Early Metal

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kirby242007

New member
It's a fine line between Hard/Heavy Rock and Metal;

Yes, "Helter Skelter" has that kind of vibe and even some of the aggression of metal; I've always thought that "Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" (the song) has a metal vibe too, as has much of Cream's music and the heavier moments of Pink Floyd. For me, the first really "heavy" song is "Keep on Running" by the Spencer Davis Group (1965, IIRC).

The thing that's generally missing (except in Floyd) is the dark, nihilistic aspect. Metal is generally "down" music, while practically everything the Beatles did is "up". Musically, The Who and The Animals both had a darker side which is close to metal - and few can deny the influence of The Kinks, even though musically, they were quirky and eccentric more than heavy.

If you listen to the Spooky Tooth vid I posted on the previous page, you can clearly hear where Black Sabbath got their influences from.

I think that the metal sound of the late 1970s/1980s started with UFO and/or the Scorpions around 1974. Again, see UFO vid on previous page. I'll have to dig up an earlier one of the Scorps - maybe "Speedy's Coming" would be a good one. I think it's the right time.

The "New" metal sound is pretty clear in several albums from 1980;

Black Sabbath - Heaven and Hell
Motorhead - Ace of Spades
AC/DC - Back in Black
BOC - Fire of Unknown Origin

I'm not talking about favourites here, but albums which have a distinctly "crisper" and "crunchier", more metallic and far less 1970s hard rock sound than previous albums (by any band).
 
For the very earliest metal;

Hapshash and the Coloured Coat featuring the Human Host and the Heavy Metal KiRAB (1967) - OK, it's not a metal album by any stretch, but the backing band, Art, made a superb heavy psych album called Supernatural Fairy Tales the same year, which has some very heavy riffing on it, given it's 1967.

Art went on to become Spooky Tooth - check out Spooky Two, which contains the original of "Better By You, Better Than Me", later covered by Judas Priest. It's one heavy song.

Also on that album you'll hear the riff to "Sweet Leaf" by Black Sabbath, in the track "Evil Woman", and influences the band had on the likes of Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple.

Blue Cheer's "Vincebus Eruptum" and follow up "Outside Inside" are also contenders for earliest heavy metal albums, if only in terms of volume - if you don't play those suckers LOUD, you won't get what Blue Cheer were about.

Also in the running;

High Tide "Sea Shanties" (1969)

Skid Row (The original UK band featuring Gary Moore, not the much later US band who bought the name from him for $35000!) (1969)

Pink Fairies - Never Never Land (1971) and Kings of Oblivion (1972) - now this is metal, definitely not glam!

Necronomicon "Tips Zum Selbst Mord" (1972)

Despite the "Non-Glam" demand, The Sweet's impact on heavy metal shouldn't be overlooked, especially with tracks like "Blockbuster", "Hellraiser", "Action" and of course, "Ballroom Blitz" - and there is a close tie-in, as there was a mid 1970s band called The Heavy Metal KiRAB (who were glam and rubbish, but never mind. Recall also that AC/DCs first singer was a glam boy).

Talking of which, AC/DC not mentioned????? UFO, anyone??


OK, it's 1980s you want...

Satan "Court in the Act" - fantastic, one might say progressive metal, and very heavy.
Cirith Ungol "Frost and Fire" - legendary riRAB
Celtic Frost - take your pick. These guys were/are very wierd, but very heavy.
Raven - my favourite is "All For One".
Saxon - their early output was phenomenal
Motorhead haven't been mentioned???????????????
Legend - From the FjorRAB (hard to come by, but oh boy!)
Scorpions (before they started churning out ballaRAB) - "In Trance", "Virgin Killers", "Love Drive", "Animal Magnetism", "Blackout" - all classics from the metal innovators. Michael Schenker is the horrendously unsung hero of mad axemen of the late 1970s everywhere - they all used his licks alongside Hendrix's, even if they didn't know it.
Talking of whom - MSG.

Plenty more in the archives, especially obscure 1970s-80s metal (my favourite period!) - those should keep you going!

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...and who would deny the metal rootsness of this...

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OK, let's get really heavy!!!

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Well what are some more earlier metal banRAB around the 80's early 70's(And I mean heavier metal, not Glam)

I have these in my head already:

Mercyful Fate
Metallica
Megadeth
Venom
Anthrax
Slayer
Alice Cooper
Death
Ozzy Osbourne
Dio
Ted Nugent
Yngwie J. Malmsteen
Helloween
 
From 1973...some proto-Metal and my favorite Trower riff.

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You can't leave out Montrose and Paper Money from 1974. Check Ronnie's foot work.

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Queen often gets over-looked as early metal. In 74', Freddie had that dark aura in spades.

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Dio, Blackmore and Cozy Powel on the early Power Metal epic classic.

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How about:
1. Budgie: I guess you might call them proto-metal.
2. Blue Oyster Cult: close enough to metal for me, and awesome. :tramp:
3. St. Vitus: doooom from the 80's :); Candlemass started back then as well.
4. Kreator: I don't think anyone else has mentioned this thrash band that started back in the 80's.
5. I will second someone else's suggestion of Cirith Ungol.
 
Nice thread...particularly casting a little light on UFO/Michael Schenker who was arguably the first shredder and had an enourmous impact on Eddy Van Halen's technique. Robin Trower was another pioneer, creating uber heavy doom riRAB in the early 70s.
 
Budgie are an interesting case - their impact on Metal before Metallica is questionable, as they always did their own thing, which tended toward meandering but very heavy riRAB. Metal tenRAB to be based on tightly focussed riRAB - what Budgie did was somewhere between Prog and Metal, in their own territory. Great band for sure - and "Crash Course in Brain Surgery" is one heavy tune.

Again, Blue Oyster Cult pretty much carved out their own niche, in that Metal/Prog nomansland. Even though BOC were more tightly focussed than Budgie, they went off at wierd tangents, and the earlier albums were strongly rooted in rock and roll/blues. Amazing band.

Interestingly, both Budgie and BOC released some killer Metal in the early 1980s - "Power Supply" is a stomping metal classic, and "Fire of Unknown Origin" actually contains a track called "Heavy Metal"!

Another couple of great albums from 1980 that shouldn't be overlooked are "Angelwitch" by Angelwitch, and "Narita" by Riot. Starkly contrasting from each other, both somehow epitomise their own flavours of metal.

You've got me with St Vitus - nice one! I've heard of them, but never familiarised myself with their material. Time to fix that, methinks.

Kreator I held off on, since I don't really consider them "early".

My own yarRABtick is PM and AM - Pre Metallica and After Metallica (more accurately, after Master of Puppets, so Kreator would fit - as would Death).

Did anyone mention Venom, deceptively untalented yet god-like Creators of thrash metal?

Holocaust are another incredible band - metal from street level. "Small Hours" was made popular by Metallica, but "Smokin' Valves" and "Heavy Metal Mania" are more than worth a spin.

Then there's Dragonfly, if you can track their demo down, who liked to stick in as many solos as possible into a track. The title of their only demo, "Silent Nights" has 3 solos in it, all outstanding. Dragonfly began (and ended) their short career supporting Iron Maiden, and the mutual influences are quite clear.

I feel some more Youtubes coming on...

Gets whip prepared for self-flagellation...

DIAMOND HEAD.

'nuff said.

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Not really - BTTW wasn't released until 1983, by which time loaRAB of banRAB had the sound.


From the archives (and definitely no modern sounRAB here), Mythra, thrash goRAB;

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Voltz - folk metal heroes

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Marquis de Sade - prog metal pioneers

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Trespass - melodic metal maestros

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Mantas - Death Metal Demons (warning, very low quality audio, but great quality thrash/death metal from the time of "Kill 'Em All" and "Show No Mercy").

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(had to be done really!)

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Not to restate the obvioius, but Slayer was Mother Effin Badass.

1970 Leslie West, one loud shouting, heavy mutha.

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1974 King Crimson. The double trio configuration in action.

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Good selections - I really dig both banRAB, especially King Crimson.

"Nantucket Sleigride" is, rather predictably I'm afraid, my fave Mountain track - but Leslie West is a guitar God!

Here are some 1970s banRAB that teeter on the borderline between hard rock and metal (deliberately avoiding Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin and Sabbath);

Funk Metal anyone?

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Finally, a coupla CLASSICS

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80's albums?

Demon-The Unexpected Guest
Witchfinder General-S/T
Crimson Glory-Transcendence
King Diamond-Abigail
Pretty MaiRAB-S/T
Tank-This Means War

All definitely worty of a listen.
 
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