Understanding heavy metal: Philosophy Forums

Philosophy Forums » Philosophy of the Arts » Understanding heavy metal » Understanding heavy metal

Understanding heavy metal

Page: 1 2 3 4

Understanding heavy metal

easyjacksn
Almost there...

Usergroup: Moderators
Joined: Oct 06, 2004
Location: San Luis Obispo

Total Topics: 36
Total Posts: 1231

Posted 10/10/09 - 10:51 AM:	#31
...and Tobias...as a contrast to your impression that metal is getting more romantic, this montage clip from an American comedy about the greatest metal band in the world: http://www.wittysparks.com/video/4233152754/

Tobias
Metaphysical exorcist

Usergroup: Moderators
Joined: Feb 17, 2003
Location: Just rub the mirror

Total Topics: 58
Total Posts: 5580

Posted 10/30/09 - 12:09 AM:	#32
Ahh unfortunately I can't see the vid. I am in Europe ...
"The Power of Kant compels you" "The Power of Kant compels you" "The Power of Kant compels you"

easyjacksn
Almost there...

Usergroup: Moderators
Joined: Oct 06, 2004
Location: San Luis Obispo

Total Topics: 36
Total Posts: 1231

Posted 10/31/09 - 01:18 PM:	#33
Just google "Every Brutal Metalocalypse Death Scene" with the quotes. It'll come up a few different places.

FloydMcHenry
Initiate

Usergroup: Members
Joined: Oct 29, 2009
Location: East Coast, VA

Total Topics: 3
Total Posts: 8

Posted 11/03/09 - 11:15 AM:	#34
As a guy who grew up in the nineties and a lifelong listener and lover of Rock and Roll Ive always felt heavy metal, although it uses "darker" themes, is actually an expression of joy and overall goodfeeling. It does this by uniting an outcast group of people to a common emotion through music, much in the same way the blues did for the blacks of the early twentieth century. The blues spoke for those who were outcast and poor, while heavy metal speaks for those who are outcast and young. Both view a dark side of life, but are able to cast it in a good light. Bands such as the Beatles, Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin do not do this as they seem to be more mainstream in the rock and roll world by the early 1970's (ironically they did this by playing the songs of the blues musicians they idolized early in thier careers) and the hippie counter-culture was, atleast in part, absorbed by the general society (Think tye-dye). As for the different sub-genres of heavy metal, it is my opinion that some are much better than others, but that is for another forum. Heavy metal, like all good art, evokes emotions. For me metal is about changing feelings of self-doubt into feelings of empowerment and anger into joy. Again this parralells the blues, which were about finding power in oppression and joy in sorrow. I once saw an interview with Jim Morrison (who was drunk out of his mind) speaking about how he wished he could write a song as an "expression of complete joy." i thought to myself about where one could find a song like that in the history of popular music of the last century. I cannot be in the "bubble gum" happiness of a pop song, unless you are a tweleve year old girl, and the sex drugs and rock and roll seems to be unfullfilling. It can actually be found in an area that seems to be opposite of these, metal. How can one not be overcome with joy when they crank up the stereo to eleven and listen to a song like Iron Maiden's "Number of the beast," Black Sabbath's "War Pigs," Metallica's "Creeping Death," or AC/DC's "Back in Black" just to name a few of the best known examples. Metal is often misunderstood, but for those who get it, it is a beautiful and pure art form.
"All you touch and all you see is all your life will ever be."

Sashianova
Graduate

Usergroup: Members
Joined: Nov 01, 2009

Total Topics: 0
Total Posts: 141

Posted 11/03/09 - 11:56 AM:	#35
I love music and listen to a wide variety of genres. I grew up on pop and alternative rock and hair metal in the 80s and still love that stuff to this day. Generally speaking I reject the darkest, most evil sounding metal (save Sabbath & Ozzy) and haven't heard anything alluring in the most recent developments. For me, the metal I enjoy (Van Halen, AC/DC, Metallica, Judas Priest, Tesla, Queensryche, etc.) is more or less a means to feel nostalgic, but I don't want that to come across as a knock on the genre. Through Hendrix and Zeppelin I found that blues, particularly acoustic blues from the 40s, is among the most timeless, funny, and enjoyable music there is. I've found that jazz, especially (though not exclusively) the jazz created between the late 50s and late 60s is amazingly great music. Funk is one of my favorite styles, from James Brown to New Orleans to P-Funk. I love soul singers like Marvin Gaye and Al Green and Donny Hathaway...I love roots reggae, dub, rap, brasilian music, salsa, prog rock, downtempo electronic, afrobeat, classical, folk, country, disco, etc. etc. Why have limits? So, essentially I just love music, much like I love film and the visual arts. There's so much variety to enjoy and so many different ways to listen. I love when a new melody hits me and sends goosepimples across my flesh. The little music I've run across which I don't really enjoy is avant-garde music which is devoid of rhythm and melody. Since I am not a musician, what's to understand? This is about feeling. One good thing about music, when it hits you you feel no pain.

fourdegreediablo
Initiate

Usergroup: Members
Joined: Nov 01, 2009
Location: wichita ks

Total Topics: 2
Total Posts: 4

Posted 11/04/09 - 05:57 PM: Subject: heavy metal	#36
I've been listening to metal since the mid 80s.When slayer came out the media connected the music to satanic cults ,violence,drugs and all the bad stuff you could think of.The fact is that my grandmother gave my mom a hard time because she listened to hippie music,'devil music' and my dad had long hair,told me that they were afraid they didn't understand it sounded evil and scary.Most of the criticism came from fear of god and their religion.I listen to all kinds of music mostly metal but I also listen to country ,blues, big band music.I've been playing music ,(guitar) for the last 20 years in numerous local bands.Recently I've been listening to black metal, goth,all have been incorporating keyboards,background music and female singers.As being a musician I keep an open mind to new and better music.I take my preferences out of the picture and listen for the flow,art,and uniqueness about the music rather than criticize.The young guy's take something that was created before and polished it up,That's the evolution of music
let the punishment fit the crime bad things come to those in all good time

Goaswerfraiejen
Assistant Professor

Usergroup: Members
Joined: May 04, 2006
Location: Canada

Total Topics: 4
Total Posts: 427

Posted 11/19/09 - 12:17 PM:	#37
I often find it difficult to discuss my musical preferences with people IRL simply because their grasp of metal has been tainted by all kinds of cultural nonsense and stereotypes. The real problem, however, is that these prejudices and stereotypes hold true for some bands, and so it's very difficult to get past that in conversation. So, for example, people very often associate metal with mindless screams and a violent bass riff that eclipses everything else. That characterization is certainly true of a number of bands (especially bands from the US), but in my opinion it only captures a fraction of metal's audience. Similarly, the kind of marketing that makes that kind of noise popular for some is, for me, something entirely separate from the music itself. I prefer musical complexity. That doesn't mean that the solos have to be difficult, but rather that the interplay of the various instruments has to be layered and complementary. Similarly, I treat the vocals and lyrics as part of that layering, rather than looking at them separately. Very often, fantastic metal musicians have a horrendous grasp of English, yet are compelled to write and sing in English to boost album sales. For this reason, I almost completely ignore lyrics except insofar as they might create an atmosphere for the rest of the instrumentation, or insofar as as they complement the rest. Indeed, making out the lyrics is often difficult to begin with (even for a well-practised ear), so why bother treating them independently? All that is just to say that when I listen to music in general, I'm looking for the creation of an immersive audio atmosphere: I am looking for artists to paint pictures with sounds. While all kinds of music can achieve this, I prefer metal because it does it the most consistently for me. It's not about dark urges or channeling anger; it's about the music, about a certain way of approaching music. If that way is peculiar to me, then that's that. That's it, that's all. Other genres of music lend themselves more easily to other aspects of the art. Rap and hip hop, for example, are largely predicated upon their lyrical structures, and so it would be absurd to evaluate them on the same kind of layering model that I've suggested for metal. Similarly, top40 pop aims for catchy refrains that stick in your head, punk music is predicated upon certain socio-cultural concerns, etc. Each genre, it seems to me, points to certain aspects of the audible experience as important, and it is on the basis of these choices that we generally evaluate them. In the case of metal, my belief is that synergy and atmosphere are the ultimate goals--at least generally speaking. Unfortunately, metal is plagued by a very real problem: it has far too many subgenres, each with different goals. It's so bad that nobody can ever (well, seldom) agree on a single classification for any given band. To my knowledge, this is a problem unique to metal, and we metalheads blow it out of all proportion. So, ultimately, any general remarks made about metal are bound to be falsified by at least one subgenre. Fun stuff.

Page: 1 2 3 4

Sorry, you don't have permission to post. Log in, or register if you haven't yet.