The origin of the term "heavy metal" has been credited to Beat novelist William Burroughs. He made mention in his novel Naked Lunch....which I do have.
As far as what constitutes a metal song, it obviously has the loud guitars, with lyrics dealing with the occult, mysticism or the evil side of human nature. An art movement was started in France back in the 1800s(from what I recall)dealing with the topics I just mentioned. The actual French term I'd have to look up again.
127 -
Khaos Angel
Nov 14, 2009 at 10:37 am
I'm pretty sure this isn't answering the title. Heavy Metal originated from Metal, which orginated from "Bluesies-Rock" or "Heavy Blues" which originated from Bands like Cream.
128 -
Khaos Angel
Nov 14, 2009 at 10:40 am
And BTW, noone "invents" a certain type of music. It gets changed by bands and only "pioneered" and "made famous"
129 -
Jesushi
Jan 03, 2010 at 9:59 pm
acually, the first metal song was helter skelter by the beatles. i dont know the first metal band though.
Who cares if Iron Maiden didn't get on with Priest back in the day. Back in the day they Iron Maiden were the opening act.
Priest >>> Maiden.
135 -
heather
May 14, 2010 at 9:22 am
who care about this stuff
136 -
RaWR!
Jul 19, 2010 at 4:05 pm
i like ham...ham is good
137 -
mark lanzarotta
Aug 20, 2010 at 3:32 pm
i'm shocked that nobody said Jimi Hendrix! But he was Acid Rock. And so was Blue Cheer. I don't know what Deep Purple was, but Hush was the dumbest song I ever heard, not Metal. To get really ridiculous, why not Link Wray? It was Led Zep.
138 -
mark lanzarotta
Aug 20, 2010 at 3:41 pm
I strongly disagree with khaos angel. Every genre of rock music has one inventor. The Ramones invented punk rock. If you want toget more specific, Dee Dee did. To answer Cindi's question, the first really real rock 'n roll song was Rock Around the Clock.
139 -
mark lanzarotta
Aug 20, 2010 at 3:58 pm
I was really disgusted that in fifty Hendrix is better than them all put together.comments I was the only one who said Hendrix. He is a trillion times more influencial to the founding of metal than Vanilla Fudge,Deep Purple(gag!), and Blue Cheer were a nothing ripoff of Hendrix. Shame! It was Zep, but
140 -
mark lanzarotta
Aug 20, 2010 at 4:46 pm
blue cheer ripped off jimi hendrix. the kinks and steppenwolf were hard rock. cream and yardbirds were blues rock. deep purple and vanilla fudge were pop sludge. led zeppelin came before black sabbath. jimi hendrix inspired it, zep invented it.
141 -
mark lanzarotta
Aug 20, 2010 at 5:17 pm
blue cheer iS NOT the first heavy metal band,and I am astonished that you think so. Heavy Metal began as white boys trying to imitate Jimi Hendrix and failing miserably.The Kinks were hard rock,not punk, not metal.Hendrix inspired, Zep founded.I loved summertime blues, but it is Acid Rock.
142 -
mark lanzarotta
Aug 20, 2010 at 5:43 pm
FYI,Paul MacCartney attended LedZep's first recording session, by invite. Then he callously ripped off their sound for Helter Skelter. He is a great man, but he is the Benedict Arnold of metal, not the founding father.Still mad about Hendrix being ignored. Why, cuz he's not white? Dolts!
143 -
mark lanzarotta
Aug 22, 2010 at 11:58 pm
you've got to distinguish between proto-metal and metal. If the question is really who started heavy metal, proto-metal doesn't count. it's proto. over at the achilles last stand site, thy're convinced it's the beatles(!), with helter skelter. I have yet to receive a good answer why Jimi Hendrix is not the founder of heavy metal. none of you dudes mention him. are you too young to remember? do you think his music sounds too black? what is it? how can you say Blue Cheer when their version of Summertime blues sounds like a rip of Hendrix? How can they be metal and Hendrix isn't. When Hendrix was doing Purple Haze, Deep Purple didn't sound like metal, they were doing crap like Hush, the worst song in the world. The Who and the Kinks did loud, distorted music, but it didn't sound like metal. Hendrix's loud distorted music actually sounded like heavy metal, just better than usual. for those who say Hendrix is too much blues, what hypocrites! what about all that bloodless english blues that Page plays. Heavy metal has been a legitimate genre for decades, there is no controversy that rages. Metal fans are no dumber than anyone else. Don't tell me Jimi was too smart to be Metal, it's inverse snobbery, an insult to Metal and Jimi both.
144 -
mark lanzarotta
Aug 23, 2010 at 1:33 pm
oopsie! my face is covered in Custard Pie! I checked out Wikipedia, and they said Black Sabbath started Heavy Metal, and that Hendrix, Led Zeppelin aand even Helter Skelter were proto-metal. I can live with that, can you? Shoot, everybody's gone! Was it something I said? Okay guys, come back, joke's over. They're not coming back! Aw, come on guys, you're not dolts! well, you are, but I was just kidding, honest! Look, I'll show you my cool basesball cards if you come back. Oh, it's no use! O Atlantis! Donovan invented heavy metal, nyah nyah nyah!
145 -
N and A
Aug 25, 2010 at 7:25 am
First of all the term heavy metal was first used with black sabbath!SO GET IT RIGHT!!!!!
146 -
mark lanzarotta
Aug 26, 2010 at 12:56 am
Yeah, I guess Sab did invent it at that. But what you call it doesn't matter really, it's how it sounds. Black Sabbath sounds like what Heavy Metal sounds like today, and they were first. As much as I like Jimi,Zep, and all the merry crew, they didn't quite sound like that. Maybe the guy who likes ham will come back and tell us we're both wrong.
147 -
foREVer avenged
Sep 23, 2010 at 8:26 pm
dude you seriously need to get over yourself. just because you dont personally like the genre doesnt mean all metalheads are retards. you said there were all these dumb musicians in metal, i have a question for you. What genre doesnt have an idiot making it big? ill answer it for you, none of uhm. you said it can never be a respectable genre, tell that to pantera fans around the world, they made it during the hip-hop uprising which speaks for the relevance of metal.
148 -
urmom
Sep 27, 2010 at 9:05 am
the kid who wrote this is high. or just an idiot
149 -
Lupe Suorado
Oct 03, 2010 at 11:05 am
Alot of people believe that Wagner invented it, especially people who listen to both classical and metal.
So you say metalheads are dumb fucks? is that an insult because you don't like the loud chaotic sound, head banging, thrashing and violence that can be triggered by the powerful genre? If that's so, you must be one of those softcore faggots.
151 -
jjj
Nov 03, 2010 at 5:58 pm
it was Hendrix.
152 -
MrJ
Nov 05, 2010 at 8:42 pm
There is no such thing as hair metal. Stop believing all the BS you read on the internet.
153 -
MrJ
Nov 05, 2010 at 8:48 pm
And to the idiots, the typical f-ing majority who think Heavy metal is the choice music of 'dumb fucks' maybe you should actually listen to some Deep Purple. Led Zep, Alice in Chains, Stone Temple Pilots or Dream Theatre. Believe it or not there these people actually have the imagination to create songs that arn't just about being sorry over how you mistreated your bitch or about how much fun your going to have because your going to a party!!
Careful though, it might blow open your f-ing mind.
154 -
bryan gaffer
Nov 09, 2010 at 4:04 pm
who the fuck does this guy think he is to diss metal and metal fans so violently. what does he listen to anyways like litlle boy bands like my chemical romance [Gratuitous vulgarity deleted by Comments Editor] who is to stuck up to listen to something beautiful and creative as metal and why would he right an article on the creator of metal music if he isnt a fan
155 -
Rod Linsdell
Dec 29, 2010 at 4:37 am
I agree with martin Popoffs opinion. It all started with 3 albums from 1970; Uriah Heeps "Very eavy very umble, Black Sabbath's self titled album and Deep Purples "In rock".
156 -
glenn austin mape.
Jan 24, 2011 at 1:51 am
steppenwolf just said that tony iomi invented the very first heavy metal guitar riffs. it means sabbath were the very first metal heads..
157 -
Stephen Brisbois
Mar 13, 2011 at 3:26 pm
You need to lighten up on the dumb comments. Sounds like you got your ass kicked one too many times by metalheads and hold a grudge. Also maybe you should watch Metal A Headbangers Journey.
158 -
Jesse Meating
Jun 07, 2011 at 2:02 pm
This is just insulting to metal fans, I love metal and I don't drink, smoke or do any other drugs. Whoever typed this article up clearly has no understanding about metal that was not in the mainstream. Saying Metallica has some of the best musicians to come out of metal is completely ludicrous. This is just an article written by somebody who is obviously not a metal fan, or at least not a very big one. And also the fact that you make as though metal is a lesser form of music compared to others is foolish, metal has more in common with classical music than any other genre. True metal fans can just tell what is metal and what is not metal.
159 -
Jim A
Jun 30, 2011 at 3:53 am
There are idiots in all types of music genres...
160 -
Anonymous
Jul 01, 2011 at 7:30 pm
Isn't it obvious that Black Sabbath invented heavy metal as we know it? Or at least gave it a new meaning?
161 -
dave
Jul 24, 2011 at 6:54 am
i didnt realise metallica were metal sfter 1990 must be the dumb fuck adam ash whoever the fuck that is.
162 -
Eric Rietman
Jul 26, 2011 at 9:50 am
because of the whole sabbath downtuning to c and the context of their lyrics, I usually say they are the first.
And if you really think metal is for dumbfucks then you've never heard of meshuggah, cynic, porcupine tree, opeth, etc. I usually find that people my age who like metal are more usually the more intelligent people I know. Depends on the metal. Either way, I would only call someone a dumbfuck if they were insultingly generalizing something they obviously knew nothing about.
163 -
MetallicA
Jan 02, 2012 at 5:38 pm
well.. Mettallica changed the metal to a higher level ..
164 -
You
Jan 16, 2012 at 1:55 pm
I'd say The Beatles. They had heavy songs such as Paperback Writer, I Feel Fine and Helter Skelter.
165 -
Nobuz
Feb 09, 2012 at 10:48 am
Wow, someone is butthurt over metal music :)
166 -
sz
Mar 03, 2012 at 6:07 pm
Heavy metal is much better than the writer described it is not a dumbass genre of music its also not the underbelly of Rock and roll.
167 -
J
May 18, 2012 at 5:46 am
you sir are a condescending misinformed little.... well you get the idea.
Your lack of knowledge into the bands and fans attitude and mindset makes you the last person anyone should ask for information on the topic.
168 -
kjlintner
Jun 19, 2012 at 6:52 am
I would like to counter The Kinks comment with Link Ray. His song "Rumble" predates "You Really Got Me" by 6 years.
169 -
Adam hater
Oct 24, 2012 at 8:29 am
Sounds like you're mad bro, cause your band sucks or what?
if it doesn't sound heavy then it's not heavy metal.
172 -
Mr Mensa Metalhead.
Apr 19, 2013 at 3:44 am
None of you, including the author who obviously thinks himself some sort of musicologist are correct. The real answer is that there is NO such thing as a "first heavy metal band". Nope, not one. Why? because it took many artists to make that sound back when it was called heavy rock (before some arrogant asshole-fame seeking yellow journalist by the name of Mike Saunders coined the term "Heavy Metal" a term that wasn't embraced by most fans until it was well into a decade.) Just about every artist that was pioneering a white blues/psychedelic rock amalgamation can be credited with creating the genre (and again, it had always existed under the more sound-physics appropriate term heavy rock as opposed to the more commercially viable label heavy metal)
Doubters really, really need to check out the greatest metalband that has ever existed-the early 90's band ACID BATH. Their sound truly epitomized what metal was meant to be in it's most quintessential form by bringing back the psychedlic element in an extreme metal context. Metal wasn't meant to be just a heavy sound, but a heavy mental space.
Thus we have arrived at a true definition of metal; Music that is obviously too good for this blog's smug simpleton to appreciate.
Article comments
126 - Vic Scaz
The origin of the term "heavy metal" has been credited to Beat novelist William Burroughs. He made mention in his novel Naked Lunch....which I do have.
As far as what constitutes a metal song, it obviously has the loud guitars, with lyrics dealing with the occult, mysticism or the evil side of human nature. An art movement was started in France back in the 1800s(from what I recall)dealing with the topics I just mentioned. The actual French term I'd have to look up again.
127 - Khaos Angel
I'm pretty sure this isn't answering the title. Heavy Metal originated from Metal, which orginated from "Bluesies-Rock" or "Heavy Blues" which originated from Bands like Cream.
128 - Khaos Angel
And BTW, noone "invents" a certain type of music. It gets changed by bands and only "pioneered" and "made famous"
129 - Jesushi
acually, the first metal song was helter skelter by the beatles. i dont know the first metal band though.
130 - Dr Dreadful
I thought the first metal song was 'If I Only Had a Heart' by the Tin Man.
[runs off, giggling crazily]
131 - Cindy
lol, Dr.D. Wonder what the first 'rock' song was.
132 - Dr Dreadful
It was 'Diamond Are a Girl's Best Friend'.
[Hee hee hee, etc.]
:-p
133 - roger nowosielski
How about "Lucy in the Sky. . ."?
134 - Jim
Who cares if Iron Maiden didn't get on with Priest back in the day. Back in the day they Iron Maiden were the opening act.
Priest >>> Maiden.
135 - heather
who care about this stuff
136 - RaWR!
i like ham...ham is good
137 - mark lanzarotta
i'm shocked that nobody said Jimi Hendrix! But he was Acid Rock. And so was Blue Cheer. I don't know what Deep Purple was, but Hush was the dumbest song I ever heard, not Metal. To get really ridiculous, why not Link Wray? It was Led Zep.
138 - mark lanzarotta
I strongly disagree with khaos angel. Every genre of rock music has one inventor. The Ramones invented punk rock. If you want toget more specific, Dee Dee did. To answer Cindi's question, the first really real rock 'n roll song was Rock Around the Clock.
139 - mark lanzarotta
I was really disgusted that in fifty Hendrix is better than them all put together.comments I was the only one who said Hendrix. He is a trillion times more influencial to the founding of metal than Vanilla Fudge,Deep Purple(gag!), and Blue Cheer were a nothing ripoff of Hendrix. Shame! It was Zep, but
140 - mark lanzarotta
blue cheer ripped off jimi hendrix. the kinks and steppenwolf were hard rock. cream and yardbirds were blues rock. deep purple and vanilla fudge were pop sludge. led zeppelin came before black sabbath. jimi hendrix inspired it, zep invented it.
141 - mark lanzarotta
blue cheer iS NOT the first heavy metal band,and I am astonished that you think so. Heavy Metal began as white boys trying to imitate Jimi Hendrix and failing miserably.The Kinks were hard rock,not punk, not metal.Hendrix inspired, Zep founded.I loved summertime blues, but it is Acid Rock.
142 - mark lanzarotta
FYI,Paul MacCartney attended LedZep's first recording session, by invite. Then he callously ripped off their sound for Helter Skelter. He is a great man, but he is the Benedict Arnold of metal, not the founding father.Still mad about Hendrix being ignored. Why, cuz he's not white? Dolts!
143 - mark lanzarotta
you've got to distinguish between proto-metal and metal. If the question is really who started heavy metal, proto-metal doesn't count. it's proto. over at the achilles last stand site, thy're convinced it's the beatles(!), with helter skelter. I have yet to receive a good answer why Jimi Hendrix is not the founder of heavy metal. none of you dudes mention him. are you too young to remember? do you think his music sounds too black? what is it? how can you say Blue Cheer when their version of Summertime blues sounds like a rip of Hendrix? How can they be metal and Hendrix isn't. When Hendrix was doing Purple Haze, Deep Purple didn't sound like metal, they were doing crap like Hush, the worst song in the world. The Who and the Kinks did loud, distorted music, but it didn't sound like metal. Hendrix's loud distorted music actually sounded like heavy metal, just better than usual. for those who say Hendrix is too much blues, what hypocrites! what about all that bloodless english blues that Page plays. Heavy metal has been a legitimate genre for decades, there is no controversy that rages. Metal fans are no dumber than anyone else. Don't tell me Jimi was too smart to be Metal, it's inverse snobbery, an insult to Metal and Jimi both.
144 - mark lanzarotta
oopsie! my face is covered in Custard Pie! I checked out Wikipedia, and they said Black Sabbath started Heavy Metal, and that Hendrix, Led Zeppelin aand even Helter Skelter were proto-metal. I can live with that, can you? Shoot, everybody's gone! Was it something I said? Okay guys, come back, joke's over. They're not coming back! Aw, come on guys, you're not dolts! well, you are, but I was just kidding, honest! Look, I'll show you my cool basesball cards if you come back. Oh, it's no use! O Atlantis! Donovan invented heavy metal, nyah nyah nyah!
145 - N and A
First of all the term heavy metal was first used with black sabbath!SO GET IT RIGHT!!!!!
146 - mark lanzarotta
Yeah, I guess Sab did invent it at that. But what you call it doesn't matter really, it's how it sounds. Black Sabbath sounds like what Heavy Metal sounds like today, and they were first. As much as I like Jimi,Zep, and all the merry crew, they didn't quite sound like that. Maybe the guy who likes ham will come back and tell us we're both wrong.
147 - foREVer avenged
dude you seriously need to get over yourself. just because you dont personally like the genre doesnt mean all metalheads are retards. you said there were all these dumb musicians in metal, i have a question for you. What genre doesnt have an idiot making it big? ill answer it for you, none of uhm. you said it can never be a respectable genre, tell that to pantera fans around the world, they made it during the hip-hop uprising which speaks for the relevance of metal.
148 - urmom
the kid who wrote this is high. or just an idiot
149 - Lupe Suorado
Alot of people believe that Wagner invented it, especially people who listen to both classical and metal.
Here's a good argument
150 - Lmfao
So you say metalheads are dumb fucks? is that an insult because you don't like the loud chaotic sound, head banging, thrashing and violence that can be triggered by the powerful genre? If that's so, you must be one of those softcore faggots.
151 - jjj
it was Hendrix.
152 - MrJ
There is no such thing as hair metal. Stop believing all the BS you read on the internet.
153 - MrJ
And to the idiots, the typical f-ing majority who think Heavy metal is the choice music of 'dumb fucks' maybe you should actually listen to some Deep Purple. Led Zep, Alice in Chains, Stone Temple Pilots or Dream Theatre. Believe it or not there these people actually have the imagination to create songs that arn't just about being sorry over how you mistreated your bitch or about how much fun your going to have because your going to a party!!
Careful though, it might blow open your f-ing mind.
154 - bryan gaffer
who the fuck does this guy think he is to diss metal and metal fans so violently. what does he listen to anyways like litlle boy bands like my chemical romance [Gratuitous vulgarity deleted by Comments Editor] who is to stuck up to listen to something beautiful and creative as metal and why would he right an article on the creator of metal music if he isnt a fan
155 - Rod Linsdell
I agree with martin Popoffs opinion. It all started with 3 albums from 1970; Uriah Heeps "Very eavy very umble, Black Sabbath's self titled album and Deep Purples "In rock".
156 - glenn austin mape.
steppenwolf just said that tony iomi invented the very first heavy metal guitar riffs. it means sabbath were the very first metal heads..
157 - Stephen Brisbois
You need to lighten up on the dumb comments. Sounds like you got your ass kicked one too many times by metalheads and hold a grudge. Also maybe you should watch Metal A Headbangers Journey.
158 - Jesse Meating
This is just insulting to metal fans, I love metal and I don't drink, smoke or do any other drugs. Whoever typed this article up clearly has no understanding about metal that was not in the mainstream. Saying Metallica has some of the best musicians to come out of metal is completely ludicrous. This is just an article written by somebody who is obviously not a metal fan, or at least not a very big one. And also the fact that you make as though metal is a lesser form of music compared to others is foolish, metal has more in common with classical music than any other genre. True metal fans can just tell what is metal and what is not metal.
159 - Jim A
There are idiots in all types of music genres...
160 - Anonymous
Isn't it obvious that Black Sabbath invented heavy metal as we know it? Or at least gave it a new meaning?
161 - dave
i didnt realise metallica were metal sfter 1990 must be the dumb fuck adam ash whoever the fuck that is.
162 - Eric Rietman
because of the whole sabbath downtuning to c and the context of their lyrics, I usually say they are the first.
And if you really think metal is for dumbfucks then you've never heard of meshuggah, cynic, porcupine tree, opeth, etc. I usually find that people my age who like metal are more usually the more intelligent people I know. Depends on the metal. Either way, I would only call someone a dumbfuck if they were insultingly generalizing something they obviously knew nothing about.
163 - MetallicA
well.. Mettallica changed the metal to a higher level ..
164 - You
I'd say The Beatles. They had heavy songs such as Paperback Writer, I Feel Fine and Helter Skelter.
165 - Nobuz
Wow, someone is butthurt over metal music :)
166 - sz
Heavy metal is much better than the writer described it is not a dumbass genre of music its also not the underbelly of Rock and roll.
167 - J
you sir are a condescending misinformed little.... well you get the idea.
Your lack of knowledge into the bands and fans attitude and mindset makes you the last person anyone should ask for information on the topic.
168 - kjlintner
I would like to counter The Kinks comment with Link Ray. His song "Rumble" predates "You Really Got Me" by 6 years.
169 - Adam hater
Sounds like you're mad bro, cause your band sucks or what?
170 - Drumsandmud
ACCEPT
171 - Richard Grunwald (@REG_2010)
if it doesn't sound heavy then it's not heavy metal.
172 - Mr Mensa Metalhead.
None of you, including the author who obviously thinks himself some sort of musicologist are correct. The real answer is that there is NO such thing as a "first heavy metal band". Nope, not one. Why? because it took many artists to make that sound back when it was called heavy rock (before some arrogant asshole-fame seeking yellow journalist by the name of Mike Saunders coined the term "Heavy Metal" a term that wasn't embraced by most fans until it was well into a decade.) Just about every artist that was pioneering a white blues/psychedelic rock amalgamation can be credited with creating the genre (and again, it had always existed under the more sound-physics appropriate term heavy rock as opposed to the more commercially viable label heavy metal)
Doubters really, really need to check out the greatest metalband that has ever existed-the early 90's band ACID BATH. Their sound truly epitomized what metal was meant to be in it's most quintessential form by bringing back the psychedlic element in an extreme metal context. Metal wasn't meant to be just a heavy sound, but a heavy mental space.
Thus we have arrived at a true definition of metal; Music that is obviously too good for this blog's smug simpleton to appreciate.