Current Shareware 1994 January/SHAR194.ISO/textfile/es9308.zip/INTRO

Text File | 1993-08-01 | 6KB | 104 lines

                                  PROLOGUE

     What is Heavy Metal? For one thing, it is a term intermittently met
with applause and criticism and therefore bands address it with caution.

It has been negatively associated with violence, drugs, satanic ritual, and
suicide. But while it can be either praised or condemned at any one time,
no one has as of yet attempted to define it. Perhaps, this is because it
is construed (by some) as a music form and is thus immune to categorization.
What I seek to do here is to divide music previously considered "metal"
into eight categories. At least, in this manner, we can try to understand
what we like and dislike. Throughout my reviews, I will use these terms
(and others) to describe the music on certain albums. The reasons are
multiple.

     Firstly, in my thirst for music, I have bought many records completely
unheard. This can be a disappointing experience, as the only indications of
quality may be cover artwork, band photos, producers and labels. Many times
I have bought records only to sell them to a used record vendor the very
next day. In describing a reasonable quantity of albums, I hope to help
you choose the records you buy with a little better idea of what may be
contained therein, such as to avoid this unpleasant (and costly) experience.

     Secondly, in the same chance taking manner, I have discovered some
really great music that I had never heard played on any radio. My column
may make you aware of music of which you may otherwise have never heard.
There is a virtual mountain of recordings that are poorly publicized, but
quite good.

     Thirdly, there will be demo reviews in the column of bands that may
not yet be signed. By reading these reviews, you can have a little better
idea of whether or not you may wish to see them should they come to town.
Furthermore, if they are signed, you can determine if their album may
be something you wish to own.

     In any case, now I will describe the eight categories in order
of increasing heaviness. POP is a rather generic term, referring
to popular music. As the masses are quite undecided as to what this
constitutes, I shall use it as a category for everything softer than
the nest grade, POWER_POP. This refers to music of a popular variety,
but with a ad more punch to it. Generally, this is translated as the
presence of a highly emphasized rhythm section (bass and drums)
injecting a bit more energy into it. Power-pop bands may include Poison,
older Pat Benatar (In The Heat Of The Night),Bon Jovi, and Heart.

     GOD-ROCK refers to music in the vein of Stryper, Holy Soldier, and
Petra. The sound tends to have an aggressive edge, but usually this is
moderated by very commercial melodies. The lyrics generally carry biblical
messages therefore the name and the guitar is not so heavy as to blow
popular appeal. POP-METAL gets just a little bit harder with more
aggressive guitar and more dramatic chord changes. Sex imagery also
starts to come into the picture here. Corporate rock (ie that which
is pumped over our airwaves) generally falls into this category.
Good examples here are XYZ, Winger (the first album), Badlands, Motley
Crue, Europe (the first album), Slaughter, and Warrant. Here the guitar
acrobatics can overwhelm the solely pop listener on occasion, but
usually catch enough ears to be viable radio songs.

     NEOCLASSICAL FUSION is virtually never played on the radio. It
includes heavy guitar and classically derived diatonic harmony. The
leads are often exercises in fretboard wizardry, but benefit by being
very closely related to the chords upon which they are played. A
little harmony goes a long way. As the populace at large is mostly
unfamiliar with diatonic harmony, this music form is usually thrown
into the metal category. Neoclassical artists include Yngwie Malmsteen,
Tony MacAlpine, Vinnie Moore, and Greg Howe.

     HARD ROCK is almost synonymous with arena rock. This type of usually
loud blues guitar based rock has been the popular choice of teenage rockers
for ten years. The music is harder than neoclassical fusion with bass that
can often be bounding. Some keyboards may be included here for effect and
the sex imagery is very heavy. Examples are Whitesnake, Blue Murder,
Dokken, and the Scorpions.

     HEAVY METAL is music that not only has loud guitar, but also is laden
with fantasy imagery. The songs (and album covers) of Black Sabbath, Dio,
and Ozzy Osbourne have all referred to wizards and swordmen, dragons
and sorcery. Iron Maiden and Judas Priest might also be included here.

     Finally, we have the THRASH/HARDCORE slot. Generally, this includes
blistering bass guitar and more violent stage imagery. Keyboards would
defeat the bare primal sound that is generated. Topics of lyrical pursuit
are inclusive of nuclear war, mutilation, and revenge. Harmony vocals
are limited to grunts from the band. The music tends to be very basic
and perpetuates itself at rapid speeds, therefore the alternate name
"speed metal." Bands may include Metallica (predominantly their older
material), Death Angel, Testament, and Overkill.

     So, now you have the basic categories. Take it for given that a
band may modulate between these within an album or within a single song.
The labels are by no means binding, but are rather an attempt to indicate
the quality of the music to which they refer. If you like a number of the
bands in the pop-metal category, you may be interested in other bands
that are referred to as pop-metal.

     Some may notice that while I stated that I was aiming to divide heavy
metal music amongst sections, I have also included pop and power-pop. As
I view music as a continuum, pop may be viewed as a less aggressive
counterpart to harder forms. As previously mentioned, all categories
are more aggressive (or heavy) than their proceeding category and less
aggressive than the next. Good luck in using this stratification to
understand my reviews and therefore find the music that you want.