I definitely have the most passion for heavy metal music and listen to it all the time. I love the distortion, especially the sounds of the guitar and the singing voices. If you listen to the drums, they are epic.
Many parents think heavy metal is a bad influence on their children, however, research shows that it is good for adolescents: “The researchers report that heavy metal music can be a catalyst for improved socioemotional functioning for bullied or marginalized youth. They find that for some fans, metal music may play a protective role against mental health issues in the context of adverse environmental factors.”
This site, Heavy Metal Therapy, provides more ideas and links to research.
You can also watch this great video.
The history of heavy metal
The history of heavy metal is really interesting. According to A Brief History of Metal, it started in the second half of the 1960s.
“By the latter half of the 1960’s, the next generation of “rock stars” began to sow the first seeds of prototypical heavy metal. Drawing inspiration from their blues and Rock & Roll forebears, “hard rock” acts, like Cream (Tales of Brave Ulysses), Led Zeppelin (Communication Breakdown), and The Jimi Hendrix Experience (Voodoo Child), provided the soundtrack for a generation increasingly disaffected by social injustice and the escalating war in Vietnam What differentiated these acts from their predecessors was technological advances that enabled new heights in sonic disruption (Blue Cheer – Summertime Blues). These acts were markedly louder not only in volume, but in the weaving of brutally blunt social commentary into their lyrics.”
1968 was the year metal started
This is when Black Sabbath performed in England’s West Midlands, Birmingham. A depressed town, it was ripe for the metal revolution. Black Sabbath and Deep Purple also launched into the world at this time and the music attracted a lot of negative attention.
Many bands followed in the 1970s, including Alice Cooper and Kiss; Aerosmith; and Van Halen. By the mid-1970s, Judas Priest launched, followed by Motörhead and then the British bands started to hit the stages, including Iron Maiden and Saxon.
Glam metal became popular in the 1980s, with groups like Bon Jovi, Mötley Crüe and Poison hitting the charts. There was also an underground and aggressive style gaining popularity, which is called thrash metal. Those bands were Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax.
Ref: Wikipedia
You can find more information at Metal Head Community.
The bands I’m featuring on my site are
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