Should Fail” to the epic “Empire of the Clouds”. Every song has a memorable chorus, and hook that make you want to listen to them again and again. 

II.                    The Music

“If Eternity Should Fail” deals with one of man’s greatest fears - death! While everyone will die, it’s whether there is a place for the soul to go. What if there is no eternity or heaven to go to? Where will we go? Death also brings out another fear. If we are mortal men, will our legacy just be remembered on earth or will it follow us into heaven? This song brings these ideas into a metaphysical world of spirits. 

“Speed of Light” has more of an old school sound to it. While listening to the song and reading the lyrics, you get a feeling that you’re going through a journey through space. Watching the lights of stars go by, having no concept of speed and going ever faster into the void. As the song starts, you can hear Bruce Dickinson unleash his inner Ian Gillian with that booming scream.

“The Great Unknown” examines the demise of the world. It deals with whether people will retain their humanity or lose it and evolve into packs of wild wolves and tear each other apart.

“The Red and the Black” is about gambling in its purest form, a game for the soul. The red verses black theme can be taken literally. In this game of chance you are gambling against the house.  The odds are stacked against you. The other literal theme is in war. When two sides oppose each other, the red and black can be taken as the color of the uniforms of each army. While in this conflict you need someone to save or bail you out of your situation. No matter how hard you try, you’re doomed. People don’t want the truth. They want the illusion of victory even if it costs them everything in the end.

“When the River Runs Deep” delves into the search for meaning in life. While some people are content with waiting for fate, most would rather seize the day deciding it for themselves.

“The Book of Souls” is the title track of the album. It captures the grand nature of the burial of a Mayan king. Mayan’s would sacrificed animals or sometimes a human in honor of their king, and surround his burial site with riches. Not only will the king be judged by the demons of the afterlife, but he will also traverse the garden of the gods. This Mayan king is on a journey for the truth, which lies in the book of souls.

 “Death or Glory” is a song about war, but does not take place on any normal battlefield. It takes place in the sky. Arial combat has been used as an instrument of waging war for at least a century now. One of the most notable figures was the Red Baron. His dog fights in the skies of World War 1 made him a legend. Death or glory represents the mantra of these heroic pilots.

“Shadow of the Valley” takes its origins from Psalm 23, “Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil”. The song becomes its own adding the view of the biblical apocalypse and the fall of man.

“Tears of a Clown” is an epitaph to the late comedian Robin Williams. Even though the comic has a smile on his face, his eyes show the deep sadness of the man inside.

“The Man of Sorrows” deals with is the passage of time. As people get older they gain knowledge and wisdom, but good friends and family leave your side and pass away. We tend not to think about these people, because we do not dwell on the thought of death. The surviving man is still passing on knowledge and enriching the lives of those around him. Thus, we don’t feel afraid of that certainty called death.

“Empire of the Clouds” is a true epic in every sense of the word. It is the first Iron Maiden song to feature piano, which is played by Bruce Dickinson. It tells of the maiden voyage of the zeppelin R101 British airship, “the largest vessel built by man, a giant of the skies”. This song takes you on the fateful journey and demise of being on the large zeppelin.

III.                    My Verdict

While each song is about familiar subjects like war, life beyond death, or glorious historical events. Each one brings something new to the table.  I give this album a score of 5 out of 5 Eddie hearts. The Book of Souls in my opinion is a spectacular album and worthy to be in every music aficionado’s library. If I had to make a top five songs off the album it would be:

1) The Red and the Black

2) If Eternity Should Fail

3) Tears of a Clown

4) Speed of Light

5) Death or Glory

While I believe this album, The Book of Souls, is amazing. I do see two shortcomings.

1) The Cover is plain and simple. I was hoping for something more along the Mayan theme. I would suggest a temple with a few natives worshiping with Eddie at the altar. Something more than shaman Eddie with a black background. If you get the digital booklet or the physical booklet, it contains some cool artwork within that genre of what I was looking for.

2) Lack of a narrative of Necropolis throughout the album. At the end of “If Eternity Should Fail”, there is a passage/message about this character. There are opportunities throughout the album on multiple songs where they could have had more passages from this character. Similar to Bruce Dickinson’s solo album, The Chemical Wedding, where guest musician, Arthur Brown, does a few passages of William Blake after a few of the songs.

IV.                  Extras/Behind the Scenes

After finishing the recording of the album, vocalist Bruce Dickinson went to get a lump on his neck checked out by doctors. He was diagnosed with throat cancer. The cancerous tumor was on the back of his tongue. He has since conquered the disease and is in recovery. Doctors believe Bruce is cancer free and will have a full recovery. 

What is Heavy Metal Music?

“What is 'Heavy Metal' music?” This is the main question people have. Some people try to explain it as a wall of sound composed of roaring guitars, soaring vocals, pounding drums, and a strumming bass.  But to put it simply, it’s heavy music. It’s not so hard to understand once you hear it. Heavy music was birthed in the late 1960’s with bands we all know such as Led Zeppelin and to a lesser degree Deep Purple. But it goes back even further to the Beatles and the Kinks. But the real culmination of that iconic sound that is “Heavy Metal” goes to the band Black Sabbath, who changed the world with their self-titled debut in 1970. Back when it was first released it actually scared people when they heard it. As the album starts with a roaring thunderstorm then suddenly a loud strum form a guitar breaks the sound of the storm and pierces into the listener. That opening song also called Black Sabbath, used what is called the devils tritone. This set of notes, the devils tritone, was actually banned for a time because of the sound it produced. Although now days we have much more fearsome and scarier music, but then that was a different time and place. Heavy music sure has evolved since then, from the subjects of love and sex (although this theme persisted through the 80’s), to touching on subjects of death, drug abuse, the occult, and Satanism. Now I have to make a point that about 99.9% of all bands and artist that fall into this category are not Satanists. In fact more musicians are actually born-again Christians. The other 0.1% are the Norwegian death metal bands, who I will touch upon on a later post.

Now the question some may have is what’s the difference between “Metal” and popular music? Well “Pop” is music that is made to be popular. I call it cookie cutter music. Song writers find a formula that works then create 20 other song that differ slightly, but are the same. Another thing about “Pop” is the fan-base. People get into an artist for a little while and then they move on to the next artist and continue on this cycle. I call it the flavor of the month bands, not to jab at the fandom of popular music. I was once a fan of it myself in my preteens. Now compared to “Metal”, which isn’t made to be popular. The song styles and genres are unique to each band. In the beginning, some metal bands went commercial to trying to appeal to more people with varying degrees of success. Then again it was the 70’s and 80’s, most record companies had most if not total control of these bands. Metal music is very diverse with over 25 different subgenres, and then subgenres of those subgenres. The fan-base while mostly characterized as something you’d see in biker bar looking like they belong in Hell’s Angels or on the TV show “Sons of Anarchy”. In reality, most metal heads are average people like you and me from all over the world. They may wear a shirt of their favorite band like Iron Maiden or Megadeth. But mostly no different from you or myself. But the fan-base is the most most loyal out of any other genre.If you compare a metal fan and a fan from any other genre, say rap for example. Have them listen to music from an artist of their choice and then we wait 15 years. While both will have moved on to different artists. The metal fan with without a shadow of a doubt still be listening to that artist to this day. I can’t speak for rap fans due to my own ignorance, but I think unless they were really nostalgic probably won’t listen to that same artist or will vary rarely listen to them again.

This blog is not to deter or gain people from listening to heavy metal music, but rather to express a subjective view from someone who is a fan of this music and share it with everyone. I also want to show that this music has a long history and global reach far beyond anyone’s wildest dreams.