The History of Heavy Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

Mike and Dave reminisce about the impact that Ozzy had on their lives and pay respect to his one of a kind greatness. Rest in Peace John Michael Osbourne.   Recommended Listening, Watching & Reading   The Best of Black Sabbath Playlist https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5ryh2ySiuiaCm5KuLlcuxL?si=00f9d9c618644c91   Sabbath Covers Playlist  https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4SUoDnhqhG9QtE815aAxCk?si=da863e05ebf74b2f   Spotify Playlist  https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2qkURdYib8hLz8s20D9yTC?si=1526168526854a62   Instagram https://instagram.com/the_history_of_heavy   @historyofheavy 

The Brooklyn power trio never found success in their early ’70’s heyday but in recent decades have been often referenced by hard rock and heavy metal nerds as one of the great overlooked bands. Their influence can clearly be heard in the stoner rock riffage of Kyuss and in the thick fuzziness of Melvins. Sir Lord Baltimore may have missed their shot at glory but their music continues to age extremely well.  

Spotify Playlist  https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2qkURdYib8hLz8s20D9yTC?si=1526168526854a62   Instagram https://instagram.com/the_history_of_heavy   @historyofheavy 

It’s time to get weird and you don’t get much weirder than Captain Beefheart. His amalgamation of garage rock, free-jazz, delta blues and avant garde insanity was challenging and strange in the 1960’s and its power hasn’t diluted one bit all these decades later. “Dachau Blues” is from his widely recognized masterpiece Mask Trout Replica and the future sound of PiL, Gang of Four, Sonic Youth and the like can be heard in every note. Add lyrics about an infamous Nazi concentration camp and you have capital "H" heavy. It’s an important touchstone in our ongoing conversation    Spotify Playlist  https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2qkURdYib8hLz8s20D9yTC?si=1526168526854a62   Instagram https://instagram.com/the_history_of_heavy   @historyofheavy 

It’s safe to say that without the MC5 punk rock and all of its adjacent sub genres would sound completely different. They were chaotic, intense, political and heavy in every sense of the word. Nothing about their unedited, unwavering approach was ever delivered lightly. Though their popular musical legacy doesn’t go much further beyond the title track of their debut LP, their impact and influence cannot be overstated.     Recommended Listening, Watching & Reading   MC3 https://open.spotify.com/artist/2LW7wWSHd9bi3n3Q5N8i35?si=0BOt5RyMSDi2r2MYcb_cLw   Sonic’s Rendezvous Band “City Slang” https://open.spotify.com/track/2btWvfhvg9qn2ApUIl4GCE?si=bfc26af8237345cd   Spotify Playlist https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2qkURdYib8hLz8s20D9yTC?si=1526168526854a62   Instagram https://instagram.com/the_history_of_heavy   @historyofheavy 

Led Zeppelin were pretty popular. Though often pigeonholed as a “Hard Rock” band, their music was fairly eclectic, touching on elements of blues, folk and psychedelia. Still, they are mostly remembered as being loud and bombastic and one of the forebears of what would come to be known as Heavy Metal. Their eponymous first album predates Sabbath’s debut by a full  year and the sludgy tempo of their version of Jake Holmes’ “Dazed and Confused” is as legit a ground zero as any.     Recommended Listening, Watching & Reading   The Hammer of the Gods by Stephen Davis https://www.amazon.com/Hammer-Gods-Stephen-Davis/dp/0425182134   Spotify Playlist:  https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2qkURdYib8hLz8s20D9yTC?si=1526168526854a62   Instagram: https://instagram.com/the_history_of_heavy   @historyofheavy 

Prog Rock is structurally complex, it’s technically proficient, it's eclectic, it’s fantastical and maybe even philosophical. But is it heavy? Sure Rush and Yes have their moments but more often than not, prog leans too far into its jazz and psychedelic elements to summon any notion of “heavy" by the Sabbathian definition. King Crimson are the exception. The London five piece had the rare ability to have their saxophones and insane time signatures while also maintaining all the power a stack of Marshalls could summon.

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https://instagram.com/the_history_of_heavy

@historyofheavy

Did the Beatles invent Doom Metal? The Fab Four are not exactly the first group you consider when discussing the history of heavy music but the song that closes Side One of Abbey Road is undeniably the precursor of many a down-tuned guitar to come. From the droning repeated guitar phrase to John Lennon’s pained vocal, this ode to Lennon’s desire for muse Yoko Ono is as heavy as anything on Black Sabbath’s debut which wouldn’t be released until four months after the Fabs unleashed their heaviest seven minutes and forty seven seconds.     The History of Heavy Podcast Spotify Playlist  https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2qkURdYib8hLz8s20D9yTC?si=1526168526854a62   HHP Social IG: https://instagram.com/the_history_of_heavy   @thehistoryofheavy 

Arthur Brown proclaimed “I am the god of hell fire” in the opening moments of his band’s lone hit single “Fire” and those words coupled with his extravagant stage presentation (which included face paint and a flaming headpiece) and unique vocal style, would prove to be a massive influence on everyone from Alice Cooper and KISS to King Diamond, Iron Maiden and the whole of Norwegian Black Metal. “Fire” isn’t sonically as “heavy” as most of the songs that we talk about on this podcast but it would be impossible to discuss the history of heavy music with including Mr. Brown and his Crazy World.          Spotify Playlist:  https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2qkURdYib8hLz8s20D9yTC?si=1526168526854a62   Instagram: https://instagram.com/the_history_of_heavy   @historyofheavy 

Blue Cheer may have released the first Heavy Metal album when they put out their debut Vincebus Eruptum in 1969. It had all the trademarks that would come to define the genre — angry vocals, heavily distorted guitars, a thundering rhythm section) and it was released more than two years before the first Black Sabbath record. What the San Francisco power trio also brought was the danger. They were named after a particulate toxic strain of LSD, fights and mayhem were common at their shows and they were managed by an ex-Hell’s Angel. Blue Cheer were a rock and roll band but they weren’t too far removed form being a gang. We prefer to call them Outlaw Rock.    Spotify Playlist:  https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2qkURdYib8hLz8s20D9yTC?si=1526168526854a62   Instagram: https://instagram.com/the_history_of_heavy   @historyofheavy 

It’s not inaccurate to call Iron Butterfly a one hit wonder but it is unfair. In seventeen minutes and four seconds “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” ebbs and flows and constricts and expands exploring every corner of psychedelia, prog, garage, acid, occult and hard rock.  The songs lyrics, vocal melody, sludgy guitars, bass fills and two minute plus drum solo would influence scores of bands across every genre of heavy music and is in an off itself still a thrilli listen some 56 years since its release.     The History of Heavy Podcast Spotify Playlist:  https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2qkURdYib8hLz8s20D9yTC?si=1526168526854a62   HHP IG https://instagram.com/the_history_of_heavy   @thehistoryofheavy