That strange beast Metal

Since its inception, metal remained a bit of an odd outsider in music. Loud, aggressive and extreme in its sound and imagery it is easy to dismiss as adolescent folly you eventually grow out of. Except when you don't.

Metal is... different

Because it sets itself apart so strongly from the majority of other styles, it is by default easy to misunderstand, avoid and straightaway dismiss. Its relatively easy to put together a top-50s-playlist for a party, that most people would get along with, despite it probably being composed of quite a variety of different styles. Generally speaking, you wont find lots of complex rhythms or lengthy instrumental passages or strong contrasts in dynamic or speed. Of course that's all the stuff is what actually makes metal so appealing!

Surely, not every metal song ticks all of these boxes, but by far and wide, metal has always been a bit of a more complex, or at least challenging musical beast (pun intended!), than the standard chart fare. It requires dedication from its listeners. Especially once you delved into its more obscure variants; some of you can call acquired tastes! Metal has a rich and cherished history, and a ton of genres and sub genres. In a sense its probably the best religion one can have!

Neurosis - Times of Grace (1999)

Not the cool kids

Right from its beginning, the relationship between metal and music critics - and actually society as a whole - has been a rather difficult one. Of course the critics 'didn't get it' when it came out and continued to dismiss or simply ignore it for a long time. The strong brush strokes of heavy guitar riffs and hard hitting drums made it too easy to dismiss as primitive, untalented and blunt. Still, metal found its fans in pretty much all parts of the world.

Black Sabbath - Sabbath Bloody Sabbath (1973)

I admit it feels weird to see bands like Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden or even an obscure underground formation like Electric Wizard or Mayhem suddenly getting featured in mainstream media sites. They even get positive reviews!

It literally took decades really until metal received some mainstream recognition and I wonder if its simply because it kept sticking around long enough and became part of life for so many people, so it could not be ignored anymore. And in the case of a band that has literally been around said decades, there is no way denying them their cultural significance.

Iron Maiden - The Book of Souls (2015)

 

Metal as a whole might still not quite be liked, or even understood, though. I also think this has a lot do with demographics. Metal never was the socially most accepted music and had always this underdog vibe to it. This working-class, biker, pub and open-air festival smell that is light years away from the hip urban clubs and concert venues, frequented by the typical middle-class music journalist. 

You want it darker.

Darkthrone - Under A Funeral Moon (1993)

The typical themes metal keeps coming back to probably haven't helped its cause either. Lyrics and artworks that deal with death, destruction, war, drug abuse, apocalypse, murder, insanity, corruption, etc - all those dark themes of society and life in general that doesn't makes it terribly appealing for the majority of people. Then again, its exactly this dipping into the dark side of things that's for a large part what makes metal so interesting. It doesn't pretends the world is all fluffy nice and sweet and good. Metal fully acknowledges that the world can be a cold and cruel place - and a lot of it is mankind's own doing.

Slayer - Reign in Blood (1986)

With this in mind, it isn't surprising that a lot of the inspiration that led to the creation of metal initially came from horror films and the way they play with stark themes and emotions like fear, anxiety and aggression in a controlled and safe way. In a way, this can be quite cathartic really. A crossing of boundaries that probably plays a significant role personal development towards adulthood. No surprise that both horror films and metal seem like naturally attractive to adolescent audiences.

Electric Wizard  ‎– Wizard Bloody Wizard (2017)

The flip side of this is the affinity to power fantasies, which are probably just as prevalent in metal. A lot of it is Tolkien or Robert E Howard-inspired, with lyrics full of glorious battles, manly men, mighty swords, heroic deeds and things like that. Deliberate escapism, cranked up to the maximum and often even further: deep into the realms of kitsch and comedy. Not everyone one's taste for sure, but then again - what is?

Blind Guardian - Nightfall In Middle-Earth (1998)

Who do you call Bastard?

Metal's influences are quite divers and at least partly surprising. There is of course hard/heavy rock, where metal directly evolved from. Especially bands like Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple had a big influence. Their hard, often fast, riff-based songs with extensive guitar solos and, at least in Deep Purple's case, a good measure of classical influences  have inspired generations of musicians. If you say hard rock, you have to say blues. It is inseparably part of the composition, rhythm and melodic language of all rock music. Often just speed and heaviness of the sound turned an old blues standard into a hard rock hymn. Just ask Led Zeppelin!

Deep Purple In Rock (1970) - Not quite metal, but highly influential.

Metal did a couple things different though: Heavier in tone; rhythmically and in its song structure more straightforward than its predecessor. Film music was another inspiration. The intense use of contrasting intervals to create tension, the theatrics and more strict composition than the often quite loose style you find it rock music. Metal was always more extreme. Pushing intensity and aggression further than their predecessors ever did.

Rock 'n' Roll, Metal, Hardrock? All of the above! Motörhead (1977)

The evolution of the equipment, especially the electric guitar, played a big role as well. The deliberate creation of distortion of the guitar signal in the 1960s, initially just an unwanted byproduct of increased volume in a tube amplifier, blew the doors into a new world of opportunities wide open. Soon effects were developed that allowed the player to modify the guitar tone even further. The guitar turned from a relatively tame and clear sounding instrument, heavily influenced in its tone by its acoustic predecessor, into a biting, screaming and growling beast. And the players able to control it, became heroes.

Sexy like a fallen angel: Jimmy Page in 1973

With those new possibilities in tone and volume, the playing style evolved too. Soon guitarists realised that, when distorted, relatively simple chord shapes (power chords) and single notes do sound a lot more interesting than when played clean. Notes also sustain a lot longer and even muted notes develop quite a notable, percussive 'chuck'. Soon amps that allow more gain got developed and pedals that made the guitar signal 'hotter' too, making distortion more controllable and further refining and expanding the range of possibilities. All these elements led to the development of new rhythmic and melodic ideas, that created the metal guitar sounds we know today. 

Metal is... so much!

Tool - Lateralus (2001)

Browsing through this little attempt in exploring the origins and the nature of metal, I feel that if there is one thing to take away from it, is that metal is indeed a quite unique cultural phenomenon. Surprisingly long-lived, with passionate, dedicated followers. It is a vast genre. Complex and emotional and speaks to our innermost feelings. Metal is more than just music. 

Happy Birthday you loud and rude piece of music! (Metal exists for half a century now)

How it all came together... Black Sabbath's self-titled debut-album (1970)

Thanks for 2020 being what it is I didn't quite realise that this year marks the 50th birthday of our favourite music genre. Which is quite ironic really since pretty much from the start apocalyptic imagery is one of the defining themes in metal lyrics and artwork.

Probably one of the greatest pieces of escapism in music history ever: Judas Priest - Painkiller (1990)

I talked on this blog before about Black Sabbath's first two albums and what genre-defining significance their music had. And while there have been quite heavy sounding bands around before 1970, like Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Blue Cheer or Steppenwolf, none of them blended such heaviness in tone and rhythm equally dark and (for the time) edgy lyrical themes so consequential and compellingly.

Of course I had to add Metallica. Luckily the motive really fits. Master of Puppets (1986)

The Guardian published a compelling essay about their album Paranoid and I feel I don't have much to add to it, without sounding like I just repeat what they had to say. Therefore, instead of a retrospective, lets have a look at the present - and maybe a little into the future of metal in general too. Over the last 50 years the genre did branch out into countless genres and subgenres, some of them quite narrowly defined and surprisingly traditional. Overall a lot of the metal today feels - pretty much since the 2000s - rather stagnant and often quite bland. Too many bands that try to hit a bigger audience sound very safe and streamlined. The way the music industry today works may play a role here, but as a metal fan who likes the genre for its boldness, stark contrasts and strong emotions it can express, this just feels so wasteful when there is just another... product.

Definitely not just another product. System of a Down's Toxicity (2001)

On the other hand though, the abundance of cheap, good quality equipment and software offers possibilities like never before in the history of music. Any bedroom artist on a tight budget can now access better tools and equipment than professional studios had just a few decades ago. Just go and visit bandcamp. It might not be the most popular choice for listening to music, but what does popularity say anyway? There are tons of exciting bands out there that still radiate that uncompromising, dark and raw feeling that made me simply love metal. Bands that try something new, mix genres and just go for it, without the pressure of hitting a certain target audience or whatever. Bands that just want to make their music.

One of the progressive metal bands that actually is progressive: Opeth - In Cauda Venenum (2019)

Metal might not be as big in the mainstream as it has been in the 80s for example, but that doesn't has to be a bad thing. Not every successful album of that era was necessarily a good one. Streamlined, target audience-focused music isn't a recent invention. To me, metal being more of a niche-genre today is actually a good thing. Its still big enough to draw large crowds to festivals (well, maybe not in 2020^^) and sites like the aforementioned bandcamp, soundcloud or Youtube (yeah, Spotify is missing in this list. I don't use Spotify.) together with small independent record labels offer good platforms for new and exciting bands to be heard. I also wonder how much the current social-distancing-situation will inspire people to pick up an instrument. Like with other music equipment, they have never been that good for that little money.

Folky, experimental doom metal. Chelsea Wolfe - Hiss Spun (2017)

So yeah, its not all doom and gloom for metal (pun intended!). Far from it, actually. There are still plenty of diamonds to discover in the dirt. You might have to dig a little to find them, but its worth it.

Rainbow - Long Live Rock and Roll (1978)

Rainbow's third studio album and the last one with Ronnie James Dio. In retrospect, it's the end of an era: Blackmore, who usually changed almost the whole band lineup between albums anyway, would continue with almost completely new personnel into a much more radio-friendly direction, before eventually disbanding the band in favour of a (quite successful, yet ultimately doomed) reunion of Deep Purple. He would never again release as bold, aggressive and progressive music as he did in the second half of the 70s. What a pity!

Where Rainbow initially not that much liked, and didn't really drew large crowds to their concerts, in retrospect they are one of the defining bands of the emerging heavy-metal genre. Speed, precision, epic lyrics and operatic vocals underlining the classically inspired melodies - Rainbow got it all.

However, compared to their 1976 masterpiece Rising, Long Live Rock and Roll is often seen as the lesser record. I disagree. Rising might been more complex and longer, or more progressive, as one might argue^^ but its successor is just that bit more accessible and compact, has more memorable riffs and - thanks to its more diverse songwriting - feels more engaging. Rising might been a relentless full throttle-trip from start to finish, but Long Live... gives you that little breather from time to time that makes its punches hit you even harder when they come.

And gods, punches it gives. From its cheerfully kickass opening track to the mystical and oriental Gates of Babylon, to the speedmetal powertrip Kill the King, the album has some of the best songs and riffs the band (or Blackmore himself actually) has ever written. Just blisteringly played (and I'm sure some actual blisters were involved), with a vocal performance by Dio, that once again can only be compared to singers like Robert Plant, Rob Halford and Ro... Ian Gillan on top of their game.

It's a shame that this should be the last Rainbow album with Dio's involvement and the band's last straightforward hard-rock album, until 1995's Stranger in Us All. The albums after him were not bad, but too often too streamlined for chart-appeal and too restrained even in their wilder-moments. Luckily for us, Dio stayed true to his style, went straight to Black Sabbath, recorded two stunning albums there, before starting his own project in 1982.

Rainbow - Rising (1976)

Compared to its predecessor Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow, Rising cranks it all up to eleven: the sword and sorcery, the heaviness, the complexity and length of the songs, the instrumental performances - it is basically the quintessential record of the Dio-era. Did the first album sound like the band was dipping their toe into a new world of hard guitar-centered music, in Rising they jumped fully into it.

Probably the best example is the epic Stargazer. Everything is larger than life in this song. A miniature-opera about the rise and (quite literal) fall of a wizard who enslaved the people to build him a tower to the stars. The way guitar and vocals are dramatizing the story here works so well and expressive and organic, with both being at the peak of their abilities, that its a pure, uplifting joy listening to.

Might the rest of the album not quite have the same epic dimension, with predominantly fast-paced songs, it is nevertheless spectacular. A good part of this is due to Cozy Powell's dense and varied drumming, which ties the songs together and works as a perfect counterpoint to the stunning performances of the albums main actors, Blackmore and Dio.

I think in hindsight you can see how influential Rising was to 80's metal: The breakneck guitar shredding, the fantasy-centered cover artwork and lyrics, delivered by an almost operatic vocalist and the occasional keyboard flavouring - all these bits became commonplaces in the decade after.
Its just a shame that the band initially wasn't too successful. About five years later, when the world was finally ready for this type of music and bands like Iron Maiden and Manowar filled the venues playing quite similar material, Blackmore had pushed Rainbow into radio-friendly territories instead. Luckily for us, Dio kept on waving the heavy-metal banner high. First with Black Sabbath and later as solo-artist with his own band.
All in all, Rising is definitely a milestone in the evolution of metal and an underrated masterpiece. And even the cover is less eye-watering than the first one!

Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow (1975)

A lot has been written about Ritchie Blackmore's departure from Deep Purple and the formation of his own project, Rainbow. That he de facto took over the band Elf, which was supporting Deep Purple while touring around that time and had a certain Ronnie James Dio on vocals... So I spare ourselves a more extensive recap. Instead, onwards to the meat and potatoes!

The album begins with Man on the Silver Mountain, which, surely not coincidentally, has some similarities to that one Deep Purple song everyone knows. Just like Smoke on the Water the main riff is played in fourths (quite a trademark of Blackmore and found in a lot of his songs throughout his career) and the song grooves confidently along in the mid-tempo range. Quite radio-friendly actually. But as similar the songs are, Ronnie James Dio's vocal performance adds a more dramatic and operatic vibe to it, than Ian Gillan does. Where Smoke on the Water muses on the very worldly events during the recording of Deep Purple's album Machine Head and even includes their exact location in its lyrics ("We all came out to Montreux..."), Man on the Silver Mountain is more cryptic and evokes mystic imagery and is located very much in fantasy-land. Or Middle Earth.

While there are some more typical rock'n'roll songs as well, namely Black Sheep of the Family and If you don't like Rock and Roll, they appear really as the weaker moments of the album. I often get the impression Blackmore isn't that comfortable playing blues or blues-based material and these songs are showcasing this pretty well. While they are technically flawlessly played, they sound maybe a bit too clinical for their own good. Maybe the band tried to emulate Led Zeppelin here. Not a bad attempt, but they just lack their swagger. And Zeppelin was all swagger really.
(I think Blackmore actually wanted Rainbow to be a mix between Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple, so there you go: Deep Zeppelin or Led Purple, take your pick.)

Luckily for the remainder of the album the band is very much speaking its own language and tries not to sound like anyone else. And to the benefit of the songs: the ballads don't try to be folky or something like that, as Zeppelin did before. Instead they take their inspiration from classical music and medieval tunes. After all, Blackmore is more a Bach- and Beethoven guy. Its quite funny to listen to songs like Temple of the King or Catch the Rainbow, realizing that twenty years before forming Blackmore's Night, he pretty much made already the same music!

Where the album really shines however, is in the hard and heavy end of the spectrum. Namely songs like Sixteenth Century Greensleeves and Snake Charmer. Here the epic fantasy can run freely: liberated from the limitations of 12-bar blues and straight into proto power-metal territory with Dio's heroic voice, heavy drumming, fast arpeggios and punchy riffs. Great songs which heritage can still be heard in today's metal.

As it is typical for a rock band of the 70's, especially with such strong lead personalities as Blackmore and Dio are, the rhythm-section - Craig Gruber on bass and Gary Driscoll on drums - stays consistently in the background. They certainly do a good job and give the songs a very naturally flowing feel while at the same time very competently delivering heaviness, but you can sense they are not the most important members of this band. Same applies to Mickey Lee Soule on the keys. At least he gets a bit of spotlight with his rock'n'roll piano in Black Sheep of the Family. But for vastly the largest part this album is very much a guitar-plus-singer album.

All in all, Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow is a bit of a mixed bag. It certainly has great moments and historic significance. The two main protagonists Blackmore and Dio can really shine and show off their talents. On the other hand, it feels like the band hasn't fully explored their possibilities yet. Something that would change with their follow-up album Rising.
And yes, the cover is ghastly. As influential their music was, their choice of artwork sadly was so too.

Deep Purple - Machine Head (1972)

For many Machine Head is the best album of the Mk2 era. An opinion I never really shared. Sure it has Highway Star, Space Trucking, Lazy and - of course - their biggest hit, Smoke on the Water. A strong line-up of songs. But is it really? Let's have a look.

The opener, Highway Star, features a perfectly executed build-up and a machine-precise, driving groove in perfect interplay with vocals, riffing and spot-on neoclassical* soloing. Its a showcase piece of what this band was able to. I think you can't handle the subject matter more elegantly than with with Highway Star. An outstanding piece of music. Pure genius.

Other songs, like Maybe I'm a Leo, Pictures of Home and Never Before tell a different story though. Not that they are bad. They are all very well executed, but they don't excite or offer much memorable. Highway Star is a song that evolved and got perfected on stage, resulting in such a well-composed and exciting piece of music. The trio above, on the contrary, simply feels generic.
Ironically, Never Before was actually the song the band gave the most chances of being a hit single. It consequently has been released as one (with a much more captivating When a Blind Man Cries as B-side) and peaked at - #35 of the UK charts. So much for good judgement. I wonder if that's a sign of the band getting tired already of their Sturm und Drang-sound of In Rock and Fireball.

Smoke on the Water though, I guess I don't have to say too much about that one. Maybe just so much: its a really good song, no doubt. With a very catchy riff obviously. Overplayed? Definitely, Overrated? Maybe a little! Being consistent with their former decision with Never Before, the song was not released as a single. At least not initially. Only after radio stations picked it up, it was eventually released. In May 1973.

The two remaining songs on the original release, Lazy and Space Trucking are a cut above the trio Maybe, Leo and Never, but again not as inspired and captivating as you would expect from such a highly rated album. Lazy is, after a very tasteful keyboard-intro, basically a refined jam-session based a catchy guitar riff. Its really nice to hear the band grooving along. No doubt about that. They are  so organic and precise - but that's just not enough to make a great song out of it.
And Space Trucking is in its studio-version maybe a bit too restrained to really take off, which is a pity, since everything seems to be in place: a really catchy riff (played with an Hammond organ via Marshall guitar-amps, actually), silly, catchy vocals and once again their superb rhythm-section. Blackmore has some good moments as well.  Now, if that song would been a couple minutes longer, with a bit more experimentation...

So much for the original release on LP. Later versions of the album include When a Blind Man Cries. A song so touching and fragile that it makes me really wonder why it didn't make it on the album initially. Especially, since Machine Head stays well under the 40-minute mark without it. Maybe it didn't fit to their image to have a ballad, who knows. Then again, Fireball had Anyone's Daughter, and having one ballad as a little breather doesn't sounds like such a bad idea to me, if there is so much space for off-the-shelf rock songs on this record.

In the end, Machine Head lives from a couple outstanding songs, with some generous padding by mediocrity. In terms of creativity and excitement it can't reach Fireball, or In Rock, which were daring and have their sparks flying so much more than this record. On the other hand, Machine Head is more focussed and compact and maybe a bit more radio-friendly this way. The sound has also improved quite notably compared to its predecessors, being nicely crisp and transparent.
Overall its still a good album. Maybe not as inspired as it could be, but listening to a band that plays so well together like Deep Purple makes it still a quite enjoyable thing.

Black Sabbath - Paranoid (1970)

My first contact with Black Sabbath was through a German TV ad in the 90s, which used the song Paranoid for a quite silly recreation of that famous scene in Wayne's World. It wasn't even the original song but a pretty close cover version, which - in retrospect - seems quite fitting: play the pastiche of a cult song in a pastiche of a scene from a cult movie.

Anyway, I started my enquiries (luckily rock and metal is strong in my family) and after I learned song title and artists name, I went to a local record store, bravely ignored the rather stupid cover motive, bought the CD and well, music wasn't the same again after listening through this album for the first time.

While their first album is generally seen as the birth of heavy metal, thanks to their trademark sound* and gloomy subject matter, things really took off with their second album, Paranoid.
Released just months after their debut, you would maybe expect this record being an afterthought, but to the contrary: the amount of power and doom the band unleashes here is just spectacular and literally unheard of. With Paranoid the band definitely found their groove and cranked up the dials to elven!

Lyrically the album moved away from the supernatural/satanic imagery of songs like Black Sabbath or NIB towards a more gritty, real-life perspective, with the danger of the nuclear apocalypse (War Pigs, Electric Funeral), insanity (Paranoid, obviously) and drug addiction (Hand of Doom) being the overarching themes. And the album clearly benefits from this shift. It's songs still speak to us and possess a timeless, intimate quality.

The atmosphere of its lyrics resonates in the music itself: The bluesy-jazzy vibe of its predecessor is almost gone; exposing the bare bones of the bands heavy riffing and drumming. In fact, only the screaming, psycho-esque (you know, that shower scene) high notes in Iommi's soloing are a descendant of his jazz-influences. The result is a more condensed and focused record with no frills. And a pretty bleak one. The perfect soundtrack for the apocalypse and a how-to-guide for generations of upcoming doom bands.

*And lets be fair: neither of the other two big heavy rock bands of the early 70s, Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple, had that an uncompromising sound. So kudos to Sabbath for changing the game.

Van Halen (1978)

It's probably fair to say that this album started the 80s. At least when it comes to hard rock/heavy metal. Such energetic songs, the top-of-the-line production and, most critically, Eddie van Halen's groundbreaking guitar.

He is often described as the one who brought tapping to the electric guitar, but while its certainly a spectacular technique, I actually rate his characteristic sound (the so-called "brown tone", the blueprint for the 80s-typical high gain) and his masterful use of the instrument in the context of the songs actually as his bigger achievement.

Like Jimi Hendrix ten years before him, van Halen's playing blends rhythm and melody together so naturally, so skilfully that its just sheer exciting joy to hear these songs. So much talent, yet so much tasteful playing for the songs and not for the sake of virtuosity (well, most of the time).

Ain't Talkin' 'bout Love is a perfect example for that. It kicks off with this brilliant riff (its a bit overused maybe, but that's not the riff's fault!), which still sounds modern despite being recorded 40 years ago. Same applies for the Kinks-cover You Really Got Me, which feels like a natural evolution of the original song. After all, the Kinks where amongst the first who experimented with distorted sounds. Namely on this very song, so there is that.

Eruption, on the other hand, is a different animal altogether. I remember when I listened to it for the first time and it sounded so futuristic. Like the guitar turned into a synthesizer in some parts - brilliant!
Of course its pure technique-wanking, lets be straight about that. A highly skilfully played tapping demo and it can't hide its nature, despite being played with a lot of melody and taste. It therefore sounds a little dated today. Tapping is not as revolutionary anymore and shredding became commonplace really. Or - even worse - something like a sport.
Therefore, Eruption feels to me now like a magician's trick when you find out how he did it: the sense of wonder simply has worn off a bit.

This doesn't stops being Van Halen's first from being a outstanding, game changing record and really fun to listen. The duo Eddie Van Halen (guitar, of course) and David Lee Roth (vocals) works together so congenially and turns the album into a damn good party.

Lyrically the album ticks all the boxes of sleazy cock-rock. But you don't listen to Van Halen because you expect something meaningful or even poetic, so don't expect to get it.

All in all, its a spectacular record. Probably one of the best debut albums of all time. Technically and musically it is still brilliant and quite timeless. The only weak spots are the shallow and sleazy lyrics really, but with that Van Halen are in excellent company.

Black Sabbath (1970)

There are barely more genres a single album is said to have originated than Black Sabbath's debut. I'm not going to list them all, but rock music definitely hasn't been the same since. Other bands might have experimented with heaviness in their sound as well, but the sheer amount of rawness and doom the first couple of minutes on this album evoke - for a big part thanks to Ozzy's haunted madman voice that brilliantly complements the instrumental part - were something new and literally unheard of. The band later said that their inspiration for their name and sound were horror films and well, it shows!

Beside all its heaviness - and there is plenty - Black Sabbath eponymous first album album also shows that they didn't fell from the sky as the band they are known as, but evolved into it. There are still some strong bluesy, even distinctively jazzy elements in their playing that were pretty quickly phased out in later songs. Especially in the second, more improvised half with Sleeping Village and The Warning have the feel of a heavy-rock-meets-jazz jam really, which actually works really well.

Another quite distinctive attribute this album has is its raw, unpolished sound, which has almost live-qualities. If we can believe guitarist Toni Iommi, and I do, the album has been recorded on a single day, with very few overdubs. Quite the opposite of what they would do just in a couple years time, where the studio sessions dragged on for weeks, even months.

Like many debut albums, Black Sabbath isn't as perfect and polished as their later work, but shows a band that has opened the gate to a new world. In the coming years they, and after them many other bands would step through this gate and continue upon what this album started.

Hawkwind - In Search of Space (1971)

What a weird piece of music: Already the first track You Shouldn't Do That, that clocks in at about fifteen minutes, greets you with repetitive, chanting vocals, proto-stoner rhythm guitar and driving drums, like a spaceship racing on hyper-speed through the universe - and on top of all that is a saxophone! Welcome to Hawkwind! Welcome to In Search of Space!

And really, this is an astonishingly whimsical record. Not the most accessible, as you might have guessed by now, even with their hit-single Silver Machine included as bonus track. But all in all, certainly a captivating, even hypnotic melange of the LSD- and space-age aesthetics of their time.

If you like trippy music far away from the usual conventions, In Search of Space is definitely for you. Its maybe not quite on the level some of their later records, like Hall of the Mountain Grill, but still a strong piece of music with a lot of character and atmosphere.

Motörhead (1977)

When I was listening to a Sex Pistols song on the radio the other day, I was utterly unimpressed and wondered for a moment, if there wasn't anything better that came out around that time. In the same moment I realized, it did: Motörhead's debut album!

I must confess that I came relatively late to Motörhead and I completely blame my own ignorance for that. I always thought it was something like a mix of AC/DC meets punk rock - neither of which can excite me. One of the first encounters I had with the band was on the Soundtrack to Hellraiser III (or was it IV?), which didn't really impress me either. Too polished and too off the shelf.

Luckily I gave them another chance, namely with some of their earlier stuff and holy shit, I was so wrong about them! They quickly turned into one of my favourite bands. So much about prejudices, huh?

As you might figure, I like their earlier material most, with No Sleep till Hammersmith being their peak. The sheer raw energy is just astonishing and really outstanding. Their first album, while overall not quite up there yet, shows the band already had together the right ingredients from the outset: lean and fast paced urban rock'n'roll, speed-freak paranoia - and a good dose of dirt, sex and violence. Especially the amazing song quartet Lost Johnny, Iron Horse/Born To Lose, White Line Fever and Keep us on the Road blend these things together perfectly (and they are even in sequence) - for me the absolute highlight of the album.

Yes, there are a couple of fillers, namely on its 2nd half, but it still transports enough energy to keep you entertained. And once it is finished - after a bit more than half an hour runtime - you definitely will crave for more!

Deep Purple - Fireball (1971)

Fireball doesn't have it easy. As follow-up album to In Rock, Deep Purple's immensely successful, all-out-assault on the audience's hearing, it probably met the wrong expectations. Despite its fast namesake opener (and probably one of the very first times in rock history to feature double-bass drumming), it is a much more nuanced and varied affair.

Bluesy rock 'n' roll elements can be found here just as well as progressive spacerock-tunes. Hell, with Anyone's Daughter, even a country-song made it on the record - and it does good there!

If someone expected In Rock II however, that can only end in disappointment. In Fireball you can hear a band that doesn't needs to prove anything, but instead can experiment a little and extending their scope. The driving urge of its predecessor is gone and replaced by confidence and playfulness, without losing any of its heavyness - resulting in a brilliant, if slightly atypical album.

Its a pity that Deep Purple didn't pursue the direction they took with Fireball further. The next album, Machine Head, would become more restraint, and straightforward. Possibly reflecting the growing tensions within the band, which eventually led to their split in 1973 and a long painful road to disbandment a couple years later.

In this context, Fireball gives us a glimpse into the band Deep Purple could have been, if this line-up just had a couple more creative years. Who knows what amazing songs they would have made?

Led Zeppelin - Physical Graffiti (1975)

This album could have been so great. Houses of the Holy, Trampled Underfoot and the monumental Kashmir - three songs that alone would have guaranteed Physical Graffiti a masterpiece-status, if that would have been all there was.
Sadly they decided to make a double-LP, which meant that the other, roughly three quarters of the runtime had to be filled as well... somehow.

The result is a at times brilliant and exciting (as aforementioned songs document), at times terribly meandering and aimless record. Great material, like In My Time Of Dying get dragged out and swamped seemingly endlessly without any need. And its not doing the songs a favour really. A lot of the material on Physical Graffiti could have worked in half its run-time and maybe preserved more of its emotional impact in the process.
And that's the tragedy of this album: It shows that Led Zeppelin indeed could have lived up to their own standards with wonderfully crafted songs and their feel for melody and their distinctive inventiveness - just by far not often enough. The album as a whole is just way too rambling and meandering. One could think that half the time they just kept the tape recorder running and jammed along. A pity, since it makes Physical Graffiti feel uninspired and yes, tired.

At least this makes the few good songs in it really stand out:

Deep Purple In Rock (1970)

For many, In Rock is Deep Purple's de-facto debut album, despite the band being already around for a while and having released 3 studio albums and a recording of their Concerto for Group and Orchestra. But by all means, In Rock is the record where they finally got their act together!

Prior to it the band was stuck in a creative limbo somewhere between aping Vanilla-Fudge-style psychedelica and playing with string quartets. You can argue about the former being a good idea or not, but the latter is for itself certainly not a bad thing at all. Alas, the band didn't feel really at home with the music they were making. Its not like their songs of that era were bad. Not at all. Unfocused maybe at times, but played at a high standard of song-writing and musicianship. It was maybe just a bit too cerebral and melodramatic to really grab you.

A change in line-up (Ian Gillan replaced Rod Evans as singer, and Roger Glover took over bass-duties from Nick Simper) brought finally a shift in direction towards the more condensed, no-frills heavy rock-style of In Rock. And indeed it sounds like this is a different band. Sure, you recognize the musicians and their individual styles if you listen closely, but the end result is just so staggeringly different. In Rock is almost brutal in its directness and sheer noise. At the same time its very groovy too, but like heavy machinery running at high speed: with an undeniable urge and density. A captivating, even radical performance that takes you for an exciting flat-out ride, leaving their past works behind in the dust.

This said, the album isn't the most diverse. With the exception of the monumental Child in Time, the songs are pretty straightforward and mostly tend to be either fast and heavy or slow and heavy. Not a bad thing really. It makes in Rock a coherent experience, saturating its listener in sound. The album is one of the earliest, defining moments of hard/heavy rock music; it doesn't has to be all polished or refined. To the contrary: its raw, uncompromising nature is what inspired generations of bands after them to do their own thing.

Listening to it in 2018, In Rock still excites me. Yes, you can hear its age. It sounds very late 60s, early 70s, but looking at how many bands are trying to emulate a retro-sound and look, that's not really a bad thing. And the album still excites. The sheer energy and playfulness of the band is just as present as when In Rock came out.