Would you consider these groups "Heavy Metal"?
AC DC
Van Halen
Led Zeppelin
On occasion, I've seen some here comment that groups like "AC DC" are not "heavy metal". I'd be curious to hear people's opinions.
For reference, AllMusic.com, which I consider to be a definitive source for rock bios, album reviews, etc. puts all 4 in the heavy metal genre.
https://www.allmusic.com/style/heavy-metal-ma0000002721
Comments
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No
Hard rock, maybe
Classic rock, definitely
Any group that puts out something akin to Led Zep III cannot evar be called heavy metal -
Yes (or predecessor to what would become metal)
No, soccer moms might disagree. A great band but only heavy for those looking from the outside in. Rock n roll all the way.
Van Halen is borderline. "Glam Metal" if they are. They are a part of the "pop metal" that drove the heavy sounds and darker tone of other groups resisting "pop-metal" and the assimilation to mainstream media. Whitesnake, guns n' roses, winger...
Definite No for me. Zepp is hard/heavy rock. I'd put them in a similar category to deep purple but less "Metal". They DID have a big influence on what would become metal but I would never put them there as a "metal" band.
In no list of "top metal bands" would you ever see anyone other than Deep Purple which given the success of these bands, you'd expect them to unseat someone like Manowar(who regularly makes top 50 lists but is nothing special).
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None of that is metal but ACDC was very close in their time. TBH, in the 80's ACDC was considered metal. In modern times it is considered hard rock. Deep Purple is one of those "getting to heavy metal" kind of bands, even though they existed alongside and after Sabbath, which is metal. It's a strange thing, I know.
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There needs to be a sinister element to a band for it to be considered heavy metal. Singing about drinking and fucking isn't sinister, no matter how strong the guitarplay
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lyrical content is about the least important thing when determining whether something is metal or not. lots of folk metal is about booze. power metal has all sorts of high fantasy stuff.BearsWiin said:There needs to be a sinister element to a band for it to be considered heavy metal. Singing about drinking and fucking isn't sinister, no matter how strong the guitarplay
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Is Iron Maiden “heavy metal?” As a kid viewing their album covers I thought so. As an adult after to listening to many of their concert staples such as “Fear of the Dark,” “Powerslave,” “Hollowed be thy Name,” “When the Wild Blows,” etc. I think they are more epic rock (ala GnR) than heavy/death metal. Maybe years of Rock music have numbed me. Stuff like Slayer, Pantera, GWAR, etc. = heavy metal for sure.
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So basically football wasn’t invented till 1994 and Metal wasn’t invented until the late 70s and early 1980s with the first Motörhead, Iron Maiden and Metallica records? This is simply not historically accurate. The genre was birthed in 1969 with the first LZ and Sabbath recordings which were a huge departure from the heavy blues rock of Cream, Jeff Beck and Hendrix. Sabbath and Zeppelin may sound quaint in comparison to Metallica but they were heavy as fuck for the time. And the people listeing at the time called it heavy metal.UW_Doog_Bot said:Yes (or predecessor to what would become metal)
No, soccer moms might disagree. A great band but only heavy for those looking from the outside in. Rock n roll all the way.
Van Halen is borderline. "Glam Metal" if they are. They are a part of the "pop metal" that drove the heavy sounds and darker tone of other groups resisting "pop-metal" and the assimilation to mainstream media. Whitesnake, guns n' roses, winger...
Definite No for me. Zepp is hard/heavy rock. I'd put them in a similar category to deep purple but less "Metal". They DID have a big influence on what would become metal but I would never put them there as a "metal" band.
In no list of "top metal bands" would you ever see anyone other than Deep Purple which given the success of these bands, you'd expect them to unseat someone like Manowar(who regularly makes top 50 lists but is nothing special).
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Is Iron Maiden a metal band? Uh yesPurple_Pills said:Is Iron Maiden “heavy metal?” As a kid viewing their album covers I thought so. As an adult after to listening to many of their concert staples such as “Fear of the Dark,” “Powerslave,” “Hollowed be thy Name,” “When the Wild Blows,” etc. I think they are more epic rock (ala GnR) than heavy/death metal. Maybe years of Rock music have numbed me. Stuff like Slayer, Pantera, GWAR, etc. = heavy metal for sure.
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Immigrant song is sinister as fuck.BearsWiin said:There needs to be a sinister element to a band for it to be considered heavy metal. Singing about drinking and fucking isn't sinister, no matter how strong the guitarplay
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That image is dumb also because I seriously doubt the person on the right would hear death metal and say "hey that's rock music!"YellowSnow said:
So basically football wasn’t invented till 1994 and Metal wasn’t invented until the late 70s and early 1980s with the first Motörhead, Iron Maiden and Metallica records? This is simply not historically accurate. The genre was birthed in 1969 with the first LZ and Sabbath recordings which were a huge departure from the heavy blues rock of Cream, Jeff Beck and Hendrix. Sabbath and Zeppelin may sound quaint in comparison to Metallica but they were heavy as fuck for the time. And the people listeing at the time called it heavy metal.UW_Doog_Bot said:Yes (or predecessor to what would become metal)
No, soccer moms might disagree. A great band but only heavy for those looking from the outside in. Rock n roll all the way.
Van Halen is borderline. "Glam Metal" if they are. They are a part of the "pop metal" that drove the heavy sounds and darker tone of other groups resisting "pop-metal" and the assimilation to mainstream media. Whitesnake, guns n' roses, winger...
Definite No for me. Zepp is hard/heavy rock. I'd put them in a similar category to deep purple but less "Metal". They DID have a big influence on what would become metal but I would never put them there as a "metal" band.
In no list of "top metal bands" would you ever see anyone other than Deep Purple which given the success of these bands, you'd expect them to unseat someone like Manowar(who regularly makes top 50 lists but is nothing special).
