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| From | "Sager, Greg" <greg.sager@bankofamerica.com> |
| Subject | Re: Uncharacteristically poppy metal or hard rock songs |
| Date | Mon, 01 May 2006 15:50:27 -0400 |
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> Date: Fri, 28 Apr 2006 12:36:22 -0700 (PDT)
> From: "Randall J. Paske" <panacea42@yahoo.com>
> To: audities@smoe.org
> Subject: Re: Uncharacteristically poppy metal or hard rock songs
> Message-ID: <20060428193623.83821.qmail@web53507.mail.yahoo.com>
>
> I was never into metal, but AC/DC has some big hooks
> in some of their songs. If they've been mentioned, I
> missed it.
AC/DC isn't a metal band. They're a hard rock band. The distinction is
crucial if you're into metal, since the genre's acolytes tend to be
pretty zealous about matters of taxonomy. Metallers, for example, are
typically provoked into paroxysms of angry shouting when the terms
"hair-metal" and "pop-metal" are used to describe such 80s acts as
Poison, Bon Jovi, Def Leppard, and Motley Crue. Hard rock is party
music, with lyrics that typically frame a raunchier take on the
traditional male/female concerns of popular music, and in that sense
those 80s hair bands definitely fit the description of hard rock; metal
tends to employ a darker and more ominous sonic atmosphere, with lyrics
to match.
Plus, as a general rule (with plenty of exceptions, of course), metal
tends to feature lead-guitar riffs as the basic melodies of songs,
whereas hard rock tends to use the standard pop music method of building
melodies around chord progressions, albeit with more pronounced (and
louder, of course) soloing. When hard rock songs *are* constructed with
a riff as the main melody line (e.g., Blue Oyster Cult's "Don't Fear The
Reaper"), the riff follows the Law of the Pop Hook: it's short,
repetitive, and catchy enough to keep you humming it long after the song
stops playing.
AC/DC is one of the contenders for the title of "quintessential hard
rock band", along with Aerosmith and Van Halen. AC/DC is even less metal
than either of the other two, since the Aussies' sound is much more
spare and uses the open spaces between the chords as much as the chords
themselves to achieve the desired fist-pumping effect. The ur-metal band
was Blue Cheer ("Summertime Blues") back in the sixties, and Hendrix,
Cream, and Led Zeppelin were important precursors as well, but Black
Sabbath was, is, and will always be the definitive act within the metal
genre.
Because hard rock is basically a louder and more aggressive version of
the standard rock'n'roll format, it too is dependent upon hooks -- which
explains both the success of AC/DC and Aerosmith, since when they were
at their best both bands were extremely hooky. The aforementioned "hair
metal" bands also strived for the big hooks and anthemic choruses, with
varying results. Metal fans consider such things to be "commercial" (a
dirty word) and bands that employ them tend to be tagged as "sellouts".
The cultic true-believer quotient is as high in the metal community as
it is in the hardcore punk community.
In a sense, then, it's a bit of an oxymoron to refer to
"uncharacteristically poppy hard rock". Hard rock *strives to be poppy*
in the sense of having big hooks and a memorable melody. Harmonies, too;
as someone else has pointed out, one of the characteristics of Van Halen
songs is Michael Anthony's stacked background vocals in the choruses.
AC/DC does the same thing, except that their background chorus vocals
inevitably sound more like the chanting of drunken soccer fans than the
immaculate harmonies of the Beach Boys or the Beatles. By contrast,
metal fans take to background vocals about as warmly as they do to
accordions or zithers. And the hair bands of the 80s? They were all
about the big chorus, the catchy melody, and the "hey, baby, let's get
laid" lyrics characteristic of hard rock rather than heavy metal.
The question isn't whether a hard rock song is "uncharacteristically
poppy" or not. The poppiness of a hard rock song, as in most other
genres, plays a crucial role in whether the song succeeds at all or not.
Like all genre conventions, the line between metal and hard rock is
fairly elastic. For example, metal fans have always accepted Judas
Priest as one of their top-level acts (and the Priest always played up
their allegiance to heavy metal), but they were definitely more of a
hard rock band a lot of the time. "Living After Midnight", to cite one
of their songs that's best-known by the listening public at large, is a
textbook hard rock song.
> Date: Fri, 28 Apr 2006 13:26:26 -0700 (PDT)
> From: Hersh Forman <hiforman@yahoo.com>
> To: audities@smoe.org
> Subject: Re: Uncharacteristically poppy metal or hard rock songs
> Message-ID: <20060428202626.38134.qmail@web53004.mail.yahoo.com>
>
> Guns 'n Roses did a great live version of Mark (Moogy)
> Klingman's "Dust In The Wind" (originally from Todd's
> "Something/Anything" side 4).
Guns'n'Roses is another band that's hard rock rather than metal. Lotsa
poppy hooks in Guns'n'Roses songs ... well, the good ones, anyway. Not
surprising, since Axl Rose has always been a disciple of Elton John and
Queen.
> Date: Fri, 28 Apr 2006 16:58:39 -0400
> From: hsomers@law.gwu.edu
> To: audities@smoe.org
> Subject: Metal Pop
> Message-ID: <445249BF.23708.1794740@localhost>
>
>
> I'm putting together a CD for a friend and need some good
> poppy songs by
> bands that are normally more metal or hard rock.
>
> How 'bout Blue Oyster Cult's "Burnin' for You"?
>
> Best,
>
> Herb
BOC's an interesting case in that, like Judas Priest, they played upon
metal conventions. BOC utilized the same sort of macho biker image as
Priest, but augmented it with arcane, science-fiction-derived or
pseudo-occultic lyrical imagery closer to the metal ideal than Priest's
rather basic testosterone-fueled ruminations upon sexual debauchery,
violence, and boozing. And yet BOC was never really a heavy metal band.
Their sound on record lack the crushing punchiness characteristic of
metal, and they, too, focused more upon concise songwriting and
utilizing hooks than upon stacking one ponderous riff upon another. It's
telling that BOC has always stated that their primary influence was the
Doors, rather than the typical metal staples (Hendrix, Cream, Led
Zeppelin, Black Sabbath).
>
> Date: Fri, 28 Apr 2006 22:45:44 +0100
> From: "Michael Curry" <mikecurry@hotmail.co.uk>
> To: audities@smoe.org
> Subject: Re: Metal Pop
> Message-ID: <BAY110-F3581745FF5E8AF95E4C82AF7B20@phx.gbl>
>
> ...or Blue Oyster Cult's "Goin' Thru' The Motions"?
Cowritten by Ian Hunter and BOC lead vocalist Eric Bloom. That's another
telling sign of how BOC didn't really see themselves as a metal band;
during their 70s heyday they tended to collaborate with people like
Hunter and Patti Smith (whose boyfriend back in the late 70s was BOC
keyboardist Alan Lanier).
Also, one of BOC's most popular songs is a ballad written by Lanier that
appeared on their 1979 album *Mirrors* called "In Thee". It was a
departure for them, but it fit very well within the context of that
album and was well-accepted by their fans. But the idea of a metal band
doing a ballad is anathema to most metallers; when Metallica released
their first-ever acoustic ballad, "Nothing Else Matters", there was a
big hue-and-cry from within their fanbase about Metallica "selling out".
Gregory Sager
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