heavy metal music

The tradition & historical record

Heavy metal (or simply metal) is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the United Kingdom and United States. With roots in blues rock, psychedelic rock and acid rock, heavy metal bands developed a thick, monumental sound characterized by distorted guitars, extended guitar solos, emphatic beats and loudness. In 1968, three of the genre's most famous pioneers – British bands Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, and Deep Purple – were founded. Though they came to attract wide audiences, they were often derided by critics. Several American bands modified heavy metal into more accessible forms during the 1970s: the raw, sleazy sound and shock rock of Alice Cooper and Kiss; the blues-rooted rock of Aerosmith; and the flashy guitar leads and party rock of Van Halen. During the mid-1970s, Judas Priest helped spur the genre's evolution by discarding much of its blues influence, while Motörhead introduced a punk rock sensibility and an increasing emphasis on speed. Beginning in the late 1970s, bands in the new wave of British heavy metal such as Iron Maiden and Saxon followed in a similar vein. By the end of the decade, heavy metal fans became known as "metalheads" or "headbangers". The lyrics of some metal genres became associated with aggression and machismo, an issue that has at times led to accusations of misogyny. During the 1980s, glam metal became popular with groups such as Mötley Crüe, W.A.S.P. and Quiet Riot.

The text above is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Heavy metal music”, available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence.

heavy metal music is genre of rock music characterized by slack-tuned instruments, and unconventional changes of tonality (key) and time signature (metre), according to the structured record cited below. This entry was generated automatically from that record and has not yet been reviewed by a person familiar with the tradition. ¹

The source record links this tradition to 50 external registers, which can be verified through the citation. ¹