Smoke on the Water - Heavy Metal?

[hiram.k.hackenbacker]

I’ve found the answer. Smoke on the Water is not on the soundtrack, therefore, it can’t be Heavy Metal 🤷‍♂️ 😜

 

[ubit]

  On 12/07/2021 at 10:36, Chezz55 said:

I don't regard Deep Purple as a 'Heavy Metal' band at all.

I do think that the Mk II Deep Purple line-up (Lord , Blackmore , Paice , Gillan & Glover) was one of the finest Rock Bands, irrespective of genre.

To my ears - 'In Rock' and 'Machine Head' remain first class studio 'rock' albums - and 'Made In Japan' is the definitive live 'rock' album.

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I agree that now they are not heavy metal but at the time of my yoof (early 80's) they were considered heavy metal. At least that's what we thought and we were the ones buying their records.

Classic cars used to be just cars.

[EssentialTension]

  On 12/07/2021 at 10:11, 4000 said:

... at school (oop North) it was all referred to as heavy rock ...

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In Birmingham, as a teenager in the late sixties, I too recollect it as 'heavy rock' which in effect meant 'serious rock' as opposed to 'popular rock'. 'Heavy' as opposed to 'light' in seriousness.

And 'heavy' was not limited to rock. You could be a singer-songwriter and be 'heavy', if you were serious enough e.g. Dylan.

So to call something 'heavy' was to call it serious, with the implication that it was 'better'. There was no mention of metal.

There was a Birmingham record shop called Heavyhead; a 'head' being someone who was into 'heavy' i.e. serious music. Owned if I recall correctly by Bev Bevan.

'Man, that's really serious man'.

 

Your mileage may vary.

 

 

[Passinwind]

  On 12/07/2021 at 10:56, ubit said:

Classic cars used to be just cars.

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Yep, and all this stuff is just Oldies now. Self included! 😎

[Supernaut]

Never understood those who get so upset about a topic that they feel the need to constantly post on it pointing out that it is in fact everyone else that is wrong. 

Edited July 12, 2021 by Supernaut

[MacDaddy]

  On 12/07/2021 at 13:18, Supernaut said:

Never understood those who get so upset about a topic that they feel the need to constantly post on it pointing out that it is in fact everyone else that is wrong. 

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i think you're wrong about that.

sorry, someone had to 🤣

[hiram.k.hackenbacker]

I heard a track on the radio whilst I was coming back from the tip today (glamorous life I know) and it made me think what I would sub categorise it as and I came to the conclusion that ‘heavy metal’ would probably fit it quite well.

 

[Killed_by_Death]

  On 12/07/2021 at 13:18, Supernaut said:

those who get so upset about a topic

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 Who is upset?

 

  On 12/07/2021 at 13:18, Supernaut said:

they feel the need to constantly post on it

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  Twice in two weeks?, constant?

 

  On 12/07/2021 at 13:18, Supernaut said:

pointing out that it is in fact everyone else that is wrong

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  The majority agrees with my original thoughts, so where is the argument?

 

 

[Supernaut]

  On 12/07/2021 at 14:50, Killed_by_Death said:

 Who is upset?

 

  Twice in two weeks?, constant?

 

  The majority agrees with my original thoughts, so where is the argument?

 

 

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Wasn't aimed at you, my friend... have a nice cup of tea. ☕

Edited July 12, 2021 by Supernaut

[Killed_by_Death]

 

I'm having Zero-Sugar 7-Up & getting ready to make some spag-bol.

 

[Jus Lukin]

-

Edited March 15, 2022 by Jus Lukin

[Killed_by_Death]

 

We make it a little spicy, sambal!

 

[Cliff Edge]

  On 10/07/2021 at 22:27, OliverBlackman said:

It’s classic rock, with emphasis on classic 😉

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Depends on your definition of classic. It’s of its time, and it’s certainly not heavy metal in the recognised sense. And I’ve often wondered who comes up with these definitions. Why Heavy Metal ferinstance?

Was it some jobbing scribbler on the NME?

[ezbass]

  On 12/07/2021 at 15:24, Cliff Edge said:

Depends on your definition of classic. It’s of its time, and it’s certainly not heavy metal in the recognised sense. And I’ve often wondered who comes up with these definitions. Why Heavy Metal ferinstance?

Was it some jobbing scribbler on the NME?

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Possibly, or some other music rag de jour. However, I think I’m right in saying that the term was pinched from Steppenwolf’s Born to be Wild (happy to be corrected).

[Killed_by_Death]

 

mmm, good: mozzarella, parmesan, romano

[hiram.k.hackenbacker]

  On 12/07/2021 at 15:24, Cliff Edge said:

Depends on your definition of classic. It’s of its time, and it’s certainly not heavy metal in the recognised sense. And I’ve often wondered who comes up with these definitions. Why Heavy Metal ferinstance?

Was it some jobbing scribbler on the NME?

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Am I correct in saying that the song could only be considered as ‘classic rock’ due to the passage of time since it’s release? I think ‘classic rock’ is the closest term that fits this song and ‘Machine Head’; in fact, probably Deep Purple as a band as well. How that fits with their current output being as they’re still around today I don’t know. It’s all very confusing.

[skankdelvar]

  On 12/07/2021 at 15:24, Cliff Edge said:

Depends on your definition of classic. It’s of its time, and it’s certainly not heavy metal in the recognised sense. And I’ve often wondered who comes up with these definitions. Why Heavy Metal ferinstance?

Was it some jobbing scribbler on the NME?

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  On 12/07/2021 at 17:06, ezbass said:

Possibly, or some other music rag de jour. However, I think I’m right in saying that the term was pinched from Steppenwolf’s Born to be Wild (happy to be corrected).

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Who came up with the name 'Heavy Metal'?

Lengthy piece here by Deena Weinstein, Professor of Sociology at DePaul University in Chicago (really). Library searches, phone calls, exchanges of correspondence; quite the detective story. The minor problem for me is that it seems that the originator wasn't really thinking of what we call heavy metal music when they first used the term.

Answer in spoiler box:

  Reveal hidden contents

It was Lester Bangs in the Feb 1970 issue of Rolling Stone, possibly influenced by the writings of William Burroughs and / or an awareness of a Burroughs-influenced British band Hapshash and the Coloured Coat Featuring the Human Host and the Heavy Metal Kids, an art-rock combo unrelated to the band known as The Heavy Metal Kids which formed in 1973 and which might best be described as a hard rock band even though their Wikipedia entry dubs them a glam rock band which they pretty obviously aren't.

 

Edited July 12, 2021 by skankdelvar

[Cliff Edge]

  On 12/07/2021 at 17:06, ezbass said:

Possibly, or some other music rag de jour. However, I think I’m right in saying that the term was pinched from Steppenwolf’s Born to be Wild (happy to be corrected).

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Heavy metal thunder refers to motor cycles, not a music genre. Some people consider the song the first heavy metal song but this is not likely as it was written as a ballad. Steppenwolf just upped the tempo and changed some lyrics. And they were not a heavy metal band either.  But who originally applied the phrase to a music genre or a band?

[Killed_by_Death]

 

Led Zeppelin use Heavy Metal to refer to a big engine:

Check that heavy metal
Underneath your hood

[Stub Mandrel]

 

  On 11/07/2021 at 10:01, Ricky Rioli said:

I recently read someone trying to claim that nothing pre-Metallica was metal, which if true would create the question: why tf did they call themselves Metallica? 🙄

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Does that make Elastica the progenitors of Heavy Rubber?

  On 11/07/2021 at 12:33, Ricky Rioli said:

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I used to know (via a forum) a guy who re-programmed a vibrator to be replete with all sorts of adventurous variations. Apparent it was very much appreciated. He also designed an early LED luminaire that burnt down a petrol station due to an unforseen failure mode. This lead to some safety concerns about said toy...

  On 12/07/2021 at 10:56, ubit said:

I agree that now they are not heavy metal but at the time of my yoof (early 80's) they were considered heavy metal. At least that's what we thought and we were the ones buying their records.

Classic cars used to be just cars.

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Back in my day Zeppelin, Sabbath and Deep Purple were your starting point for defining heavy metal.

The question should be why has heavy metal forgotten its roots? And the answer is probably that most of the 70s heavy metal bands are now seen as passe and tame.

[Guest]

The Wikipedia entry on Heavy Metal is extraordinarily thorough on all this. 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heavy_metal_music

[Stub Mandrel]

One thing that is usually missed is that heavy metal had its roots in heavy blues music, but it took a prog-like route towards more complex song structures and a wide range of influences and styles, rather than being loud, distorted rock and roll like AC/DC (very rooted in the blues).

Possibly what stands out most about early heavy metal is the abundance of influences like folk, ballads and even jazz.

<edit> when I was at uni, a lot of discussion revolved around whether, in the future, heavy metal and prog would be seen to be the successors to classical music. We certainly felt many classical composers would have been into the same music as us - Wagner, Bach, Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky.

Edited July 12, 2021 by Stub Mandrel

[Guest]

  On 12/07/2021 at 18:42, Stub Mandrel said:

The question should be why has heavy metal forgotten its roots? And the answer is probably that most of the 70s heavy metal bands are now seen as passe and tame.

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From an article about 1986. Then, Metallica were supporting Ozzy.

[Cliff Edge]

  On 12/07/2021 at 18:34, skankdelvar said:

Who came up with the name 'Heavy Metal'?

Lengthy piece here by Deena Weinstein, Professor of Sociology at DePaul University in Chicago (really). Library searches, phone calls, exchanges of correspondence; quite the detective story. The minor problem for me is that it seems that the originator wasn't really thinking of what we call heavy metal music when they first used the term.

Answer in spoiler box:

  Reveal hidden contents

It was Lester Bangs in the Feb 1970 issue of Rolling Stone, possibly influenced by the writings of William Burroughs and / or an awareness of a Burroughs-influenced British band Hapshash and the Coloured Coat Featuring the Human Host and the Heavy Metal Kids, an art-rock combo unrelated to the band known as The Heavy Metal Kids which formed in 1973 and which might best be described as a hard rock band even though their Wikipedia entry dubs them a glam rock band which they pretty obviously aren't.

 

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Interesting piece, thanks for that, but it fails to come up with a definite answer. All the suspects, music critics, never really liked the music, describing it in various ways as a load of over loud rubbish.  Bangs review of the Black Sabbath album though, is hilarious. 

[SteveXFR]

There's a lot of suggestions that Led Zeppelin were one of the originators of heavy metal but no mention of The Who. I would see The Who as having heavier music than Zeppelin especially with Bonhams drums and Entwistles bass.