the definitive Heavy Metal band of all time

[Shellhead]

Is it Metallica? I don't think so. By the time that Metallica came along, heavy metal was fading in popularity. It would be like saying that the White Stripes is the definitive rock'n'roll band, when they are decades late for the party.

Black Sabbath? As the first big heavy metal band, this is a good possibility. Lead singer Ozzy Osbourne made a big name for himself after leaving, but today I think that Black Sabbath is still a big name in the industry.

AC/DC? They weren't the first, they weren't the last, and they certainly weren't the most creative. But were they the most popular heavy metal band? And if so, does that qualify them as the definitive heavy metal band?

Led Zeppelin? When somebody made a movie to make fun of heavy metal (Spinal Tap), they clearly based it on Led Zeppelin. When author George R.R. Martin wanted to write a murder mystery involving a heavy metal band (Armageddon Rag), he clearly based it on Led Zeppelin. However, I believe that Led Zeppelin's music goes beyond the limited definition of heavy metal, getting into some fairly experimental territory and including non-genre songs like Hot Dog. While Led Zeppelin inspired many musicians... like Grant Morrison, they seem to be nearly impossible to imitate.

Judas Priest? Deep Purple? Iron Maiden? Motley Crue? None of these bands ever enjoyed quite the fame or fortune of the bands listed in the paragraphs above.

[Lubichev]

Something compels me to say Judas Priest. I think it is the leather and the morrored glasses.

And they convinced a boy to kill himself. Through a song!! That. Is. Metal!!

[Harry]

I second Judas Priest. I listen to tons and tons of metal, and this is the only answer that makes sense to me. They embody everything that's great, ridiculous and terrible about the genre.

Sabbath, Deep Purple and Zeppelin all wrote the blueprint, but the genre didn't really even exist when those bands were in their prime, and when Sabbath actually went balls-out metal in the 80s they weren't very good.
AC/DC I've always thought of more as a hard rock band.
Metallica don't even come close - they were a band arbitrarily plucked out of the thrash scene of which, in my opinion, there were plenty of more talented more interesting bands. They're the biggest metal band in the world, but by no means the definitive.
Motley Crue were essentially a pop group.
Iron Maiden is the only other band on that list I think to be a close second, but Priest wins out simply by being around earlier.

[Dennis K]

Is it Metallica? I don't think so. By the time that Metallica came along, heavy metal was fading in popularity. It would be like saying that the White Stripes is the definitive rock'n'roll band, when they are decades late for the party.

Black Sabbath? As the first big heavy metal band, this is a good possibility. Lead singer Ozzy Osbourne made a big name for himself after leaving, but today I think that Black Sabbath is still a big name in the industry.

AC/DC? They weren't the first, they weren't the last, and they certainly weren't the most creative. But were they the most popular heavy metal band? And if so, does that qualify them as the definitive heavy metal band?

Led Zeppelin? When somebody made a movie to make fun of heavy metal (Spinal Tap), they clearly based it on Led Zeppelin. When author George R.R. Martin wanted to write a murder mystery involving a heavy metal band (Armageddon Rag), he clearly based it on Led Zeppelin. However, I believe that Led Zeppelin's music goes beyond the limited definition of heavy metal, getting into some fairly experimental territory and including non-genre songs like Hot Dog. While Led Zeppelin inspired many musicians... like Grant Morrison, they seem to be nearly impossible to imitate.

Judas Priest? Deep Purple? Iron Maiden? Motley Crue? None of these bands ever enjoyed quite the fame or fortune of the bands listed in the paragraphs above.


AC/DC and Led Zeppelin aren't really "metal" bands IMO.

[Hiromi]

Another vote for Judas Priest, IMO Sin After Sin and Stained Class defined the Heavy Metal sound in the late 70s.

[Ilash]

AC/DC!

Not only do I consider them to be heavy metal, I consider them to be the genres best representatives. They represent all the inate silliness in the genre as well managing to display all the high octane energy that the genre should posses at its best but so often does not.

[howyadoin]

Sabbath all the way. Judas Priest comes close, but they just aren't as good as Sabbath in their prime, much less as influential.

And no, Zeppelin and AC/DC aren't metal bands.

[Ilash]

And no, Zeppelin and AC/DC aren't metal bands.

Sorry to bring this up again but why not?

[RickThunderclees]

Dave Matthews Band

[Headhunter]

We have to establish where hard rock ends, and heavy metal starts before getting anywhere with this discussion.

For what it's worth, I don't think AC/DC is metal either.

[ghostrider666]

I vote Iron Maiden.

Oh, and ac/dc aint metal.

[Woodwose]

I say Black Sabbath. They basically invented the genre. Just listen to Symptom of the Universe, Snowblind or Children of the Grave or some of their more popular stuff, like Iron Man, and you'll know what I mean. Low tunings, heavy, head bobbing rhythms and hammering drums combined to make Sabbath the orginal metal band.

[howyadoin]

Sorry to bring this up again but why not?This might sound like circular logic, but because they don't sound anything like Sabbath.

AC/DC is straight-ahead hard rock, not especially heavy musically or thematically. There's hardly any darkness or gloom in their music; mostly it's jokes about dicks and pussy, because at heart they're a blues band.

Zeppelin may have their heavy moments but they're all over the map - folk, blues, country, reggae (sort of). The only category they fit into is Led Zeppelin.



Or to put it another way, to be a heavy metal band you have to be heavy and you have to be metal.

[BlueGrass]

Sabbath by a nose. Priest to place. Maiden to show.

Can you tell I'm a horse racing man?

[Neil]

Definitive? Definitely Black Sabbath.

Mind you, I love Judas Priest just a little more, but everything Metal is, Sabbath is. That's definitive.

[Chiasm]

As others have said it depends on how you define metal. Most 60's and 70's groups mentioned would merely be considered rock by todays metal standards. That includes Sabbath and Zeppelin. One group I'd throw out there that predates all mentioned is The Rolling Stones. Songs like Paint it Black were as hard as anything in the day and as hard as anything Zeppelin did. Cleary the Stones are not anything like metal by todays standards but they were hard rock back in the day.

By todays standards of metal, I'd go with Metallica because there is no debate on their metalness and they were perhaps the first metal act to gain wide mainstream popularity.

[Dennis K]

As others have said it depends on how you define metal. Most 60's and 70's groups mentioned would merely be considered rock by todays metal standards. That includes Sabbath and Zeppelin. One group I'd throw out there that predates all mentioned is The Rolling Stones. Songs like Paint it Black were as hard as anything in the day and as hard as anything Zeppelin did. Cleary the Stones are not anything like metal by todays standards but they were hard rock back in the day.


If we're going to consider the Rolling Stones a hard rock band back in the day, it should me remembered that the guitar solo on The Kinks You Really Got Me was a historic moment in the history of "metal"

[Adam Crocker]

As others have said it depends on how you define metal. Most 60's and 70's groups mentioned would merely be considered rock by todays metal standards. That includes Sabbath and Zeppelin. One group I'd throw out there that predates all mentioned is The Rolling Stones. Songs like Paint it Black were as hard as anything in the day and as hard as anything Zeppelin did. Cleary the Stones are not anything like metal by todays standards but they were hard rock back in the day.

And their work still is hard rock or at least proto-hard rock. Though I don't see how they'd rank even close to being a metal band. We really don't get anything close to that sound until Cream's psychedelic blues rock comes along, and even then I'd argue that Jimi Hendrix or Blue Cheer are much closer (in fact Blue Cheer's been identified by some people as the first metal band).

[Chiasm]

And their work still is hard rock or at least proto-hard rock. Though I don't see how they'd rank even close to being a metal band.

Agreed 100%. But I don't see Zeppelin or Sabbath as metal either. Hard rock on all three counts but not metal.

[trixy]

Im not really a fan of this genre but....
Id say Black Sabbath, and then Slayer would be second followed by Mettalica
Three legendary bands.

[Dennis K]

Im not really a fan of this genre but....
Id say Black Sabbath, and then Slayer would be second followed by Mettalica
Three legendary bands.


Slayer makes me giggle.

[scratchie]

Black Sabbath invented heavy metal, but Judas Priest may have perfected it.

[scratchie]

If we're going to consider the Rolling Stones a hard rock band back in the day, it should me remembered that the guitar solo on The Kinks You Really Got Me was a historic moment in the history of "metal""You Really Got Me" is really more of the progenitor of punk than metal (BTW just saw Ray Davies last night in Boston and he KICKED ASS).

If you're looking at British bands of the 60s, the bands that really helped inspire heavy metal would be The Who, Cream, The Jimi Hendrix Experience and The Yardbirds/Led Zeppelin. King Crimson should probably be in there as well, but I don't think it really became "heavy metal" until Black Sabbath.

[howyadoin]

If you're looking at British bands of the 60s, the bands that really helped inspire heavy metal would be The Who, Cream, The Jimi Hendrix Experience and The Yardbirds/Led Zeppelin.The Experience was a British band? How do you rationalize that?

[scratchie]

The Experience was a British band? How do you rationalize that?They formed in Britain, they played all their gigs in Britain until they got famous and 2/3 of the band's members were British?

[howyadoin]

They formed in Britain, they played all their gigs in Britain until they got famous and 2/3 of the band's members were British?The guy who wrote 98% of the material, played all the guitar, sang all but 1 or 2 songs, produced their last album, and put the band together (and whom it was named after) was American.

[Faust451]

For me it is and always will be Metallica.

Then you've got:
Slayer
Pantera
Judas Priest
Megadeth
Anthrax
etc.

[Ilash]

This might sound like circular logic, but because they don't sound anything like Sabbath.

AC/DC is straight-ahead hard rock, not especially heavy musically or thematically. There's hardly any darkness or gloom in their music; mostly it's jokes about dicks and pussy, because at heart they're a blues band.

Zeppelin may have their heavy moments but they're all over the map - folk, blues, country, reggae (sort of). The only category they fit into is Led Zeppelin.



Or to put it another way, to be a heavy metal band you have to be heavy and you have to be metal.

Actually that's a perfectly reasonable definition. Okay, so AC/DC are a hard rock band (and I would define Zeppelin as a hard blues rock band who can play pretty acoustic tunes pretty damned well too because they may be all over the map but they're no good at most of those different styles) so I therefor change my answer to Sabbath. I mean if you're going to define an entire genre by them then they should surely be seen as the ultimate of the genre, should they not?

[pennywisdom]

Ahhh... debating what's metal. It's only trumped in pointlessness by debating what's punk.

As for the definitive metal band of all time:

http://www.rotten.com/library/culture/spinal-tap/spinal_tap_patch_cropped.gif

Argue with that, bitches.

[scratchie]

The guy who wrote 98% of the material, played all the guitar, sang all but 1 or 2 songs, produced their last album, and put the band together (and whom it was named after) was American.I have to say, this is one of the most pointless debates I've seen on these message boards (and that's pretty impressive). Why does having one American member make them an American band? Were the Sex Pistols an "Irish Band" because Johnny Rotten was Irish?

The JHE were very much a product of mid-60s London when they started out, being an integral part of the British heavy rock movement that developed out of the British Blues Revival. They had much more in common with their British contemporaries (like Cream) than they did with contemporary American bands (e.g. Jefferson Airplane and the other S.F. bands).

And, for the record, I'm pretty sure it was Chas Chandler (a Brit) who "put the band together".

[scratchie]

Ahhh... debating what's metal. It's only trumped in pointlessness by debating what's punk.Dude, debating what is metal is the highest form of intellectual activity possible for the human mind!

SAAAAABBBBAAAAAAAATTTTTTHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

[JeffreyWKramer]

Black Sabbath was the archetypal metal band, and while you can cite a variety of influences which pointed to the development of metal, Sabbath was where they first came together in a distinct form.

I like both Priest and BOC better, mind you, but Sabbath was there first, and there's no definitive characteristic of metal that wasn't there with Sabbath.

I also like Howy's explanation of why AC/DC and Zep aren't really metal bands.

[Adam Crocker]

I have to say, this is one of the most pointless debates I've seen on these message boards (and that's pretty impressive). Why does having one American member make them an American band? Were the Sex Pistols an "Irish Band" because Johnny Rotten was Irish?

Because Hendrix was pretty much the entire creative axis of the band as Howy pointed out. Rotten sang and wrote the lyrics, but Steve Jones played the guitar and prior to getting kicked out Glenn Matlock came up with the tunes. The two aren't that comparable. The Experience more than anything was a vehicle for Hendrix. The Pistols were collaborative band effort (albeit a tense and tenuous one that fell apart relatively quickly).

The JHE were very much a product of mid-60s London when they started out, being an integral part of the British heavy rock movement that developed out of the British Blues Revival. They had much more in common with their British contemporaries (like Cream) than they did with contemporary American bands (e.g. Jefferson Airplane and the other S.F. bands).

Now that's a good point, but Hendrix's music also had more in common with American pysch-blues band Blue Cheer than say Pink Floyd, Tomorrow, the Move, Donovan, or other such British pysch bands. Not even Jimi's buddies in the Soft Machine sounded much like the Experience. In fact, in overall sound and feel the fiery guitar playing and aggression had more in common with American rock than the whimsicality and fey melodicism of British pysch. And it rested on a combination of rock, blues, jazz, R&B, soul, and funk and he had already laid down the foundations for this style while playing in New York befor Chandler found him. It was also the product of his years playing the Chitlin circuit in America.

And, for the record, I'm pretty sure it was Chas Chandler (a Brit) who "put the band together".

But it was Hendrix who selected the musicians at auditions. (Well Redding definitely. With Mitch Mitchell it was supposedly something of a coin toss between him an a candidate named Ayshley Dunbar who worked with the Bluesbreakers.)

[Noir_Dark]

Im not really a fan of this genre but....
Id say Black Sabbath, and then Slayer would be second followed by Mettalica
Three legendary bands.

Exactly my thoughts.
All three have decades of quality music behind them. I don’t think there are too many metal fans that would argue their importance.
There is a lot of great metal being put out today but most of it lacks in lyrical content.

Here’s a tangent; In your opinion, what metal song has the most profound lyrics?
War Pigs by Sabbath? Run to the Hills By Iron Maiden? Aenema By Tool?

Who are we kidding, of course its War Pigs.

[scratchie]

The Experience more than anything was a vehicle for Hendrix. Sure, nobody's debating that, but it doesn't change the fact that the BAND was formed in England, got established in England, was part and parcel of the contemporary trends in British music and didn't leave Britain until they were already famous. I fail to see how they're not a "British Band" (albeit with an American bandleader), and regardless of how you label them, they were undeniably part of a British musical scene. You should ask Eric Clapton or Pete Townshend whether they consider the JHE to be a "British band", since they were among Hendrix's main competition.

As another example (albeit more obscure), consider the New York ska band the Toasters. They were formed by Rob "Bucket" Hingley, a British expatriate. He formed the band, writes most of their songs, sings most of their songs, produces all their albums and is the only Toaster to have always been a member of the group over the last 25 years or so. Nobody who knows their music would deny that it's absolutely the product of Bucket's vision, but nobody in their right mind would call them a "British" ska band because they're based in New York!

Hendrix's music also had more in common with American pysch-blues band Blue Cheer than say Pink Floyd, Tomorrow, the Move, Donovan, or other such British pysch bands. Not even Jimi's buddies in the Soft Machine sounded much like the Experience. In fact, in overall sound and feel the fiery guitar playing and aggression had more in common with American rock than the whimsicality and fey melodicism of British pysch.I'm pretty sure the JHE pre-dated Blue Cheer (who were undoubtedly influenced by Hendrix) and a lot of those other bands. In any case, just because JHE didn't sound like some British bands doesn't alter the point that they sounded a lot like some other British bands. The "fey" British psychedelia you describe didn't acheive popularity along until after the JHE were already established, and his overall sound and fiery guitar playing was clearly part of the lineage of blues-derived British groups that started with John Mayall and Alexis Korner, got popular with the Stones and the Animals, got heavier with Cream and the Yardbirds, and wound up conquering the universe with Led Zeppelin.

I mean, that's really the point. Regardless of where Hendrix was born, or which country issued his passport, his music was part of a British musical movement -- one that was derived from American blues, obviously, but one which was very much a British phenomenon in the early-to-mid-60s, when electric blues music in America was basically unheard outside of black urban nightclubs or the "folk revival" circuit.

Hendrix brought his own American influences and (ha) experience to bear on that music, but without the pre-existing "scene" of British groups playing blues-influenced music, I don't think he would have been as successful, and even if he was, whatever music he wound up playing probably would have sounded significantly different.

[scratchie]

Who are we kidding, of course its War Pigs."War Pigs" wins because of the way they rhymed "masses" with "masses". :D

[Chiasm]

I've actually come around to the Sabbath point of view. While they may have worn Metallica and AC-DC shirts, Beavis and Buttheads first real rock out headbang song was Sabbath. If they were metal enough for the boys then they get the nod. :D

[ZombieHavoc]

And they convinced a boy to kill himself. Through a song!! That. Is. Metal!!

so did alice in chains, and they are unmetal.

so did metallica, though for that matter.

[howyadoin]

so did alice in chains, and they are unmetal.They definitely had some big metal influences, though. Maybe not as much as Soundgarden did, but still...

[Deathstroke]

Sabbath all the way. Judas Priest comes close, but they just aren't as good as Sabbath in their prime, much less as influential.


Sorry, but I am of the school of thought that the Ozzy Sabbath material is just not as good as the Dio Sabbath material. And since everyone pretty much concedes that the prime of the band is the Ozzy era, I can't agree with Sabbath as the prime example of a metal band.

[Deathstroke]

Black Sabbath was the archetypal metal band, and while you can cite a variety of influences which pointed to the development of metal, Sabbath was where they first came together in a distinct form.

I like both Priest and BOC better, mind you, but Sabbath was there first, and there's no definitive characteristic of metal that wasn't there with Sabbath.


Okay, after having responded to Howy, and now reading through the thread I find JWK's reply and as usual he really makes sense. So maybe now I'll have to change my opinion.

Perhaps Sabbath is the definitive metal band. However, I still prefer the Dio era over the Ozzy era.

Judas Priest and Iron Maiden reign higher in my personal pantheon though.

[Harry]

I love most of the bands mentioned here (Metallica and Slayer being the only ones I find to be especially overrated), but I gotta stand behind THE PRIEEEEST. So many aspects of heavy metal are drawn directly from those guys, and while they were hugely influenced by Sabbath originally, Priest were the first band to really embrace metal as a legitimate genre. Sabbath are only metal retroactively. There's plenty of aspects that Sabbath DIDN'T embody which ended up becoming trademarks of the metal genre: speed, virtuosity and wailing high pitched vocals come to mind - two traits that Priest perfected before and up to Painkiller (my personal favourite album of theirs.) I love Sabbath and all, but when I think about them, I think of a hard rock band that paved the way for a whole lot of metal bands. More important than Priest they may be, but more metal? Never, I say!

Sabbath were the band everyone in the scene loved, but when you track the flourishing of the NWOBHM scene, which I think is metal's most definitive period, it's Priest that were the real musical influence.

[howyadoin]

Because Hendrix was pretty much the entire creative axis of the band as Howy pointed out. Rotten sang and wrote the lyrics, but Steve Jones played the guitar and prior to getting kicked out Glenn Matlock came up with the tunes. The two aren't that comparable. The Experience more than anything was a vehicle for Hendrix. The Pistols were collaborative band effort (albeit a tense and tenuous one that fell apart relatively quickly).

Now that's a good point, but Hendrix's music also had more in common with American pysch-blues band Blue Cheer than say Pink Floyd, Tomorrow, the Move, Donovan, or other such British pysch bands. Not even Jimi's buddies in the Soft Machine sounded much like the Experience. In fact, in overall sound and feel the fiery guitar playing and aggression had more in common with American rock than the whimsicality and fey melodicism of British pysch. And it rested on a combination of rock, blues, jazz, R&B, soul, and funk and he had already laid down the foundations for this style while playing in New York befor Chandler found him. It was also the product of his years playing the Chitlin circuit in America.

But it was Hendrix who selected the musicians at auditions. (Well Redding definitely. With Mitch Mitchell it was supposedly something of a coin toss between him an a candidate named Ayshley Dunbar who worked with the Bluesbreakers.)I need to put Adam on the payroll so I don't have to respond as much.

[Voncaster]

The definitive metal band of all time is:

a. black sabbath
b. metallica
c. other

While you may like the music of c, the debate is between a and b.

[Dennis K]

The definitive metal band of all time is:

a. black sabbath
b. iron maiden
c. other

While you may like the music of c, the debate is between a and b.


Okay, that's better.

[david r]

What are your thoughts on these bands:

Motorhead
Megadeth
the Stooges
W.A.S.P.

[Deathstroke]

What are your thoughts on these bands:

Motorhead
Megadeth
the Stooges
W.A.S.P.

Motorhead is really good, Megadeth is inferior.

Don't listen to The Stooges.

LOVE W.A.S.P.

[Dennis K]

What are your thoughts on these bands:

Motorhead
Megadeth
the Stooges
W.A.S.P.


Motorhead: Ashamed to admit I had forgotten about them.

Megadeth: A handful of good songs, but otherwise unspectacular.

The Stooges: Meh.

WASP: They always struck me as a poor man's Motley Crue.

[Karl J. Barnes]

Jethro Tull! Well, they were the first winners of the Grammy's best Heavy Metal band

But seriously, I have to say that Motrohead is really the premiere heavy metal band that lots of later acts feed off.

[Karl J. Barnes]

Megadeth: A handful of good songs, but otherwise unspectacular.

They had that one GREAT album back in the early 90s('93 or '94), but after that...meh.

The Stooges: Meh.

I've only heard of them, never remember ever hearing anything by them.

WASP: They always struck me as a poor man's Motley Crue.

You're being kind...really.

[Adam Crocker]

What are your thoughts on these bands:

Motorhead
Megadeth
the Stooges
W.A.S.P.

In terms of listening I would pick the Stooges over all of these bands (granted I've never heard W.A.S.P. and heard very little by Megadeth), however I wouldn't put the band forward as a candidate for definitive metal band of all time. Even with their proto-metal sound and influence on some metal acts (actually the only bands I can think of that I know are influenced by the Stooges are Motorhead, Slayer, Soundgarden, Monster Magnet, and Queens of the Stone Age) the band has always been identified more with punk and associated styles (such as noise rock).

The Stooges have also had a much more extensive and visible impact on punk and various styles of alternative/indie rock (especially noise rock) than they ever have had on metal. So I really don't see them getting anywhere close to metal's upper echelons. (That and I think of them as more of a punk or proto-punk band than anything else.)

[Deathstroke]

WASP: They always struck me as a poor man's Motley Crue.

They are far superior to Motley Crue.

[k0ntraband]

Testament.

[Eliot Johnson]

I remember before I listened to Led Zeppelin I called them heavy metal 'cause i'd seen them called that and ppl laughed at me saying they could never fathom Zep being heavy metal.

[Adam Crocker]

I remember before I listened to Led Zeppelin I called them heavy metal 'cause i'd seen them called that and ppl laughed at me saying they could never fathom Zep being heavy metal.

I imagine that they'd find the seventies very confusing when they, Deep Purple, Thin Lizzy, and other similar bands were referred to as "heavy metal."

[ghostrider666]

What are your thoughts on these bands:

Motorhead
Megadeth
the Stooges
W.A.S.P.


Motorhead are classic. As important to the HM genre as Sabbath. To their credit & drawback, they never really progressed musically.
Megadeth Some great early albums (Rust In Peace is 1 of the best guitar albums ever) but after Dave cleaned himself up, the band went downhill fast.
The Stooges not metal
W.A.S.P. Not a bad band. They had some good songs here & there thru out their career. Made their name with their 1st single, which was released in the U.K. "Animal I F**K Like A Beast". This put them on the PMRC's hit list.

[Dennis K]

They are far superior to Motley Crue.


Your post provided me with the opportunity to post this picture and change my signature.

http://www.universohq.com/quadrinhos/images/warren_ellis.jpg

[Adam Crocker]

Megadeth Some great early albums (Rust In Peace is 1 of the best guitar albums ever) but after Dave cleaned himself up, the band went downhill fast.

So what you're saying is that Dave Mustaine is the Eric Clapton of heavy metal: he's only good if he's on drugs?

[Neil]

What are your thoughts on these bands:
Motorhead - Great band. I think there are too many things that metal is that they aren't and too many things they are that metal isn't for them to be definitive.

Megadeth - Not a fan.

The Stooges - My favorite of these four and one of my favorite of all, but hardly metal at all.

W.A.S.P. - They were never successful or influencial enough to be definitive, but they are good.

[ghostrider666]

So what you're saying is that Dave Mustaine is the Eric Clapton of heavy metal: he's only good if he's on drugs?

If you will, yes. If you look at his song writing/composition before & after, theres no comparison. The newer stuff is boring,heartless & lacking emotion.

[Adam Crocker]

If you will, yes. If you look at his song writing/composition before & after, theres no comparison. The newer stuff is boring,heartless & lacking emotion.

Perhaps he and Clapton can team up to do a Grammy-winning, hit duet then.

[Dennis K]

he's only good if he's on drugs?


That covers just about everybody in music I should think.

[Karl J. Barnes]

If you will, yes. If you look at his song writing/composition before & after, theres no comparison. The newer stuff is boring,heartless & lacking emotion.

But its got a message,maaaaaaaaaan!

[Dennis K]

But its got a message,maaaaaaaaaan!


And the message is: I'm still pissed off about being kicked out of Metallica.

[Hulk_Is]

To me, Judas Preist are the Metal God's (they said that themselves :) ).

What Black Sabbath may have given power to Judas Preist refined, reinvented, reinforced, rekindled (Angel of Retribution), and remained.

They make references to Heavy Metal in many of their songs. Their singer and members invented a look that begs metal (even though their borrowed attire attracted another kind of begging ;) ). Their playing style is overwhelmingly 'metal'-- vocal screaming to guitar screaming. Screaming for Vengeance anyone?

Motorhead aren't THE defintive metal band or entirely metal, mixing punk and blues in their ragged grungefest.

Megadeth maybe the definitve thrash metal band. Dave Mustaine early on was intelligently able to express lyrics to a juvenile genre, but also creating a guitar style that was outright thrash at it's most expressive.

The Stooges. I pass.

W.A.S.P. are o.k.. Definetively controversial. :)

[david r]

So the general consensus seems to be that the most definitive heavy metal acts are (in no order):

Black Sabbath
Led Zeppelin
Judas Priest

With a touch of Motorhead and Deep Purple in there as well. Zeppelin's music was rarely really "heavy metal", but their influence on the genre is huge. Whether modern fans realize it or not.