Chris Pettitt - Resources for Music Teachers - KS3, GCSE, AS, A2, Music Technology, Instrumental Teachers 

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Edexcel AS Music Technology - Special Focus Style for Examination 2010

                Notes in this document have largely been taken from “The All Music Guide to Rock", "The Rough Guide to Heavy Metal" by Essi Berelian, “The Grove Encyclopaedia of Music”, “AS/A2 Music Technology Study Guide” by Jonny Martin, Wikipedia and various other internet sources.

"We never thought of ourselves as a 'heavy metal band' we've always regarded ourselves as a rock band. The big difference we've always thought we had a lot more feel for rock, we always went out for songs, not riffs or heavy, heavy sounds. But every now and again it does come on like a sledge hammer."

-- Angus Young, guitarist with AC/DC

Rock is so much fun. That's what it's all about -- filling up the chest cavities and empty kneecaps and elbows.

-- Jim Hendrix

Introduction to Heavy Rock

The Oxford Dictionary of Popular Music defines Rock as:

                Species of popular mus. originating in USA (as rock'n'roll) in early 1950s and spreading throughout world. Performed by ‘groups’, e.g. of vocals, guitars, often electronically amplified, and drums. There are sub‐species such as folk rock, jazz rock, and punk rock. Rock was used in stage works such as Hair, Tommy, and Jesus Christ Superstar. Words of songs often refer to social themes.

                Really quite a small entry for a prodigious output of music over 40 years! Putting rock music into pigeon holes is a hazardous activity as whether a track is Rock, Pop, Metal, Indie or Punk is fairly subjective.

Grove Music Online defines Rock as:

                Rock can be defined along three dimensions. Sociologically, it is a commercially-produced popular music aimed at an exclusionary youth audience of a type characteristic of late-capitalist societies. Musically, it tends to be highly amplified, with a strong beat and rhythmic patterns commonly considered erotic, and to draw heavily on proto-folk (especially African-American) musical sources from Southern USA. Ideologically, it is associated with an aesthetic programme of ‘authenticity’, developing elements from discourses around folk-revival (‘community’, ‘roots’) and art music (‘originality’, ‘personal expression’, ‘integrity’). The sociological and musical elements are so variable, however, that the ideological dimension is the strongest factor.

                In "The Rough Guide to Heavy Metal" the author has a similar problem:

                "If you were to ask the venerable Lemmy what kind of music Motorhead play he would fix you with a beady eye and tell you in no uncertain terms that it's all just rock 'n' roll, which goes to show how perceptions of genres can differ.

                For the purposes of AS Music Technology we are going to use the definitions of the AS / A2 Music Technology Study Guide by Jonny Martin. Mr Martin is also the Chair of Examiners for the subject at Edexcel and as he will be setting the question paper, it would be prudent to use his notes as a basis for our study.

History of Heavy Rock

The 1960s

                After the global birth of Rock 'n' Roll in the 1950s black music had been introduced into the mainstream and there was nothing to hold it back. Teenagers had found a culture and were now a commercial resource to be tapped by the record companies.

                Music of the 1960s was characteristic of the revolution that was going on during the decade. It was a time of rebellion and counter-culture in which the younger people were questioning everything, including authority, corporations, the government, and other aspects of everyday life. It was essentially a revolution of the status quo. This gave rise to the Civil Rights Movement in the USA  along with other movements that affected the rights of society as a whole.

                The 1960s was the first “invasion” period (a time when British music invades the American music Charts), which saw the rise of The Beatles & The Rolling Stones first in the U.K. and then subsequently the U.S.A.

The rise of British rock music came about as young musicians were influenced by recordings of American Blues artists. These were then developed into their own styles by adding rhythmic elements from jazz and folk music and lyrics that reflected the end of post-war austerity in the youth of the 1960s.

The American charts had previously been dominated almost exclusively by home grown Rock & Roll artists such as Elvis Presley and Buddy Holly and as the Beatles and Stones, and to a lesser extent The Who, The Small Faces and The Kinks, gained popularity on American shores, they changed the whole order of American popular music.

                The Beatles – “Abbey Road”          Rolling Stones logo                       The Kinks                             The Who

                England, and in particular London, became the centre of the pop music world. With this dominance came a global fascination with all things British:

·         In fashion, designers such as Mary Quant and models such as Twiggy, sometimes called “Queen of the Mod”. Mod-related fashions such as the miniskirt stimulated the rise of fashionable shopping areas such as Carnaby Street and the Kings Road, Chelsea. The fashion of the day was a symbol of youth culture.

·         In film, the rise of the James Bond movie and films about youth issues, such as “Alfie” and “Up The Junction”, featuring young London actors such as Michael Caine. The Swinging London period has been parodied in the 1990s “Austin Powers” films.

·         In politics, Harold Wilson leads the Labour party to a massive majority in the 1966 General Election. Whilst at Oxford University, future Prime Minister, Tony Blair sings and plays guitar with his band “Ugly Rumours”. They play mostly cover versions of Rolling Stones hits.

·         The British flag, the Union Jack, became a potent symbol, assisted by events such as England's home victory in the 1966 World Cup. The Mini-Cooper car (launched in 1959) was used by a fleet of mini-cab taxis highlighted by advertising that covered their paintwork.

·         In art, David Hockney’s “Pop Art” and the photography of David Bailey had the attention of the world.

                The Beatles were formed from a skiffle band called the Quarrymen. Skiffle was a jazz influenced sound using household objects. A washboard formed the rhythm section and was played with thimbles on the fingers. A bass could  be made by attaching a broom handle to a packing case and then tying a string between the two. These were usually the accompaniment for a guitar or banjo. Although skiffle is not in itself important, it is the way that as musicians turned to electronic instruments at the start of the 1960s the styles merged into bands such as The Beatles and Gerry and the Pacemakers to form "British Beat" or "Merseybeat" as it became known.

                Some British musicians started to emulate the Rhythm and Blues styles that were filtering across the Atlantic (mostly brought across by sailors on the transatlantic crossing into docks like Tilbury, Liverpool and Southampton). As the British R 'n' B sound developed bands such as The Rolling Stones, The Yardbirds (Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page & Jeff Beck played with this band) and John Mayall's Bluesbreakers (Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce (Cream), Peter Green, John McVie and Mick Fleetwood (Fleetwood Mac) all started their careers here),became popular and were also an integral part of the British invasion.

                Mod culture burst onto the scene in Britain in around 1963. Short for "modernist", it reflected British youth's rejection of what they saw as the bland, old-fashioned culture in which they existed. They embraced everything that was 'hip', which at the time meant American R 'n' B and Soul as well as Jamaican Ska. Mod culture hade a specific dress code depending on the situation (parkas for riding the Lambretta and sharp suits for night life. The bands of the Mod culture were The Who and The Small Faces.

                Bob Dylan was another influential artist during the 1960's . His success still continues and he has been revered as a poet, musician, songwriter, activist, and a folk artist. He unofficially became the spokesperson for the counter-culture movement of the 1960s and many young people looked to him for their ideas concerning the social issues. He wrote and sung songs that became anti-war anthems as well as songs that touted the celebration of civil rights. He did not hesitate to include lyrics in his songs that included obvious political and social commentary regarding the policies and procedures of the day that he disagreed with. He was also one of the performers that performed at the famous March on Washington where Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his immortalized speech. He continues to be one of the most respected and recognized artists in the history of music because of his melodies and unique singing voice.

                Some point to the Kinks No. 1 hit "You Really Got Me" (1964) as an early example of a heavy rock riff. Even to this day the riff is in the repertoire of every guitarist and can be mastered after only a few guitar lessons. Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple are often considered to be the bands that started heavy rock, while Black Sabbath are cited because they were just so much scarier sounding than everyone else. The band Steppenwolf famously used the phrase "heavy metal thunder" in their 1969 hit "Born To Be Wild" although despite the song's chugging riff and biker theme it would be a while before the "heavy metal"  name stuck.

Rock in the late 1960s

                In the late 1960s the concept of the guitar hero was born. Pete Townsend (The Who) with his windmill action, smashing up his kit at the end of the gig. Jimi Hendrix playing guitar with his teeth (and setting it on fire) and Eric Clapton being hailed as a god by a graffiti artist - the guitarist had moved from the background to the front of the stage. Cream and the Who had been gradually getting more and more volume from their amplifiers through the 1960s. Pete Townsend had been working with an engineer called Jim Marshall, who designed bigger and louder amps with more distortion available. As the guitar became louder and more prominent, the riffing became more aggressive backed up with driving drums and bass.

                The Woodstock Music and Arts Festival, often referred to simply as Woodstock, took place during the weekend of August 15-18, 1969. It was the symbolic culmination of a decade of social reform and questioning authority. On a dairy farm in Bethel, New York, over a half million people showed up to enjoy the most popular musical performers of the era, including Janis Joplin, The Grateful Dead, Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Who, and Jimi Hendrix, among many others. This also came to be known as the “Summer of Peace and Love” as many of the attendees were “hippies,” or people that promoted the idea of sexual liberation and love for your fellow man.

                Other factors to consider before rock burst into the 1970s were:

·         Bob Dylan was busy enraging the folk community by using electric guitars in his music, inventing "urban folk" or "folk rock".

·         Psychedelia was embraced by bands such as The Beatles, The Grateful Dead, Pink Floyd and Jefferson Airplane to create psychedelic rock.

·         Jimi Hendrix was taking the rock world by storm, turning blues guitar into a rock phenomenon and experimenting with techniques to increase the scope of the guitar as an instrument.

·         Progressive or Prog Rock was taking its first, tentative steps, combining the structures and harmonies of jazz and classical music with rock instruments and rhythms.

·         Bands like Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple began riffing and soloing their way to creating heavy metal. 

Heavy Rock or Heavy Metal?

                There is little clear distinction between heavy rock and heavy metal.  Although certain artists have tried to avoid certain labels, there is as much crossover in the world of loud, distorted, amplified guitar music as there is in any other musical style. Many of the bands would claim to be "rock 'n' roll", but by saying this, they do not mean that they are the same genre as Chuck Berry or Elvis Presley, even if they are influenced by them, they are claiming to be part of a "rock 'n' roll" lifestyle. What confuses things further is that bands, such as the early Black Sabbath, are tagged as heavy metal, even though they were playing a kind of heavy blues. 

Heavy Rock 

                Rock and Heavy Rock are very blues orientated. For the majority of the time, riffs and solos are based on the pentatonic and blues scales. The drum parts drive the ensemble, but they are not too complicated in themselves - a good rock drummer is able to hold a steady beat, but also lock into a groove, even while playing the simplest of rhythms. The bass guitar is the bridge between the riffing of the electric guitar and the steady thump of the kick drum, sometimes it will riff along with the guitar and sometimes it will pulse the root note, emphasising the pulse of the kick drum. In essence, rock music, in its purest form is a supercharged, riff based blues.

Heavy Metal

                Heavy Metal tends to be more technically demanding in terms of instrumental ability, with much more use of minor scales and modes than rock. It will still make use of the pentatonic and blues scales, but tends to add dissonances to give a darker tone e.g. the emphasis on the flattened 5th interval (tritone) as a dark sounding interval, or use of the flattened 2nd. Both styles use "power chords" - a chord consisting of only the root and the 5th, the absence of a major or minor 3rd making it possible to play riffs based on power chords as if they were single notes.

                Metal generally has more demanding drum parts, with recent styles making extensive use of double kick drum pedals, as a way to play much faster rhythms on the kick drum. Heavy metal influenced styles also tend to detune the guitar ( a technique pioneered and much used by Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath), sometimes dropping the lowest string a tone (drop D tuning) or sometimes tuning the whole guitar down a semitone or more, again to get a heavier, darker sound.

The 1970s

                Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and Black Sabbath are commonly seen as the godfathers of heavy rock and heavy metal. However on closer inspection, the bands have very distinctive sounds that influenced later bands in different ways. 

Led Zeppelin

                Led Zeppelin's contribution to rock was a constantly evolving experiment, rooted in the tradition of heavy blues while taking in sundry other influences, including folk, psychedelia, funk and soul. The result was one of the world's most celebrated and influential rock bands whose music still sounds as amazing today as it did in the 1970s.

                Formed in London in 1968 the band's origins lay in the British blues band The Yardbirds and their guitarist Jimmy Page. When the Yardbirds split up, Page, already an ace session man, decided to create The New Yardbirds. When the first bassist opted out, another session veteran John Paul Jones (bass / keyboards) joined the group. Casting around for a singer, Page and band manager Peter Grant, homed in on Robert Plant, front man for the brilliantly named Hobbstweedle. It was Plant that suggested that the line-up be completed by his mate, drummer, John Bonham. With everything in place the four piece snapped up a record deal with Atlantic, recorded their debut album in a mere two weeks, and then completed some Scandinavian gigs already booked under the New Yardbirds name. After they changed their name to Led Zeppelin - from Keith Moon's (drummer with The Who) phrase to describe a terrible performance "Going down like a lead zeppelin" - the band gave their first Led Zep performance at the University of Surrey in October 1968.

                By December they were in the USA supporting Vanilla Fudge and MC5, almost instantly gaining rave reviews for their live performances. So electrifying were they live, that when they played with Iron Butterfly the headliners refused to go on, feeling that they couldn't compete with the new Brits on the block. This assured start ensured that their debut album "Led Zeppelin" (1969) was a hit on both sides of the Atlantic. Produced by Page, it's not hard to understand why the debut fared so well; the playing is tight and urgent, the guitars deliver with both delicacy and sything power, and Bonham's drumming nails home the riffs with ruthless energy. On top of this was Plant's hackle-raising, priapic wail. This was the only Led Zepplin album that did not make either No.1 or 2 in the charts in the UK, a feat achieved without the aid of any single releases. Notable tracks include "Good Times Bad Times", "Communication Breakdown", "Dazed And Confused" and "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You".

                The amazing responce to the debut was repeated with "Led Zeppelin II" (1969), the band working the heavy blues mojo for all it was worth on classics such as "Heartbreaker", "Ramble On" and the fantastically un-PC "Whole Lotta Love". By now they had become one of the hottest bands on the planet. Ridiculous sums were offered - and sometimes turned down - for live performances, and the records sat in the charts for months.

                The first real surprise came with "Led Zeppelin III" (1970) and it's largely acoustic leanings, although the change of style was tempered by one or two characteristically riffy efforts - not least the stunning "Immigrant Song" and bluesy "Since I've Been Loving You". However the quality of the songs ensured that even those who initially perplexed were eventually won round.

                There were no shocks with the following year's "Led Zeppelin IV", aka Four Symbols, save that neither the band's name nor the album title featured anywhere on the sleeve. There were still a few unusual tracks. The "Battle of Evermore" was folky in origin with Jimmy Page playing the mandolin (with additional vocals from Sandy Denny of Fairport Convention) and "Going To California" had an almost ethereally light arrangement, but these were the antidotes to the strutting likes of "Black Dog" and "Rock 'n' Roll", and the stiflingly heavy "When The Levee Breaks". And then of course there was one of the most famous songs ever written, the brilliantly structured "Stairway To Heaven" with its acoustic guitar and recorder introduction, ballad like verses and screeching lead guitar breaks.

                The strenuous effort not to repeat themselves took Led Zeppelin to "The Houses Of The Holy" (1973), and it's odd experiments with reggae and funk with "D'Yer Mak'er" and the frankly bizarre "The Crunge". Where the album excelled, however, was in the eerie "No Quarter" and the stunning "The Rain Song", one of the most beautiful and laid back songs in rock. Once again the album title was not on the sleeve, though perversely the track "Houses of The Holy" turned up on their next album.

                "Physical Graffiti" (1975) was a double album released on the band's newly created Swan Song label. This was their crowning achievement: a sprawling collection with room for both the masterful whimsy of "Down By The Seaside" and bruising blues epics like "In My Time Of Dying" and the minor and brooding "Kashmir". The accompanying live shows at Earls Court (which sold out in hours) were among the longest ever played by the band, clocking in at over four hours.

                The following year produced "Presence", an album created while Plant was still in a wheelchair, following a serious car crash while on holiday with his wife. Notable tracks include "Achilles Last Stand" and "Nobody's Fault But Mine". It also saw the release of the rockumentary, "The Song Remains The Same" featuring footage filmed at Madison Square Garden in 1973.

                While the trauma of the car crash was bad enough, Plant was dealt another blow when his young son died in 1977. Both he and the band were devastated and effectively dissapeared for two years. Their return was marked with "In Through The Out Door" (1979),notable tracks including "In The Evening" and "All My Love" (a tribute to Plant's son) and their first UK concert in four years at the Knebworth Festival. A European tour took place the next year but their appearance in West Berlin was their last. A further disaster struck during rehearsals for a US tour a Page's home: after a night of heavy drinking, John Bonham was found dead on September the 25th having choked in his sleep. Led Zeppelin were no more.

                A posthumous collection of demo recordings called "Coda" arrived a couple of years later but the band had no appetite to record or tour without Bonham. This was how it stayed until 1985's Live Aid concert when Phil Collins sat in on drums. Although they regrouped for couple of one-off occasions with Jason Bonham (John's son) on drums (Atlantic records 40th birthday bash in 1988, Jason Bonham's wedding in 1990 and a benefit concert held in memory of music executive Ahmet Ertegun in 2007), the band has been effectively laid to rest as a recording and touring entity.

Deep Purple

                Deep Purple: two words synonymous with classic heavy rock and all that it implies - the excess, the glamour, the power, not to mention the sheer volume which gained them an entry in the Guinness Book of Records as the "loudest band in the world". As a band they embody it all: the volatile artistry, the genius musicianship, the bust-ups and the reunions.

                The band's inception dates all the way back to 1967 in Hertford when former Searchers drummer Chris Curtis recruited Guitarist Ritchie Blackmore and keyboard wizard Jon Lord to a band called Roundabout. Needless to say that band went the way of many fledgling projects. With Curtis's departure in stepped Ian Paice (drums), Nick Simper (bass) and Rod Evans (vocals). Thankfully passing up the chance to become known as Concrete God they assumed the name of Deep Purple that would see them become one of the biggest heavy rock bands in the planet.

                Basing their style around the US band Vanilla Fudge, they produced four albums that sound pretty dated to modern ears. "Shades Of Deep Purple" (1968) was their first effort, preceded by a re-working of Joe South's hit "Hush", which made it into the Top 5 in the USA. Their music wasn't so much about heavy rock as 60s pop at this point. "The Book of Taliesyn" (1968) and "Deep Purple" (1969) offered more of the same, while "Concerto for Group and Orchestra" (1970) was exactly that a concerto with Deep Purple and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra recorded at the Royal Albert Hall driven by Blackmore and Lord and their love of all things classical (3rd Movement - Vivace - Presto). By this point Evans and Simper had been replaced by the turbo-lunged Ian Gillan and bassist Roger Glover; the definative line-up had been achieved and a re-think was in order.

                The new direction harnessed a bombastic heavy blues thunder. The raw and majestic "Deep Purple In Rock" (1970) followed, giving them a hit single in "Black Night". As for the album's cover: the faces of the band carved Mount Rushmore style set the seal on what lay within. It was a classic album that relied on Ian Gillan's blood-curdling scream and penetrating range to propel the songs into heady realms well beyond the lighter material that had previously been recorded. "Speed King" kicked off the record with a suitably zippy riff before spiralling off to explore the furthest regions of Blackmore and Lord's imaginations; "Blood Sucker" bounced along on a menacing blues guitar motif occasionally drilled through by Gillan's shrill shriek; the epic "Child In Time" , clocking in at ten minutes plus, was an obvious highlight allowing yet more classically inspired noodling. It was a formula that carried over to their concerts and formed thye basis of lengthy instrumental duels and jams, Lord and Blackmore borrowing freely from all manner of sources - from nursery rhymes to Mozart and Bach.

                Gillan headed off briefly to record the album and appear as the lead in Jesus Christ Superstar in the West End before "Fireball" (1971). This album injected a sense of humour into the straight-up progressive sound of "In Rock". This was especially evident in "Anyone's Daughter" where Gillan's skill with off-the-wall lyrics and clever phrasing came to the fore.

                The improvement in production and strident growth in confidence found its perfect expression in what is generally regarded as one of the best heavy rock albums of all time: "Machine Head" (1972), which topped the UK charts for three weeks and went into the US Top 10. It featured some of the band's finest songs, including timeless slices of wildman rock such as "Space Truckin'" and the belting "Highway Star", while "When A Blind Man Cries" was a soulful and smouldering ballad. However, "Machine Head" will always been known as the album containing that song. Only "Stairway To Heaven" shares the same level of noteriety. The most famous riff in rock history - "Smoke On The Water". The song immortalised  a now mythical incident during the recording of the album when the planned venue, the Montreux Casino in Switzerland, burned down. The result has become one of the most widely recognised soundbites of the last 40 years; the album was eventually completed on a mobile studio (Frank Zappa's) in the corridors of another hotel.

                The Machine head set yielded "Made In Japan" (1972), a revered and genre defining live album. It captured the band at their peak as they ended an almost non-stop three-year period of touring. They were a hugely successful unit, but inevitable rifts were forming. The fiery tension between Gillan, Glover and Blackmore came to a head following the release of the underated "Who Do We Think We Are" (1973). It launched with the strident "Woman From Tokyo", before heading off into Gillanesque territory with "Mary Long", the groovy "Rat Bat Blue" and heavy "Smooth Dancer".

                Gillan and Glover left the band to start solo careers and the band brought in the then unknown David Coverdale (vocals) and Glenn Hughes (bass). Their next two albums, "Burn" (1974) and "Stormbringer" (1974), both went into the Top 10 in the UK and subsequent tours were successful, particularly in the USA. "Burn" lived up to its title, Coverdale showcasing an impressive vocal style; "Stombringer" , however, was anything but, the band's fire of old somewhat quenched by Coverdale and Hughes' penchant for light weight funkiness in all but the title track. The tracks "Holy Man" and "You Can't Do It Right" are good examples of this stylistic shift.

                The infamously irascible Ritchie Blackmore was none too pleased with the album and so quit to form the band Rainbow, who went on to have a string of successes with "Since You've Been Gone", "I Surrender" and "All Night Long" to name but a few. The Deep Purple's lead guitar duties were taken on by American guitarist, Tommy Bolin and the album "Come Taste The Band" (1975) was the result. The album was another soft rock / funk effort with the exception of the track "Drifter". Tragically, Tommy Bolin's heroin habit led to his untimely demise after an overdose in late 1976.

                The remaining members went off to start other projects with varying degrees of success - Coverdale, of course, eventually formed Whitesnake and had a number of hits including "Here I Go Again" and "Is This Love" - while Deep Purple compilations and cash-ins kept popping up from time to time. And that's how things stayed until 1984 when the five members of the classic line-up (Blackmore, Gillan, Glover, Lord and Paice)couldn't resist the temptation any longer and re-emerged with "Perfect Strangers", a strong comeback given a boost by the cheeky single "Knocking At Your Back Door".

                "The Anthology" (1985) raided the back catalogue for the umpteenth time while the band worked on their next album "The House Of Blue Light" (1987). Despite the fact that the band were making a go of it, there already seemed to be trouble brewing: during the subsequent tour Blackmore began refusing to play "Smoke On The Water". The decidedly poor live album "Nobody's Perfect" (1988) kept the bandwagon rolling, but it was an unhappy unit that began the accompanying US tour. All obligations fulfilled, Gillan quit again. Bizarrely instead of this sealing the band's fate, Blackmore called on his old Rainbow singer Joe Lynn Turner to step in and record "Slaves and Masters" (1990). The line-up didn't last for long; Gillan returned for "The Battle Rages On" (1993), its title accurately describing Purple's situation. Blackmore seemingly couldn't stand being in the band with Gillan and he dramatically quit on the eve of a Japanese tour. His replacement was genius guitarist Joe Satriani, who was eventually replaced by Steve Morse (ex-Kansas) for "Perpendicular" (1996) and "Abandon" (1998) both very different albums. Notable tracks are "Ted The Mechanic" and "Any Fule Kno That". The arena sized touring continues to this day, the only change to the line up being the retirement of Jon Lord to be replaced by Don Airey by the time their last studio album, "Bananas" (2003" was released.

Black Sabbath

                Black Sabbath are an English rock band, formed in Birmingham in 1968 by Ozzy Osbourne (lead vocals), Tony Iommi (guitar), Terry “Geezer” Butler (bass), and Bill Ward (drums and percussion). The band has since experienced multiple line-up changes, with a total of twenty-two former members. Originally formed as a heavy blues-rock band named Earth, the band began incorporating occult- and horror-inspired lyrics with tuned-down guitars, changing their name to Black Sabbath and achieving multiple gold and platinum records in the 1970s. Black Sabbath are one of the first and most influential heavy metal bands of all time.

                What can you say about Black Sabbath? A legendary band without whom the history of heavy metal would have been drastically different and so much poorer. Alongside their contemporaries Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin, this ragtag four-piece laid down some of the heaviest, darkest riffs ever recorded, influencing an uncountable number of later artists and providing several of metal’s splinter genres with inspiration. The classic Sabbath line-up has been heaped with praise for many reasons, though when the band first started critics were only too willing to give these hairy oiks a drubbing. In singer Ozzy Osbourne they had a working-class hero with a fabulous banshee wail, who could captivate an audience by his sheer stage presence; guitarist Tony Iommi was a veritable riff machine, forging some of metal’s finest moments; bassist Geezer Butler’s solid and sinuous style provided the all important bowel-rumbling bottom end; and drummer Bill Ward’s rocking thunder anchored all the components in concrete. Truly, the whole exceeded the sum of parts. Influenced by the heavy blues and jazz scene of which they were a part during the 1960s, Sabbath transcended their roots to produce a sound that was genuinely scary and copied by a whole generation of rockers desperate to follow in their mighty, though somewhat cocaine and alcohol addled footsteps.

                Back in their native Birmingham the band went under a variety of names as they scrabbled for the break that would make their career. Polka Turk became Earth which eventually turned into Black Sabbath, the name borrowed from an old Boris Karloff horror movie. The new horror slant, helped by Butler’s interest in the occult, gave the band a theme on which to hang their bluesy riffs. After a couple of false starts the first album “Black Sabbath” (1970) was recorded in two days for the princely sum of £ 600. The album stayed on the UK album chart for five months and peaked at No. 8. The album was a classic – right from the driving rain, tolling bell and the tritone motif of the opening title track, they announced their arrival.

Black Sabbath in 1970 (Iommi, Osbourne, Butler & Ward)              The same line up in 2005 (B, W, O, I)

                What really propelled the band into the public eye, however, arrived in the summer of 1970: “Paranoid” was a galloping riff knocked off in a spare few minutes in the studio; the distant mix, compression and reverb on Ozzy’s voice became a Sabbath trademark over the next few albums. The single went into the Top 5 in the UK and prompted a last-minute album title change for the next studio offering. “Paranoid” (1970), like it’s predecessor, consisted of songs that had formed a part of the band’s live set. Opening anti-war anthem “War Pigs” went on to become a stage favourite, alongside the lumbering “Iron Man” and the ludicrously titled “Fairies Wear Boots”. The entire album worked well; there was even space for a slice of cosmic mellowness in the sublime, dark shades of “Planet Caravan”.

                The 1970s marked the beginning of Sabbath’s rocketing to fame across the globe, and all kinds of pressures that accompany this fame. There was drug and alcohol excess, copious numbers of groupies, management wrangles and all manner of attendant madness. “Master Of Reality” (1971) was the next album and included another brace of classic tracks. High points include the magnificent, herbal influenced “Sweet Leaf” and the brisk rumble of “Children Of The Grave”.

                “Volume 4” (1972) was another hit album on both sides of the Atlantic, this time self-produced, with tracks such as “Snowblind” (originally the name of the album until the record company intervened) and “Tomorrow’s Dream” that indicate exactly the state of intoxication of the band; in fact a glance at the credits on the LP reveals a thank you to the “great COKE – Cola Company of Los Angeles”, where the songs were recorded. With full blown chemical blizzard’s going on in their heads the band decided that different management would be a wise move – a decision that would have major repercussions later on.

                Following the Volume 4 world tour, Black Sabbath returned to Los Angeles to begin work on their next release. The band rented a house in Bel Air and began writing in the summer of 1973, but in part because of substance issues and fatigue, they were unable to complete any songs. "Ideas weren't coming out the way they were on Volume 4 and we really got discontent" Iommi said. "Everybody was sitting there waiting for me to come up with something. I just couldn't think of anything. And if I didn't come up with anything, nobody would do anything."

                After a month in Los Angeles with no results, the band opted to return to England, where they rented Clearwell Castle in The Forest of Dean. "We rehearsed in the dungeons and it was really creepy but it had some atmosphere, it conjured up things, and stuff started coming out again". While working in the dungeon, Iommi stumbled onto the main riff of "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath", which set the tone for the new material. Recorded at Morgan Studios in London by Mike Butcher and building off the stylistic changes introduced on Volume 4, new songs incorporated synthesisers, strings, and complex arrangements.

                In November 1973, Black Sabbath released the critically acclaimed “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath”. For the first time in their career, the band began to receive favourable reviews in the mainstream press. The band began a world tour in January 1974, which culminated at the California Jam festival in Ontario, California on 6 April 1974. Attracting over 200,000 fans, Black Sabbath appeared alongside such 70's rock and pop giants as Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Deep Purple, Earth, Wind & Fire, Seals & Crofts, and Eagles. In 1974, the band shifted management, signing with notorious English manager Don Arden. The move caused a contractual dispute with Black Sabbath's former management, and while on stage in the US, Osbourne was handed a subpoena that led to two years of litigation and effectively put the band on ice for nearly a year.

                This enforced break was a double-edged sword – it allowed the band to rest, but it also meant that Ozzy was free to focus on the self destructive habits nurtured while on the road. The singer was also unhappy with the increasingly tortuous recording sessions they had been undertaking. The drug, drink and mental problems would eventually come to a head, but not before the next album.

                Black Sabbath began work on their sixth album in February 1975, this time with a decisive vision to differ the sound from Sabbath, Bloody Sabbath. "We could've continued and gone on and on, getting more technical, using orchestras and everything else which we didn't particularly want to. We took a look at ourselves, and we wanted to do a rock album - Sabbath, Bloody Sabbath wasn't a rock album, really." “Sabotage” was released in July 1975. Again the album initially saw favourable reviews, with Rolling Stone stating "Sabotage is not only Black Sabbath's best record since Paranoid, it might be their best ever”.

                Although the album's only single "Am I Going Insane” failed to chart, Sabotage features fan favourites such as "Hole in the Sky", and "Symptom of the Universe". The album had a distinctly portentous and sinister feel to it and it was the beginning of the end for the classic line-up. Black Sabbath toured Sabotage with openers Kiss, but were forced to cut the tour short in November 1975, following a motorcycle accident in which Osbourne ruptured a muscle in his back. In December 1975, the band's record companies released a greatest hits record without input from the band, titled “We Sold Our Soul for Rock 'n' Roll”.

                Black Sabbath began work for their next album in June 1976. To expand their sound, the band added keyboard player Gerry Woodruffe, who had also appeared to a lesser extent on Sabotage.  Ozzy was becoming increasingly unstable – he also couldn’t stand the more experimental aspects of the new album. “Technical Ecstasy”  (1976) was met with mixed reviews. The album featured less of the doom ridden, ominous sound of previous efforts, and incorporated more synthesisers and up-tempo rock songs. Technical Ecstasy failed to reach the top 50 in the US. The album included "Dirty Women", which remains a live staple, as well as Bill Ward's first lead vocal on the song "It's Alright".

                In November 1977, while in rehearsal for their next album, and just days before the band was set to enter the studio, Ozzy Osbourne quit the band. "The last Sabbath albums were just very depressing for me", Osbourne said. "I was doing it for the sake of what we could get out of the record company, just to get fat on beer and put a record out.” Former Fleetwood Mac and Savoy Brown vocalist Dave Walker was brought into rehearsals in October 1977, and the band began working on new songs. Black Sabbath made their first and only appearance with Walker on vocals, playing an early version of the song "Junior's Eyes" on the BBC Television program "Look! Hear!".

                Osbourne initially set out to form a solo project, which featured three ex-Dirty Tricks members but as the new band were in rehearsals in January 1978, Osbourne had a change of heart and rejoined Black Sabbath. "Three days before we were due to go into the studio, Ozzy wanted to come back to the band," Iommi explained. "He wouldn't sing any of the stuff we'd written with the other guy, so it made it very difficult”.

                The band spent five months writing and recording what would become “Never Say Die”. "It took quite a long time," Iommi said. "We were getting really drugged out, doing a lot of dope. We'd go down to the sessions, and have to pack up because we were too stoned, we'd have to stop. The album was released in September 1978, reaching number 12 in the UK, and number 69 in the US. One critic said that the album's "unfocused songs perfectly reflected the band's tense personnel problems and drug abuse." The album featured the singles "Never Say Die" and "Hard Road", both of which cracked the top 40 in the UK, and the band made their second appearance on the Top of the Pops, performing "Never Say Die".

                The “Never Say Die!” Tour began in May 1978 with openers Van Halen. Reviewers called Black Sabbath's performance "tired and uninspired", a stark contrast to the "youthful" performance of Van Halen, who were touring the world for the first time. The final show of the tour, and Osbourne's last appearance with the band (until later reunions) was in Albuquerque, New Mexico on 11 December.

                Following the tour, Black Sabbath returned to Los Angeles and again rented a house in Bel Air, where they spent nearly a year working on material for the next album. With pressure from the record label, and frustrations with Osbourne's lack of ideas coming to a head, Tony made the decision to fire Ozzy Osbourne in 1979. "At that time, Ozzy had come to an end", Iommi said. "We were all doing a lot of drugs, a lot of coke, a lot of everything, and Ozzy was getting drunk so much at the time. We were supposed to be rehearsing and nothing was happening. It was like 'Rehearse today? No, we'll do it tomorrow.' It really got so bad that we didn't do anything. It just fizzled out." Drummer Bill Ward, who was close with Osbourne, was chosen by Tony to break the news to the singer. "I hope I was professional, I might not have been, actually. When I'm drunk I am horrible, I am horrid," Ward said. "Alcohol was definitely one of the most damaging things to Black Sabbath. We were destined to destroy each other. The band were toxic, very toxic."

                Sharon Arden, (later Sharon Osbourne) daughter of Black Sabbath manager Don Arden, suggested former Rainbow vocalist Ronnie James Dio to replace Ozzy Osbourne in 1979. Dio officially joined in June, and the band began writing their next album. With a notably different vocal style from Osbourne's, Dio's addition to the band marked a change in Black Sabbath's sound. "They were totally different altogether", Iommi explains. "Not only voice-wise, but attitude-wise. Ozzy was a great showman, but when Dio came in, it was a different attitude, a different voice and a different musical approach, as far as vocals. Dio would sing across the riff, whereas Ozzy would follow the riff, like in "Iron Man". Ronnie came in and gave us another angle on writing”.

                Geezer Butler temporarily left the band in September 1979, and was initially replaced by Geoff Nicholls of Quartz on bass. The new line-up returned to Criteria Studios in November to begin recording work, with Butler returning to the band in January 1980, and Nicholls moving to keyboards. Produced by Martin Birch, “Heaven and Hell”, was released on 25 April 1980, to critical acclaim.

                On 18th August 1980, after a show in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Bill Ward was fired from Black Sabbath. "I was sinking very quickly", Ward later said. Concerned with Ward's declining health, Iommi brought in drummer Vinny Appice, without informing Ward. The band completed the Heaven and Hell world tour in February 1981, and returned to the studio to begin work on their next album. Black Sabbath's second studio album produced by Martin Birch and featuring Ronnie James Dio as vocalist, “Mob Rules” was released in October 1981, to be well received by fans, but less so by the critics. The album's title track "The Mob Rules", which was recorded at John Lennon's old house in England, also featured in the 1981 animated film “Heavy Metal”.

                The band recorded another live album, “Live Evil” during the Mob Rules world tour. During the mixing process for the album, Iommi and Butler had a falling out with Dio. Iommi and Butler accused Dio of sneaking into the studio at night to raise the volume of his vocals. In addition, Dio was not satisfied with the pictures of him in the artwork.  "Ronnie wanted more say in things," Iommi said. "And Geezer would get upset with him and that is where the rot set in. Live Evil is when it all fell apart. Ronnie wanted to do more of his own thing, and the engineer we were using at the time in the studio didn't know what to do, because Ronnie was telling him one thing and we were telling him another. At the end of the day, we just said, 'That's it, the band is over'".

                Ronnie James Dio left in November 1982 to start his own band, and took drummer Vinny Appice with him. Live Evil was released in January 1983, but was overshadowed by Ozzy Osbourne's “Speak of the Devil”, a platinum selling live album that contained only Black Sabbath songs, released five months earlier.

                Again without a singer, the band needed focus – Iommi and Butler came up with former Deep Purple singer Ian Gillan. “Born Again” (1983) was the result and although suitably heavy had a distinct lack of chemistry. Things got stranger still: at Reading in 1983 they unveiled a life-size Stonehenge set (this is where Spinal Tap got the idea) that was so big they could only get parts of it on stage. Then there was the dwarf in the red leotard who was supposed to imitate the demonic baby on the album cover. The band even played “Smoke On The Water” as an encore, which must have seemed quite surreal to the audience.

                Ward returned to the band but the reunion was somewhat muted – he still wasn’t well enough to play live, so the job went to ELO’s Bev Bevan. Things got worse when Gillan left to rejoin Deep Purple in 1984. With Gillan gone, much of the rest of the 1980s and early 90s saw Black Sabbath turned into the Tony Iommi show while a seemingly endless succession of musicians and singers came in and out of the line up. The albums “Seventh Star” (1986), The Eternal Idol (1987), Headless Cross (1989) and Tyr (1990) represented the output of this time. There was also a questionable decision to play South Africa’s Sun City in 1987, seven years before the end of apartheid. The only faint glimmer of their glory days came in 1985 when the original line-up re-formed to play at the Philadelphia Live Aid concert.

                Dio re-joined the band in the early 90s for the album “Dehumanizer” (1992), but it was not the hit they were hoping for. Ozzy then invited Sabbath to join him for the final two nights of his farewell tour in California in November 1992, but Dio wanted no part of it. So Sabbath were fronted by Judas Priest front man Rob Halford on the first night with Ozzy taking over on the second. Although announcements were made that Sabbath would re-form, nothing happened for a while. “Cross Purposes” (1994) and “Forbidden” (1995) plugged the gap until three-quarters of Sabbath – Ward was deemed too ill to join in – got together for Ozzfest 1997. The original four final played live together again in December 1997 at the NEC. Following this gig there was speculation as to whether the band would record a new album, but as each year goes by it becomes increasingly unlikely.

The Mid 1970s 

                These three bands had an enormous impact on all metal and rock acts to follow them through the 1970s and on to the present day. Their sound was more powerful than anything that had been heard before, and they liked to play as loud as they possibly could given the restrictions on the equipment they were using. Much of what followed for some time was more a refinement of what they had started rather than it breaking new ground. Bands in the 1970s in the heavy rock mould included Queen, Van Halen, Aerosmith and AC/DC. Rock bands became so popular that they could no longer play smaller venues because of the demand for concert tickets, so they started playing bigger and bigger venues until they started filling football stadiums.

Queen 

                In 1968, guitarist Brian May, a student at London's Imperial College and bassist Tim Staffell decided to form a band. May placed an advertisement on the college notice board for a "Mitch Mitchell/Ginger Baker type" drummer; Roger Taylor, a young dental student, auditioned and got the job. The group called themselves Smile. Smile signed to Mercury Records in 1969 and had their first session in a recording studio in Trident Studios that year.

                Tim Staffell was attending Ealing Art College with Farrokh Bulsara, later known as Freddie Mercury, and introduced him to the band. Bulsara soon became a keen fan. After Staffell left in 1970 to join the band Humpy Bong, the remaining Smile members, encouraged by Bulsara, changed their name to "Queen" and continued working together. Bulsara, who joined the group as vocalist, explained, "I thought up the name Queen. It's just a name, but it's very regal obviously, and it sounds splendid, it’s a strong name, very universal and immediate. It had a lot of visual potential and was open to all sorts of interpretations. I was certainly aware of gay connotations, but that was just one facet of it." The band had a number of bass players during this period who did not fit with the band's chemistry. It was not until February 1971 that they settled on John Deacon and began to rehearse for their first album.

                In 1973, after a series of delays, Queen released their eponymous debut album, an effort influenced by the heavy metal and progressive rock of the day. The album was received well by critics; Gordon Fletcher of Rolling Stone said "their debut album is superb”. However, it drew little mainstream attention and the lead single "Keep Yourself Alive", a Brian May composition, sold poorly.

                The group's second LP Queen II was released in 1974. The album reached number five on the British album charts, and the Freddie Mercury-written lead single "Seven Seas of Rhye" reached number ten in the UK, giving the band their first hit. The album is their heaviest and darkest release, featuring long complex instrumental passages, fantasy-themed lyrics and musical virtuosity. The band toured as support to Mott the Hoople in the UK and US during this period, and they began to become known for their energetic and engaging stage shows.

                Because of medical complications, May was absent when the band started work on heir third album, Sheer Heart Attack, released in 1974. The album reached number two in the United Kingdom, sold well throughout Europe, and went gold in the United States. It gave the band their first real taste of commercial success. The album experimented with a variety of musical genres, including British Music Hall ("Killer Queen"), heavy metal ("Flick of the Wrist", "Brighton Rock", "Tenement Funster", "Now I'm Here", and "Stone Cold Crazy"), ballads ("Lily Of The Valley" and "Dear Friends"), ragtime ("Bring Back That Leroy Brown") and Caribbean ("Misfire"). At this point Queen started to move away from the progressive tendencies of their first two releases into a more radio-friendly, song-oriented style. Sheer Heart Attack introduced new sound and melody patterns that would be refined on their next album A Night at the Opera.

                The single "Killer Queen" reached number two on the British charts, and became their first US hit, reaching number twelve in the Billboard American Top 40. It combines camp, vaudeville, British music hall with May’s guitar virtuosity. The album’s second single, "Now I’m Here", a more traditional hard rock composition, was a number eleven hit in Britain.

                In 1975, the band left for a world tour with each member in Zandra Rhodes-created costumes and banks of lights and effects. They toured the US, headlining for the first time, and played in Canada for the first time in April. At the same time, the band's manager Jim Beach successfully negotiated the band out of their Trident contract. Of the options they considered, was an offer from Led Zeppelin’s manager, Peter Grant. Grant wanted them to sign with Led Zeppelin’s own production company, Swan Song Records. The band found the contract unacceptable and instead, contacted Elton John’s manager, John Reid, who accepted the position. In April 1975 the band toured Japan for the first time.

                Later that year the band recorded and released A Night at the Opera. At the time, it was the most expensive album ever produced. Like its predecessor, the album features diverse musical styles and experimentation with stereo sound. In "The Prophet's Song", an eight-minute epic, the middle section is a canon, with simple phrases layered to create a full-choral sound. The album was very successful in Britain, and went triple platinum in the United States. In 2003, it was ranked number 230 on Rolling Stone Magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. The album also featured the hit single "Bohemian Rhapsody", which was number one in the UK for nine weeks, and is Britain’s third-best-selling single of all time; it also reached number nine in the United States (a 1992 re-release reached number two). Bohemian Rhapsody has been voted, several times, the greatest song of all time. The band decided to make a video to go with the single; the result is generally considered to have been one of the first "true" music videos ever produced. Although other bands (including The Beatles) had made short promotional films or videos of songs prior to this, generally those were made for specific showings or programs (such as the Beatles' videos for "Hey Jude" and "Revolution", which were specifically made to be aired on the Smothers Brothers' television show). "Bohemian Rhapsody" was the first musical video offered free of charge, to any program, network or station which would air it. The second single from the album, "You're My Best Friend", which is the second song ever composed by John Deacon, and his first single, peaked at sixteen in the United States and went on to become a worldwide Top Ten hit.

                By 1976, Queen were back in the studio, where they recorded A Day at the Races, what may be mistaken simply as a companion album to A Night at the Opera. It again borrowed the name of a Marx Brothers' movie, and its cover was similar to that of A Night at the Opera, a variation on the same Queen Crest. Musically, the album was by both fans’ and critics’ standards a strong effort, and reached number one on the British charts. The major hit on the album was "Somebody to Love", a gospel-inspired song in which Mercury, May, and Taylor multi-tracked their voices to make a 100-voice gospel choir. The song went to number two in the United Kingdom, and number thirteen on the U.S. singles chart. The album also featured one of the band's heaviest songs, Brian May’s "Tie Your Mother Down", which became a staple of their live shows. Also in 1976, Queen played one of their most famous gigs, a 1976 free concert in Hyde Park, London. It set an attendance record, with 150,000 people confirmed in the audience.

                News of the World was released a year later. It contained many songs tailor-made for live performance, including "We Will Rock You" and the rock ballad "We Are the Champions", both of which reached number four in the United States and became enduring international sports anthems.

                In 1978 the band released Jazz, including the hit singles "Fat Bottomed Girls" and "Bicycle Race" which were also released as a double-A-side single. The word "jazz" was not used in a strict sense, and the album was noted by critics for its collection of different styles, jazz not being one of them. Important tracks of the album include "Dead on Time", "Don't Stop Me Now", "Let Me Entertain You", and "Mustapha", in which Arabesque music is combined with heavy rock guitar.

                The band’s first live album, Live Killers, was released in 1979. They also released the very successful single "Crazy Little Thing Called Love", a rockabilly song done in the style of Elvis Presley. The song made the top 10 in many countries, and was the band’s first number one single in the United States.

                Queen began the 1980s with The Game. It featured the singles "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" and "Another One Bites the Dust", both of which reached number one in the United States. The album also marked the first appearance of a synthesiser on a Queen album. Heretofore, their albums featured a distinctive "No Synthesisers were used on this Album" sleeve note. The note is widely assumed to reflect an anti-synth, pro-"hard"-rock stance by the band, but was later revealed by producer Roy Thomas Baker to be an attempt to clarify that those albums' multi-layered solos were created with guitars, not synths, as record company executives kept assuming at the time. 1980 also saw the release of the soundtrack Queen had recorded for Flash Gordon.

                In 1981, Queen became the first major rock band to play in Latin American stadiums. Queen played to a total audience of 479,000 people on their South American tour, including five shows in Argentina and two in Brazil. Also in 1981, Queen worked with David Bowie on the single "Under Pressure". The first-time collaboration with another artist was spontaneous, as Bowie happened to drop by the studio while Queen were recording. The band were immediately pleased with the results, but Bowie did not play the song live for several years. Upon its release, the song was extremely successful, reaching number one in Britain. The bass line was later used for Vanilla Ice's 1990 hit "Ice Ice Baby", prompting the lawsuit over the use of the sample. The lawsuit did not make it to court and was settled for an undisclosed amount.

                Later that year, Queen released their first compilation album, entitled Greatest Hits, which showcased the group's highlights from 1974-1981. In 1982 the band released the funk album Hot Space. The band stopped touring North America after their Hot Space Tour, as their success there had waned, although they would perform on American television for the only time during the eighth season premiere of Saturday Night Live. Queen left Elektra Records, their label in the United States, Canada, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand, and signed onto EMI/Capitol Records.

                After working steadily for over ten years, Queen decided that they would not perform any live shows in 1983. During this time, they recorded a new album, and several members of the band explored side projects and solo work.

                In 1984, Queen released the album The Works, which included the successful singles "Radio Ga Ga" and "I Want to Break Free". Despite these hit singles, the album failed to do well in the United States. "Radio Ga Ga" was the band's last original American Top Forty hit until 1989's "I Want It All".

                Queen embarked that year on a set of dates during their The Works Tour in Bophuthatswana, South Africa at the arena at Sun City. Upon returning to England, they were the subject of outrage, having played there during the height of apartheid and in violation of worldwide divestment efforts. The band responded to the critics by stating that they were playing music for fans in that country, and they also stressed that the concerts were played before integrated audiences.

                On 12 January 1985, the band headlined two nights of the first Rock in Rio festival at Rio de Janeiro (Brazil). On each night, they played in front of over 180,000 people. A selection of highlights of both performances was released on VHS on May with the title Queen Live in Rio.

                At Live Aid, held at Wembley on 13 July 1985, Queen performed some of their greatest hits in what has been considered their best performance to date.  The band, now revitalised by the response to Live Aid and the ensuing increase in record sales, ended 1985 by releasing the single "One Vision". The song was used in the film Iron Eagle. Also, a limited-edition boxed set containing all Queen albums to date was released under the title of "The Complete Works". The package included previously unreleased material, most notably Queen's non-album single of Christmas 1984, titled Thank God it's Christmas.

                In early 1986, Queen recorded the album A Kind of Magic, containing several songs written for the Russell Mulcahy film Highlander. The album was very successful, producing a string of hits including the title track "A Kind of Magic", which contains the key lyrics 'There can be only one', a reference to the movie's plot; "Friends Will Be Friends", "Who Wants to Live Forever" and "Princes of the Universe".

                The Magic Tour's highlight was at Wembley Stadium in London and resulted in the live double album, Queen Live At Wembley Stadium, released on CD and as a live concert film. They could not book Wembley for a third night because it was already booked, but they did play at Knebworth Park. The show sold out within two hours and over 120,000 fans packed the park for what proved to be Queen's final live performance with Mercury. More than 1 million people saw Queen on the tour – 400,000 in the United Kingdom alone, a record at the time.

                After working on various solo projects during 1988 (including Mercury's collaboration with Montserrat Caballé, “Barcelona”) the band released The Miracle in 1989. The album continued the direction of A Kind of Magic, using a pop-rock sound mixed with a few heavy numbers. It spawned the European hits "I Want It All", "Breakthru", "The Invisible Man", "Scandal", and "The Miracle". The Miracle also began a change in direction of Queen's songwriting philosophy. Since the band's beginning, nearly all songs had been written by and credited to a single member, with other members adding minimally. With The Miracle, however, the band's songwriting became more collaborative, and they vowed to credit the final product only to Queen as a group.

 “There was all that time when we knew Freddie was on the way out, we kept our heads down”. —Brian May

                After fans noticed Mercury's gaunt appearance during 1988, rumours began to spread that Mercury was suffering from AIDS. For reasons that are still not confirmed, Mercury flatly denied them at the time, insisting he was merely "exhausted" and too busy to provide interviews. However, the band decided to continue making albums free of internal conflict and differences, starting with The Miracle and continuing with Innuendo, which was recorded during 1990 but not released until the beginning of 1991 as Mercury's health was a major factor in the delay.

Despite his deteriorating health, Mercury continued to contribute. The band released their second greatest hits compilation, Greatest Hits II, in October 1991.

                On 23 November 1991, in a prepared statement made on his deathbed, Mercury confirmed that he had AIDS.  Within twelve hours of that statement, he died of bronchial pneumonia, which was brought on by AIDS. His funeral service was private, held in accordance with the Zoroastrian religious faith of his family. "Bohemian Rhapsody" was re-released as a single shortly after Mercury's death, with "These Are the Days of Our Lives" as the double A-side. The single went to number 1 for the second time in the UK. Initial proceeds from the single – approximately £1,000,000 – were donated to the Terrence Higgins Trust.

                Queen's popularity increased once again in the United States after "Bohemian Rhapsody" was featured in the comedy film Wayne's World, helping the song reach number two for five weeks in the United States charts in 1992. The song was made into a Wayne's World music video, with which the band and management were delighted.

                On 20 April 1992, The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert was held at London's Wembley Stadium. Performers included Def Leppard, Lisa Stansfield, Elton John, David Bowie, Robert Plant, Tony Iommi, Annie Lennox, Guns N' Roses, Extreme, Roger Daltrey, George Michael, Ian Hunter, Mick Ronson, Zucchero, Metallica, Liza Minnelli, Elizabeth Taylor and Spinal Tap, along with the three remaining members of Queen, performed many of Queen's major hits. It was a successful concert that was televised to over 1 billion viewers worldwide. It raised over £20,000,000 for AIDS charities.[36]

                Queen never actually disbanded, although their last album of original material, titled Made in Heaven, was released in 1995, four years after Mercury's death. It was constructed from Mercury's final recording sessions in 1991, plus material left over from their previous studio albums. In addition, re-worked material from Mercury's solo album Mr. Bad Guy and a track originally featured on the first album of Taylor's side-project The Cross were included. May and Taylor have often been involved in projects related to raising money for AIDS research. John Deacon's last involvement with the band was in 1997, when the band recorded the track "No-One but You (Only the Good Die Young)". It was the last song recorded by Queen, and it was released as a bonus track on the Queen Rocks compilation album later that year.

                Queen composed music that drew inspiration from many different genres of music, often with a tongue-in-cheek attitude. Among the genres they have been associated with are: dance/disco,  glam rock, hard rock, heavy metal, pop rock, progressive rock and psychedelic rock. Queen also wrote songs that were inspired by genres that are not typically associated with rock, such as country, ragtime, opera, gospel, vaudeville and folk.

                Sonic experimentation figured heavily in Queen's songs. A distinctive characteristic of Queen's music are the vocal harmonies which are usually composed of the voices of May, Mercury and Taylor best heard on the studio albums A Night at the Opera and A Day at the Races. Some of the ground work for the development of this sound can be attributed to their former producer Roy Thomas Baker as well as their engineer Mike Stone. Besides vocal harmonies, Queen were also known for multi-tracking voices to imitate the sound of a large choir through overdubs. According to Brian May, there are over 180 vocal overdubs in "Bohemian Rhapsody". Many Queen songs were also written with audience participation in mind, such as "We Will Rock You" and "We Are the Champions".

Van Halen

                The origins of this, one of America’s most successful heavy metal bands, date back to Pasadena, California, in 1973. Dutch brothers, Eddie Van Halen (guitar/keyboards)and Alex Van Halen (drums) with Michael Anthony (bass) who were members of the Broken Combs, persuaded vocalist David Lee Roth to leave the Real Ball Jets and become a member. After he consented, they changed their name to Mammoth. Specializing in a mixture of 60s and 70s covers plus hard rock originals, they toured the bar and club circuit of Los Angeles virtually non-stop during the mid-70s. Their first break came when Gene Simmons (bass player of Kiss) saw one of their club gigs. He was amazed by the energy they generated and the flamboyance of their lead singer. Simmons produced a Mammoth demo, but surprisingly it was refused by many major labels in the USA. It was then discovered that the name Mammoth was already registered, so they would have to find an alternative. After considering Rat Salade, they opted for Roth’s suggestion of simply Van Halen.

                On the strength of Simmons’ recommendation, producer Ted Templeman checked out the band, was duly impressed and convinced Warner Brothers Records to sign them. With Templeman at the production desk, Van Halen entered the studio and recorded their self-titled debut in 1978. The album was released to widespread critical acclaim. It featured a unique fusion of energy, sophistication, and virtuosity through Eddie Van Halen’s extraordinary guitar lines and Roth’s self-assured vocal style. Within 12 months it had sold two million units, peaking at number 19 in the Billboard chart; over the years, this album has continued to sell and by 1996 it had been certified in the USA alone at 9 million sales. Eddie Van Halen was named as Best New Guitarist Of The Year in 1978, by Guitar Player magazine. Notable tracks include “You Really Got Me” and “Runnin’ With The Devil”.

                The follow-up, simply titled “Van Halen II”, kept to the same formula and was equally successful. Roth’s stage antics became even more sensational - he was the supreme showman, combining theatrical stunts with a stunning voice to entertaining effect. Notable tracks include “Dance The Night Away”.

                “Women And Children First “saw the band start to explore more musical avenues and experiment with the use of synthesizers. This came to full fruition on 1981’s “Fair Warning”, which was a marked departure from earlier releases.

                The follow-up “Diver Down” was the band’s weakest album, with the cover versions of 60s standards being the strongest tracks. Nevertheless, the band could do no wrong in the eyes of their fans and the album, as had all their previous releases, went platinum. Eddie Van Halen was also a guest on Michael Jackson’s ‘Beat It’, a US number 1 in February 1983.

                With “1984”, released on New Year’s Day of that year, the band returned to form. Nine original tracks reaffirmed their position as the leading exponents of heavy-duty melodic metal infused with a pop sensibility spearheaded by ‘Jump’, a US number 1 and UK number 7.

                Roth upset the apple cart by quitting in 1985 to concentrate on his solo career, and ex-Montrose vocalist Sammy Hagar eventually filled the vacancy. Retaining the Van Halen name, against record company pressure to change it, the new line-up released “5150” in June 1986. The album name was derived from the police code for the criminally insane, as well as the name of Eddie Van Halen’s recording studio. The lead off single, ‘Why Can’t This Be Love?’, reached number 3 in the US chart and number 8 in the UK, while the album became their first US number 1 and their biggest seller to date. The follow-up “OU812” was a disappointment in creative terms. The songs were formularized and lacked real direction, but the album became the band’s second consecutive number 1 in less than two years.

                Appearing in 1991, “For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge”, written as the acronym F.U.C.K, stirred up some controversy at the time of release. However, the music on the album transcended the juvenile humour of the title, being an immaculate collection of gritty and uncompromising rockers. The band had defined their identity anew and rode into the 90s on a new creative wave - needless to say, platinum status was attained yet again. A live album prefigured the release of the next studio recording, “Balance”, with Van Halen’s popularity seemingly impervious to the ravages of time or fashion. It is unusual for a greatest hits compilation to debut at number 1 but the band achieved this on the Billboard chart in 1996 with “Best Of Volume 1”.

                Hagar departed in 1996 after rumours persisted that he was at loggerheads with the other members. Fans immediately rejoiced when it was announced that the replacement would be David Lee Roth, although not on a full-time basis. A few months later, Roth issued a statement effectively ruling out any further involvement. The vacancy went to Gary Cherone. The first album to feature Cherone, 1998’s “Van Halen III”, was universally slated. The singer left the following year and had not been replaced by the time the band parted company with Warner Brothers in January 2002. Surprisingly, Sammy Hagar returned to the line-up in 2004 to help promote a new compilation, which included three new studio tracks. The ensuing tour was fraught with difficulty, however, and at the end of 2004 the band was again put on hiatus. In February 2007, Van Halen announced a summer tour with David Lee Roth as vocalist and with Eddie’s son Wolfgang Van Halen) replacing Anthony on bass.

Aerosmith 

                One of America’s most popular heavy rock acts, Aerosmith was formed in 1970 when vocalist Steven Tyler (vocals) met Joe Perry (guitar) while the latter was working in a Sunapee, New Hampshire ice cream parlour, “The Anchorage”. Tyler was in the area visiting the family-owned holiday resort, Trow-Rico. Perry, then playing in the Jam Band, invited to join him in a Cream -styled rock combo. Together with fellow Jam Band member Tom Hamilton (bass) and new recruits Joey Kramer (drums) and Ray Tabano (guitar), the band’s founding line-up was complete. However, Tabano was quickly replaced by Brad Whitford .

                After playing their first gig at the Nipmuc Regional High School, the band took the name Aerosmith (rejecting other early monikers including Hookers). Their popularity throughout the Boston area grew rapidly, and a triumphant gig at Max’s Kansas City, witnessed by Clive Davis, led to a recording contract with Columbia Records. In 1973, Aerosmith secured a minor chart placing with their self-titled debut album. Although its attendant single, ‘Dream On’, initially peaked at number 59, it became a Top 10 hit in April 1976. “Get Your Wings” inaugurated a fruitful working relationship with producer Jack Douglas. Nationwide tours established the quintet as a major attraction, a position consolidated by the highly successful “Toys In The Attic” (including the song “Walk This Way”), which has now sold in excess of eight million copies worldwide. A fourth album, “Rocks”, achieved platinum status within months of its release. Aerosmith maintained their pre-eminent position with “Draw The Line” and the powerful “Live! Bootleg”, but despite popular acclaim, they failed to gain the approbation of many critics who dubbed the band ‘derivative’, particularly of Led Zeppelin. Tyler’s physical resemblance to Mick Jagger, and his foil-like relationship with guitarist Perry, also inspired comparisons with the Rolling Stones, with whom they shared several musical reference points.

                In 1978, the band undertook a US tour of smaller, more intimate venues in an attempt to decelerate their rigorous schedule. They appeared in the ill-fated Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band movie (as the Future Villain band), and although their rousing version of ‘Come Together’ reached the US Top 30, tension between Tyler and Perry proved irreconcilable. The guitarist left the band following the release of the disappointing Night In The Ruts and subsequently founded the Joe Perry Project. Jimmy Crespo joined Aerosmith in 1980, but the following year Brad Whitford left to pursue a new career. Newcomer Rick Dufay  debuted on “Rock In A Hard Place”, but this lacklustre album failed to capture the fire of the band’s classic recordings.

                Contact between the band and Perry and Whitford was re-established during a 1984 tour. Antagonisms were set aside, and the following year, the quintet’s most enduring line-up was performing together again. The first fruits of a lucrative new contract with Geffen Records, the Ted Templeman -produced “Done With Mirrors” was a tentative first step, after which Tyler and Perry underwent a successful rehabilitation programme to rid themselves of drug and alcohol dependency, synonymous with the band’s hedonistic lifestyle. In 1986, they accompanied rappers Run-DMC on ‘Walk This Way’, an Aerosmith song from Toys In The Attic and a former US Top 10 entry in its own right. The collaboration was an international hit, rekindling interest in Aerosmith’s career, with the following year’s ‘Dude (Looks Like A Lady)’ reaching number 14 in the US charts. Recorded with producer Bruce Fairbairn, “Permanent Vacation” became one of their bestselling albums, and the first to make an impression in the UK, while the highly acclaimed “Pump” (1989) and “Get A Grip” (1993, also produced by Fairbairn) emphasized their revitalization.

                Fêted by a new generation of acts, the quintet entered the mid-90s as elder statesmen. “Big Ones” was a well-chosen compilation, satisfying long-term fans, but more importantly, it introduced a younger audience to a dinosaur band who still sounded fresh and exciting, refusing to compromise and certainly having not ‘gone soft’.

                The band returned to Columbia Records in the mid-90s and spent an age recording “Nine Lives”. In Tyler’s words, ‘this album has taken me as far as I’ve ever wanted to go and gotten me back again’. It was worth the wait, bearing all the usual trademarks, and yet sounding strangely fresh. The hit single ‘Falling In Love (Is Hard On The Knees)’ preceded its release in February 1997. Tyler reached his half-century the following year, but still seemed ageless on stage - even Mick Jagger and Bruce Springsteen seem jaded compared to this rock ‘n’ roll ballet-dancer, apparently still in his prime. In September 1998, the band achieved their first ever US number 1 with the Diane Warren -penned ballad ‘I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing’, taken from the soundtrack of the movie Armageddon. The song stayed at the top for four weeks, and provided the band with their first UK Top 10 single, eventually climbing to number 4 in October.

                The new century saw Aerosmith as sharp as ever, with “Just Push Play” proving to be another strong album in a career that now spans four decades. The follow-up “Honkin’ On Bobo” was more of a surprise, a collection of blues chestnuts performed in blues rock mode. Veteran pianist Johnnie Johnson featured on a couple of the tracks. Tom Hamilton was diagnosed in late 2006 as suffering from throat cancer, although he was planning to be back with the band as soon as his chemotherapy was completed.

AC/DC

                This theatrical Australian hard rock band was formed in November 1973 by Glaswegian Malcolm Young (rhythm guitar) after the demise of his previous outfit, the Velvet Underground (no relation to the US group). Young, whose elder brother George had already achieved stardom in Australia as a member of the Easybeats, also enlisted his younger brother, Angus Young (guitar). Their sister later suggested that Angus wear his school uniform on stage, a gimmick that rapidly became their trademark. The two brothers made their debut appearance in a bar in Sydney on 31 December 1973, along with the Welshman Dave Evans (vocals), Larry Van Kriedt (bass) and Colin Burgess (drums). In late 1974, the Young brothers and Evans moved to Melbourne. Another immigrant from the UK, Bon Scott (vocals), graduated from being the band’s chauffeur to becoming their vocalist when Dave Evans refused to go on stage one night. Scott had previously recorded with two Australian outfits, pop group the Valentines (1966-68) and rockers Fraternity (1970-74). Indeed, after he emigrated from Scotland in 1951, he had also spent five consecutive years as drum champion (under-17 section) with the Perth Pipe Band. After such a wholesome start, a prison conviction for assault and battery indicated a more volatile side to his nature, and resulted in him being refused admission to the army.

                The AC/DC line-up that welcomed Scott had already recorded a solitary single, ‘Can I Sit Next To You Girl’, but it was his voice that graced their first two albums, “High Voltage” and “T.N.T.” . The latter album also introduced two new members, Mark Evans (bass) and Phil Rudd (drums). Both albums were produced by George Young and his writing partner, another former Easybeat, Harry Vanda. Neither album was issued outside Australia, though Atlantic Records in Britain did offer a selection of material from both records under the title “High Voltage” in 1976. These albums established AC/DC as a major draw in their native territory, and brought them to the attention of Atlantic, who promptly relocated the band to London in January 1976. However, Evans was replaced by Cliff Williams in June 1977 after the former tired of touring.

                Once AC/DC began to tour outside Australia, the band quickly amassed a cult following, as much for the unashamed gimmickry of its live show as for its furious, frequently risqué brand of hard rock. “Let There Be Rock” broke them as a chart act in the UK, with its contents including the perennial crowd-pleaser, ‘Whole Lotta Rosie’. The live “If You Want Blood You’ve Got It” consolidated their position, but 1979’s “Highway To Hell” established them as international stars. This, the band’s first album with producer Mutt Lange, also proved to be their last with Bon Scott. On 19 February 1980, after a night of heavy drinking, he was left unconscious in a friend’s car, and was later found to be dead, having choked on his own vomit. The coroner recorded a verdict of death by misadventure.

                Scott’s death threatened the band’s future, but his replacement, former Geordie lead singer Brian Johnson,  proved more than equal to the task. His first album with the band, “Back In Black”, reached number 1 in the UK and Australia, number 4 in the USA, and spawned the UK number 15 single ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll Ain’t Noise Pollution’. The album was certified as having sold 12 million copies in the USA by March 1996. In 1981, “For Those About To Rock (We Salute You)” topped the American charts for three weeks, the band headlined at the Donington Festival and also achieved two Top 20 UK singles (‘Let’s Get It Up’ and ‘For Those About To Rock (We Salute You)’). After “Flick Of The Switch” in 1983, drummer Phil Rudd left the band to become a helicopter pilot in New Zealand, and was replaced by Simon Wright  - who in turn departed to join Dio in 1989. His replacement was Chris Slade.

                In keeping with their superstar status, AC/DC maintained an increasingly relaxed schedule through the 80s, touring to support each carefully spaced album release. Two UK Top 20 singles, ‘Who Made Who’ (1986) and ‘Heatseeker’ (1988), confirmed their enduring popularity. There were further ‘casualties’, however. When Malcolm Young was unfit to tour in 1988 his cousin, Stevie Young temporarily deputized. Paul Greg also stepped in for Cliff Williams on the US leg of their 1991 tour. A year earlier, “The Razors Edge” had been one of the more successful albums of their later career, producing a Top 20 UK hit, ‘Thunderstruck’ and reaching number 2 on the album chart in America.

                In 1992, AC/DC issued a live album, while the attendant single, ‘Highway To Hell’, made the UK Top 20. With Brian Johnson long having buried the ghost of Bon Scott, the band showed no signs of varying its winning musical formula, and in 1994 were buoyed by the return of Rudd to the line-up. The following year’s “Ballbreaker” marked a powerful return after a lengthy break from recording. The ensuing “Bonfire” box set, meanwhile, served as a fitting memorial to Bon Scott. The band greeted the new millennium in typical style with the ‘business as usual’ recording, “Stiff Upper Lip”. They were deservedly inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in March 2003.

The 1980s

                In the 1980s there was a divergence in the styles of heavy rock / metal. In 1983 Metallica released their first album "Kill 'em All" - to be hailed as the first thrash metal album. This took heavy metal in a much more aggressive direction, with very fast, low, chugging guitar riffs accompanied by high speed bass drum passages and technically difficult guitar solos. At the same time, the more commercial side of rock could be seen in bands like Bon Jovi, who became extremely popular with their 1986 album "Slippery When Wet". In Britain, the new wave of "British Heavy Metal" ushered in bands such as Iron Maiden (with their twin lead guitars) who continued the Black Sabbath imagery focusing on the dark side of the fantasy world.

Metallica

                The most consistently innovative metal band of the late 80s and 90s was formed in 1981 in California, USA, by Lars Ulrich (drums) and James Hetfield (guitar/vocals) after each separately advertised for fellow musicians in the classified section of American publication The Recycler. They recorded their first demo, No Life Til’ Leather, with Lloyd Grand (guitar), who was replaced in January 1982 by David Mustaine , whose relationship with Ulrich and Hetfield proved unsatisfactory. Jef Warner (guitar) and Ron McGovney (bass) each had a brief tenure with the band. At the end of 1982 Clifford Lee Burton (bass) joined the band, playing his first live performance on 5 March 1983. Mustaine departed to form Megadeth and was replaced by Kirk Hammett (guitar). Hammett, who came to the attention of Ulrich and Hetfield while playing with rock band Exodus, played his first concert with Metallica on 16 April 1983.

                The Ulrich, Hetfield, Burton and Hammett combination endured until disaster struck the band in the small hours of 27 September 1986, when Metallica’s tour bus overturned in Sweden, killing Cliff Burton. During those four years, the band put thrash metal on the map with the aggression and exuberance of their 1983 debut album, “Kill ’Em All”, the sleeve of which bore the legend ‘Bang that head that doesn’t bang’. This served as a template for a whole new breed of metal, though the originators themselves were quick to dispense with their own rule book. Listen to “The Four Horsemen” as a representative track. Although 1984’s “Ride The Lightning” was not without distinction, notably on ‘For Whom The Bell Tolls’, it was 1986’s “Master Of Puppets” that offered further evidence of Metallica’s appetite for the epic. Their first album for Elektra Records in the USA (who had also re-released its predecessor), this was a taut, multi-faceted collection that both raged and lamented with equal conviction.

                After the death of Burton, the band elected to continue, the remaining three members recruiting Jason Newsted (bass) of Flotsam And Jetsam. Newsted played his first concert with the band on 8 November 1986. The original partnership of Ulrich and Hetfield, however, remained responsible for Metallica’s lyrics and musical direction. The new line-up’s first recording together was the EP - Garage Days Re-Revisited - a collection of cover versions including material from Budgie, Diamond Head, Killing Joke and the Misfits, which also served as a neat summation of the band’s influences to date. “Sessions for And Justice For All” initially began with Guns N’Roses producer Mike Clink at the helm. A long and densely constructed effort, this 1988 opus included an appropriately singular spectacular moment in “One” (a US Top 40/UK Top 20 single), while elsewhere the barrage of riffs somewhat obscured the usual Metallica artistry. The songs on 1991’s US/UK chart-topper “Metallica” continued to deal with large themes - justice and retribution, insanity, war, religion and relationships. Compared to Kill ‘Em All nearly a decade previously, however, the band had grown from iconoclastic chaos to thoughtful harmony, hallmarked by sudden and unexpected changes of mood and tempo. The MTV -friendly “Enter Sandman” broke the band on a stadium level and entered the US Top 20. The single also reached the UK Top 10, as did another album track, “Nothing Else Matters”. Constant touring in the wake of the album ensued, along with a regular itinerary of awards ceremonies. There could surely be no more deserving recipients, Metallica having dragged mainstream metal, not so much kicking and screaming as whining and complaining, into a bright new dawn when artistic redundancy seemed.

                A stopgap live album marked time while the band completed work on the eagerly awaited follow-up to “Metallica”. Finally released in 1996, “Load” entered the US charts at number 1. The album marked a change in image for the band, who began to court the alternative rock audience. The following year’s “Reload” collected together more tracks recorded at the “Load” sessions, and featured 60s icon Marianne Faithfull on the first single to be released from the album, ‘The Memory Remains’. “Garage Inc.”  collected assorted cover versions, and broke the band’s run of US number 1 albums when it debuted at number 2 in December 1998. The following year’s “S&M”, recorded live with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, unfortunately evoked the worst excesses of heavy rock icons Deep Purple.

                In January 2001, Newsted announced he was leaving after almost 15 years service with the band. His replacement in Metallica was former Suicidal Tendencies ’ bass player Rob Trujillo. Recording sessions for the new studio album were fraught with difficulty, with Hetfield at one point departing to spend several months in rehab. When it finally appeared in 2003, “St. Anger” was given a decidedly mixed reception by critics who had rapidly fallen out of love with the band. Many were mollified when the “Death metallic” record revealed a band revisiting its halcyon days, as the five-some returned to the crunching guitar riffs which made Metallica landmark in the first place. The 2008 record was released to mostly glowing reviews and debuted on the Billboard chart at No.1 in September.

Bon Jovi

                This commercial hard rock band, formed in New Jersey, USA, is fronted by Jon Bon Jovi (real name Bongiovi)(vocals). His four co-founders were Richie Sambora (guitar), David Bryan (keyboards), Tico Torres (drums,), and Alec John Such (bass). Bongiovi charmed his way into the Power Station recording studios, which was owned by his cousin Tony, he performed menial tasks for two years before Billy Squier agreed to produce his demo tape. One track, ‘Runaway’, was played on local radio and appeared on a local artist compilation album Reunited with Bryan, he acquired the services of Sambora, an established session musician, Such and Torres.

                By July 1983, Bon Jovi had a recording contract with PolyGram Records and support slots with Eddie Money and ZZ Top, the latter at Madison Square Garden. Jon Bon Jovi’s looks attracted immediate attention for the band, and he turned down the lucrative lead role in the dance movie Footloose in order to concentrate on his music. Their debut album preceded a headline tour and support slots with the Scorpions, Whitesnake and Kiss. Their second album, “7800 Degrees Fahrenheit”, was greeted with cynicism by the music press, which was already hostile towards the band’s manicured image and formularized heavy rock - this mediocre album only fuelled their scorn. The band responded in style: “Slippery When Wet” was the biggest-selling rock album of 1987, although it originally appeared in August 1986. Collaborating with songwriter Desmond Child, three of its tracks - ‘Wanted Dead Or Alive’, ‘You Give Love A Bad Name’ and ‘Livin’ On A Prayer’ - were US and European hits. Headlining the Monsters Of Rock shows in Europe, they were joined on stage by Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley (Kiss), Dee Snider (Twisted Sister) and Bruce Dickinson (Iron Maiden) for an encore of ‘We’re An American Band’. It merely served to emphasize the velocity with which Bon Jovi had reached the top of the rock league. The tour finally finished in Australia after 18 months, while the album sold millions of copies. When “New Jersey” followed, it included ‘Living In Sin’, a Jon Bon Jovi composition that pointed to his solo future, although the song owed a great debt to his hero Bruce Springsteen.

                The rest of 1989 was spent on more extensive touring, before the band temporarily retired. As Jon Bon Jovi commented, it was time to ‘Ride my bike into the hills, learn how to garden, anything except do another Bon Jovi record.’ He subsequently concentrated on his solo career, married karate champion Dorothea Hurley and appeared in his first movie, Young Guns II, and released a quasi-soundtrack of songs inspired by the film as his debut solo album in 1990. However, the commercial incentive to return to Bon Jovi was inevitably hard to resist. “Keep The Faith”, with a more stripped-down sound, was an impressive album, satisfying critics and anxious fans alike who had patiently waited almost four years for new material. To those who had considered the band a spent commercial force, the success of the slick ballad, ‘Always’, a chart fixture in 1994, announced no such decline. On the back of its success, Bon Jovi occupied the UK number 1 spot with the compilation set “Crossroad”. During this period original bass player Alec John Such was replaced by session player Hugh McDonald. Meanwhile, Bryan released his first solo album, through Phonogram in Japan, and Sambora married Hollywood actress Heather Locklear (ex-Dynasty).

                The band’s next studio album “These Days” was a typically slick collection of ballads and party rock, and included the hit single ‘This Ain’t A Love Song’. With their position already secure as one of the world’s most popular rock bands, the album lacked ambition, and the band seemed content to provide fans with more of the same old formula.

                Jon Bon Jovi began to nurture an acting career in the 90s with starring roles in “Moonlight And Valentino” and “The Leading Man”, and enjoyed further solo success with 1997’s Destination Anywhere. The band regrouped two years later to record their new album, “Crush”. Further commercial successes followed in the new millennium with “Bounce” (2002) and “This Left Feels Right” (2003), the latter featuring acoustic re-workings of their old songs.

                The 2005 release “Have A Nice Day” was another global best-seller. The album included alternative versions of the track ‘Who Says You Can’t Go Home’. The ‘country’ version, recorded with Sugarland vocalist Jennifer Nettles, reached the top of the Billboard country chart the following April. In the process, Bon Jovi became the first rock act to top the country singles chart since 1944. The subsequent “Lost Highway” took this idea further with the band decamping to the home of country music, Nashville, Tennessee, to record, and enlisting the help of country stars Big And Rich and LeAnn Rimes on the tracks ‘We Got It Going On’ and ‘Till We Ain’t Strangers Anymore’.

                Bon Jovi continue to bridge the gap between heavy metal and AOR with both style and ease, and somehow manage to remain in fashion. 

Iron Maiden

                Formed in London, England, in 1975, Iron Maiden was from the start the brainchild of Steve Harris (bass), formerly a member of pub rockers Smiler. Named after a medieval torture device, the music was suitably heavy and hard on the senses. The heavy metal scene of the late 70s was widely regarded as stagnant, with only a handful of bands proving their ability to survive and produce music of quality. It was at this time that a new breed of young British bands began to emerge. This movement, which began to break cover in 1979 and 1980, was known as the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal, or NWOBHM. Iron Maiden was one of the foremost bands in the genre, and many would say its definitive example. Younger and meaner, the NWOBHM bands dealt in faster, more energetic heavy metal than any of their forefathers (punk being an obvious influence).

                There were several line-up changes in the Iron Maiden ranks in the very early days, and come the release of their debut EP, the band featured Harris, Dave Murray (guitar), Paul Di’Anno (vocals) and Doug Sampson (drums). The band made its live debut at the Cart & Horses Pub in Stratford, east London, in 1977, before honing its sound on the local pub circuit (the Bridge House and the Ruskin Arms) over the ensuing two years. Unable to solicit a response from record companies, the band sent a three-track tape, featuring ‘Iron Maiden’, ‘Prowler’ and ‘Strange World’, to Neal Kay, DJ at north London’s hard rock disco, the Kingsbury Bandwagon Soundhouse. Kay’s patronage of Iron Maiden won them an instant welcome, which prompted the release of The Soundhouse Tapes on the band’s own label.

                In November 1979, the band added second guitarist Tony Parsons to the line-up for two tracks on the Metal For Muthas compilation, but by the time the band embarked on sessions for their debut album, he had been replaced by Dennis Stratton and Sampson by Clive Burr. A promotional single, ‘Running Free’, reached number 34 on the UK charts and brought an appearance on BBC Television’s Top Of The Pops. Refusing to mime, they became the first band since the Who in 1973 to play live on the show. “Iron Maiden” was a roughly produced album, but reached number 4 in the UK album listings on the back of touring stints with Judas Priest and enduringly popular material such as ‘Phantom Of The Opera’. “Killers” boasted production superior to that of the first album, and saw Dennis Stratton replaced by guitarist Adrian Smith. In its wake, Iron Maiden became immensely popular among heavy metal fans, inspiring fanatical devotion, aided by blustering manager Rod Smallwood and apocalyptic mascot Eddie (the latter had been depicted on the cover of ‘Sanctuary’ standing over Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s decapitated body).

                The release of 1982’s “Number Of The Beast” was crucial to the development of the band. Without it, Iron Maiden might never have gone on to be such a force in the heavy metal arena. The album was a spectacular success, the sound of a band on the crest of a wave. It was also the debut of former infantryman and new vocalist Bruce Dickinson (OO) replacing Paul Di’Anno . Formerly of Samson, history graduate Dickinson made his live debut with Iron Maiden on 15 November 1981. Singles such as ‘Run To The Hills’ and ‘The Number Of The Beast’ were big UK chart hits, Iron Maiden leaving behind their NWOBHM counterparts in terms of success, just as the movement itself was beginning to peter out.

                “Piece Of Mind” continued their success and was a major hit in the UK (number 3) and USA (number 14). Clive Burr was replaced by Nicko McBrain on the sessions. “Piece Of Mind” was not dissimilar to the previous album, showcasing the strong twin-guitar bite of Murray and Smith, coupled with memorable vocal lines and a sound that perfectly suited their air-punching dynamic. Single offerings, ‘Flight Of Icarus’ and ‘The Trooper’, were instant hits, as the band undertook two massive tours, the four-month World Piece jaunt in 1983, and a World Slavery retinue, which included four sell-out dates at London’s Hammersmith Odeon a year later. With the arrival of “Powerslave” in November 1984, some critics accused Iron Maiden of conforming to a self-imposed writing formula, and playing safe with tried and tested ideas. Certainly, there was no significant departure from the two previous albums, but it was nonetheless happily consumed by the band’s core supporters, who also purchased in sufficient quantities to ensure UK chart hits for ‘Aces High’ and ‘Two Minutes To Midnight’. “Live After Death” was a double-album package of all their best-loved material, recorded live on their gargantuan 11-month world tour.

                By this time, Iron Maiden had secured themselves an unassailable position within the metal hierarchy, their vast popularity spanning all continents. 1986’s “Somewhere In Time” was a slight departure: it featured more melody than previously, and heralded the use of guitar synthesizers. Their songwriting still shone through and the now obligatory hit singles were easily attained in the shape of ‘Wasted Years’ and ‘Stranger In A Strange Land’. Reaching number 11 in the USA, this was another million-plus seller. Since the mid-80s Iron Maiden had been staging increasingly spectacular live shows, with elaborate lighting effects and stage sets. The Somewhere In Time tour (seven months) was no exception, ensuring their continued fame as a live band, which had been the basis for much of their success.

                A period of comparative inactivity preceded the release of 1988’s “Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son”, which was very much in the same vein as its predecessor. A concept album, it retained its commercial edge (giving the band their second UK number 1 album) and yielded hit singles in ‘Can I Play With Madness’, the surprisingly sensitive ‘The Evil That Men Do’ and ‘The Clairvoyant’. After another exhausting mammoth world trek, the band announced their intention to take a well-earned break of at least a year. Speculation abounded that this signalled the dissolution of the band, exacerbated by Dickinson’s solo project, Tattooed Millionaire, his book, The Adventures Of Lord Iffy Boatrace, and EMI Records ’ policy of re-releasing Iron Maiden’s single catalogue in its entirety (on 12-inch).

                After a considerable hiatus, news of the band surfaced again. Steve Harris felt that the direction pursued on the last two albums had been taken as far as possible, and a return to the style of old was planned. Unhappy with this game plan, Adrian Smith left to be replaced by Janick Gers. The live show was also scaled down in a return to smaller venues. The 1990 album “No Prayer For The Dying” was indeed much more like mid-period Iron Maiden, and was predictably well-received, bringing enormous UK hit singles with ‘Holy Smoke’ and ‘Bring Your Daughter To The Slaughter’. The latter, previously released in 1989 on the soundtrack to A Nightmare On Elm Street 5, had already been awarded the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Song that year. Nevertheless, it gave Iron Maiden their first ever UK number 1. The obligatory world tour followed. Despite being denounced as ‘Satanists’ in Chile, 1992 also saw the band debut at number 1 in the UK charts with “Fear Of The Dark”, which housed another major single success in ‘Be Quick Or Be Dead’ (number 2). However, it was Dickinson’s swansong with the band, who invited demo tapes from new vocalists following the lead singer’s announcement that he would depart following current touring engagements. His eventual replacement was Blaze Bayley from Wolfsbane. His debut album was “The X-Factor”, and on this and at live gigs (which they only resumed in November 1995), he easily proved his worth. This was a daunting task, having had to learn Iron Maiden’s whole catalogue and win over patriotic Dickinson followers. Bayley’s health was a matter of some concern, however, with the singer falling ill on tour owing to allergic reactions to certain environments. He had no such problems in the studio, however, and completed the 1998 release “Virtual XI” with the band.

                In February 1999 it was announced that Dickinson and Smith had rejoined Iron Maiden, restoring the classic 80s line-up (with Gers remaining as a third guitarist). To the great delight of their loyal fans, an excellent new studio album, “Brave New World”, was not long in following. The progressive metal leanings of this release continued on 2003’s “Dance Of Death”. In 2005 the band celebrated their 30th anniversary and reached the UK Top 5 with a re-release of ‘Number Of The Beast’. When A Matter Of Life And Death was released most fans and critics agreed that this was an astonishing return to form.

Death Metal and Other Sub-genres

                Other styles to spring from heavy rock and heavy metal include Death Metal (an extreme form of thrash), funk metal / rock (fusing funk rhythms with the riffing of rock) and progressive metal (the ideas of progressive rock with the energy and virtuosity of modern metal).

Copyright © 2008 Chris Pettitt
Last modified: 06/10/10