Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the United Kingdom and the United States. With roots in blues rock, psychedelic rock, and acid rock, heavy metal bands developed a thick, massive sound, characterized by distortion, extended guitar solos, emphatic beats, and loudness. The lyrics and performances are sometimes associated with aggression and machismo.
System of a Down is an Armenian-American heavy metal band formed in Glendale, California, in 1994. It currently consists of members Serj Tankian, Daron Malakian, Shavo Odadjian, and John Dolmayan (drums), who replaced original drummer Andy Khachaturian in 1997.
Judas Priest are an English heavy metal band formed in Birmingham in 1969. They have sold over 50 million copies of their albums, and are frequently ranked as one of the greatest metal bands of all time. Despite an innovative and pioneering body of work in the latter half of the 1970s, the band had struggled with indifferent record production and a lack of major commercial success until 1980, when they rose to commercial success with the album British Steel.
Glam metal, also known as hair metal or pop metal, is a subgenre of heavy metal, which features pop-influenced hooks and guitar riffs, and borrows heavily from the fashion and image of 1970s glam rock.
David William Edmunds is a Welsh singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. Although he is mainly associated with pub rock and new wave, having many hits in the 1970s and early 1980s, his natural leaning has always been towards 1950s-style rock and roll and rockabilly.
Mother's Milk is the fourth studio and video album by American rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers, released August 16, 1989, by EMI Records. After the death of founding guitarist Hillel Slovak and the subsequent departure of drummer Jack Irons, vocalist Anthony Kiedis and bassist Flea regrouped with the addition of guitarist John Frusciante and drummer Chad Smith. Frusciante's influence altered the band's sound by placing more emphasis on melody than rhythm, which had dominated the band's previous material. Returning producer Michael Beinhorn favored heavy metal guitar riffs as well as overdubbing. Frusciante perceived Beinhorn's taste as excessive, and as a result, the two constantly fought over the album's guitar sound.
Clawfinger is a Swedish rock band. The group is known for aggressive but melodic music and tackling political and anti-racist themes in their songs.
Prisoners in Paradise is the fifth studio album by the Swedish rock band Europe. It was released on 23 September 1991, by Epic Records and spawned hits such as the title track, "Prisoners in Paradise" and "I'll Cry for You". The album did not chart in the US, which is unusual for a major label follow-up to two recent (multi)platinum albums. Prisoners in Paradise is the last album to feature guitarist Kee Marcello.
Randy is a Swedish punk rock band from Hortlax, Sweden, formed in 1992. They were first inspired by skate punk bands like NOFX and Propagandhi but after the release of The Rest Is Silence and the departure of their bass player Patrik Trydvall, they radically changed their musical style and adopted an older sound reminiscent of Thin Lizzy, The Misfits and Ramones, heavily leaning on a fusion of garage punk and pop punk to form their new sound. Their first album after the transition in style, You Can't Keep a Good Band Down, earned praise from MaximumRockNRoll, which called it "the best melodic punk CD since Bad Religion's No Control." After his departure, Patrik went on to contribute lead vocals in his now-disbanded punk rock group, Diefenbaker.
Band of Horses is an American rock band formed in 2004 in Seattle, Washington by Ben Bridwell. The band has released five studio albums, including 2010's Grammy-nominated Infinite Arms. The band's lineup, which included Mat Brooke for the debut album, has undergone several changes. The most-recent lineup of Bridwell, Ryan Monroe, Tyler Ramsey, Bill Reynolds, and Creighton Barrett, was together several years and recorded three albums. That lineup ceased when Ramsey and Reynolds departed in 2017.
"Knock Me Down" is a song by funk rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers from their fourth studio album, Mother's Milk (1989). The track, released August 22, 1989, was the album's first single and depicts negativity towards the stereotypical egotistic lifestyle of a typical rock star and was considered to be disavowing of drugs. "Knock Me Down" peaked at number six on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks.
"Eagle" is a song that was recorded in 1977 by the Swedish pop group ABBA. It was the first selection on the group's fifth album, ABBA: The Album, in terms of the album's sequence of songs, and the longest selection they ever recorded. The third and last official single from ABBA: The Album, it was released only in a limited number of territories as a single and in France as a double A-side with "Thank You for the Music." "Eagle" was not released as a single in the United Kingdom. It was meant to be a U.S. single, but then withdrawn.
Hardcore Superstar is a Swedish heavy metal band from Gothenburg, Sweden. The band was formed in 1997 and have released eleven studio albums.
Long Way to Heaven is the fifth studio album by the Canadian heavy metal band Helix. This album was their third for Capitol Records, and there were bigger expectations from the band after the success of the previous Walkin' the Razor's Edge. The first single was "Deep Cuts the Knife", co-written by Paul Hackman and Bob Halligan Jr. The song received heavy airplay in the U.S., gaining "double breaker" status, and in Canada was added to heavy video play on MuchMusic. Q107 in Toronto had the song riding at number 1 for several weeks on their "Top Ten at Ten". Their first tour to kick off the album was in Sweden where they became the first Canadian rock band ever to tour that country extensively. For this they achieved their first number 1 album in that country.
Stoner rock, also known as stoner metal or stoner doom, is a rock music fusion genre that combines elements of doom metal with psychedelic rock and acid rock. The genre emerged during the early 1990s and was pioneered foremost by Kyuss, and Sleep.
Per Erik Magnus Grönwall is a Swedish hard rock/heavy metal singer-songwriter and actor. In December 2009, he won the Swedish Idol reality television. During several of the shows, he received standing ovations from the jury for his performances. His first single, "Higher", sold gold on digital downloads after only three days. His first album, self-titled "Erik Grönwall", was released just ten days after the finals and debuted at number one on the Swedish albums chart and was certified platinum. In 2012, he joined rock band H.E.A.T as lead singer. Altogether as a solo artist and band member, he has numerous top 40 hits. In 2018 he portrayed Simon Zealotes in the NBC live television concert production of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's Jesus Christ Superstar, in which he received Grammy nomination for in the Best Musical Theater Album category. He left H.E.A.T in 2020 after 4 albums with the band.
Amaranthe is a Swedish heavy metal band originally known as Avalanche. The band is notable for having three lead vocalists: Elize Ryd, Henrik Englund Wilhelmsson, and Nils Molin, each presenting a different vocal style.
Monster is the twentieth studio album by American hard rock/heavy metal group Kiss, released on October 9, 2012. It was recorded at Conway Recording Studios in Hollywood, California and The Nook in Studio City, Los Angeles. Monster was produced by Paul Stanley and co-produced by Greg Collins, as was 2009's Sonic Boom. It is the second studio release by the current band line-up, with Tommy Thayer on lead guitar and Eric Singer on drums, alongside founding members Stanley and Gene Simmons.
Bring the Thunder is the debut album from Swedish rock band Dynazty.
Renatus is the fourth studio album by Swedish rock band Dynazty. The album shows a totally radical change in the sound of the band, where they leave the hard rock and embodied in a sound heavy metal with rapid and severe riffs, and flirtations with the power metal. The name means "rebirth" in Latin and describes a new phase of the band. It is also a remarkable change in their line up member, bassist Joel Fox Apelgren was replaced by Jonathan Olsson and a recent change of label, StormVox Records for the Spinefarm Records.
