Actually, it wasn't 'one journalist', but a number of them. As a kid, I used to purchase UK magazines in the seventies, since there was a kiosk in downtown Belgrade where magazines like NME and Melody Maker were sold. Even before the emergence of the NWOBHM, the term "heavy metal" was in use in the UK, albeit not as commonly as "heavy-rock" the term. They were regarded as "heavy metal", although Led Zeppelin undoubtedly was considered as a combo because they also played blues-rock, 'Rock' (as a distinct genre, with capital *R*, no *roll*), and acoustic folk-rock tunes, in addition to their heavy-metal songs, like for example Immigrant Song. And if we know that the abbreviation NWOBHM stands for New Wave of British Heavy Metal, then that makes sense. If there hadn't been an "old wave" of heavy metal, which included groups like Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Uriah Heep, Rainbow, and so on, when bands like Motörhead and Iron Maiden first came onto the scene, it would simply have been referred to as "heavy metal", without "new wave of". Creem, 1977 Indeed, 'cause the terms "hard-rock" (or "heavy-rock", as the British term for the same thing) and "heavy-metal" were synonymous back then, and Blue Öyster Cult were heavy. Blue Öyster Cult Flaming Telepaths (from Secret Treaties, 1974)
I will point out a local store told me that he moved the Sabbath and Priest albums to the general rock section just for this reason People that want to buy them never checked the Metal bins And people buying out of the Metal bins did not buy them though Maiden still sells when racked with Metal albums so they stay in the Metal section and with no doubt they are the oldest band in that section
Yeah, all us old Metal fans already got the albums and the new fans have been brainwashed. Ozzy warned of it.
No, because 'Rock', as a distinct genre (capital *R*, no *roll*), were bands like The Who, The Kinks, The Faces and The Rolling Stones.
I doubt there's been a genre created which had sufficiently well-defined limits to stand the test of time. Sometimes (as with NWOBHM) it was hugely broad to start with. I've listened to quite a lot of it recently and the variation is massive - much of it a long way from any era's definition of heavy metal. Which suggests to me the only practical use of a genre is tied to an era or movement rather than a musical style. In the 1970s Led Zep and AC/DC were heavy metal. Just like in the 60s John Mayall and Fleetwood Mac were R&B. If later generations want to repurpose the name for their own version, there's nothing to stop them. But it doesn't retrospectively rewrite music history.
Heavy-Metal has not "evolved" [for instance, Rainbow's Stargazer was just as awesome metal song then as it is now] from "old metal", but NWOBHM was actually a blend of speed-metal and punk-rock. That style was called New Wave of British Heavy Metal, as it was emerged in the UK, although it was played even in the former Yugoslavia in the late 1970s; for example, this is a song of Sarajevo's band Vatreni poljubac (transl. "Fiery Kiss") from their debut album released in 1978: Vatreni poljubac Nek se zna (from Oh što te volim joj, 1978)
Yep. The Beatles are not anywhere near Sabbath in heaviness - lyrically, riffage, tone, etc. They have their own thing. I like the Beatles and Sabbath on their own terms.
Funny that - last night I zapped the TV onto Sky Arts and Bob Dylan at Newport in 1963 came up. There he was pouring out his poetry on stage and my wife (who is unfamiliar with a lot of his early work) said "It's just like rap".
Aye. It could be argued that live versions of Zep's Communication Breakdown and Sabbath's Paranoid have just as much punky energy. I watched some Sabbath live in Paris 1970 recently and the energy was insane. War Pigs, f-in' 'ell!
I saw Iron Maiden, as the pioneers of the NWOBHM, on September 6, 1981, at an open-air concert in my hometown of Belgrade: Steve Harris poses for a photo-reporter on stage at the Belgrade Hippodrome, 1981 Dave Murray checks his amp during sound rehearsal, Belgrade Hippodrome, 1981 However, if this isn't heavy-metal as well, then I admit that I don't know what heavy-metal is: Led Zeppelin Immigrant Song, Sydney 1972 (the audio is from Long Beach, California, the same year)
Yeah, Iron Maiden were at the forefront of NWOBHM. I saw them at Reading in 1980. I think Motorhead were pretty instrumental to it's formation as well. I certainly won't deny the metal in the Immigrant Song. Top stuff. Great version.
I remember a quote, circa 1973, stating BÖC were "thinking man's heavy metal". I think it's quite aptly said.
Oh man, I know Slade made some sort of comeback at Reading in 1980! Huge fan here. I saw them in April 1979 in Belgrade. It was one of the best concerts I've seen in my life; although there were only 600 of us in the 6,000-seat arena, they played a four-hour concert (four encores included). Well, if it's any consolation, Slade is an example of a band whose music was more or less heavy, but not heavy-metal. By the way, in the same arena four years earlier, in March 1975, I saw Deep Purple. It was one of my first concerts ever. And I can testify that Deep Purple were very loud and heavy as hell. This is footage from that concert; not so good sound, but nice as a document anyway:
Yeah, I also saw Slade around that time at Woolwich Polytechnic. Not many people there, great gig though. I went to a Purple Mk2 reunion concert in '84 or '85 but was so drunk that I couldn't remember a thing about it. Probably enjoyed it at the time though. I propose the notion that 70's Heavy Metal is Heavy Metal and modern day Metal is a sub-genre or offshoot.
This video demonstrates how heavy the Blue Öyster Cult were in 1974, despite the poor audio-quality: Blue Öyster Cult Career of Evil (live in NYC, 1974)
I’m happy to call those acts heavy metal. This revisionism is just extreme “2edgy4u” nerdery. Get off my lawn.
It will not be out of place to say that growling was first used by John Entwistle in the 1960s, as well as heavy-metal bass. While The Who falls under 'Rock', The Ox' Boris The Spider is the earliest example of heavy-metal song with a growl: The Who Boris The Spider (live at Fillmore Eest, 1968)
