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British Heavy Metal

Heavy Metal vs mainstream rock

• louder
• simpler
• more repetitive
• screaming vocals
• long, dazzling instrumental solos

Led Zeppelin

• Jimmy Page (also played with the Yardbirds)
• Robert Plant
• John Bonham
• John Paul Jones
• name of the band supposedly coined by Keith Moon (drummer for The Who)
• released their debut album, Led Zeppelin in 1969
  • least popular album ("only" #10)
  • next 8 albums were either 1 or 2!!

• Led Zeppelin II (1969; #1)

Whole Lotta Love

(#5, 1969) - video of live performance (1970, Royal Albert Hall)

• 16th-note subdivision, guitar riff, vocal timbre, distorted guitar
• listen to "break" section thru return of riff

• Led Zeppelin III (1970) and fourth untitled album (1971; the Runes album, Zoso, or Led Zeppelin IV)
  • their most popular song ("Stairway to Heaven") was never released as a single!!

Black Dog

Stairway to Heaven

3 excerpts:

• 1) beginning

begins with acoustic guitars & recorders, light vocal quality, gradually thickening texture

• 2) middle

strong guitar solo begins build toward climax

• 3) end

  builds to screaming vocals over heavy metal guitar riff … ends with a capella vocal line

  Jimmy Page provides a "listening tour" of "Stairway to Heaven"

  video of live performance at Earl's Court (1975) and another version from The Song Remains the Same

  There was an interesting challenge posed during the 2010s related to potential copyright infringement related to "Stairway to Heaven." Ultimately, an appeals court ruling overturned a jury decision, denying that Led Zeppelin was responsible for infringement. You can read the article here and hear Spirit's "Taurus" on Spotify. [Listen carefully to the tune around 0:45, and you can hear a guitar part that is very similar to the opening of Zepp's "Stairway to Heaven."]

More Info: an interesting article about "Audio Reversal" (backward lyrics)

Houses of the Holy (1973), Physical Graffiti (1975), and Presence (1976) continued their incredible success

The Crunge

Listen to the obvious James Brown' influence on this cut  from
Led Zeppelin's "Houses of the Holy" (1973)
... a kind of "tongue-in-cheek" homage to the Godfather of Soul
remember "Make It Funky" from the James Brown page?

Other Live performance Videos by Led Zeppelin

• Communication Breakdown (1969, early promo video)
• Moby Dick (1970, Royal Albert Hall; featuring John Bonham drum solo)
• Since I've Been Loving You (1973, Madison Square Garden)

The Band Calls it Quits

• 1980 - death of drummer John Bonham, band decided to go no further
  • died of asphyxiation after falling asleep at Page's apartment after consuming LARGE amounts of alcohol and falling asleep
• Coda (1982)
  • a collection of outtakes & early recordings
• heavy metal's alleged fascination with the occult
  • Page moved into the former home of Aleister Crowley (mystic linked with satanic ritual)

speaking of links with the occult ...

Black Sabbath

The band's name suggested by Terry "Geezer" Butler (bassist) who was a fan of occult novelist Dennis Wheatley; generally, the lyrical messages of the band are doom-and-gloom predictions

Paranoid

Symptom of the Universe

• 1975 - released Sabotage
• lead vocalist, Ozzy Osborne, goes solo
  • replaced as lead vocalist for Black Sabbath in 1979 by Ronnie James Dio of Rainbow, a band organized by Deep Purple guitarist Ritchie Blackmore
  • in 1982, Dio and Vinnie Appice (Carmen Appice's brother) formed Dio

Ozzy Osborne

Rock ‘n' Roll Rebel

Flying High Again

• has been sued by 3 sets of parents for "causing" teen suicides
• "Suicide Solution" from Blizzard of Ozz (1980)

Suicide Solution

• released Diary of a Madman in 1981

Crazy Train

Osborne was banned from San Antonio in February 1982 for urinating on the Alamo!! 3/19/82 - Ozzy's plane crashed while "buzzing" the tour bus!! Randy Rhodes (guitar), hairdresser, and pilot were killed … Osborne unhurt!!

 

 

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