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Then came metal’s sister music, punk,
to save the rock scene from an untimely demise. A slew of new b
ands
that could barely play their instruments and protested about fascism, their
governments, and basically everyday life, were to take the spotlight with their
raucous stage antics and their three-chord songs imbued with righteous fury.
Influenced by the first punk outings of Iggy and the Stooges, the MC5, and the
glittery New York Dolls during the 60´s and early 70’s, the Sex Pistols, the
Ramones, the Clash, the Damned, Siouxsie and the Banshees; and relatively more
obscure bands, such as Pagans, the Dead Boys, the UK Subs, the Misfits, Crass,
the Exploited, the gloomy Amebix, and the Plasmatics were to storm upon the
world. Punk’s greatest contributions to the punk/heavy metal scene were probably
the wide use of slamdancing, the renaissance of energetic music, and the wide
propagation of protests against the wrongdoings of society (an echo of Black
Sabbath themes, included in songs such as "Children of the Grave," and "War
Pigs").
Perhaps
the three most important bands of punk were Iggy and the Stooges, the Ramones,
and the Sex Pistols. The first was Iggy Pop’s band. They were nothing short
of amazing in their live shows, which were so energetic, that according to Iggy
Pop himself, they would only last ten to fifteen minutes. They basically consisted
of Iggy’s wild antics and screaming over a power trio’s furious songs. Then
was the Ramones, the New York band which’s songs were amazingly reckless for
their time and laid the foundations on which bands such as The Red Hot Chili
Peppers and Nirvana would grow. Finally was the greatest (in popularity) punk
rock band of all times: The Sex Pistol
s.
Its origin was rather curious: An art project by Malcom McClaren which sought
to destroy everything that had come before in rock n’ roll. They managed to
create some good punk rock in the process, with everything from political protest
("God Save the Queen") to hooky songs ("Sub-Mission"). However, the band destroyed
itself during its American tour, with bassist Sid Vicious killing his girlfriend
Nancy Spunge and then committing suicide while drugged; this turned Vicious
into punk’s infamous martyr, and began the end for punk rock, which would remain
underground for the most part until the Nineties.
While punk was taking over strongly among the youth, another raw and aggressive band would begin making an impact: Motörhead. Motörhead would signify the beginning of what is known today as thrash/speed/power metal, and which would later originate death metal. The band’s first release, On Parole (1976) would only hint at the power unleashed in later albums released during the late 70´s and early 80’s, such as Overkill, Bomber, Ace of Spades, and No Sleep ‘Til Hammersmith, which truly offered pedal-to-the-metal songs. Motörhead surprisingly attracted not only the metal crowd, but also many fiery punk fans, therefore marking the beginning of the union that would eventually result in the creation of hardcore.
| Prologue | Part I | Main | Part III | Part IV | Part V | Part VI | Part VII |
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