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CONTENTS Page: Chapter: 1. I Introduction 1. II History 4. III The bands 5. IV Drugs 6. V Hypes, gimmicks & myths 6. VI Sub genres 7. VII Summary I. INTRODUCTION B eing a fan of hard rock, I pondered a while what I should choose as subject for such a big project as this, however I soon realized that choosing something that interested me would greatly increase my chances for achieving the grades I desire for this course. Thus I picked Heavy Metal, probably the musical genre that I love the most. As I love music, find my inspiration in it, relax to it, party to it and so on, I’ve learned to love the music style called Heavy Metal and especially the founders of Metal, Black Sabbath, probably the band that’s changed the ways of music most – including The Beatles, Velvet Underground, Rolling Stones and many more. I guess you’ve already heard of them. Read about them and a few more bands in the chapter named “The bands”. Writing something about Heavy Metal would be cool, I thought, but it’s also a pretty wide subject and I chose to limit it and concentrate on my favorite metal band, Black Sabbath and thus focus more on the band that I think changed the way of rock like no one else has managed to. But what is heavy metal? It’s like rock, only it’s not as happy. II. HISTORY It all started with Black Sabbath, PERIOD! They were the first heavy metal band and thus, I will focus on their records, however I have not forgot the other bands, be patient. Before we begin, there are some things you need to learn. 1. How to scream and sing. I guess you already know how to do that. 2. How to headbang. Bang your head up and down, your hairstyling should now be ruined if you’re doin’ it right. 3. Throw your hands in the air, do the sing of the devil: Fold in your thumb, index- and ring finger, this imitates the two thorns of the devil. That’s it. Now, let’s get to business. Black Sabbath records... L ike one album wasn’t enough, 1970 was intense yet highly satisfying year for Black Sabbath, as their first two records saw release. In January, their first eponymously titled record, Black Sabbath, the most blues sounding one, was released, and half a year later, Paranoid (see discography below), was released and with it, Sabbath enjoyed a Billboard top 10 single 1970 (it was a top 10 hit again when it was re-released in 1980) and they performed a gig on Top Of The Pops alongside with Engelbert Humperdinck and Cliff Richard. This exposed the group to a far wider audience than earlier, many young fans who often were to young to frequent the sleazy clubs where Sabbath had built their reputation. In this essay, I have chosen to concentrate on the Sabbath records during the Ozzy years and exclude the greatest hits albums. Paranoid is considered the best album by many experts and fans, including myself and it contains the bands most enduring material, like War Pigs, Paranoid (recently voted the best riff of all time), Fairies Wear Boots and Electric Funeral. The record was named War Pigs, but Sabbath’s American label Warner Bros. felt that the title would be distasteful to Americans, as the embarrassing Vietnam war (which some of the songs deal with) was ongoing. Thus, the title was changed and everybody was happy. It is clear what Sabbath felt about Vietnam and war in general, for example the lyrics in War Pigs and Electric Funeral shows the bands disrespectful attitude towards war. The Americans, of course, wanted to profit from such a huge hit as Paranoid and could not do so if the title remained unchanged. However, the title change came late and thus the artwork remained the same with a blurred, futuristic warrior, swinging a Japanese samurai sword and wearing a police helmet, symbolizing someone who fights an enemy he can’t see, disillusioned he swings his sword at everything and everybody. “ - Reflex in the sky warn you you’re gonna die. Storm coming you better hide - from the atomic tide. Flashes in the sky turns houses into sty, turns people into clay radiation mighty day” (Electric Funeral) ”Politicians hide themselves away, they only started the war. Why should they go out to fight? They leave all that to the poor! Yeah! …On their knees the war pigs crawling, begging mercies for their sins, Satan laughing spreads his wings“ (War Pigs) Paranoid is an album that you can put on repeat a whole weekend and not get tired, it’s definitively the best record I own and I keep finding details in the music every time I listen, lyrics, drums, bass, whatever. Ozzy sings with a high voice, almost preaching, “Oh lord, yeah!” this makes the record as much a political protest as a deep and thoughtful production with elements of religion, as the extract from War Pigs shown above, where Satan takes the war pigs’ souls to hell. Paranoid saw the band moving away from the bluesier sound characterized the first album and established the band as the arguably most popular heavy metal band at the time. The title track was, according to the members, written in 5 minutes and deals with mental instability. It was at first considered a B-track but turned out to be the bands greatest hit ever.
Approximate Word count = 3613
Approximate Pages = 14.5
(250 words per page double spaced)
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