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Books > Arts & Architecture > Music > Contemporary popular music > Rock & pop > Heavy metal & progressive
Dismissed by critics and academics, condemned by parents and
politicians, and fervently embraced by legions of fans, heavy metal
music continues to attract and embody cultural conflicts that are
central to society. In Running with the Devil, Robert Walser
explores how and why heavy metal works, both musically and
socially, and at the same time uses metal to investigate
contemporary formations of identity, community, gender, and power.
This edition includes a new foreword by Harris M. Berger
contextualizing the work and a new afterword by the author.
Metallica: The Stories Behind the Songs explores the writing and
recording of the band's greatest records, including classic albums
such as Master of Puppets (1986) and Metallica ('the black album')
(1991), right through to 2016's Hardwired... to Self-Destruct. This
is the perfect book for any metalhead who wants to get an insight
into the creative process of one of the heaviest bands of all time.
'A passionate, pacey tome you should do anything for a copy of' -
Kerrang! "I never wanted to be a big star. I just wanted to be the
biggest at what I do! Powerful, unstoppable, heavy - when that word
still meant something good!" - Meat Loaf, as told to Mick Wall
Everything in the story of Meat Loaf is big. From the place he was
born (Texas); to the family he was born into (his father weighed 22
stone, his uncle weighed over 40 stone, while Meat Loaf himself
weighed 17 stone before he was even in his teens); to the sound he
made (a colossal collision between Richard Wagner, Phil Spector and
Bruce Springsteen); and of course the records he sold - nearly 50
million in Britain and America alone. From a tumultuous childhood
with an alcoholic father to the relentless abusive bullying he
endured, nobody could have predicted Meat Loaf's meteoric rise to
fame. But when the messianic rock opera Bat Out of Hell was
released in 1977, it became one of the biggest albums of all time,
selling over 45 million copies worldwide to date. Its release
marked the start of a rollercoaster ride of incredible highs and
seemingly career-ending lows. By the 80s, Meat Loaf was battling
with drug and alcohol addiction and escalating money problems. But
just when it seemed like it was all over, the astonishing success
of Bat Out of Hell II and the mega-hit 'I'd Do Anything For Love
(But I Won't Do That)' marked an extraordinary new wave of success.
Now, Mick Wall will bring this extraordinary story up to date,
drawing on the hours he spent with Meat Loaf, both in interviews
and on tour, as well as offering up a unique insight from those who
have known him best.
'A weighty discussion of metal, for both passionate fans and
neophytes' Guardian 'Heavy opens an ornate portal into a murky
subculture, illuminating the marginalia as well as the big beasts'
Sunday Times What exactly is heavy metal music? How deep do its
roots go? Long established as an undeniable force in culture, metal
traces its roots back to leather-clad iron men like Black Sabbath
and Judas Priest, who imbued their music with a mysterious and raw
undercurrent of power. Heavy unearths this elusive force, delving
deep into the fertile culture that allowed a distinctive new sound
to flourish and flaying the source material to get to the beating
heart of the music. From the imminent threat of nuclear apocalypse
that gave rise to Metallica's brand of volatile thrash metal to
Bloodbath and Carcass, the death metal bands resurrecting the
horror of medieval art.But there are always more lines to be drawn.
Cradle of Filth and Ulver trade in the transgressive impulses of
gothic literature; Pantera lay bare Nietzsche's 'superman'; getting
high leads to the escapist sci-fi dirges of Sleep and Electric
Wizard; while the recovery of long-buried urns in the seventeenth
century holds the key to the drone of Sunn O))).Dissecting music
that resonates with millions, Heavy sees Slipknot wrestling with
the trauma of 9/11, Alice in Chains exposing the wounds of Vietnam
and Iron Maiden conjuring visions of a heroic England. Powerful,
evocative and sometimes sinister, it gives shape and meaning to the
terrible beauty of metal.
Heavy metal is now over 40 years old. It emerged at the tail end of
the 1960s in the work of bands including Iron Butterfly, Vanilla
Fudge, Jimi Hendrix, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin and - most
importantly - Black Sabbath. In the 1970s and early 1980s, heavy
metal crystallised as a genre as bands such as Judas Priest and
Iron Maiden removed most of the blues influence on the genre,
codifying a set of basic metal characteristics that endure to this
day: distorted guitars, aggressive vocals, denim, leather and
spikes. In broad terms, wherever it is found and however it is
played, metal tends to be dominated by a distinctive commitment to
'transgressive' themes and musicality causing it to be frequently
seen as controversial music. Controversies surrounding the alleged
(and often documented) connection between heavy metal and,
variously, sexual promiscuity, occultism and Satanism, subliminal
messages, suicide and violence have all made heavy metal a target
of moral panics over popular culture. Metal has variously embraced,
rejected, played with and tried to ignore this controversy. At
times, the controversy dies down and the previously transgressive
becomes relatively harmless - as in the transformation of Ozzy
Osbourne from public enemy to loveable dad. Still, metal remains
irrevocably marked by its controversial, transgressive tendencies.
Indeed, the various moral panics that metal has been subjected to
are not only constitutive, at least in part, of metal scenes, but
are encoded in metal's transgression itself. As with hiphop's
"ghetto" roots, metal's history of extreme sonic, lyrical and
visual messages continue to give it credibility with new
generations of fans today. The aim of this anthology is to analyse
the relationship between heavy metal and society within a global
context. It provides a thorough investigation of how and why metal
becomes controversial, how metal 'scenes' are formed and examines
the relationship between metal and society, including how fans,
musicians and the media create the culture of heavy metal.
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As a rock journalist and ex-editor of Metal Hammer magazine, Kirk
Blows has spent his life in the company of hard rock's most
debauched superstars. This no-holds-barred collection of interviews
with heavyweights including Motorhead, Metallica, and Queen
provides a portrait of lives lived to the limits of rock'n'roll
excess.
Packed with as many egos as one book can hold, this is the read
that takes you inside the minds of the most twisted icons of heavy
metal and uncovers the insane antics that earned each of these wild
men their crazed reputation.
In his first book, front man of Slipknot and Stone Sour, Corey
Taylor took on the Seven Deadly Sins, pulling them apart to reveal
all that is irrelevant and wrong about the vices in the modern
world through his own uniquely hilarious yet ferocious style. But
in Corey's eyes that's not all that is wrong with the world
today... From bad music, fame and infomercials to raising kids, sex
and airport security, You're Making Me Hate You is the result of a
one-man mission to demonstrate the alarming rise in worldwide
idiocy, buffoonery and out-and-out disregard for intelligent
thought. Rant-filled but eloquent, shocking but intelligent, this
is bestselling author Corey Taylor at his most Corey Taylor and he
doesn't leave himself out either... turns out he's just as f***ing
stupid as the rest of us, too.
Lemmy Kilmister is founder, sole constant member, vocalist,
bassist, songwriter and living legend. He has given Jake Brown
unprecedented behind-the-scenes access into the writing and
recording of the band's 26 albums. Together with insight from
fellow band members, crew and producers, this features all the
stories behind such albums as Ace of Spades, Bomber and Overkill.
Rock 'n' Roll Movies presents an eclectic look at the many
manifestations of rock in motion pictures, from teen-oriented
B-movies to Hollywood blockbusters to avant-garde meditations to
reverent biopics to animated shorts to performance documentaries.
Acclaimed film critic David Sterritt considers the diverse ways
that filmmakers have regarded rock 'n' roll, some cynically cashing
in on its popularity and others responding to the music as sincere
fans, some depicting rock as harmless fun and others representing
it as an open challenge to mainstream norms.
This updated reissue of Mark LeVine's acclaimed, revolutionary book
on sub- and countercultural music in the Middle East brings this
groundbreaking portrait of the region's youth cultures to a new
generation. Featuring a new preface by the author in conversation
with the band The Kominas about the problematic connections between
extreme music and Islam. An eighteen-year-old Moroccan who loves
Black Sabbath. A twenty-two-year-old rapper from the Gaza Strip. A
young Lebanese singer who quotes Bob Marley's "Redemption Song."
Heavy metal, punk, hip-hop, and reggae are each the music of
protest, and are considered immoral by many in the Muslim world. As
the young people and subcultures featured in Mark LeVine's Heavy
Metal Islam so presciently predicted, this music turned out to be
the soundtrack of countercultures, uprisings, and even revolutions
from Morocco to Pakistan. In Heavy Metal Islam, originally
published in 2008, Mark LeVine explores the influence of Western
music on the Middle East and North Africa through interviews with
musicians and fans, introducing us to young people struggling to
reconcile their religion with a passion for music and a thirst for
change. The result is a revealing tour de force of contemporary
cultures across the Muslim majority world through the region's
evolving music scenes that only a musician, scholar, and activist
with LeVine's unique breadth of experience could narrate. A New
York Times Editor's Pick when it was first published, Heavy Metal
Islam is a surprising, wildly entertaining foray into a
historically authoritarian region where music reveals itself to be
a true democratizing force-and a groundbreaking work of scholarship
that pioneered new forms of research in the region.
Al Atkins is the former lead singer and founder of the
multi-million selling British metal band Judas Priest. But where
and when did it all begin? During the sixties when the highly
lauded Brum Beat era produced bands such as The Move, Atkins played
in various semi-pro outfits. It was in 1969 that Atkins decided to
have a go at forming yet another band with his childhood friend
Bruno Stapenhill. The band in question was JUDAS PRIEST. Priest
quickly built up a reputation in the Midlands as a powerful live
act and even secured a record deal with Immediate, which was owned
by ex-Rolling Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham. Atkins even
recorded the very first Judas Priest demo: "Good Time Woman" and
"We'll Stay Together". Unfortunately, Immediate folded and so did
Priest. Undeterred, Atkins resurrected Priest with another line-up
in 1970 with guitarist K K Downing and bassist Ian Hill. In '71
they made a 7" single acetate: "Holy is the Man" and "Mind
Conception". Through the early seventies Priest supported many
bands including Slade, Status Quo and Black Sabbath. A revolving
line-up continued until May 1973 when Atkins finally decided to
call it a day. His memoirs contain very rare archive photos and
memorabilia from Judas Priest's past circa 1969-1973. Also included
are interviews with various members of Priest's history. Atkins is
the co-writer of several Priest songs which are included on the
band's first two albums "Rocka Rolla" and "Sad Wings of Destiny"
both of which eventually went Gold. Atkins co-penned the heavy
metal classic "Victim of Changes". With a foreword by Judas Priest
bassist Ian Hill, "Dawn of the Metal Gods" is not just a book for
Judas Priest fans but a bible for all those wishing to form a band
in the tumultuous world of heavy metal.
This is the first extensive scholarly study of drone metal music
and its religious associations, drawing on five years of
ethnographic participant observation from more than 300
performances and 74 interviews, plus surveys, analyses of sound
recordings, artwork, and extensive online discourse about music.
Owen Coggins shows that while many drone metal listeners identify
as non-religious, their ways of engaging with and talking about
drone metal are richly informed by mysticism, ritual and religion.
He explores why language relating to mysticism and spiritual
experience is so prevalent in drone metal culture and in discussion
of musical experiences and practices of the genre. The author
develops the work of Michel de Certeau to provide an empirically
grounded theory of mysticism in popular culture. He argues that the
marginality of the genre culture, together with the extremely
abstract sound produces a focus on the listeners' engagement with
sound, and that this in turn creates a space for the open-ended
exploration of religiosity in extreme states of bodily
consciousness.
18 And Life on Skid Row tells the story of a boy who spent his
childhood moving from Freeport, Bahamas to California and finally
to Canada and who at the age of eight discovered the gift that
would change his life. Throughout his career, Sebastian Bach has
sold over twenty million records both as the lead singer of Skid
Row and as a solo artist. He is particularly known for the hit
singles I Remember You, Youth Gone Wild, & 18 & Life, and
the albums Skid Row and Slave To The Grind, which became the first
ever hard rock album to debut at #1 on the Billboard Top 200 and
landed him on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine. Bach then went
on to become the first rock star to grace the Broadway stage, with
starring roles in Jekyll & Hyde, Jesus Christ Superstar and The
Rocky Horror Picture Show. He also appeared for seven seasons on
the hit television show The Gilmore Girls. In his memoir, Bach
recounts lurid tales of excess and debauchery as he toured the
world with Bon Jovi, Aerosmith, Motley Crue, Soundgarden, Pantera,
Nine Inch Nails and Guns N' Roses. Filled with backstage photos
from his own personal collection, 18 And Life on Skid Row is the
story of hitting it big at a young age, and of a band that broke up
in its prime. It is the story of a man who achieved his wildest
dreams, only to lose his family, and then his home. It is a story
of perseverance, of wine, women and song and a man who has made his
life on the road and always will. 18 And Life On Skid Row is not
your ordinary rock memoir, because Sebastian Bach is not your
ordinary rock star.
By night, Brian Johnson sings in the biggest rock 'n' roll band
on the planet. But by day, AC/DC's frontman drives balls to the
wall.
When he was a young boy growing up in a working-class English
town, Brian developed what would become a lifelong passion for
cars, trolling junkyards and even pretending to drive the family
car. From there, he steamed up the windows of his old Mini Cooper
as a teenager, spent untold time in hygienically challenged tour
buses, was chauffeured in leather-trimmed limos, and raced cars to
a checkered flag.
Featuring guest stars Cliff Williams, Malcolm and Angus Young,
and many, many others--even Arnold Schwarzenegger--Rockers and
Rollers is a tribute to Brian's obsession with four wheels. By
turns surprising, poignant, funny, and maybe a little bit bawdy,
these are the stories of a man who drives as hard as he rocks.
In Heavy Metal Music in Latin America: Perspectives from the
Distorted South, the editors bring together scholars engaged in the
study of heavy metal music in Latin America to reflect on the heavy
metal genre from a regional perspective. The contributors' southern
voices diversify metal scholarship in the global north. An extreme
musical genre for an extreme region, the contributors explore how
issues like colonialism, dictatorships, violence, ethnic
extermination and political persecution have shaped heavy metal
music in Latin America, and how music has helped shape Latin
American culture and politics.
Darkthrone's A Blaze in the Northern Sky (1992) is a foundational
keystone of the musical and aesthetic vision of the notorious
Norwegian black metal scene and one of the most beloved albums of
the genre. Its mysterious artwork and raw sound continue to
captivate and inspire black metal fans and musicians worldwide.
This book explores the album in the context of exoticism and
musical geography, examining how black metal music has come to
conjure images of untamed Nordic wildernesses for fans worldwide.
In doing so, it analyzes aspects of musical style and production
that created the distinctly "grim" sound of Darkthrone and
Norwegian black metal.
Tab transcriptions for 22 tunes from the original shred master who
brought the neo-classical style into the forefront of the metal
movement. Songs include: Bedroom Eyes * Black Star * Deja Vu *
Dreaming (Tell Me) * Eclipse * Far Beyond the Sun * Heaven Tonight
* I'll See the Light Tonight * Icarus Dream Suite Opus 4 * Liar *
Marching Out * Rising Force * You Don't Remember I'll Never Forget
* more.
In Heavy Metal Music in Latin America: Perspectives from the
Distorted South, the editors bring together scholars engaged in the
study of heavy metal music in Latin America to reflect on the heavy
metal genre from a regional perspective. The contributors' southern
voices diversify metal scholarship in the global north. An extreme
musical genre for an extreme region, the contributors explore how
issues like colonialism, dictatorships, violence, ethnic
extermination and political persecution have shaped heavy metal
music in Latin America, and how music has helped shape Latin
American culture and politics.
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