1950’s rock and roll has played a major role in influencing every kind of modern popular music, many of the original 50’s rock and roll artists can be considered as inventors of a whole new genre of music which went on to inspire thousands of new genres of popular music from the 50’s to present day. Artists such as Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, Bill Haley and the Comets, Buddy Holly and the Crickets, Little Richard and many more all helped open the world’s eyes to the original rock and roll. I have compiled a list of useful resources for those who have an interest in this style of music and have also created an essential listening list for music fans interested in listening to some important artists in the rock and roll genre.
Useful Websites:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_and_roll
http://digitaldreamdoor.nutsie.com/pages/best_songs50s.html
http://www.history-of-rock.com/indx.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elvis_Presley
http://www.chuckberry.com/about/bio.htm
http://www.billhaley.co.uk/comets2.htm
http://www.history-of-rock.com/lewis.htm
http://www.thecrickets.com/bios.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Richard
http://www.fashion-era.com/1950s/1950s_4_teenagers_teddy_boys.htm
Essential Listening:
Rock Around the Clock – Bill Haley and The Comets (Single 1954)
Johnny B Goode – Chuck Berry (Single 1958)
Hound Dog – Elvis Presley (Single 1956)
Great Balls of Fire – Jerry Lee Lewis (Single 1957)
That’ll Be the Day – Buddy Holly and the Crickets (Single 1957)
Tutti-Frutti – Little Richard (Single 1955)
Jailhouse Rock – Elvis Presley (Single 1957)
Thursday, 11 June 2009
Tuesday, 2 June 2009
60's genre - British Invasion
During the mid 60’s America was taken by storm, English rock ‘n’ roll and pop bands invaded U.S. charts and this craze was known as the British Invasion.
British pop of the time took influence from a genre of music known as “Skiffle”, a style of homegrown folk and country music played on homemade instruments. Skiffle became popular amongst aspiring musicians of the time due to it’s “do it yourself” attitude, and the fact that the performers did not need to purchase expensive instruments to play the music. Many of the bands who achieved popularity during the British Invasion had previous incarnations as Skiffle groups including most famously, The Beatles, under the moniker The Quarrymen. This D.I.Y. genre sowed the seeds for the explosion of British rock ‘n’ roll and pop bands between 1964 and 1966.[1]
Young British musicians of the time began forming the beginnings of what would later become the British Invasion and Liverpool saw a boom in up and coming bands. The Merseybeat scene was born featuring the strong use of vocal harmonies and driving rhythms. Taking influence from American Rock ‘n’ Roll bands such as Buddy Holly and the Crickets, Merseybeat bands wrote catchy, polished pop songs and from this scene emerged perhaps the most important band of the British Invasion.[2]
British pop of the time took influence from a genre of music known as “Skiffle”, a style of homegrown folk and country music played on homemade instruments. Skiffle became popular amongst aspiring musicians of the time due to it’s “do it yourself” attitude, and the fact that the performers did not need to purchase expensive instruments to play the music. Many of the bands who achieved popularity during the British Invasion had previous incarnations as Skiffle groups including most famously, The Beatles, under the moniker The Quarrymen. This D.I.Y. genre sowed the seeds for the explosion of British rock ‘n’ roll and pop bands between 1964 and 1966.[1]
Young British musicians of the time began forming the beginnings of what would later become the British Invasion and Liverpool saw a boom in up and coming bands. The Merseybeat scene was born featuring the strong use of vocal harmonies and driving rhythms. Taking influence from American Rock ‘n’ Roll bands such as Buddy Holly and the Crickets, Merseybeat bands wrote catchy, polished pop songs and from this scene emerged perhaps the most important band of the British Invasion.[2]
(The Cavern, one of the most famous clubs in the Merseybeat scene (above). Image taken from http://www.rogerwendell.com/images/unitedkingdom/liverpool_the_cavern_club_10-10-2006.jpg)
The Beatles launched the British Invasion in earnest with their 1964 appearance on the Ed Sullivan show, a performance watched by over 70 million American viewers. The Beatles remain the only act to have been simultaneously top 5 in the U.S. charts, and sold over 2 million records in one month. After a more than warm welcome from U.S. audiences, The Beatles played their first concert at the Washington Colliseum, Washington D.C. attracting over 14,00 fans the day after their first ever television appearance in the country. The arrival of The Beatles occurred only a short time after the assassination of President Kennedy and “Beatlemania” breathed some much needed hope into a country mourning the loss of it’s leader. Songs such as “I Wanna Hold Your Hand”, “She Loves You” and “Help” all proved to be massive hits and The Beatles success paved the way for other British artists achieve U.S. hits. 
(The Beatles arrival in the U.S.A. Image from http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/images/39837000/jpg/_39837967_beatles_leaving.jpg)
Band such as The Hollies, The Kinks, The Who, Gerry and the Pacemakers, and Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders all had hit singles during the invasion. Other big hits from British Invasion artists included: The Animals “House of the Rising Sun”, The Troggs “Wild Thing”, Manfredd Mann “Do Wah Diddy” and Petula Clark’s “Downtown”. It marked a time of international success for many British artists.
The sound of the British Invasion was very similar to that of the Merseybeat sound. Catchy pop songs laden with hooks, harmonies, clean guitar sounds, driving drumbeats and pumping basslines, with accessible lyrics that most fans could easily relate to, these combined attributes were defining factors in the genres gain of popularity in the U.S. market.
British Invasion Bands had a distinctive style with the bands keeping a smart, uniform look amongst all members. Suits and ties and smart hair were popular amongst British Invasion bands. The Beatles even started off a trend with their so called “Moptop” hairstyles. London became a place of fashion and trend setting clothes with Carnaby Street providing many of the Bands with their look.
British Invasion artists have gone to influence many other genres of music. Psychedelic rock took some inspiration from British Invasion rock ‘n’ roll, and many of the British Invasion bands went on to influence bands who became part of the 90’s britpop movement such as Oasis, Blur and Pulp.
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skiffle
[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beat_Music
(The Beatles arrival in the U.S.A. Image from http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/images/39837000/jpg/_39837967_beatles_leaving.jpg)
Band such as The Hollies, The Kinks, The Who, Gerry and the Pacemakers, and Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders all had hit singles during the invasion. Other big hits from British Invasion artists included: The Animals “House of the Rising Sun”, The Troggs “Wild Thing”, Manfredd Mann “Do Wah Diddy” and Petula Clark’s “Downtown”. It marked a time of international success for many British artists.
The sound of the British Invasion was very similar to that of the Merseybeat sound. Catchy pop songs laden with hooks, harmonies, clean guitar sounds, driving drumbeats and pumping basslines, with accessible lyrics that most fans could easily relate to, these combined attributes were defining factors in the genres gain of popularity in the U.S. market.
British Invasion Bands had a distinctive style with the bands keeping a smart, uniform look amongst all members. Suits and ties and smart hair were popular amongst British Invasion bands. The Beatles even started off a trend with their so called “Moptop” hairstyles. London became a place of fashion and trend setting clothes with Carnaby Street providing many of the Bands with their look.
British Invasion artists have gone to influence many other genres of music. Psychedelic rock took some inspiration from British Invasion rock ‘n’ roll, and many of the British Invasion bands went on to influence bands who became part of the 90’s britpop movement such as Oasis, Blur and Pulp.
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skiffle
[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beat_Music
Monday, 23 March 2009
Progressive Rock is a genre which began developing in the late 60’s. It is a style of music which exploded into a fully fledged genre of it’s own from what began as musical experimentation and improvisation.
The evolution of progressive rock can be traced back to many places and different fans of the music have different opinions on how the genre formed, though most logically it can be traced back to the bands of the 1960’s who were really exploring the boundaries of popular music. It is cited that bands such as Cream and The Nice, bands which began experimenting with improvisational sections during songs to increase song length, something which later progressive rock would feature heavily, were the beginnings of what became widely known as progressive rock.[1]
Inspired by this new style of experimental and improvised ”off the cuff” playing, a new wave of bands started to emerge. These new bands brought features which hadn’t been widely seen in rock music before, writing longer, more complex songs often with influences from not only earlier rock bands but other styles of music too, such as classical and folk. Bands such as Genesis, King Crimson, Pink Floyd and Jethro Tull came to be the first wave of progressive rock music. [2]
By the mid 1970’s Progressive Rock had reached an all time high in popularity and with the arrival of two of the most well known progressive rock bands, the genre was well and truly established. Yes were an English progressive rock band formed in London who released many critically acclaimed albums during the peak of prog’s popularity. The band pushed the limits of the genre utilising the technology available to them at the time (digital samplers and synthesisers) combined with a virtuostic style of playing inspired by influences from jazz and classical music. The Band’s most widely re-knowned work is perhaps the song “Roundabout” taken from 1971’s “Fragile”, although they also saw a later success with their 1983 song “Owner of a Lonely Heart”. The album “Tales from Topographic Oceans” gave the band a number one album in 1973, though it was criticised by the music press and fans alike.[3]
The evolution of progressive rock can be traced back to many places and different fans of the music have different opinions on how the genre formed, though most logically it can be traced back to the bands of the 1960’s who were really exploring the boundaries of popular music. It is cited that bands such as Cream and The Nice, bands which began experimenting with improvisational sections during songs to increase song length, something which later progressive rock would feature heavily, were the beginnings of what became widely known as progressive rock.[1]
Inspired by this new style of experimental and improvised ”off the cuff” playing, a new wave of bands started to emerge. These new bands brought features which hadn’t been widely seen in rock music before, writing longer, more complex songs often with influences from not only earlier rock bands but other styles of music too, such as classical and folk. Bands such as Genesis, King Crimson, Pink Floyd and Jethro Tull came to be the first wave of progressive rock music. [2]
By the mid 1970’s Progressive Rock had reached an all time high in popularity and with the arrival of two of the most well known progressive rock bands, the genre was well and truly established. Yes were an English progressive rock band formed in London who released many critically acclaimed albums during the peak of prog’s popularity. The band pushed the limits of the genre utilising the technology available to them at the time (digital samplers and synthesisers) combined with a virtuostic style of playing inspired by influences from jazz and classical music. The Band’s most widely re-knowned work is perhaps the song “Roundabout” taken from 1971’s “Fragile”, although they also saw a later success with their 1983 song “Owner of a Lonely Heart”. The album “Tales from Topographic Oceans” gave the band a number one album in 1973, though it was criticised by the music press and fans alike.[3]
(Image taken from: http://media.photobucket.com/image/yes%20progressive/washedpa/PROGRESSIVE%20METAL/yes1a1.jpg?o=1)
Emerson, Lake and Palmer were a British prog rock trio. Formed by Keith Emerson formerly of The Nice and ex King Crimson bassist Greg Lake, the two were later joined by Carl Palmer on drums to form one of the most recognised progressive rock bands in the genre.[4] The band’s 1973 album “Brain Salad Surgery” is perhaps their most widely known and throughout the 70’s the band toured the world including a sold out show at Wembley Arena in the summer of 1974. The band went on to work with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and produced the 1977 album “Works Vol. 1”. One of the bands most well known songs “Fanfare for the Common Man” was taken from this album. The band were criticised as being pretentious and self serving by some prog-rock critics; an accusation many prog bands face, though most did not take seriously.
(Image taken from: http://media.photobucket.com/image/elp%20live/myeyes33/ELP/madsq2.jpg?o=1)
Elsewhere in the world Canadian band Rush were drawing on influences from the U.K. to hone a style of technical, heavy, and progressive rock, utilising ideas from the band’s literary influences to write their famous album 2112. This is a concept album about a futuristic dystopia where music is forbidden, which was released in 1976. The band went on to experiment with recording techniques such as recording outside and different lyrical themes which often touch on political topics or themes about humanity, and began to experiment with more electronic instruments as they became available towards the end of the decade. The band continued on throughout the 80’s 90’s and 2000’s to have U.S. top 40 hits and headline several succsessful world tours. [5]
(Image taken from: http://media.photobucket.com/image/2112/atticthought/2112.jpg?o=16)
Progressive rock has many musical features; the music often contains long solo’s and very long song structures, some progressive rock is exclusively instrument and the bands do not have a vocalist. Progressive rock is a complex style of music to play, it often contains a lot of changes in key, time signature and tempo, and requires a high standard of musicianship to be able to confidently play and perform the songs. The genre draws it’s influence from rock music and ties in elements of classical, jazz and often folk, with some bands even making use of woodwind or string instruments or even performing with orchestras. Being a style of music based on rock with influences of classical music, progressive rock bands usually employ a high degree of changes in dynamics, with passages of quiet music or instrumental sections going back to riff driven sections or sometimes quite heavy sections. Bands also often make use of the idea of a concept album. A concept album is a themed album which usually tells a story, each song on the album furthers the concept or tells another chapter of the story. This often draws on prog’s use of fantasy and science fiction within it’s lyrics.
Besides the influence of fantasy and science fiction within its lyrical content, the lyrics of progressive rock often talk about history, human life, or sometimes simply experiences of band members or events in their personal lives. Progressive rock differs from most styles of music due to the fact that often the focus of the song is the musicianship and playing as opposed to the vocals and lyrics.
Often criticised as a pretentious style of music, progressive rock was a genre of music which was perhaps not to be taken quite as seriously as the critics took it, during the time period; a time of a changing music scene and the punk movement. Though progressive rock was often overlooked as overcomplicated or too challenging to be enjoyed by casual music listeners, it still had a great deal of fans, and the influence of 70’s progressive rock is clear, with many new progressive bands such as Dream Theater, Porcupine Tree, Tool and Neal Morse all citing prog bands as influences and pledging to continue with a new wave of Progressive Rock music.
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progressive_rock
[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progressive_rock
[3] http://www.last.fm/music/Yes/+wiki
[4] http://www.emersonlakepalmer.com/bio.html
[5] http://www.vh1.com/artists/az/rush/bio.jhtml
Sunday, 1 February 2009
80's Genre - Hip Hop
Hip Hop culture is something that is very prominent in today’s society, it’s widely accepted as part of music, but the popularity of current hip hop stems back from the music’s original scene, which lead to groundbreaking new styles of music, fashion and huge popularity to a large group of underground artists.
Hip hop was a musical reaction to disco music, a genre which was predominantly played by white people, many hip hop artists felt alienated by this style of music. The music grew out of local gatherings mainly in the Bronx areas of New York called “Block Parties”.
(Image taken from http://media.photobucket.com/image/the%20bronx/luisnunez_2008/bronx.jpg?o=126)
At these events, people from the local neighbourhood would gather and have an outdoor party, with music playing, perhaps a DJ or a local band, it was a time where the people of the area could get together to discuss local issues and generally have fun. The DJ began to hold an importance within hip hop music, the DJ was charged with keeping the music and atmosphere of the party going, this led to the use of two turntables, so that there were no pauses for record changes, the invention of new techniques such as mixing and scratching, the invention of which is credited to Grand Wizard Theodore, soon followed. DJ’s would push the record backward and forward in time to the drumbeat sometimes whilst leaving another track playing on a separate turntable, which created a percussive sound known as scratching. [1]
The block parties had music, but they needed someone to lead them and to become the “voice” of the party, this is how the role of the MC was born. The MC would keep the audience interested in the party, talk about the DJ’s or bands that would be playing and generally keep the party going, eventually this lead to the MC being involved in the music itself with poetical rhymes being spoken in time to the music played by the DJ. This was the Beginning of rap, a feature of hip hop which is perhaps even more popular today than then. One of the most important MC’s to come from this scene is Grandmaster Flash. [2]
The Early influences of hip hop came from records the DJ’s would play, old funk and soul, and classic “break beats” all played a major part in the formation of hip hop’s signature sound, and this in turn led to the popularity of sampling within hip hop. artists as varied as James Brown to Kraftwerk are often listed as hip hop influences and heavily sampled within the music. [3]
Lyrically, hip hop has many different areas of subject matter, often raps had very little serious content, they were simply to keep the crowd engaged at block parties, although later as the popularity increased, many hip hop artists rapped about the hardships of life in the Bronx areas of New York, which of course, the fans of the music could relate to on all levels, one important example of this is “The Message” by Grandmaster Flash. Some rap content dealt with the feelings of racism towards black people, and a feeling of unfair treatment from white people, bands such as public enemy portrayed empowering statements of defiance towards racism, this was important, because it gave black people a music with a message they could relate to, similar kinds of sentiments can still be found in modern hip hop.
Hip Hop began to grow in popularity in the mid 80s and bands such as Run DMC, famous for their collaboration with Aerosmith, began to receive some notice and the commercial popularity of hip hop began to increase. Artists such as Public Enemy, N.W.A, De La Soul and Beastie Boys were the significant artists as the scene began to explode. Major singles and albums such as “Fight The Power” by Public Enemy, “Straight Outta Compton” by N.W.A and “Me Myself and I” by De La Soul were all commercial hip hop hits. [4] This increase in popularity became a soapbox for black artists to air their opinions on society through their music, which was important at a time when racial equality was not as established as it is today.
Hip hop culture inspired a whole new type of fashion, sports wear became very popular amongst hip hop artists, and acceptable to wear as streetwear, the addidas tracksuit became a common sight amongst the hip hop crowd, alongside large gold jewellery, necklaces and rings, bulky “sneakers” and sports shoes were also part of the style.
(Image taken from http://media.photobucket.com/image/rev%20run/sixftstunna/run_dmc.jpg?o=53)
Some rappers took accessories to the extreme with a prime example being MC Flava Flav and his large clock necklace. [5]
(Image taken from http://media.photobucket.com/image/public%20enemy/funkin_with_cezar/public_enemy.jpg?o=35)
Hip hop has gone on to hugely shape the modern music scene, rap and hip hop are some of the biggest styles of popular music. Many new subgenres of hip hop now exist: from gangsta rap, a style often criticised by the media for promoting violence, to more subtle loosely labelled “r ‘n’ b” often featuring female vocalists and similar styles of sampling and rapping to the original hip hop artists. Many artists list 80’s hip hop as an influence including infamous gansta rap artist 2Pac, influenced by Grandmaster Flash[6], and U.S. rapper Eminem, who has taken influence from The Beastie Boys and N.W.A [7] .Hip hop is a constantly expanding genre of music which shows no signs of slowing down, if anything, it’s popularity seems to increase as time goes on.
[1] http://tom-owen.co.uk/hiphophistory/turntablism.html
[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microphone_Controller
[3] http://blog.oup.com/2006/08/in_the_beginnin/
[4] http://uk.real.com/music/genre/80s_Hits/
[5] http://80srewind.net/80s/80sfashion.htm
[6] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tupac_Shakur#Influences
[7] http://www.theeminemblog.com/2004/05/02/eminems-major-musical-influences/
Hip hop was a musical reaction to disco music, a genre which was predominantly played by white people, many hip hop artists felt alienated by this style of music. The music grew out of local gatherings mainly in the Bronx areas of New York called “Block Parties”.
(Image taken from http://media.photobucket.com/image/the%20bronx/luisnunez_2008/bronx.jpg?o=126)
At these events, people from the local neighbourhood would gather and have an outdoor party, with music playing, perhaps a DJ or a local band, it was a time where the people of the area could get together to discuss local issues and generally have fun. The DJ began to hold an importance within hip hop music, the DJ was charged with keeping the music and atmosphere of the party going, this led to the use of two turntables, so that there were no pauses for record changes, the invention of new techniques such as mixing and scratching, the invention of which is credited to Grand Wizard Theodore, soon followed. DJ’s would push the record backward and forward in time to the drumbeat sometimes whilst leaving another track playing on a separate turntable, which created a percussive sound known as scratching. [1]
The block parties had music, but they needed someone to lead them and to become the “voice” of the party, this is how the role of the MC was born. The MC would keep the audience interested in the party, talk about the DJ’s or bands that would be playing and generally keep the party going, eventually this lead to the MC being involved in the music itself with poetical rhymes being spoken in time to the music played by the DJ. This was the Beginning of rap, a feature of hip hop which is perhaps even more popular today than then. One of the most important MC’s to come from this scene is Grandmaster Flash. [2]
The Early influences of hip hop came from records the DJ’s would play, old funk and soul, and classic “break beats” all played a major part in the formation of hip hop’s signature sound, and this in turn led to the popularity of sampling within hip hop. artists as varied as James Brown to Kraftwerk are often listed as hip hop influences and heavily sampled within the music. [3]
Lyrically, hip hop has many different areas of subject matter, often raps had very little serious content, they were simply to keep the crowd engaged at block parties, although later as the popularity increased, many hip hop artists rapped about the hardships of life in the Bronx areas of New York, which of course, the fans of the music could relate to on all levels, one important example of this is “The Message” by Grandmaster Flash. Some rap content dealt with the feelings of racism towards black people, and a feeling of unfair treatment from white people, bands such as public enemy portrayed empowering statements of defiance towards racism, this was important, because it gave black people a music with a message they could relate to, similar kinds of sentiments can still be found in modern hip hop.
Hip Hop began to grow in popularity in the mid 80s and bands such as Run DMC, famous for their collaboration with Aerosmith, began to receive some notice and the commercial popularity of hip hop began to increase. Artists such as Public Enemy, N.W.A, De La Soul and Beastie Boys were the significant artists as the scene began to explode. Major singles and albums such as “Fight The Power” by Public Enemy, “Straight Outta Compton” by N.W.A and “Me Myself and I” by De La Soul were all commercial hip hop hits. [4] This increase in popularity became a soapbox for black artists to air their opinions on society through their music, which was important at a time when racial equality was not as established as it is today.
Hip hop culture inspired a whole new type of fashion, sports wear became very popular amongst hip hop artists, and acceptable to wear as streetwear, the addidas tracksuit became a common sight amongst the hip hop crowd, alongside large gold jewellery, necklaces and rings, bulky “sneakers” and sports shoes were also part of the style.
(Image taken from http://media.photobucket.com/image/rev%20run/sixftstunna/run_dmc.jpg?o=53)
Some rappers took accessories to the extreme with a prime example being MC Flava Flav and his large clock necklace. [5]
(Image taken from http://media.photobucket.com/image/public%20enemy/funkin_with_cezar/public_enemy.jpg?o=35)
Hip hop has gone on to hugely shape the modern music scene, rap and hip hop are some of the biggest styles of popular music. Many new subgenres of hip hop now exist: from gangsta rap, a style often criticised by the media for promoting violence, to more subtle loosely labelled “r ‘n’ b” often featuring female vocalists and similar styles of sampling and rapping to the original hip hop artists. Many artists list 80’s hip hop as an influence including infamous gansta rap artist 2Pac, influenced by Grandmaster Flash[6], and U.S. rapper Eminem, who has taken influence from The Beastie Boys and N.W.A [7] .Hip hop is a constantly expanding genre of music which shows no signs of slowing down, if anything, it’s popularity seems to increase as time goes on.
[1] http://tom-owen.co.uk/hiphophistory/turntablism.html
[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microphone_Controller
[3] http://blog.oup.com/2006/08/in_the_beginnin/
[4] http://uk.real.com/music/genre/80s_Hits/
[5] http://80srewind.net/80s/80sfashion.htm
[6] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tupac_Shakur#Influences
[7] http://www.theeminemblog.com/2004/05/02/eminems-major-musical-influences/
Sunday, 23 November 2008
Black metal - 90's genre.
Black metal is a subgenre of extreme metal music. The genre gained popularity and also a lot of negative media coverage throughout the 90’s due to controversial events surrounding religion, suicide, murders and arson.
The beginnings of black metal started out in Newcastle Upon Tyne with the thrash metal band Venom. Venom were the first band to coin the phrase black metal on their 1982 debut album “Black Metal” 1 and played a vital role in influencing the first wave of Norwegian black metal bands. Bands such as Sodom, Kreator and Destruction, all German thrash metal bands, were also influential to the early creators of Norwegian black metal.
The rise of Norwegian black metal can be traced to the bands Burzum and Mayhem. An underground scene quickly developed within the city of Bergen and led to bands releasing albums and EP’s, although most were of a low quality. The self titled album “Burzum” released in 1992 on the “Deathlike Silence Productions” label2 and Mayhem’s slightly earlier album “Deathcrush” released in 1987, cited as the first ever Norwegian black metal album3, are defining examples of black metal.
(picture from http://media.photobucket.com/image/mayhem%20deathcrush/imperus/deathcrush.jpg?o=3)
Both of these bands seem to have an entwined history and events that happened between members of both mentioned bands would shape the genre and media coverage of the scene for years to come. Notably, the suicide of Mayhem’s vocalist “Dead”, which occurred on April 8th 1991. When Dead (real name:Per Yngve Ohlin) was discovered by Mayhem guitarist “Euronymous” he decided to photograph the corpse rather than contacting the authorities. There are several rumours surrounding this story about Euronymous taking pieces of Ohlin’s skull and fashioning it into jewellery, which was confirmed to be true by Mayhem’s drummer “Hellhammer” in an interview in June 1998. 4 5
Black metal is better known for it’s negative social image, for the aforementioned suicide of Dead, for black metal musicians openly criticizing religion and inciting acts of arson on culturally important “stave churches” (wooden churches which were built in the 1200’s using medieval building techniques 6) but, perhaps most famously, the brutal murder of Mayhem’s Oystein Aarseth aka Euronymous. Varg Vikerness of Burzum murdered Oystein on 10th august 1993 believing the guitarist to be planning to murder him, Vikerness claimed self defence but received a 21 year jail sentence for the murder of Euronymous and connection to arsons of churches.7
Black metal’s image is extremely striking. The bands make use of the stark contrast between white and black to make up a unique look. Many black metal bands wear leather studded with spikes, armbands with studs pressed into them, often making use of shin guards and gauntlets made from leather. Most black metal bands make use of the iconic imagery of the pentagram (the five pointed star inside a circle) sometimes displaying this on clothing. Most (although not all) bands wear what is commonly known as “corpse paint” the contrasting black and white patterned make up applied to the face in a unique design, which is often painted in a style to represent the personality or style of the individual band member. The patterning can range from quite simple stripes or shapes, to intricate designs involving complex lines.
(image from:http://media.photobucket.com/image/abbath/cannibal_corpse18/Abbath-1.jpg?o=17)
Black metal has a wide range of lyrical content and often the messages within the music are a comment on society, some musicians in the black metal community are firm believers in Satanism or paganism and believe Christianity should be demolished. This often features in the lyrics of black metal and is a social comment on how the country has become a heavily Christian country. For some it was a way of re-establishing links to the country’s Norse history. Often there are a lot of elements of Norse mythology within the lyrics of black metal, which often take influence from Scandinavian legends. Nature sometimes features in the lyrical content of black metal, with bands choosing the darker side of nature such as the cold temperature, snow, wind and darkness as subjects to base songs upon. Some black metal bands take inspiration from death metal and have songs which contain references to violence and murder.
The sound of black metal is extremely up-tempo fast and aggressive. The guitar’s sound is often heavily distorted and utilises fast tremolo picking, black metal lead guitarists often use arpeggios within solos and lead lines. A drumming technique known as blastbeats are often used, they are fast 16th note patterns between bass and snare drums. Some black metal uses contrasts and extremes highlighting parts with a very clean guitar sound, making the music sound epic and sometimes symphonic with the use of string sounds then transforming into a full blaring cacophony of tremelo picked riffs, rasping vocals and blast beats.
Black metal has gone on to influence and inspire a whole generation of musicians, and inspired a whole new wave of black metal, even some more commercially accessible black metal bands (although some black metal purists dispute the label being used). Bands such as Dimmu Borgir and Cradle of Filth brought black metal a little more into the mainstream. Bands such as Anaal Nathrakh, Behemoth and Emperor all cite the first black metal wave as inspiration for carrying the genre forward.
1 http://www.venomslegions.com/biography/venom-biog.htm
2 http://www.burzum.com/burzum/biography/
3 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deathcrush
4 http://www.thetruemayhem.com/interviews/previous/hh-june1998.htm
5 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Per_Yngve_Ohlin
6 http://www.stavechurch.org/
7 http://www.burzum.com/burzum/biography/
The beginnings of black metal started out in Newcastle Upon Tyne with the thrash metal band Venom. Venom were the first band to coin the phrase black metal on their 1982 debut album “Black Metal” 1 and played a vital role in influencing the first wave of Norwegian black metal bands. Bands such as Sodom, Kreator and Destruction, all German thrash metal bands, were also influential to the early creators of Norwegian black metal.
The rise of Norwegian black metal can be traced to the bands Burzum and Mayhem. An underground scene quickly developed within the city of Bergen and led to bands releasing albums and EP’s, although most were of a low quality. The self titled album “Burzum” released in 1992 on the “Deathlike Silence Productions” label2 and Mayhem’s slightly earlier album “Deathcrush” released in 1987, cited as the first ever Norwegian black metal album3, are defining examples of black metal.
(picture from http://media.photobucket.com/image/mayhem%20deathcrush/imperus/deathcrush.jpg?o=3)
Both of these bands seem to have an entwined history and events that happened between members of both mentioned bands would shape the genre and media coverage of the scene for years to come. Notably, the suicide of Mayhem’s vocalist “Dead”, which occurred on April 8th 1991. When Dead (real name:Per Yngve Ohlin) was discovered by Mayhem guitarist “Euronymous” he decided to photograph the corpse rather than contacting the authorities. There are several rumours surrounding this story about Euronymous taking pieces of Ohlin’s skull and fashioning it into jewellery, which was confirmed to be true by Mayhem’s drummer “Hellhammer” in an interview in June 1998. 4 5
Black metal is better known for it’s negative social image, for the aforementioned suicide of Dead, for black metal musicians openly criticizing religion and inciting acts of arson on culturally important “stave churches” (wooden churches which were built in the 1200’s using medieval building techniques 6) but, perhaps most famously, the brutal murder of Mayhem’s Oystein Aarseth aka Euronymous. Varg Vikerness of Burzum murdered Oystein on 10th august 1993 believing the guitarist to be planning to murder him, Vikerness claimed self defence but received a 21 year jail sentence for the murder of Euronymous and connection to arsons of churches.7
Black metal’s image is extremely striking. The bands make use of the stark contrast between white and black to make up a unique look. Many black metal bands wear leather studded with spikes, armbands with studs pressed into them, often making use of shin guards and gauntlets made from leather. Most black metal bands make use of the iconic imagery of the pentagram (the five pointed star inside a circle) sometimes displaying this on clothing. Most (although not all) bands wear what is commonly known as “corpse paint” the contrasting black and white patterned make up applied to the face in a unique design, which is often painted in a style to represent the personality or style of the individual band member. The patterning can range from quite simple stripes or shapes, to intricate designs involving complex lines.
(image from:http://media.photobucket.com/image/abbath/cannibal_corpse18/Abbath-1.jpg?o=17)
Black metal has a wide range of lyrical content and often the messages within the music are a comment on society, some musicians in the black metal community are firm believers in Satanism or paganism and believe Christianity should be demolished. This often features in the lyrics of black metal and is a social comment on how the country has become a heavily Christian country. For some it was a way of re-establishing links to the country’s Norse history. Often there are a lot of elements of Norse mythology within the lyrics of black metal, which often take influence from Scandinavian legends. Nature sometimes features in the lyrical content of black metal, with bands choosing the darker side of nature such as the cold temperature, snow, wind and darkness as subjects to base songs upon. Some black metal bands take inspiration from death metal and have songs which contain references to violence and murder.
The sound of black metal is extremely up-tempo fast and aggressive. The guitar’s sound is often heavily distorted and utilises fast tremolo picking, black metal lead guitarists often use arpeggios within solos and lead lines. A drumming technique known as blastbeats are often used, they are fast 16th note patterns between bass and snare drums. Some black metal uses contrasts and extremes highlighting parts with a very clean guitar sound, making the music sound epic and sometimes symphonic with the use of string sounds then transforming into a full blaring cacophony of tremelo picked riffs, rasping vocals and blast beats.
Black metal has gone on to influence and inspire a whole generation of musicians, and inspired a whole new wave of black metal, even some more commercially accessible black metal bands (although some black metal purists dispute the label being used). Bands such as Dimmu Borgir and Cradle of Filth brought black metal a little more into the mainstream. Bands such as Anaal Nathrakh, Behemoth and Emperor all cite the first black metal wave as inspiration for carrying the genre forward.
1 http://www.venomslegions.com/biography/venom-biog.htm
2 http://www.burzum.com/burzum/biography/
3 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deathcrush
4 http://www.thetruemayhem.com/interviews/previous/hh-june1998.htm
5 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Per_Yngve_Ohlin
6 http://www.stavechurch.org/
7 http://www.burzum.com/burzum/biography/
Wednesday, 17 September 2008
Artist releasing album since 2000: Dream Theater
Dream Theater are a progressive metal band founded in 1985, by core members John Petrucci, John Myung and Mike Portnoy. The members met whilst studying at the prestigious Berklee music college and were bound by a love of old progressive music but also a love of heavy rock and some of the early thrash metal which began to become popular in the 80's. Bands such as Rush, Metallica, King Crimson, etc influenced their style of playing.
The band found that their studies at the college were becoming more and more sidelined in comparison with playing and rehearsing and dropped out so that they could focus their energies on the band. Under the name Majesty, having recruited high school friend Kevin Moore and Chris Colins on keyboards and vocals respectively, they set about working on a demo. The first line up of Dream Theater would be short lived with Colins leaving shortly after the demos were recorded.
The band recruited new vocalist Charlie Dominici and went on to record "When Dream And Day Unite" in 1989 under the new guise of Dream Theater. However due to problems with the bands label not financially supporting a tour of the debut album, the band were restricted to their hometown of New York and only played five live shows in support of the album. Shortly after this handful of local gigs Dominci was fired. The Band began auditioning new vocalists in 1991, when the demo tape of Canadian "Winter Rose" front man James LaBrie struck the remaining of the members; he was given the role having passed an audition held in New York.
Since the Hiring of LaBrie in 1991 the band have released numerous albums, perhaps the most acclaimed being the bands first with the new vocalist. "Images And Words" (released on ATCO records in 1992) was a major success for the band scoring them a Gold record in the United States. The first single pulled from the album "Pull Me Under" achieved some commercial success in the United States.
It would be later on in the bands career of writing which proved some of their most exceptional, namely the album "Metropolis Pt 2: Scenes From A Memory" an album inspired by a song featuring on "Images And Words". The concept album is divided into "acts" which each tell another part of the story, the songs deal with the emotions of love and guilt and also acts of infidelity and murder all seen through the eyes of a man call Nicholas. A version of the album performed live in full at a New York date of the world tour was released by the band on DVD titled "Metropolis 2000".
The band's latest album "Systematic Chaos" was released in the UK 4th June 2007, the album draws on a range of styles, ranging from very heavy thrash metal styles to a songs in the style of pop, the songs deal with content ranging from political anti war messages ("Prophets of War") fictional creatures ("Forsaken") and a song continuing drummer Mike Portnoy's Alcoholic's Anonymous writing work ("Repentance"), a series of songs based around the 12 step programme the drummer used to recover from his alcohol addiction. The album reached number 25 in the UK album charts.
The band found that their studies at the college were becoming more and more sidelined in comparison with playing and rehearsing and dropped out so that they could focus their energies on the band. Under the name Majesty, having recruited high school friend Kevin Moore and Chris Colins on keyboards and vocals respectively, they set about working on a demo. The first line up of Dream Theater would be short lived with Colins leaving shortly after the demos were recorded.
The band recruited new vocalist Charlie Dominici and went on to record "When Dream And Day Unite" in 1989 under the new guise of Dream Theater. However due to problems with the bands label not financially supporting a tour of the debut album, the band were restricted to their hometown of New York and only played five live shows in support of the album. Shortly after this handful of local gigs Dominci was fired. The Band began auditioning new vocalists in 1991, when the demo tape of Canadian "Winter Rose" front man James LaBrie struck the remaining of the members; he was given the role having passed an audition held in New York.
Since the Hiring of LaBrie in 1991 the band have released numerous albums, perhaps the most acclaimed being the bands first with the new vocalist. "Images And Words" (released on ATCO records in 1992) was a major success for the band scoring them a Gold record in the United States. The first single pulled from the album "Pull Me Under" achieved some commercial success in the United States.
It would be later on in the bands career of writing which proved some of their most exceptional, namely the album "Metropolis Pt 2: Scenes From A Memory" an album inspired by a song featuring on "Images And Words". The concept album is divided into "acts" which each tell another part of the story, the songs deal with the emotions of love and guilt and also acts of infidelity and murder all seen through the eyes of a man call Nicholas. A version of the album performed live in full at a New York date of the world tour was released by the band on DVD titled "Metropolis 2000".
The band's latest album "Systematic Chaos" was released in the UK 4th June 2007, the album draws on a range of styles, ranging from very heavy thrash metal styles to a songs in the style of pop, the songs deal with content ranging from political anti war messages ("Prophets of War") fictional creatures ("Forsaken") and a song continuing drummer Mike Portnoy's Alcoholic's Anonymous writing work ("Repentance"), a series of songs based around the 12 step programme the drummer used to recover from his alcohol addiction. The album reached number 25 in the UK album charts.
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