1.
Album
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Album, is a collection of audio recordings issued as a single item on CD, record, audio tape, or another medium. Albums of recorded music were developed in the early 20th century, first as books of individual 78rpm records, vinyl LPs are still issued, though in the 21st century album sales have mostly focused on compact disc and MP3 formats. The audio cassette was a format used from the late 1970s through to the 1990s alongside vinyl, an album may be recorded in a recording studio, in a concert venue, at home, in the field, or a mix of places. Recording may take a few hours to years to complete, usually in several takes with different parts recorded separately. Recordings that are done in one take without overdubbing are termed live, the majority of studio recordings contain an abundance of editing, sound effects, voice adjustments, etc. With modern recording technology, musicians can be recorded in separate rooms or at times while listening to the other parts using headphones. Album covers and liner notes are used, and sometimes additional information is provided, such as analysis of the recording, historically, the term album was applied to a collection of various items housed in a book format. In musical usage the word was used for collections of pieces of printed music from the early nineteenth century. Later, collections of related 78rpm records were bundled in book-like albums, the LP record, or 33 1⁄3 rpm microgroove vinyl record, is a gramophone record format introduced by Columbia Records in 1948. It was adopted by the industry as a standard format for the album. Apart from relatively minor refinements and the important later addition of stereophonic sound capability, the term album had been carried forward from the early nineteenth century when it had been used for collections of short pieces of music. Later, collections of related 78rpm records were bundled in book-like albums, as part of a trend of shifting sales in the music industry, some commenters have declared that the early 21st century experienced the death of the album. Sometimes shorter albums are referred to as mini-albums or EPs, Albums such as Tubular Bells, Amarok, Hergest Ridge by Mike Oldfield, and Yess Close to the Edge, include fewer than four tracks. There are no rules against artists such as Pinhead Gunpowder referring to their own releases under thirty minutes as albums. These are known as box sets, material is stored on an album in sections termed tracks, normally 11 or 12 tracks. A music track is a song or instrumental recording. The term is associated with popular music where separate tracks are known as album tracks. When vinyl records were the medium for audio recordings a track could be identified visually from the grooves
2.
Metallica
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Metallica is an American heavy metal band based in San Rafael, California. The band was formed in 1981 in Los Angeles when vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield responded to an advertisement posted by drummer Lars Ulrich in a local newspaper, Metallicas current line-up comprises founding members Hetfield and Ulrich, longtime lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo. Guitarist Dave Mustaine and bassists Ron McGovney, Cliff Burton and Jason Newsted are former members of the band, the bands fast tempos, instrumentals, and aggressive musicianship placed them as one of the founding big four bands of thrash metal, alongside Anthrax, Megadeth, and Slayer. The band expanded its musical direction and achieved commercial success with its eponymous fifth album Metallica. The album was also their first to debut at number one on the Billboard 200, in 2000, Metallica joined with other artists who filed a lawsuit against Napster for sharing the bands copyright-protected material without consent from the band. A settlement was reached and Napster became a pay-to-use service, the band returned to its original musical style with the release of Death Magnetic, and in 2009, Metallica was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Metallica has released ten albums, four live albums, five extended plays,26 music videos. The band has won eight Grammy Awards and six of its albums have debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. The bands eponymous 1991 album has sold over 16 million copies in the United States, Metallica ranks as one of the most commercially successful bands of all time, having sold over 110 million records worldwide. Metallica has been listed as one of the greatest artists of all time by many magazines, including Rolling Stone, in 2012, Metallica formed the independent record label Blackened Recordings and took full ownership of its albums and videos. The band is currently promoting Hardwired. to Self-Destruct, which was released on November 18,2016, guitarists James Hetfield and Hugh Tanner of Leather Charm answered the advertisement. Although he had not formed a band, Ulrich asked Metal Blade Records founder Brian Slagel if he could record a song for the upcoming compilation album Metal Massacre. Slagel accepted and Ulrich recruited Hetfield to sing and play rhythm guitar, the band was officially formed in October 1981, five months after Ulrich and Hetfield first met. Ulrich talked to his friend Ron Quintana, who was brainstorming names for a fanzine, Quintana had proposed the names MetalMania and Metallica. A second advertisement was placed in The Recycler for a position as lead guitarist, Dave Mustaine answered, Ulrich and Hetfield recruited him after seeing his expensive guitar equipment. In early 1982, Metallica recorded its first original song Hit the Lights for the Metal Massacre I compilation, Hetfield played bass on the song and Lloyd Grant was credited with a guitar solo. Metal Massacre I was released on June 14,1982, early pressings listed the band incorrectly as Mettallica, the bands first taste of live success came early, they were chosen to open for British heavy metal band Saxon at one gig of their 1982 US tour. Metallica recorded its first demo, Power Metal, an inspired by Quintanas early business cards in early 1982
3.
Extasy Records
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Extasy Records is a Japanese record label founded in April 1986 by Yoshiki Hayashi, co-founder of the heavy metal band X Japan. The labels first release was Xs 1986 single Orgasm, over the next few years, the label signed several then-little-known bands, among them future million-selling Glay and Luna Sea. Extasy along with Free-Will are credited with helping to spread the visual kei movement, the label also hosted a series of events to promote the groups, called Extasy Summits, which would also feature formerly signed bands that had already moved on to a major label. Yoshiki Hayashi founded Extasy Records in Japan in 1986, using money he received from his mother when she sold her business and his band X Japan released their second single, Orgasm, as the labels first release. In 1988, their debut album Vanishing Vision came out and was a success for an independent band. Over the next couple of years Extasy signed many bands that would go on to have varying degrees of success and produced their early records, including Glay, Zi, Kill, Tokyo Yankees and Ladies Room. In February 1991, Yoshikis X Japan band mate hide saw a band called Lunacy perform, Yoshiki signed them to Extasy, they changed their name to Luna Sea and took part in the labels Nuclear Fusion Tour in March with Gilles de Rais and Sighs of Love Potion. On the tour, a 3-track sample CD including a song from each band was released, the following year Luna Seas debut album was released and they held a successful 45-date tour, enabling them to sign with major label MCA Victor in May 1992. To promote their bands, the label organized concerts called Extasy Summits, the first was held at Osaka Bourbon House in September 1988, with several more held, including one at Shibuya Public Hall in September 1989. Footage from two of the concerts was recorded and released on VHS, Unrivaled is Extasy, recorded at the Nippon Budokan in October 1991 and Extasy Summit 1992 ~ Minna ga Mumei-Datta, Dakedo. Muteki-Datta recorded at Osaka-jō Hall in October 1992, the October 1992 Summit was actually X Japans first public performance with their new bassist Heath. The compilation album Lighting & Thunder was released in October 1998, on June 21,2000, the compilation album History of Extasy 15th Anniversary was released. It includes 19 songs released by 14 different bands while on the label in celebration of its 15th anniversary, the album reached number 14 on the Oricon music chart. In 2000, Yoshiki signed a deal with Warner Music Group to distribute the record labels Extasy Japan, Records on Extasy Japan were distributed in Japan by Warner Music Japan and records on Extasy Records International were distributed in America by Warner Bros. Records, marking the first time the two worked together in this way. The first release on Extasy Japan was the July 2000 single Pearl by singer Shiro, in September 2007, Yoshiki announced that the soundtrack for the American movie Catacombs would be released on Extasy Records International. The soundtrack includes songs by Violet UK and Zilch, Yoshiki has referred to the first day, October 14,2016, of the three-day Visual Japan Summit at Makuhari Messe as Extasy Summit as it saw X Japan, Luna Sea and Glay perform. All artists were at one point on the label, formerly known as One on One Recording Studios, Yoshiki bought it, from the previous owner Jim David, in 1992 and renamed the studio, after his record label, in 1999
4.
Los Angeles
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Los Angeles, officially the City of Los Angeles and often known by its initials L. A. is the cultural, financial, and commercial center of Southern California. With a census-estimated 2015 population of 3,971,883, it is the second-most populous city in the United States, Los Angeles is also the seat of Los Angeles County, the most populated county in the United States. The citys inhabitants are referred to as Angelenos, historically home to the Chumash and Tongva, Los Angeles was claimed by Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo for Spain in 1542 along with the rest of what would become Alta California. The city was founded on September 4,1781, by Spanish governor Felipe de Neve. It became a part of Mexico in 1821 following the Mexican War of Independence, in 1848, at the end of the Mexican–American War, Los Angeles and the rest of California were purchased as part of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, thereby becoming part of the United States. Los Angeles was incorporated as a municipality on April 4,1850, the discovery of oil in the 1890s brought rapid growth to the city. The completion of the Los Angeles Aqueduct in 1913, delivering water from Eastern California, nicknamed the City of Angels, Los Angeles is known for its Mediterranean climate, ethnic diversity, and sprawling metropolis. Los Angeles also has an economy in culture, media, fashion, science, sports, technology, education, medicine. A global city, it has been ranked 6th in the Global Cities Index, the city is home to renowned institutions covering a broad range of professional and cultural fields, and is one of the most substantial economic engines within the United States. The Los Angeles combined statistical area has a gross metropolitan product of $831 billion, making it the third-largest in the world, after the Greater Tokyo and New York metropolitan areas. The city has hosted the Summer Olympic Games in 1932 and 1984 and is bidding to host the 2024 Summer Olympics and thus become the second city after London to have hosted the Games three times. The Los Angeles area also hosted the 1994 FIFA mens World Cup final match as well as the 1999 FIFA womens World Cup final match, the mens event was watched on television by over 700 million people worldwide. The Los Angeles coastal area was first settled by the Tongva, a Gabrielino settlement in the area was called iyáangẚ, meaning poison oak place. Gaspar de Portolà and Franciscan missionary Juan Crespí, reached the present site of Los Angeles on August 2,1769, in 1771, Franciscan friar Junípero Serra directed the building of the Mission San Gabriel Arcángel, the first mission in the area. The Queen of the Angels is an honorific of the Virgin Mary, two-thirds of the settlers were mestizo or mulatto with a mixture of African, indigenous and European ancestry. The settlement remained a small town for decades, but by 1820. Today, the pueblo is commemorated in the district of Los Angeles Pueblo Plaza and Olvera Street. New Spain achieved its independence from the Spanish Empire in 1821, during Mexican rule, Governor Pío Pico made Los Angeles Alta Californias regional capital
5.
California
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California is the most populous state in the United States and the third most extensive by area. Located on the western coast of the U. S, California is bordered by the other U. S. states of Oregon, Nevada, and Arizona and shares an international border with the Mexican state of Baja California. Los Angeles is Californias most populous city, and the second largest after New York City. The Los Angeles Area and the San Francisco Bay Area are the nations second- and fifth-most populous urban regions, California also has the nations most populous county, Los Angeles County, and its largest county by area, San Bernardino County. The Central Valley, an agricultural area, dominates the states center. What is now California was first settled by various Native American tribes before being explored by a number of European expeditions during the 16th and 17th centuries, the Spanish Empire then claimed it as part of Alta California in their New Spain colony. The area became a part of Mexico in 1821 following its war for independence. The western portion of Alta California then was organized as the State of California, the California Gold Rush starting in 1848 led to dramatic social and demographic changes, with large-scale emigration from the east and abroad with an accompanying economic boom. If it were a country, California would be the 6th largest economy in the world, fifty-eight percent of the states economy is centered on finance, government, real estate services, technology, and professional, scientific and technical business services. Although it accounts for only 1.5 percent of the states economy, the story of Calafia is recorded in a 1510 work The Adventures of Esplandián, written as a sequel to Amadis de Gaula by Spanish adventure writer Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo. The kingdom of Queen Calafia, according to Montalvo, was said to be a land inhabited by griffins and other strange beasts. This conventional wisdom that California was an island, with maps drawn to reflect this belief, shortened forms of the states name include CA, Cal. Calif. and US-CA. Settled by successive waves of arrivals during the last 10,000 years, various estimates of the native population range from 100,000 to 300,000. The Indigenous peoples of California included more than 70 distinct groups of Native Americans, ranging from large, settled populations living on the coast to groups in the interior. California groups also were diverse in their organization with bands, tribes, villages. Trade, intermarriage and military alliances fostered many social and economic relationships among the diverse groups, the first European effort to explore the coast as far north as the Russian River was a Spanish sailing expedition, led by Portuguese captain Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, in 1542. Some 37 years later English explorer Francis Drake also explored and claimed a portion of the California coast in 1579. Spanish traders made unintended visits with the Manila galleons on their trips from the Philippines beginning in 1565
6.
Thrash metal
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Thrash metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its fast tempo and overall aggression. The songs usually use fast percussive beats and low-register guitar riffs, the lyrics often deal with social issues and reproach for The Establishment, using direct and denunciatory language, an approach borrowed from hardcore punk. The genre evolved in the early 1980s from combining the fast drum beats and attitude of hardcore with the double bass drumming, heavy and complex guitar style of the new wave of British heavy metal. It emerged partially as a reaction to the conventional and widely acceptable glam metal. Thrash metal was an inspiration for subsequent extreme genres such as death metal, Four American bands—Anthrax, Megadeth, Metallica, and Slayer—are credited with pioneering and popularizing the genre. The Clash of the Titans tour, which featured Megadeth, Slayer, thrash metal has seen a resurgence in recent times, with many of the older bands returning to their roots with their new releases. A new generation of metal bands emerged in the early 2000s. Thrash metal generally features fast tempos, low-register, complex riffs, high-register guitar solos. The genre evolved in the early 1980s from combining the drum beats of hardcore punk with the style of the new wave of British heavy metal. It emerged partially as a reaction to the conventional and widely acceptable glam metal. The rhythm guitar parts are played with distortion and often palm muted to create a tighter. Vocally, thrash metal can employ anything from singing to shouted vocals. The guitar riffs often use chromatic scales and emphasize the tritone and diminished intervals, for example, the intro riff of Metallicas Master of Puppets is a chromatic descent, followed by a chromatic ascent based on the tritone. Speed, pacing and time-changes also define thrash metal, thrash tends to have an accelerating feel which may be due in large part to its aggressive drumming style. For example, drummers often use two drums, or a double-bass pedal, in order to create a relentless, driving beat. Cymbal stops/chokes are often used to transition from one riff to another or to precede an acceleration in tempo, to keep up with the other instruments, many bassists use a plectrum. However, some prominent thrash metal bassists have used their fingers, such as Frank Bello, Greg Christian, Steve DiGiorgio, Robert Trujillo, several bassists use a distorted bass tone, an approach popularized by Burton and Motörheads Lemmy. Lyrical themes in thrash metal include warfare, corruption, injustice, murder, suicide, isolation, alienation, addiction, in addition, politics, particularly pessimism and dissatisfaction towards politics, are common themes among thrash metal bands
7.
Progressive metal
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Whilst the genre emerged towards the late-1980s, it was not until the 1990s that progressive metal achieved commercial success. On the other side of the spectrum, some rock bands such as King Crimson, Uriah Heep. Rush songs such as Bastille Day, Anthem, By-Tor And The Snow Dog,2112, The Fountain of Lamneth, another early practitioner of heavy metal were Lucifers Friend. Night Sun was also a band who mixed heavy metal with progressive rock tones. However, progressive metal did not develop into a genre of its own until the mid-1980s, the result can be described as music that combined a progressive rock mentality with heavy metal sounds. Among the early flagship bands for progressive metal, each had a different vibe. Fates Warning were one of the most aggressive and heavy sounding and their 1989 album Perfect Symmetry broke away from their NWOBHM influenced sound and became the mold for early progressive metal that Dream Theater would expand on. Crimson Glorys music, featuring tight dual-lead harmonies and soaring vocals would be displayed prominently on their self titled debut, as well as in the follow-up and it also contained the song Lonely, which was their first hit single and music video. According to AllMusic, progressive metal at the time was fairly underground, though progressive metal was, and has remained, primarily an album-oriented genre, this mainstream exposure increased the genres profile, and opened doors for other bands. Ayreon stayed with the prog metal themes, but mixed them with many other influences, such as rock opera, folk music. Pain of Salvation experimented with progressive rock and progressive metal, made extensive use of polyrhythms, and abruptly switched between calm and heavy passages. Seventh Wonder stayed within the metal mold, but had a larger focus on melody than most other progressive metal bands. Symphony X married progressive elements to power metal and classical music, tool and Karnivool created a more modern style by combining alternative metal elements and odd time signatures. Porcupine Tree began as a rock band, but then developed a progressive metal sound with 2002s In Absentia. Mastodon also combined progressive metal with sludge elements, many bands also started to experiment with more extreme subgenres of metal music, as have Meshuggah, whose distinctive sound has spawned the djent movement within progressive metal. In Japan, Sigh incorporated jazz and classical influences in black metal, while Dir En Grey, formerly a visual kei band, in Israel, Orphaned Land mixed progressive metal with local folk music, with guitarist Yossi Sassi playing a bouzouki as well as a guitar. Progressive metal can be broken down into many sub-genres corresponding to other styles of music that have influenced progressive metal groups. For example, two bands that are identified as progressive metal, Kings X and Opeth, are at opposite ends of the sonic spectrum to one another
8.
Elektra Records
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Elektra Records is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, founded in 1950 by Jac Holzman and Paul Rickolt. It played an important role in the development of folk music. In 2004, it was consolidated into WMGs Atlantic Records Group, after five years of dormancy, the label was revived as an imprint of Atlantic in 2009. The label has been run by Gregg Nadel since 2015 who officially became its president in 2017, Elektra was formed in 1950 by Jac Holzman and Paul Rickolt in Holzmans St. Johns College dorm room. The usual spelling of the Greek mythological Pleiad Electra was changed, Holzman famously explained, I gave her the ‘K’ that I lacked. He found the C in the name too soft but liked the solid bite of the letter K. The first Elektra LP, New Songs, was a collection of Lieder and similar art songs, Holzman also recorded Josh White, who was without a record deal as a result of McCarthyite blacklisting. In 1964, Elektra launched Nonesuch Records and this classical budget label was the best-selling budget classical label of the era. In 1965, Elektra began a joint venture with Survey Music called Bounty Records which was Elektras first foray into pop music. The most notable signing for Bounty was the Paul Butterfield Band who was moved over to Elektra when Bounty folded, the labels most important signings were the Chicago-based Paul Butterfield Blues Band, the Los Angeles bands Love and The Doors, and the Detroit bands The Stooges and MC5. Included in Elektras LA signings were Tim Buckley and Bread, in 1968, the label also signed pioneering rock guitar soloist Lonnie Mack to a three-album deal. Also in 1967, Elektra launched its influential Nonesuch Explorer Series, excerpts from several Nonesuch Explorer recordings were later included on the two Voyager Golden Discs which were sent into deep space in 1977 aboard the Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 space probes. Elektra, along with its Nonesuch Records subsidiary, was acquired by Kinney National Services in 1970, soon afterwards, Kinney consolidated their label holdings under the Warner-Elektra-Atlantic umbrella. Holzman remained in charge of Elektra until 1972, when it merged with Asylum Records to become Elektra/Asylum Records, Asylums founder, David Geffen, would head the newly combined label. Holzman, in the meantime, was appointed vice president and chief technologist for Warner — ushering the company into home video. Holzman also went on to acquire Discovery Records, in 1975, Geffen stepped down due to health problems. He would be replaced by Joe Smith, who went on to become CEO of Capitol Records. Although the company was listed as Elektra/Asylum Records on the label credits
9.
Record producer
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A record producer or music producer oversees and manages the sound recording and production of a band or performers music, which may range from recording one song to recording a lengthy concept album. A producer has many roles during the recording process, the roles of a producer vary. The producer may perform these roles himself, or help select the engineer, the producer may also pay session musicians and engineers and ensure that the entire project is completed within the record companies budget. A record producer or music producer has a broad role in overseeing and managing the recording. Producers also often take on an entrepreneurial role, with responsibility for the budget, schedules, contracts. In the 2010s, the industry has two kinds of producers with different roles, executive producer and music producer. Executive producers oversee project finances while music producers oversee the process of recording songs or albums. In most cases the producer is also a competent arranger, composer. The producer will also liaise with the engineer who concentrates on the technical aspects of recording. Noted producer Phil Ek described his role as the person who creatively guides or directs the process of making a record, indeed, in Bollywood music, the designation actually is music director. The music producers job is to create, shape, and mold a piece of music, at the beginning of record industry, producer role was technically limited to record, in one shot, artists performing live. The role of producers changed progressively over the 1950s and 1960s due to technological developments, the development of multitrack recording caused a major change in the recording process. Before multitracking, all the elements of a song had to be performed simultaneously, all of these singers and musicians had to be assembled in a large studio and the performance had to be recorded. As well, for a song that used 20 instruments, it was no longer necessary to get all the players in the studio at the same time. Examples include the rock sound effects of the 1960s, e. g. playing back the sound of recorded instruments backwards or clanging the tape to produce unique sound effects. These new instruments were electric or electronic, and thus they used instrument amplifiers, new technologies like multitracking changed the goal of recording, A producer could blend together multiple takes and edit together different sections to create the desired sound. For example, in jazz fusion Bandleader-composer Miles Davis album Bitches Brew, producers like Phil Spector and George Martin were soon creating recordings that were, in practical terms, almost impossible to realise in live performance. Producers became creative figures in the studio, other examples of such engineers includes Joe Meek, Teo Macero, Brian Wilson, and Biddu
10.
James Hetfield
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James Alan Hetfield is an American musician, singer, and songwriter known for being the co-founder, lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, and main songwriter for the American heavy metal band Metallica. Hetfield is mainly known for his intricate rhythm playing, but occasionally lead guitar duties and solos. Hetfield co-founded Metallica in October 1981 after answering an advertisement by drummer Lars Ulrich in the Los Angeles newspaper The Recycler. Metallica has won nine Grammy Awards and released ten studio albums, three live albums, four extended plays and 24 singles. In 2009, Hetfield was ranked at no.8 in Joel McIvers book The 100 Greatest Metal Guitarists, and ranked at no.24 by Hit Parader on their list of the 100 Greatest Metal Vocalists of All Time. In Guitar Worlds poll, Hetfield was placed as the 19th greatest guitarist of all time, rolling Stone placed Hetfield as the 87th greatest guitarist of all time. Hetfield was born on August 3,1963 in Downey, California, the son of Cynthia Bassett, an opera singer, and Virgil Lee Hetfield. He is of English, German, Irish, and Scottish descent and he has two older half-brothers from his mothers first marriage and one younger sister. His parents divorced in 1976 when Hetfield was 13 and this upbringing became the inspiration for many of Hetfields lyrics during his career with Metallica, most notably in the song The God That Failed from their eponymous 1991 album, Metallica. Cynthia died of cancer in 1979 when Hetfield was 16 years old, after the death of his mother, Hetfield went to live with his older half-brother David. Virgil died in late 1996, during Metallicas Load tour, Hetfield attended Downey High School for his freshman and sophomore years. Hetfield was nine years old when he first began piano lessons, after which he took on his half-brother Davids drums and finally, at the age of 14 and he was also in a few bands as a teenager – one being Leather Charm and another, Obsession. Hetfield identifies Aerosmith as having been his musical influence as a child. Some of the options considered included adding another player, having John Roads play lead guitar. The finalized line-up of the band became Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Dave Mustaine, Hetfield referred to their early sound as power metal. The term thrash metal was first used when Kerrang journalist Malcolm Dome described the Anthrax song Metal Thrashing Mad in an issue of Kerrang in February 1984, from 1982 to 1983, Mustaines alcoholism sparked heated altercations between himself and Hetfield. Mustaine also once poured beer onto McGovneys bass nearly causing serious damage, on April 1,1983, the band recruited lead guitarist Kirk Hammett from the band Exodus and 10 days later Hetfield and Ulrich officially removed Mustaine from the band due to his alcoholic tendencies. Mustaine was sent home on a 4-day bus journey, and went on to form the metal band Megadeth
11.
Lars Ulrich
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Lars Ulrich is a Danish musician, songwriter, actor, and record producer. He is best known as the drummer and co-founder of the American heavy metal band Metallica, the son of tennis player Torben Ulrich and grandson of tennis player Einer Ulrich, he also played tennis in his youth and moved to Los Angeles at age 16 to train professionally. However, rather than playing tennis, Ulrich began playing the drums, after publishing an advertisement in The Recycler, Ulrich met James Hetfield and formed Metallica. Ulrich was born into a family in Gentofte, Denmark the son of Lone. His paternal grandfather was professional tennis player Einer Ulrich and his paternal grandmother, Ulla Meyer, was from a Jewish family, as a result, Ulrichs grandfather was persecuted by the Nazis during World War II. Saxophonist Dexter Gordon was Ulrichs godfather, and he is a friend of musician Neneh Cherry. In February 1973, Ulrichs father obtained passes for five of his friends to a Deep Purple concert that was being held in the same Copenhagen stadium as one of his tennis tournaments. When one of the friends could not go, they gave their ticket to the nine-year-old Ulrich, the concert and album had a considerable impact on Ulrich, inspiring the start of his career in rock and roll and later heavy metal. As a result of his newfound interest in music, he received his first drum kit, Ulrich originally intended to play tennis, and he moved to the U. S. in the summer of 1980. In the documentary Anvil, The story of Anvil, Ulrich states that witnessing a Y&T show was his moment in deciding to become a musician. In 1981, he discovered British heavy metal band Diamond Head, Ulrich remains a fan of Diamond Head and would later go on to mix their album The Best of Diamond Head. Upon returning to America, Ulrich placed an advert in a newspaper looking for musicians to start a band with him. James Hetfield replied to the ad, and Metallica was formed, later in 1981, Ulrich met James Hetfield in Downey, California, and they formed the heavy metal band Metallica. He got the name Metallica from a friend, Ron Quintana, who was brainstorming names for a heavy metal fanzine he was creating, and Metallica was one of the options, Ulrich encouraged him to choose Metal Mania, and used the name Metallica for himself. From Master of Puppets and Dyers Eve from. And Justice for All and he has since been considerably influential due to both the popularity of his band, as well as his drum techniques, such as the double bass drum in the song One and Dyers Eve. Since the release of Metallica, Ulrich adopted a focused and simplified style of drumming. Between 1998 and 2002, Ulrich tried running a record label, the company was a joint venture with Metallica accountant Tim Duffy. It failed to catch on and folded in the spring 2002 and his voice can be heard in the opening seconds of Leper Messiah and he also counts to four in his native Danish on the St. Anger music video
12.
Master of Puppets
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Master of Puppets is the third studio album by American heavy metal band Metallica, released on March 3,1986 by Elektra Records. Recorded at the Sweet Silence Studios with producer Flemming Rasmussen, it was the first Metallica album released on a record label. Master of Puppets was the bands last album to feature bassist Cliff Burton, the album peaked at number 29 on the Billboard 200 and became the first thrash metal album to be certified platinum. It was certified 6× platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America in 2003 for shipping six million copies in the United States, the album was eventually certified 6× platinum by Music Canada and gold by the British Phonographic Industry. Master of Puppets was released to acclaim and has been included in several publications best album lists. Its driving, virtuosic music, and angry political lyrics drew praise from critics outside the metal community, the album is considered the bands strongest effort of the period and is one of the most influential heavy metal albums. Critics credit it for consolidating the American thrash metal scene with its atmospheric, many bands from all genres of heavy metal have covered the albums songs, including tribute albums. Master of Puppets was deemed culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant enough for preservation in the National Recording Registry by the United States Library of Congress in 2016, only 450 recordings have earned this distinction, with Master of Puppets being the first metal selection. The cover was designed by Metallica and Peter Mensch and painted by Don Brautigam and it depicts a cemetery field of white crosses tethered to strings, manipulated by a pair of hands in a blood-red sky. Instead of releasing a single or video in advance of the albums release, the European leg was canceled after Burtons death in September 1986, and the band returned home to audition a new bassist. Metallica honored the albums 20th anniversary on the Escape from the Studio 06 tour, Metallicas 1983 debut Kill Em All laid the foundation for thrash metal with its aggressive musicianship and vitriolic lyricism. The album revitalized the American underground scene, and records by contemporaries followed in similar manner, the bands second album Ride the Lightning extended the limits of the genre with its more sophisticated songwriting and improved production. The album caught the attention of Elektra Records representative Michael Alago, Elektra reissued Ride the Lightning on November 19, and the band began touring larger venues and festivals throughout 1985. After parting with manager Jon Zazula, Metallica hired Q Prime executives Cliff Burnstein, during the summer, the band played the Monsters of Rock festival at Castle Donington, alongside Bon Jovi and Ratt in front of 70,000 fans. Metallica was motivated to make an album that would impress critics and fans, lead singer/rhythm guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich were the main songwriters on the album, already titled Master of Puppets. The two developed ideas at a garage in El Cerrito, California, before inviting bassist Cliff Burton, Hetfield and Ulrich described the songwriting process as starting with guitar riffs, assembled and reassembled until they start to sound like a song. After that, the band came up with a title and topic. Master of Puppets was Metallicas first album not to feature songwriting contributions from lead guitarist Dave Mustaine
13.
Metallica (album)
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Metallica is the eponymous fifth studio album by American heavy metal band Metallica. Released on August 12,1991 by Elektra Records, it received critical acclaim. Metallica produced five singles that are considered to be among the bands songs, which include Enter Sandman, The Unforgiven, Nothing Else Matters, Wherever I May Roam. Dont Tread on Me was also issued to rock radio shortly after the albums release, the album marked a change in the bands sound from the thrash metal style of the previous four albums to a slower one. Metallica promoted the album with a series of tours, in 2003, the album was ranked number 252 on Rolling Stones 500 greatest albums of all time. The recording of Metallica was troubled, as the band frequently entered conflicts with Bob Rock, the album debuted at number one in ten countries and spent four consecutive weeks at the top of the Billboard 200, making it Metallicas first album to top album charts. By February 2016, the album spent 363 weeks on the Billboard album chart, Metallica is one of the best-selling albums worldwide, and the best-selling albums in the United States since Nielsen SoundScan tracking began. Metallica played the album in its entirety during the 2012 European Black Album Tour, at the time of Metallicas recording, the bands songs were written mainly by frontman James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, with Hetfield being the lyricist. The duo frequently composed together at Ulrichs house in Berkeley, California, several song ideas and concepts were conceived by other members of the band, lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Jason Newsted. For instance, Newsted wrote the riff of My Friend of Misery. The songs were written in two months in mid-1990, the ideas for some of them were originated during the Damaged Justice Tour, Metallica was impressed with Bob Rocks production work on Mötley Crües Dr. Feelgood and decided to hire him to work on their album. Initially, the members were not interested in having Rock producing the album as well. Ulrich said, We felt that we still had our best record in us, four demos for the album were recorded on August 13,1990, Enter Sandman, The Unforgiven, Nothing Else Matters and Wherever I May Roam. The lead single Enter Sandman was the first song to be written, on October 4,1990, a demo of Sad but True was recorded. In October 1990, Metallica entered One on One Recording Studios in Los Angeles, California, the band also recorded the album at Little Mountain Sound Studios in Vancouver, British Columbia about a week. On June 2,1991, a demo of Holier Than Thou was recorded, Hetfield stated about the recording, What we really wanted was a live feel. In the past, Lars and I constructed the rhythm parts without Kirk and this time I wanted to try playing as a band unit in the studio. It lightens things up and you get more of a vibe and he also suggested recording tracks live and using harmonic vocals for Hetfield
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Single (music)
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In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a song recording of fewer tracks than an LP record, an album or an EP record. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats, in most cases, a single is a song that is released separately from an album, although it usually also appears on an album. Typically, these are the songs from albums that are released separately for promotional uses such as digital download or commercial radio airplay and are expected to be the most popular, in other cases a recording released as a single may not appear on an album. As digital downloading and audio streaming have become prevalent, it is often possible for every track on an album to also be available separately. Nevertheless, the concept of a single for an album has been retained as an identification of a heavily promoted or more popular song within an album collection. Despite being referred to as a single, singles can include up to as many as three tracks on them. The biggest digital music distributor, iTunes, accepts as many as three tracks less than ten minutes each as a single, as well as popular music player Spotify also following in this trend. Any more than three tracks on a release or longer than thirty minutes in total running time is either an Extended Play or if over six tracks long. The basic specifications of the single were made in the late 19th century. Gramophone discs were manufactured with a range of speeds and in several sizes. By about 1910, however, the 10-inch,78 rpm shellac disc had become the most commonly used format, the inherent technical limitations of the gramophone disc defined the standard format for commercial recordings in the early 20th century.26 rpm. With these factors applied to the 10-inch format, songwriters and performers increasingly tailored their output to fit the new medium, the breakthrough came with Bob Dylans Like a Rolling Stone. Singles have been issued in various formats, including 7-inch, 10-inch, other, less common, formats include singles on digital compact cassette, DVD, and LD, as well as many non-standard sizes of vinyl disc. Some artist release singles on records, a more common in musical subcultures. The most common form of the single is the 45 or 7-inch. The names are derived from its speed,45 rpm. The 7-inch 45 rpm record was released 31 March 1949 by RCA Victor as a smaller, more durable, the first 45 rpm records were monaural, with recordings on both sides of the disc. As stereo recordings became popular in the 1960s, almost all 45 rpm records were produced in stereo by the early 1970s
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Harvester of Sorrow
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Harvester of Sorrow is a song by the American heavy metal band Metallica. It was released as the first single from their studio album. And Justice for All. The song debuted at a live performance prior to the release of. And Justice for All while on the summer Monsters of Rock Tour in 1988 with Van Halen, Scorpions, Dokken and Kingdom Come. The single contained two B-sides, both of which were songs, Breadfan, originally by Budgie, and The Prince. There was an error in the mastering of the recording, At the end of Breadfan and this was actually intended to be the intro to the next track, The Prince. However, it was separated in the wrong place, the band decided not to correct this error when the tracks were included on their 1998 Garage Inc. compilation. The songs subject matter refers to a man who descends into madness, at the end of the song, it is hinted his sanity snaps and he murders them. The song was covered by San Francisco–area alternative/ska band Link 80 for the 2000 compilation album Punk Goes Metal, apocalyptica covered the song for the A Tribute to the Four Horsemen cover album. German electronic group Funker Vogt also covered the song on The Blackest Album Vol.3 tribute album
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Eye of the Beholder (song)
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Eye of the Beholder is a song by the American heavy metal band Metallica. It was released as the single from their fourth studio album. And Justice for All released on October 30,1988. Lyrically, the song concerns imposed limitations on freedom of speech, Eye of the Beholder is notable for its chorus section containing 12/8 time played, not as an ordinary compound quadruple time, but as a syncopated rhythm. The rest of the song is a more conventional 4/4 rhythm at a slower tempo than that seen on Metallicas previous three albums, the song has not been performed live in its entirety since 1989. One such Justice Medley was featured on its 1993 live album Live Shit, in Flames recorded a cover of Eye of the Beholder on Metal Militia – A Tribute to Metallica, a tribute album recorded by various artists. This version of the song appears on the remastered edition of In Flames first EP
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One (Metallica song)
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One is a song by American heavy metal band Metallica. It was released as the third and final single from their studio album. And Justice for All. His only hope is to devise a way to communicate with the hospital staff, production of the song was done by the band alongside Flemming Rasmussen. The song was the bands first top 40 hit single in the U. S. reaching number 35 on the Billboard Hot 100 and it was also a number-one hit in Finland. A video for the song was introduced in January 1989 on MTV, shot in black and white by director Michael Salomon, the videos story is intercut with scenes taken from the 1971 anti-war film Johnny Got His Gun. Due to routinely being required to pay royalty fees to continue showing the music video, the video was ranked at number one on MTV soon after its introduction. Metallica performed One for the 31st Annual Grammy Awards show broadcast from Los Angeles in 1989, the next year, the song won a Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance, the first ever win in that category. The band also performed the song alongside pianist Lang Lang at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards in 2014. The song is one of the bands most popular pieces and has remained a staple since the release of the album. One was written in November 1987 by Metallicas principal composers James Hetfield, the song was released in 1989 as the third and final single from the album. Ulrichs drums come in and continues until each chorus, when the guitars become heavy, the song begins in 4/4 time, and later 3/4 as well as 2/4. In 1991, James Hetfield told Guitar World that he wrote the songs opening B-G chord change based on an idea prompted by the Venom song Buried Alive from their studio album. The song is based on the idea of a soldier losing all of his limbs and being unable to hear, speak, or see, set to a World War I backdrop. In an interview in New Zealand in 1989, Ulrich describes the movie Johnny Got His Gun as having a theme. One was the first Metallica song for which a video was created. The music video, directed by Bill Pope and Michael Salomon, the video, shot in Long Beach, California, is almost entirely in black and white, and features the band performing the song in a warehouse. It features dialogue and several scenes from the 1971 film adaptation of Johnny Got His Gun, timothy Bottoms can be seen starring as Joe Bonham, the main character in the novel. Three versions of the One music video were made, the first contained scenes of both the band and scenes from the movie, the second was simply a shortened version of the first and the third, often known as the jammin version, lacked scenes from the movie
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Heavy metal music
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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. Heavy metal lyrics and performance styles are associated with aggression. The first heavy metal such as Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath. During the mid-1970s, Judas Priest helped spur the evolution by discarding much of its blues influence, Motörhead introduced a punk rock sensibility. Beginning in the late 1970s, bands in the new wave of British heavy metal such as Iron Maiden, before the end of the decade, heavy metal fans became known as metalheads or headbangers. During the 1980s, glam metal became popular with such as Mötley Crüe. Since the mid-1990s popular styles have further expanded the definition of the genre and these include groove metal and nu metal, the latter of which often incorporates elements of grunge and hip hop. Heavy metal is characterized by loud distorted guitars, emphatic rhythms, dense bass-and-drum sound. Metal subgenres variously emphasize, alter, or omit one or more of these attributes, the typical band lineup includes a drummer, a bassist, a rhythm guitarist, a lead guitarist, and a singer, who may or may not be an instrumentalist. Keyboard instruments are used to enhance the fullness of the sound. Deep Purples Jon Lord played an overdriven Hammond organ, in 1970, John Paul Jones used a Moog synthesizer on Led Zeppelin III, by the 1990s, in. almost every subgenre of heavy metal synthesizers were used. The electric guitar and the power that it projects through amplification has historically been the key element in heavy metal. The heavy metal guitar sound comes from a use of high volumes. Guitar solos are an element of the heavy metal code. That underscores the significance of the guitar to the genre, most heavy metal songs featur at least one guitar solo, which is a primary means through which the heavy metal performer expresses virtuosity. One exception is nu metal bands, which tend to omit guitar solos, with rhythm guitar parts, the heavy crunch sound in heavy metal. Palm muting the strings with the hand and using distortion. Palm muting creates a tighter, more sound and it emphasizes the low end
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Jason Newsted
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After leaving Metallica he continued with his project Echobrain, played with Ozzy Osbourne and joined heavy metal band Voivod. Newsted uses the pseudonym Jasonic, which serves as both his alias in Voivod and the name of his publishing company. He is also the founder of the Chophouse Records studio and label based in California, from 2012 to 2014 he played in his self-titled band Newsted, for which he provided lead vocals as well as bass. Jason Curtis Newsted was born into a family of musicians, his mother taught piano and he was exposed to music as a child, listening to the record collections of his older brothers. His first instrument was a guitar, which he started to play at 9 years old, Newsted cites Geezer Butler of Black Sabbath as his major influence. He lists Lemmy Kilmister of Motörhead, Steve Harris of Iron Maiden, Peter Baltes of Accept, Geddy Lee of Rush, Rob Grange of Ted Nugent and Bill Church of Montrose as other significant influences. The early part of Newsteds music career had him performing bass for Flotsam and Jetsam, Newsted wrote the majority of lyrics for the album. Following the death of Metallicas bassist Cliff Burton in September 1986 on the Europe leg of the Master of Puppets Tour, even David Ellefson of Megadeth was very briefly considered. Newsted was the last in line and ended up winning the role and he said in a 2015 interview that he learned about Metallicas plan to open for Ozzy Osbournes tour at the time. To his advantage, Newsted secretly procured the bands setlist, studied it and his first live performance with Metallica was at the Country Club in Reseda, California the 8th November 1986. His debut with Metallica was on The $5.98 E. P and this was followed by his first studio album with the band. And Justice for All, which was subject to controversy and criticism for its production, among other issues, for its murky bass sound. Newsted claims this was further hazing on the part of Lars Ulrich and James Hetfield, in addition, they claim that most/all of Newsteds bass lines closely followed the rhythm guitar lines to the point of being indiscernible from each other. However, Steve Thompson, who mixed the album, claims that Ulrich was squarely to blame for the inaudible bass, nonetheless, the album peaked at number 6 on the Billboard 200 and projected the band to higher success. Newsted also performed on the self-titled Metallica, which is the best-selling Metallica album to date and made the group a world-known band, as well as on Load and ReLoad. The live concert releases Live Shit, Binge & Purge and Cunning Stunts, produced in 1993 and 1997 respectively, also featured Newsted, Newsted also played bass on the song I Disappear in 2000. During his time in Metallica, Newsted also sang backing vocals on a number of Metallica songs and he is known for his bass solo which included parts of My Friend of Misery and bass parts from his former band, Flotsam and Jetsam. During a meeting between the members of Metallica in January 2001, Newsted proposed that the band should take a year-long hiatus, when the other band members rejected Newsteds proposals, he chose to quit the band. On January 17, as plans were being made for the band to enter the studio to record its eighth studio album
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Cliff Burton
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Clifford Lee Cliff Burton was an American musician, best known as the second bass guitarist for the American thrash metal band Metallica from December 1982 until his death in September 1986. Burton joined Metallica in 1982 and performed on the bands first three albums, Kill Em All, Ride the Lightning and Master of Puppets. He also received a writing credit for the song To Live Is to Die from the bands fourth studio album. And Justice for All. On September 27,1986, Burton died in a bus accident in Kronoberg County, Burton was replaced by bassist Jason Newsted the following month. He was also inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with Metallica on April 4,2009. He was selected as the ninth greatest bassist of all time in a reader poll organized by Rolling Stone magazine in 2011. Clifford Lee Burton was born in Castro Valley, California, to Ray and he had two elder siblings, Scott and Connie. Burtons interest in music began when his father introduced him to classical music, in his teenage years, Burton had an interest in rock, classical, and eventually heavy metal. He began playing the bass at age 13, after the death of his brother and his parents quoted him as saying, Im going to be the best bassist for my brother. He practiced up to six hours per day, along with classical and jazz, Burtons other early influences varied from southern rock and country to the blues. Burton cited Geddy Lee, Geezer Butler, Stanley Clarke, Lemmy Kilmister, while still a student at Castro Valley High School, Burton formed his first band called EZ-Street. The band took its name from a Bay Area topless bar, other members of EZ Street included future Faith No More guitarist Big Jim Martin as well as Faith No More and Ozzy Osbourne drummer Mike Bordin. Burton and Martin continued their collaboration after becoming students at Chabot College in Hayward. Their second band, Agents of Misfortune, entered the Hayward Area Recreation Departments Battle of the Bands contest in 1981 and their audition was recorded on video and features some of the earliest footage of Burtons trademark playing style. The video also shows Burton playing parts of what would soon be two Metallica songs, his bass solo, - Pulling Teeth, and the chromatic intro to For Whom the Bell Tolls. Burton joined his first major band, Trauma, in 1982, Burton recorded the track Such a Shame with the band on the second Metal massacre compilation. In 1982, Trauma traveled to Los Angeles to perform at the Whisky a Go Go, among those in attendance were James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich, both members of Metallica, which had formed the previous year. Upon hearing, as Hetfield described it, this amazing shredding, when they learned that what they had heard was a bass solo by Burton, they decided to recruit him for their own band
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Lady Justice
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Lady Justice is an allegorical personification of the moral force in judicial systems. Her attributes are a blindfold, a balance, and a sword and she often appears as a pair with Prudentia, who holds a mirror and a snake. Lady Justice is also known as Iustitia or Justitia after Latin, Iustitia, the Roman goddess of Justice, the personification of justice balancing the scales dates back to the Goddess Maat, and later Isis, of ancient Egypt. The Hellenic deities Themis and Dike were later goddesses of justice, Themis was the embodiment of divine order, law, and custom, in her aspect as the personification of the divine rightness of law. There are three features of Lady Justice, a set of scales, a blindfold, and a sword. Lady Justice is most often depicted with a set of scales typically suspended from her hand, upon which she measures the strengths of a cases support. The depiction dates back to ancient Egypt, where the God Anubis was frequently depicted with a set of scales on which He weighed a deceaseds heart against the Feather of Truth, since the 16th century, Lady Justice has often been depicted wearing a blindfold. The blindfold represents impartiality, the ideal that justice should be applied without regard to wealth, the earliest Roman coins depicted Justitia with the sword in one hand and the scale in the other, but with her eyes uncovered. Justitia was only represented as blind since about the end of the 15th century. The first known representation of blind Justice is Hans Giengs 1543 statue on the Gerechtigkeitsbrunnen in Berne, instead of using the Janus approach, many sculptures simply leave out the blindfold altogether. Another variation is to depict a blindfolded Lady Justice as a human scale, an example of this can be seen at the Shelby County Courthouse in Memphis, Tennessee. The cover of a 2006 issue of Rolling Stone proclaimed TIME TO GO. focusing on the corruption that dominated Congress. The drawing showed a bunch of figures evoking reactionary politics emerging from the Capitol, one of the figures was Lady Justice lifting her blindfold, implying that the then-composition of Congress had politicized the criminal justice system. The last distinctive feature of Lady Justice is her sword, the sword represented authority in ancient times, and conveys the idea that justice can be swift and final. The Greco-Roman garment symbolizes the status of the attitude that embodies justice. Justice in sculpture Justice in painting Lady Justice and her symbols are used in heraldry, especially in the arms of legal government agencies. com
22.
Pledge of Allegiance (United States)
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The official name of The Pledge of Allegiance was adopted in 1945. The last change in language came on Flag Day 1954 when the words under God were added, congressional sessions open with the recital of the Pledge, as do many government meetings at local levels, and meetings held by many private organizations. All states except four give time for the pledge to be recited as part of the school day, when not in uniform men should remove any non-religious headdress with their right hand and hold it at the left shoulder, the hand being over the heart. Persons in uniform should remain silent, face the flag, members of the Armed Forces not in uniform and veterans may render the military salute in the manner provided for persons in uniform. However, there existed a version created by Colonel George Balch. Balchs pledge, which existed parallel to the Bellamy version until the 1923 National Flag Conference, read, We give our heads and hearts to God and our country, one country, one language, one flag. Bellamy, however, did not approve of the pledge as Balch had written it, referring to the text as too juvenile, the event was conceived and promoted by James B. Upham, a marketer for the magazine, as a campaign to instill the idea of American nationalism in students, according to author Margarette S. Miller, this campaign was in line both with Uphams patriotic vision as well as with his commercial interest. Bellamys original Pledge read, I pledge allegiance to my Flag, the Pledge was supposed to be quick and to the point. Bellamy designed it to be recited in 15 seconds and this arrangement was formalized when Harrison issued Presidential Proclamation 335. In his recollection of the creation of the Pledge Francis Bellamy said, At the beginning of the nineties patriotism, the patriotic ardor of the Civil War was an old story. The time was ripe for a reawakening of simple Americanism and the leaders in the new movement rightly felt that education should begin in the public schools. Would have a flag raising, under the most impressive conditions, Bellamy recalled that the event had to be more than a list of exercises. The ritual must be prepared with simplicity and dignity, edna Dean Proctor wrote an ode for the event, and There was also an oration suitable for declamation. Bellamy held that Of course, the nub of the program was to be the raising of the flag and he found There was not a satisfactory enough form for this salute. The Balch salute, which ran, I give my heart and my hand to my country, one country, one language, one flag, seemed to him too juvenile and lacking in dignity. After working on the idea with Upham, Bellamy concluded, It was my thought that a vow of loyalty or allegiance to the flag should be the dominant idea, I especially stressed the word allegiance. Bellamy considered the country, nation, or Republic, choosing the last as it distinguished the form of government chosen by the founding fathers
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Music journalism
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Music journalism is media criticism and reporting about popular music topics, including pop music, rock music, and related styles. Journalists began writing music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on what is now thought of as classical music. An influential English 19th-century music critic, for example, was James William Davison of The Times, the composer Hector Berlioz also wrote reviews and criticisms for the Paris press of the 1830s and 1840s. The 1840s could be considered a point, in that music critics after the 1840s generally were not also practicing musicians. However, counterexamples include Alfred Brendel, Charles Rosen, Paul Hindemith, in the early 1980s, a decline in the quantity of classical criticism began occurring when classical-music criticism visibly started to disappear from the media. Also of concern in classical music journalism was how American reviewers can write about ethnic and folk music from other than their own, such as Indian ragas. The performers be treated as human beings and their music be treated as human activity rather than a mystical or mysterious phenomenon, the review should show an understanding of the musics cultural backgrounds and intentions. A key finding in a 2005 study of journalism in America was that the profile of the average classical music critic is a white, 52-year old male. Demographics indicated that the group was 74% male, 92% white, davis, one of the most respected voices of the craft, said he had been forced out after 26 years. Music writers only started treating pop and rock music seriously in 1964 after the breakthrough of the Beatles, one of the early music magazines in Britain, Melody Maker, complained in 1967 about how newspapers and magazines are continually hammering pop music. Melody Maker magazine advocated the new forms of pop music of the late 1960s, by 1999, the quality press was regularly carrying reviews of popular music gigs and albums, which had a key role in keeping pop in the public eye. As more pop music critics began writing, this had the effect of legitimating pop as an art form, as a result, in the world of pop music criticism, there has tended to be a quick turnover. In the realm of music, as in that of classical music. Frank Zappa declared that, Most rock journalism is people who cant write, interviewing people who cant talk, in the 2000s, online music bloggers began to supplement, and to some degree displace, music journalists in print media. In 2006, Martin Edlund of the New York Sun criticized the trend, arguing that while the Internet has democratized music criticism, slate magazine writer Jody Rosen discussed the 2000s-era trends in pop music criticism in his article The Perils of Poptimism. Rosen noted that much of the debate is centered on a perception that rock critics regard rock as normative … the standard state of popular music … to which everything else is compared. At a 2006 pop critic conference, attendees discussed their guilty pop pleasures, reconsidering musicians and genres which rock critics have dismissed as lightweight. Rosen stated that this new paradigm is called popism — or, more evocatively
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The Village Voice
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The Village Voice is an American news and culture paper, known for being the countrys first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher and Norman Mailer, since its founding, The Village Voice has received three Pulitzer Prizes, the National Press Foundation Award and the George Polk Award. Among news sources, The Village Voice is known for its combination of news reporting and arts & culture coverage. The Village Voice has hosted a variety of writers and artists, including writer Ezra Pound, cartoonist Lynda Barry. In addition to daily coverage through its website and a print edition that circulates in New York City. In the 1960s the offices were located at Sheridan Square, then, from the 70s through 1980, at 11th Street and University Place, in 1991 they moved to Cooper Square in the East Village, and in 2013, to the Financial District. John Wilcock wrote a column every week for the papers first ten years, another regular from that period was the cartoonist Kin Platt, who did weekly theatrical caricatures. Other prominent regulars have included Peter Schjeldahl, Ellen Willis, Tom Carson, Wayne Barrett, the Voice has published investigations of New York City politics, as well as reporting on national politics, with arts, culture, music, dance, film, and theater reviews. Writers for the Voice have received three Pulitzer Prizes, in 1981,1986 and 2000, almost since its inception the paper has recognized alternative theater in New York through its Obie Awards. The papers Pazz & Jop music poll, started by Robert Christgau in the early 1970s, is released annually, in 1999, film critic J. Hoberman and film section editor Dennis Lim began a similar Village Voice Film Poll for the year in film. In 2001 the paper sponsored its first music festival, Siren Festival, in 2011, the event moved to the lower tip of Manhattan and re-christened the 4knots Music Festival, a reference to the speed of the East Rivers current. Today, the Voice is known for its support for the civil rights of gays. However, early in its history, the newspaper had a reputation as having an anti-homosexuality slant, while reporting on the Stonewall riots of 1969, the newspaper referred to the riots as The Great Faggot Rebellion. Two reporters, Smith and Truscott, both used the words faggot and dyke in their articles about the riots, the newspaper changed their policy after the GLF petitioned the newspaper to do so. Over time, the Voice has changed its stance, and in 1982, as a testament to the Voices popularity in New York City, the paper is mentioned in the musical Rent during the song La Vie Boheme. The line states To riding your bike midday past the three suits, to fruits, to no absolutes, to Absolut, to choice, to The Village Voice. Seventeen alternative weeklies around the United States are owned by the Voices parent company Village Voice Media, in 2005, the Phoenix alternative weekly chain New Times Media purchased the company and took the Village Voice Media name. After The Village Voice was acquired by New Times Media in 2005, the Voice was then managed by two journalists from Phoenix, Arizona
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Pazz & Jop
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Pazz & Jop is an annual poll of musical releases compiled by American newspaper The Village Voice since 1971. The poll is tabulated from the submitted year-end top ten lists of hundreds of music critics and it was named in acknowledgement of the defunct magazine Jazz & Pop, and adopted the ratings system used in that publications annual critics poll. Pazz & Jop was introduced by The Village Voice in 1974 as an album-only poll, the Pazz & Jop albums poll utilizes a points system in formulating list rankings. Participating critics assign a value, ranging from five to thirty, to each of the albums on their top ten list. Singles lists, however, have always been unweighted, bob Dylan and Kanye West have topped the albums poll the most number of times, with four number-one albums each. West, in addition, won the poll of 2005. Music critic Robert Christgau oversaw the Pazz & Jop poll for more than thirty years, christgaus tenure as Pazz & Jop overseer came to an abrupt end when he was controversially fired from The Village Voice after a company buy-out in August 2006. Regardless, The Village Voice has continued to run the feature, with Rob Harvilla succeeding Christgau as music editor, christgaus annual Pazz & Jop overview essay was discontinued and substituted with multiple retrospective articles of the years music written by a selection of critics. In 2016, the name was changed from Pazz & Jop to the Village Voice Music Critics Poll by the new owners of the newspaper. Christgau, who has continued to vote in the poll since his departure from the newspaper, when the 2016 results were announced in January 2017, the poll had reverted to its Pazz & Jop name. Official Pazz & Jop page at The Village Voice Pazz & Jop polls and essays by Robert Christgau
26.
Grammy Award
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A Grammy Award, or Grammy, is an honor awarded by The Recording Academy to recognize outstanding achievement in the mainly English-language music industry. The annual presentation ceremony features performances by prominent artists, and the presentation of awards that have a more popular interest. It shares recognition of the industry as that of the other performance awards such as the Emmy Awards, the Tony Awards. The first Grammy Awards ceremony was held on May 4,1959, to honor, following the 2011 ceremony, The Academy overhauled many Grammy Award categories for 2012. The 59th Grammy Awards, honoring the best achievements from October 2015 to September 2016, was held on February 12,2017, the Grammys had their origin in the Hollywood Walk of Fame project in the 1950s. The music executives decided to rectify this by creating a given by their industry similar to the Oscars. This was the beginning of the National Academy of Recording Arts, after it was decided to create such an award, there was still a question of what to call it, one working title was the Eddie, to honor the inventor of the phonograph, Thomas Edison. They finally settled on using the name of the invention of Emile Berliner, the gramophone, for the awards, the number of awards given grew and fluctuated over the years with categories added and removed, at one time reaching over 100. The second Grammy Awards, also held in 1959, was the first ceremony to be televised, the gold-plated trophies, each depicting a gilded gramophone, are made and assembled by hand by Billings Artworks in Ridgway, Colorado. In 1990 the original Grammy design was revamped, changing the traditional soft lead for a stronger alloy less prone to damage, Billings developed a zinc alloy named grammium, which is trademarked. The trophies with the name engraved on them are not available until after the award announcements. By February 2009,7,578 Grammy trophies had been awarded, the General Field are four awards which are not restricted by genre. Album of the Year is awarded to the performer and the team of a full album if other than the performer. Record of the Year is awarded to the performer and the team of a single song if other than the performer. Song of the Year is awarded to the writer/composer of a single song, Best New Artist is awarded to a promising breakthrough performer who releases, during the Eligibility Year, the first recording that establishes the public identity of that artist. The only two artists to win all four of these awards are Christopher Cross, who won all four in 1980, and Adele, who won the Best New Artist award in 2009 and the other three in 2012 and 2017. Other awards are given for performance and production in specific genres, as well as for other such as artwork. Special awards are given for longer-lasting contributions to the music industry, the many other Grammy trophies are presented in a pre-telecast Premiere Ceremony earlier in the afternoon before the Grammy Awards telecast
27.
Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance
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The Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance is an award presented at the Grammy Awards to recording artists for works containing quality performances in the heavy metal music genre. The ceremony was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, the NARAS recognized heavy metal music artists for the first time at the 31st Grammy Awards. The category was presented as Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance Vocal or Instrumental. Jethro Tull won that award for the album Crest of a Knave, beating Metallica and this choice led to widespread criticism of the NARAS, as journalists suggested that the music of Jethro Tull did not belong in the hard rock or heavy metal genres. In response, the NARAS created the categories Best Hard Rock Performance and Best Metal Performance, Metallica won in the first three years. The awards were presented for the song One, a version of Queens Stone Cold Crazy. As of 2011, Metallica holds the record for the most wins in this category, the bands Black Sabbath, Nine Inch Nails, Slayer, and Tool have each received the award twice. The bands Ministry and Anthrax hold the record for the most nominations without win, ^ Each year is linked to the article about the Grammy Awards held that year. List of Grammy Award categories Timeline of heavy metal music Official site of the Grammy Awards
28.
Underground music
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Underground music comprises musical genres beyond mainstream culture. Any song that is not being legally commercialized is considered underground, some underground rock bands never got non-mainstream roots. They are radical, aggressive 60s bands such as Velvet Underground, The Stooges, MC5, 70s bands like The Sex Pistols, The Damned, The Clash, and 80s hardcore punk bands like Discharge. Some underground styles eventually became mainstream, commercialized pop styles, as did for example, in the 2000s, the increasing availability of the Internet and digital music technologies has made underground music easier to distribute using streaming audio and podcasts. Some experts in cultural studies now argue that there is no underground because the Internet has made what was underground music accessible to everyone at the click of a mouse. One expert, Martin Raymond, of London-based company The Future Laboratory, commented in an article in The Independent, saying trends in music, art, now transmitted laterally and collaboratively via the internet. You once had a series of gatekeepers in the adoption of a trend, the innovator, the early adopter, the late adopter, the mainstream, the late mainstream. But now it goes straight from the innovator to the mainstream, frank Zappa attempted to define underground by noting that the mainstream comes to you, but you have to go to the underground. Black metal is also a form of music and its Norwegian scene are notorious for their association with church burnings. All of extreme metal is considered underground music for its extreme nature, in a Counterpunch magazine article, Twiin argues that Underground music is free media, because by working independently, you can say anything in your music and be free of corporate censorship. Underground music of this type is often promoted through word-of-mouth or by community radio DJs. In the early scenes, such as the Grateful Dead jam band fan scenes or the 1970s punk scenes. In the 2000s, underground music easier to distribute, using streaming audio. A music underground can also refer to the culture of music in a city. The Kitchen is an example of what was an important New York City underground music venue in the 1960s and 1970s, CBGB is another famous New York City underground music venue claiming to be Home of Underground Rock since 1973. Independent music Underground hip hop Underground art
29.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
30.
Billboard 200
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The Billboard 200 is a record chart ranking the 200 most popular music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists, often, a recording act will be remembered by its number ones, those of their albums that outperformed all others during at least one week. The chart is based mostly on sales of albums in the United States, the weekly sales period was originally Monday to Sunday when Nielsen started tracking sales in 1991, but since July 2015, tracking week begins on Friday and ends on Thursday. A new chart is published the following Tuesday with an issue post-dated to the Saturday of the following week, the charts streaming schedule is also tracked from Friday to Thursday. Example, Friday January 1 – sales tracking week begins Thursday January 7 – sales tracking week ends Tuesday January 12 – new chart published, New product is released to the American market on Fridays. Digital downloads of albums are included in Billboard 200 tabulation. Albums that are not licensed for sale in the United States are not eligible to chart. As of the issue dated April 15,2017, the album on the Billboard 200 is More Life by Drake. Billboard began an album chart in 1945, initially only five positions long, the album chart was not published on a weekly basis, sometimes three to seven weeks passing before it was updated. A biweekly, 15-position Best-Selling Popular Albums chart appeared in 1955, the position count varied anywhere from 10 to 30 albums. The first number-one album on the new weekly list was Belafonte by Harry Belafonte, the chart was renamed to Best-Selling Pop Albums later in 1956, and then to Best-Selling Pop LPs in 1957. Beginning on May 25,1959, Billboard split the ranking into two charts Best-Selling Stereophonic LPs for stereo albums and Best-Selling Monophonic LPs for mono albums and these were renamed to Stereo Action Charts and Mono Action Charts in 1960. In January 1961, they became Action Albums—Stereophonic and Action Albums—Monophonic, three months later, they became Top LPs—Stereo and Top LPs—Monaural. On August 17,1963 the stereo and mono charts were combined into a 150-position chart called Top LPs, on April 1,1967, the chart was expanded to 175 positions, then finally to 200 positions on May 13,1967. In 1960, Billboard began concurrently publishing album charts which ranked sales of older or mid-priced titles and these Essential Inventory charts were divided by stereo and mono albums, and featured titles that had already appeared on the main stereo and mono album charts. In January 1961, the Action Charts became Action Albums—Monophonic, Albums appeared on either chart for up to nine weeks, then were moved to an Essential Inventory list of approximately 200 titles, with no numerical ranking. This list continued to be published until the consolidated Top LPs chart debuted in 1963, in 1982, Billboard began publishing a Midline Albums chart which ranked older or mid-priced titles. The chart held 50 positions and was published on a bi-weekly basis, on May 25,1991, Billboard premiered the Top Pop Catalog Albums chart
31.
Recording Industry Association of America
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The Recording Industry Association of America is a continental North and South American trade organization that represents the recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors, which the RIAA says create, the RIAA headquarters is in Washington, D. C. The RIAA was formed in 1952 and its original mission was to administer recording copyright fees and problems, work with trade unions, and do research relating to the record industry and government regulations. Early RIAA standards included the RIAA equalization curve, the format of the record groove and the dimensions of 33 1/3 rpm,45 rpm. Since 2001, the RIAA has spent $2 to $6 million each year on lobbying in the United States, the RIAA also participates in the collective rights management of sound recordings, and it is responsible for certifying Gold and Platinum albums and singles in the United States. Cary Sherman has been the RIAAs chairman and CEO since 2011, Sherman joined the RIAA as its general counsel in 1997 and became president of the board of directors in 2001, serving in that position until being made chairman and CEO. Mitch Glazier has been the RIAAs senior executive vice president since 2011 and he served as executive vice president for public policy and industry relations from 2000 to 2011. The past RIAA chairman and CEO is Mitch Bainwol, who served from 2003 to 2011 and he left in 2011 to become president and CEO of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers. The board of directors consists of 26 members of the board, the RIAA operates an award program for albums that sell a large number of copies. The program originally began in 1958, with a Gold Award for singles, the criterion was changed in 1975 to the number of copies sold, with albums selling 500,000 copies awarded the Gold Award. In 1976, a Platinum Award was added for one million sales, the awards are open to both RIAA members and non-members. Since 2000, the RIAA also operates a program for Latin music sales. Currently, a Disco De Oro is awarded for 30,000 units, the RIAA defines Latin music as a type of release with 51% or more of its content recorded in Spanish. In 2006, digital ringtones were added to branch of certification. In the same year, the RIAA introduced the Latin Digital Award for digital recordings in Spanish and this release format includes DVD and VHS releases, and certain live albums and compilation albums. The certification criteria is different from other styles. Gold,50,000 Platinum,100,000 Multi-Platinum,200,000 copies The RIAA opposes unauthorized sharing of its music, studies conducted since the association began its campaign against peer-to-peer file-sharing have concluded that losses incurred per download range from negligible to moderate. The association has commenced high-profile lawsuits against file sharing service providers and it has also commenced a series of lawsuits against individuals suspected of file sharing, notably college students and parents of file sharing children
32.
The $5.98 E.P.: Garage Days Re-Revisited
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Garage Days Re-Revisited is an extended play by American heavy metal band Metallica. It was released on August 21,1987 by Elektra Records and it was the groups first recording to feature its new bassist Jason Newsted, and also the bands first release following the death of second bassist Cliff Burton. With Metallica scheduled to play the 1987 Monsters of Rock festival at Castle Donington, Newsted used his construction experience to install soundproofing on Lars Ulrichs garage in El Cerrito, California, where the band would rehearse. While rehearsing White Lightning by New wave of British heavy metal band Paralex, Kirk Hammett instead started playing The Wait by post-punk group Killing Joke, other tracks considered but dropped included Signal Thunder by Japanese band Bow Wow, and another NWOBHM song, Gaskins Im No Fool. The title had The $5.98 E. P. included in an effort to ensure that fans were not overcharged for it, the original cassette release included a sticker which read If they try to charge more, STEAL IT. The Wait was omitted from the UK pressings in order to conform to local music-industry rules regarding the length of EPs, the EPs sleevenotes are noteworthy as a nomination for the first use of the word hella, James Hetfield is quoted as saying that the studios hella sucked. James Hetfield — Lead vocals, rhythm guitar Kirk Hammett — Lead guitar Jason Newsted — Bass, backing vocals Lars Ulrich — Drums Garage Inc
33.
Extended play
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An extended play is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single, but is usually unqualified as an album or LP. EPs generally do not contain as many tracks as albums, and are considered less expensive, an EP originally referred to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play and LP, but it is now applied to mid-length CDs and downloads as well. Ricardo Baca of The Denver Post said, EPs—originally extended-play single releases that are shorter than traditional albums—have long been popular with punk, in the United Kingdom, the Official Chart Company defines a boundary between EP and album classification at 25 minutes of length or four tracks. EPs were released in various sizes in different eras, the earliest multi-track records, issued around 1919 by Grey Gull Records, were vertically cut 78 rpm discs known as 2-in-1 records. These had finer than usual grooves, like Edison Disc Records, by 1949, when the 45 rpm single and 33 1⁄3 rpm LP were competing formats, seven-inch 45 rpm singles had a maximum playing time of only about four minutes per side. Partly as an attempt to compete with the LP introduced in 1948 by rival Columbia, RCA Victor introduced Extended Play 45s during 1952. Their narrower grooves, achieved by lowering the levels and sound compression optionally. These were usually 10-inch LPs split onto two seven-inch EPs or 12-inch LPs split onto three seven-inch EPs, either separately or together in gatefold covers. This practice became less common with the advent of triple-speed-available phonographs. Some classical music albums released at the beginning of the LP era were distributed as EP albums—notably the seven operas that Arturo Toscanini conducted on radio between 1944 and 1954. These opera EPs, originally broadcast on the NBC Radio network and manufactured by RCA, in the 1990s, they began appearing on compact discs. During the 1950s, RCA published several EP albums of Walt Disney movies and these usually featured the original casts of actors and actresses. Each album contained two seven-inch records, plus an illustrated booklet containing the text of the recording, so that children could follow along by reading. Some of the titles included Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Pinocchio, and what was then a recent release, because of the popularity of 7 and other formats, SP records became less popular and the production of SPs in Japan was suspended in 1963. In the 1950s and 1960s, EPs were usually compilations of singles or album samplers and were played at 45 rpm on seven-inch discs. Record Retailer printed the first EP chart in 1960, the New Musical Express, Melody Maker, Disc and Music Echo and the Record Mirror continued to list EPs on their respective singles charts. The Beatles Twist and Shout outsold most singles for some weeks in 1963, when the BBC and Record Retailer commissioned the British Market Research Bureau to compile a chart it was restricted to singles and EPs disappeared from the listings. In the Philippines, seven-inch EPs marketed as mini-LPs were introduced in 1970, with tracks selected from an album and this mini-LP format also became popular in America in the early 1970s for promotional releases, and also for use in jukeboxes
34.
Monsters of Rock
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In 1979, promoter Paul Loasby, along with Maurice Jones, planned a one-day festival dedicated specifically for bands within the hard rock and heavy metal genre. Loasby was an established and successful promoter working that year on the Rainbow UK tour and penned the festival as the final show of the tour for the band to headline. Jones knew the owner of the Donington Park race track, Tom Wheatcroft, located next to the village of Castle Donington in Leicestershire, England, and the site was chosen to host the event. Donington Park was unknown as a location but its location in the East Midlands next to the M1, A42. Additionally the site ground level sloped which allowed for a viewing for the audience throughout the site. The first Monsters of Rock line-up consisted of a mix of British, over the years, the attendance continued to grow, reaching 107,000 in 1988, when two fans died during Guns N Roses set. As a result, the festival was cancelled the following year, the festival had been held in parallel in West Germany from 1983 to 1991. In 1984 and 1986 the festival branched into Sweden, in 1988, the festival occurred for the first time in France, Italy, Spain and The Netherlands. It was held as an event in 1991 in Soviet Union, Poland, Belgium. In 1994, the festival was exported overseas to Chile, Argentina, in 1993 the MONSTERS OF ROCK® radio show debuted in the United States with host Harlan Hendrickson. In 1995 the festival found itself in a situation until Metallica agreed to play with the condition of the band having control over the event. Donington Park remained event-less until 2001 when the Rock and Blues Festival, an outstanding success from the offset, the festival continues to this day having increased to a three-day event with five stages, though as of 2008 the event has been relegated outside of the track. In 2006, the Monsters of Rock name was revived and held at the National Bowl in Milton Keynes, England, for a one off event headlined by Deep Purple and with Alice Cooper as a special guest. In 2012 Harlan Hendrickson & Monsters of Rock Worldwide partnered with Larry Morand, Motörhead Bad News Warlock 22 August 1987 Bon Jovi Dio Metallica Anthrax W. A. S. P. A. S. P. The Almighty 4 June 1994 This was the first year that two stages were used, magazine were invited to vote on bands to appear at the festival, and Extreme easily won the right to appear second on the bill. 26 August 19951995 was not officially billed as Monsters Of Rock, skid Row Slayer Slashs Snakepit White Zombie Machine Head Warrior Soul Corrosion of Conformity 17 August 1996. Ozzy Osbourne and Kiss co-headlined with Kiss being the band on stage. S. G. A. F. France, Paris, Hippodrome de Vincennes –3 September 1990 Whitesnake Aerosmith Poison The Front Faith No More Face to Face Quireboys Note, Faith No More was not on the ticket list but was present to the show. S. T
35.
Music for Nations
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Music for Nations is a British independent record label focusing mainly on rock and metal. It was a subsidiary of the larger label distributor Zomba Records, as Music For Nations grew, the company expanded its operation to include not just licensed acts from the USA, but its own signings. It released albums by artists including Paradise Lost, Opeth, Anathema, Cradle of Filth, Testament and countless other metal bands. As well as the metal bands Music For Nations went on to sign up. In 2004, the closed down. The companys catalogue — which had previously included titles from artists as varied as Lost Horizon, Tigertailz. In December 2011, The End Records signed a deal for 50 of Music for Nations catalog albums. They also intend to, in the spirit of the original purpose, sign original heavy talent for singles, EPs. List of record labels Official Website Music For Nations at Discogs. com
36.
Graffiti
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Graffiti are writing or drawings that have been scribbled, scratched, or painted illicitly on a wall or other surface, often within public view. Graffiti range from simple written words to elaborate wall paintings, and they have existed since ancient times, with examples dating back to Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece, in modern times, paint and marker pens have become the most commonly used graffiti materials. In most countries, marking or painting property without the property owners permission is considered defacement and vandalism, Graffiti may also express underlying social and political messages and a whole genre of artistic expression is based upon spray paint graffiti styles. Within hip hop culture, graffiti have evolved alongside hip hop music, b-boying, unrelated to hip-hop graffiti, gangs use their own form of graffiti to mark territory or to serve as an indicator of gang-related activities. Controversies that surround graffiti continue to create disagreement amongst city officials, law enforcement, both graffiti and its occasional singular form graffito are from the Italian word graffiato. Graffiti is applied in art history to works of art produced by scratching a design into a surface, a related term is sgraffito, which involves scratching through one layer of pigment to reveal another beneath it. This technique was used by potters who would glaze their wares. In ancient times graffiti were carved on walls with a sharp object, the word originates from Greek γράφειν — graphein — meaning to write. The term graffiti referred to the inscriptions, figure drawings, and such, found on the walls of ancient sepulchres or ruins, use of the word has evolved to include any graphics applied to surfaces in a manner that constitutes vandalism. Safaitic dates from the first century BC to the fourth century AD, the first known example of modern style graffiti survives in the ancient Greek city of Ephesus. Local guides say it is an advertisement for prostitution, located near a mosaic and stone walkway, the graffiti shows a handprint that vaguely resembles a heart, along with a footprint and a number. This is believed to indicate that a brothel was nearby, with the handprint symbolizing payment, the ancient Romans carved graffiti on walls and monuments, examples of which also survive in Egypt. Graffiti in the world had different connotations than they carry in todays society concerning content. One inscription gives the address of a woman named Novellia Primigenia of Nuceria, another shows a phallus accompanied by the text, mansueta tene. Etched on the surface of the Mirror Wall, they contain pieces of prose, poetry, the majority of these visitors appear to have been from the elite of society, royalty, officials, professions, and clergy. There were also soldiers, archers, and even some metalworkers, the topics range from love to satire, curses, wit, and lament. Many demonstrate a high level of literacy and a deep appreciation of art. Most of the graffiti refer to the frescoes of semi-nude females found there, one reads, Among the ancient political graffiti examples were Arab satirist poems
37.
Guns N' Roses
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Guns N Roses is an American hard rock band from Los Angeles formed in 1985. The lineup, when first signed to Geffen Records in 1986, consisted of vocalist Axl Rose, lead guitarist Slash, rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin, bassist Duff McKagan, and drummer Steven Adler. The current lineup consists of Rose, Slash, McKagan, keyboardists Dizzy Reed and Melissa Reese, guitarist Richard Fortus, the success of the debut was followed by the eight-song album G N R Lies which reached number two on the Billboard 200. The cover album The Spaghetti Incident. was the bands last studio album to feature Slash and it debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 but undersold industry expectations, despite mostly positive critical reception. Former members Slash and McKagan both rejoined the band in 2016, embarking on the Not in This Lifetime, Guns N Roses has been credited with reviving the mainstream popularity of rock n roll, at a time when popular music was dominated by dance music and glam metal. The bands classic lineup, along with later members Reed and drummer Matt Sorum, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012, in 1984, Hollywood Rose member Izzy Stradlin was living with L. A. Guns needed a new vocalist, Stradlin suggested Hollywood Rose singer Axl Rose, Guns N Roses was formed in March 1985 by Rose and rhythm guitarist Stradlin, along with lead guitarist Tracii Guns, bassist Ole Beich, and drummer Rob Gardner of L. A. Guns. The band coined its name by combining the names of both previous groups, rejected names for the band included Heads of Amazon and AIDS. After a short time, during which the band played two or three shows, Beich was fired and replaced by Duff McKagan. Tracii Guns left the band after an argument with Rose leading to his replacement by Rose and Stradlins one-time Hollywood Rose bandmate, Gardner quit soon after and was replaced by another former Hollywood Rose member, Steven Adler. Slash had also played with McKagan and Adler in Road Crew. In June 1985, four days after the lineup was finalized, through the bands increasing presence on the Hollywood club scene – playing famed bars such as The Troubadour and The Roxy – Guns N Roses drew the attention of major record labels. The group was signed by Geffen Records in March 1986, receiving a $75,000 advance. In December of that year, the released the four-song EP Live. *@ Like a Suicide. The EP contained covers of Rose Tattoos Nice Boys and Aerosmiths Mama Kin, although billed as a live recording, the four songs were taken from the bands demo tapes and overdubbed with crowd noise. Live. *@ Like a Suicide was released on the Geffen subsidiary Uzi Suicide, Guns N Roses debut album Appetite for Destruction was released July 21,1987. The band stated the artwork was a symbolic social statement. The revised cover was done by Andy Engell, based on a design by tattoo artist Bill White Jr. who had designed the artwork for a tattoo Rose had acquired the previous year, the artwork featured each of the five band members skulls layered on a cross
38.
Appetite for Destruction
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Appetite for Destruction is the debut studio album by American hard rock band Guns N Roses. It was released on July 21,1987, by Geffen Records to massive commercial success and it topped the Billboard 200 and became the best-selling debut album as well as the 11th best-selling album in the United States. With about 30 million copies worldwide, it is also one of the best-selling records ever. It is said that the reason for not putting November Rain on it was because they had agreed to put Sweet Child O Mine on it. The band started searching for someone to produce their debut, mostly made by Geffen executive Tom Zutaut. Demos were recorded under both Manny Charlton and Spencer Proffer, with some made with the latter being issued in the EP Live. *@ Like a Suicide. One of the interviewed prospects was Kiss Paul Stanley, rejected after insisting on changes to Steven Adlers drum setup, the band considered Robert John Lange, but he proved too expensive to hire. Eventually Mike Clink, who had produced several Triumph records, was chosen, after some weeks of rehearsal, the band entered Daryl Dragons Rumbo Recorders in January 1987. Two weeks were spent recording basic tracks, with Clink splicing together the best takes with his razor blade, Clink worked eighteen-hour days for the next month, with Slash overdubbing in the afternoon and evening, and Rose performing vocals. Slash struggled to find a guitar sound before coming up with a Gibson Les Paul copy plugged into a Marshall amplifier and he spent hours with Clink paring down and structuring his solos. The total budget for the album was about $370,000, final overdubs and mixing were done at Mediasound Studios, and mastering at Sterling Sound, New York City. Many of the songs on Appetite For Destruction began as solo tracks that individual members wrote separate from the band. These songs include Its So Easy and Think About You, brownstone, which is about the bands problems with heroin. Lyrics to some of the focus on the band members younger years, like Out ta Get Me. The albums originally planned cover art, based on Robert Williams painting Appetite for Destruction, in a 2016 interview, Billy White Jr. explained, The cross and skulls that looked like the band was Axl’s idea, the rest was me. The knot work in the cross was a reference to Thin Lizzy, a band Axl and I both loved. ”The photographs used for the back of the album and liner notes were taken by Robert John, Marc Canter, Jack Lue, Leonard McCardie, and Greg Freeman. The original cover was supposed to be on the 2008 vinyl reissue, the band stated the artwork is a symbolic social statement, with the robot representing the industrial system thats raping and polluting our environment. In albums which were issued on double sided media the two sides were not conventionally labeled A and B, but G and R. Tracks 1–6 which compose side G all deal with drugs and hard life in the big city
39.
Garage Inc.
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Garage, Inc. is a compilation album of cover songs by American heavy metal band Metallica. It was released on November 23,1998 through Elektra Records, over 2.5 million copies have been sold in the U. S. as certified by the RIAA. It includes cover songs, B-side covers, and The $5.98 E. P, Garage Days Re-Revisited, which had gone out of print since its original release in 1987. The title is a combination of Garage Days Revisited and their song Damage, Inc. from Master of Puppets, and the albums artwork draws heavily from the 1987 EP. The album features songs by artists that have influenced Metallica, including bands from the new wave of British heavy metal movement, hardcore punk bands. As of August 2013 the album has more than 6 million copies worldwide. The day after Metallica finished the North American leg of the Poor Re-Touring Me Tour in San Diegos Coors Amphitheatre, they hit the studio to start recording a new album of cover versions. Given the band had recorded many covers that were spread across various releases, such as B-sides of their singles, Garage Days Re-Revisited, the band would put them all in a nice little packaging for easy listening along with newly recorded version chosen through a group decision. The cover for Garage Inc. had a Ross Halfin photograph of Metallica dressed as mechanics, airfix also did the back cover, where the front of Garage Days Re-Revisited was modified with headshots of Metallica in 1998 and the track list written on tracing paper. Rolling Stone –4 Stars – Gloriously hard as the album is, entertainment Weekly – Well have to wait until Metallicas next proper album to find out if this trip to the garage recharges their batteries. Still, all considered, Garage Inc. is an intermittently exhilarating joyride. – Rating, B− CMJ – Those who still relate to the adolescent angst of the Metallicas earliest days will find plenty to like on Garage Inc. In 2005, the album was ranked number 500 in Rock Hard magazines book of The 500 Greatest Rock & Metal Albums of All Time and these tracks were recorded in September–October 1998 for the Garage Inc. album. Sabbra Cadabra also covers part of the Black Sabbath song, A National Acrobat and these tracks are a collection of B-sides from artists Metallica were inspired by, throughout the early years of the band. Last Caress/Green Hell contains a parody of Iron Maidens song Run to the Hills at the end, Iron Maiden responded to this on a B-side cover of the Montrose song titled Space Station No.5 Am I Evil. Garage Inc. sold 426,500 units in the first week of release, still, the million-plus record breaking debut of Garth Brooks Double Live made Garage Inc. land only at second on the Billboard 200. As of 2003 the album has sold over 2.5 million copies and has been certified 5× Platinum, like the three preceding studio albums, Garage Inc. in North America during its opening week. Information about the album on the official website
40.
Flotsam and Jetsam (band)
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Flotsam and Jetsam is a thrash metal band that formed in Phoenix, Arizona in 1981. The band currently consists of vocalist Eric A. Knutson, guitarists Michael Gilbert and Steve Conley, Flotsam and Jetsam went through several lineup changes over the years, and Knutson has been the only constant member of the band. The band is notable for featuring bassist Jason Newsted, who left to join Metallica following Cliff Burtons death. Flotsam and Jetsam have released twelve albums in their career. The group was founded in 1981 under the name Paradox by drummer Kelly David-Smith and guitarists Pete Mello and Dave Goulder, Jason had answered a newspaper ad that Kelly had placed in the local newspaper looking for a bass player. Jason came to Phoenix with his band Gangster from Michigan on their way to California, but Gangster broke up while in Phoenix. Kelly got a call from a couple of his school friends, Mark Vasquez and Kevin Horton, looking for some people to jam with playing covers of bands such as Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, MSG. The band then morphed into Dredlox together with the new recruits, Kelly saw A. K. singing The Goodbye Girl at his high school talent show. In 1982 they were in the summer school class and Kelly asked Knutson if he wanted to audition. They put him on 2-week probation and he joined the band. Due to the nature of his membership, the band referred to Knutson as the 2 weeker. Ed Carlson, from local rival band called Exodus, also joined in 1983 after Kevins departure from the band. The name of the band changed into The Dogz, but it didnt last long, eventually the band renamed itself Flotsam and Jetsam after writing a song inspired by a chapter of J. R. R. Tolkiens The Two Towers. In 1985 Mark Vasquez stepped out and 17-year-old Michael Gilbert joined the band, Flotsam and Jetsam released two demo tapes Iron Tears and Metal Shock in 1985. They created their first video Hammerhead from the Metal Shock demo, We taped it in Jason and we also made a live video at the infamous Bootlegger in Phoenix, These videos and the bands demos made a good impression on record labels. After the band contributed to the Speed Metal Hell II and Metal Massacre VII compilations, Flotsam and Jetsam recorded their highly acclaimed debut album in Los Angeles with producer Brian Slagel and engineer Bill Metoyer. The release of Doomsday for the Deceiver was on July 19,1986 and it was the first in Kerrang. s history to achieve the 6K rating. Bassist Jason Newsted, who was also the main lyric writer, departed soon after to join Metallica, replacing their bassist Cliff Burton
41.
Ride the Lightning
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Ride the Lightning is the second studio album by American heavy metal band Metallica, released on July 27,1984, by the independent record label Megaforce Records. The album was recorded in three weeks with producer Flemming Rasmussen at the Sweet Silence Studios in Copenhagen, Denmark, the artwork, based on a concept by the band, depicts an electric chair being struck by lightning flowing from the band logo. The title was taken from a passage in Stephen Kings novel The Stand, although rooted in the thrash metal genre, the album showcased the bands musical growth and lyrical sophistication. This was partly because bassist Cliff Burton introduced the basics of theory to the rest of the band and had more input in the songwriting. Instead of relying strictly on fast tempos as on its debut Kill Em All, Metallica broadened its approach by employing acoustic guitars, extended instrumentals, the overall recording costs were paid by Metallicas European label Music for Nations because Megaforce was unable to cover it. It was the last album to feature songwriting contributions from lead guitarist Dave Mustaine. Ride the Lightning received positive response from critics, who saw it as a more ambitious effort than its predecessor. Metallica promoted the album on the Bang That Head That Doesnt Bang European tour in late 1984, the band performed at a few major music festivals, such as Monsters of Rock and Day on the Green later that year. Two months after its release, Elektra Records signed Metallica to a multi-year contract, Ride the Lightning peaked at number 100 on the Billboard 200 with no radio exposure. Although 75,000 copies were pressed for the American market. It was certified 6× platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America in 2012 for shipping six million copies in the United States, many rock publications have ranked Ride the Lightning on their best album lists, saying it had a lasting impact on the genre. Metallica released their debut album Kill Em All on the independent label Megaforce Records in July 1983, the album helped to establish thrash metal, a heavy metal subgenre defined by its brisk riffs and intense percussion. After finishing its tour, Metallica began composing new material. Because the band had little money, its members often ate one meal a day, an incident occurred when part of Metallicas gear was stolen in Boston, and Anthrax lent Metallica its equipment to complete the remaining dates. When not gigging, the band stayed in a house in El Cerrito, California. Hetfield gradually built confidence as lead vocalist and kept his original role, Metallica started recording on February 20,1984 at Sweet Silence Studios in Copenhagen, Denmark. The album was produced by Flemming Rasmussen, founder of Sweet Silence, drummer Lars Ulrich chose Rasmussen because he liked his work on Rainbows Difficult to Cure and was keen to record in Europe. Rasmussen, who had not heard of Metallica, agreed to work on the album, Rasmussen listened to Metallicas tapes before the members arrived and thought the band had great potential
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