Megadeth
Megadeth is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California. Guitarist Dave Mustaine and bassist David Ellefson formed the band in 1983 shortly after Mustaine's dismissal from Metallica. Along with Metallica and Slayer, Megadeth is one of the "Big Four" of American thrash metal, responsible for its development and popularization, their music features complex arrangements and fast rhythm sections, lyrical themes of death, war and religion. In 1985, Megadeth released its debut album, Killing Is My Business... and Business Is Good!, on the independent record label Combat Records, to moderate success. It caught the attention of bigger labels, their first major-label album, Peace Sells... but Who's Buying?, was released in 1986 and influenced the underground metal scene. Substance abuse and personal disputes brought Megadeth negative publicity during this period. After the lineup stabilized, Megadeth released a number of platinum-selling albums, including Rust in Peace and Countdown to Extinction.
These albums, along with worldwide tours, brought them public recognition. The band temporarily disbanded in 2002 when Mustaine suffered an arm injury and re-established in 2004 without bassist Ellefson, who had taken legal action against Mustaine. Ellefson settled out of court and rejoined in 2010. Megadeth has hosted its own music festival, several times since July 2005. Megadeth has sold over 38 million records worldwide, earned platinum certification in the United States for five of its fifteen studio albums, received twelve Grammy nominations. Megadeth won its first Grammy Award in 2017 for the song "Dystopia" in the Best Metal Performance category; the band's mascot, Vic Rattlehead appears on album artwork and live shows. The group has drawn controversy for its music and lyrics, including album bans and canceled concerts. On April 11, 1983, Dave Mustaine was expelled from Metallica just prior to the band recording their debut album Kill'Em All due to substance abuse and personal conflicts with James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich.
As Metallica's lead guitarist since 1981, Mustaine had composed some of the group's early songs and helped hone the band into a tight live unit. Afterward, Mustaine vowed revenge by forming a band, faster and heavier than Metallica. On the bus trip back to Los Angeles, Mustaine found a pamphlet by California senator Alan Cranston that read: "The arsenal of megadeath can't be rid no matter what the peace treaties come to." The term "Megadeath" stuck with Mustaine and he wrote a song with the spelling changed to Megadeth, according to Mustaine, represented the annihilation of power. After arriving back in Los Angeles, Mustaine began the search for new bandmates, he formed a band with his new neighbors David Ellefson and Greg Handevidt, who had moved from Minnesota and played bass and guitar respectively. While Handevidt would only last a few months and Ellefson formed a tight musical bond. Despite his enthusiasm, Mustaine had trouble finding other members to fill out the lineup, he and Ellefson examined about fifteen drummers, hoping to find one who understood meter changes in music.
After playing with Dijon Carruthers, they selected Lee Rausch. They decided on Mustaine as lead vocalist after six months of searching. In 1984, Megadeth recorded a three-song demo tape featuring Mustaine and Rausch; the demo tape, Last Rites, was released on March 9, 1984. The demo featured early versions of "Last Rites/Loved to Death", "The Skull Beneath the Skin", "Mechanix", all of which appeared on the band's debut album. A second guitarist proved elusive after several months of searching. In the meantime, Kerry King of Slayer filled in on rhythm guitar for several shows in the San Francisco area in the spring of 1984. Afterwards, King went back to Slayer and Megadeth replaced Rausch with jazz fusion drummer Gar Samuelson. Samuelson had been in the jazz band the New Yorkers with guitarist Chris Poland. After seeing Samuelson perform with Megadeth as a trio, Poland went backstage and suggested an impromptu audition as lead guitarist for the band. After considering several labels, Mustaine signed the band to Combat Records, a New York-based Independent record label that offered Megadeth the highest budget to record and tour.
In 1985, Combat Records gave the band $8,000 to produce its debut album. After spending $4,000 of the budget on drugs and food, the band fired the original producer and finished the recording themselves. Despite its low-fidelity sound, Killing Is My Business... and Business Is Good! was successful in underground metal circles and attracted major-label interest. Music writer Joel McIver praised its "blistering technicality" and stated that the album "raised the bar for the whole thrash metal scene, with guitarists forced to perform more and powerfully"; the front cover marked the debut of band mascot Vic Rattlehead, who appeared on subsequent album artwork. Killing Is My Business... and Business Is Good! Features "Mechanix", a song Mustaine wrote during his time with Metallica. Though Mustaine told the band after his dismissal not to use the music he had written, Metallica recorded a different version of the song, "The Four Horsemen", with a slower tempo and a melodic middle section; the album included a cover of Nancy Sinatra's "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'," at a faster tempo and with altered lyrics.
Megadeth's version generated controversy during the 1990s, when its writer, Lee Hazlewood, called Mustaine's changes "vile and offensive". Under threat of legal action, the song was
Rust in Peace
Rust in Peace is the fourth studio album by American thrash metal band Megadeth, released on September 24, 1990 by Capitol Records. Following the departure of band members Jeff Young and Chuck Behler in 1989, Rust in Peace was the first album to feature guitarist Marty Friedman and drummer Nick Menza. Rust in Peace received universal acclaim from fans and critics, was responsible for bringing Megadeth to the attention of a mainstream metal audience, it has been cited as one of the best thrash metal records of all time by publications such as Decibel and Kerrang!, listed as one of the 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. The album was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance at the 33rd Grammy Awards. At the 1991 Foundations Forum, it won a Concrete Foundations Award for Top Radio Album and the single Hangar 18 won Top Radio Cut. Two singles were released from the album: "Hangar 18" and "Holy Wars... The Punishment Due", which have become staples of the band's live performances.
Rust in Peace features lyrical themes such as nuclear war and UFOs. The album's cover art references "Hangar 18". A remixed and remastered version featuring four bonus tracks was released in 2004. In 2010, the band announced a North American tour to commemorate the album's 20th anniversary; the performance at the Hollywood Palladium was filmed and released as Rust in Peace Live on CD, DVD and Blu-ray that year. In 1988, Megadeth appeared at the Monsters of Rock festival at Donington Park in the UK, alongside Iron Maiden, Helloween, Guns N' Roses, David Lee Roth; the band performed to an audience of more than 100,000 people and was soon added to the "Monsters of Rock" European tour, but dropped out after the first show due to bassist David Ellefson's drug problems. Further issues within the band caused frontman and guitarist Dave Mustaine to fire drummer Chuck Behler and guitarist Jeff Young, canceled their scheduled 1988 Australian tour. Nick Menza Behler's drum tech, was hired as the band's new drummer.
The search for a new guitarist was a drawn out process. According to Mustaine, one of the last guitarists he had heard about, Marty Friedman, had sent him a copy of Dragon's Kiss, on which Friedman played. Upon listening to the record, Mustaine hired him; this would become the band's first stable line-up and, as recognized by fans, the'classic' Megadeth lineup. The title "Rust in Peace" was inspired by a bumper sticker that Mustaine saw on the back of a vehicle while driving home from Lake Elsinore, California; the sticker read:'May all your nuclear weapons rust in peace'. Mustaine decided to use it as a title for Megadeth's upcoming album. Rust in Peace was recorded in Rumbo Studios with producer Mike Clink, while the mixing was handled by Max Norman. Clink was brought in for his work on both Guns N' Roses' Appetite for Destruction and UFO's Strangers in the Night; the producer's work dealt with the bass and Friedman's guitar. In a 2002 interview, Mustaine declared that they "really didn’t make the record with " as at the time he was focused on Guns N' Roses' Use Your Illusion I and II — which were being recorded at Rumbo — and stated most of the work in the album was done by himself and engineer Micajah Ryan.
The album artwork was created by artist Ed Repka, who had done the cover for Peace Sells... but Who's Buying? in 1986. It references "Hangar 18", depicts band mascot Vic Rattlehead and world leaders of the era viewing an alien body; the depicted world leaders, right to left, are U. S. President George H. W. Bush, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, West German President Richard von Weizsäcker, Japanese Prime Minister Toshiki Kaifu and British Prime Minister John Major. In addition to creating the album's cover, Repka supplied artwork for the album's two singles. Rust in Peace features songs with multiple sections, shifting time signatures and intricate guitar performance, is sometimes described as having a progressive style. In this regard, the album has been compared with Metallica's 1988 album... And Justice for All noted for its technical complexity. Additionally, the album features multiple lyrical themes: religion and warfare, as well as Mustaine's personal issues, such as his fight against drug and alcohol addiction, UFO conspiracy theories and the Marvel Comics character Punisher.
The opening song, "Holy Wars... The Punishment Due" finds its thematic inspiration derived from the Northern Ireland conflict, in which the Catholic nationalist community were in conflict with the Protestant loyalist community over the sovereignty of the six counties of Northern Ireland. Mustaine has said that at a show in Antrim, Northern Ireland, he discovered bootlegged Megadeth T-shirts were on sale, he was dissuaded from taking action to have them removed on the basis that they were part of fund raising activities for "The Cause", explained as something to bring equality to Catholics and Protestants in the region. Liking how "The Cause" sounded as was explained to him, Mustaine dedicated a performance of "Anarchy in the U. K." to it, causing the audience to riot. The band were forced to travel in a bulletproof bus after the show; this incident, along with Marvel's Punisher, inspired Mustaine to write the song."Rust in Peace... Polaris", addresses the topic of nuclear warfare, with "Polaris" referring to the Cold War-era Lockheed UGM-27 Polaris intercontinental ballistic missile.
Mustaine has revealed that th
Mesa, Arizona
Mesa is a city in Maricopa County, in the U. S. state of Arizona. It is a suburb located about 20 miles east of Phoenix in the East Valley section of the Phoenix Metropolitan Area, it is bordered by Tempe on the west, the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community on the north and Gilbert on the south along with Queen Creek, Apache Junction on the east. Mesa is the largest suburban city by population in the United States, the third-largest city in Arizona after Phoenix and Tucson, the 36th-largest city overall in the US; the city is home to 496,401 people as of 2017 according to the Census Bureau, which makes it more populous than major cities such as Minneapolis, St. Louis, or Miami. Mesa is home to numerous higher education facilities including the Polytechnic campus of Arizona State University, it is home to the largest relief airport in the Phoenix area, Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport, located in the southeastern corner of the city. The history of Mesa dates back at least 2,000 years to the arrival of the Hohokam people.
The Hohokam, whose name means "All Used Up" or "The Departed Ones", built the original canal system. The canals were most sophisticated in the prehistoric New World; some were up to 90 feet wide and 10 feet deep at their head gates, extending for as far as 16 miles across the desert. By A. D. 1100 water could be delivered to an area over 110,000 acres, transforming the Sonoran Desert into an agricultural oasis. By A. D. 1450, the Hohokam had constructed hundreds of miles of canals many of which are still in use today. After the disappearance of the Hohokam and before the arrival of the early settlers little is known, as explorers did not venture into this area. By the late 19th century near present-day Mesa, U. S. Army troops subdued the Apache opening the way for settlement. Mormon pioneer Daniel Webster Jones, with Henry Clay Rogers as his right-hand man, led an expedition to found a Mormon settlement in Arizona. Leaving St. George, Utah in March 1877, Jones and others arrived at Lehi, an area within the northern edge of present-day Mesa.
Jones had been asked by Mormon officials to direct a party of people in establishing a settlement in Arizona. This settlement was known as Jonesville and Fort Utah and did not receive the name of Lehi until 1883, when it was adopted on the suggestion of Brigham Young, Jr. At the same time, another group dubbed the First Mesa Company arrived from Idaho, their leaders were named Francis Martin Pomeroy, Charles Crismon, George Warren Sirrine and Charles I. Robson. Rather than accepting an invitation to settle at Jones' Lehi settlement, they moved to the top of the mesa that serves as the city's namesake, they dug irrigation canals, some of which were over the original Hohokam canals, by April 1878, water was flowing through them. The Second Mesa Company arrived in 1879 and settled to the west of where the First Mesa Company settled in 1880, due to lack of available farmland; this settlement was called Stringtown. On July 17, 1878, Mesa City was registered as a 1-square-mile townsite; the first school was built in 1879.
In 1883, Mesa City was incorporated with a population of 300 people. Dr. A. J. Chandler, who would go on to found the city of Chandler, worked on widening the Mesa Canal in 1895 to allow for enough flow to build a power plant. In 1917, the city of Mesa purchased the utility company; the revenues from the company provided enough for capital expenditures until the 1960s. During the Great Depression, WPA funds provided paved streets, a new hospital, a new town hall and a library. After the founding of the city the elected official that most impacted the municipality was George Nicholas Goodman, he was mayor 5 different times in parts of 3 different decade. As mayor he was directly involved in the process of acquiring land for both Falcon Field and Williams Field. With the opening of Falcon Field and Williams Field in the early 1940s, more military personnel began to move into the Mesa area. With the advent of air conditioning and the rise of tourism, population growth exploded in Mesa as well as the rest of the Phoenix area.
Industry -- early aerospace companies -- grew in the 1960s. As late as 1960, half of the residents of Mesa made a living with agriculture, but this has declined as Mesa's suburban growth continued on track with the rest of the Phoenix metro area. Due to Mesa's long east to west travel distance, in excess of 18 miles and large land area 133.13 square miles, locations in Mesa are referred to as residing within either East Mesa or West Mesa. Mesa employs a grid system for street numbering, different from that used in Phoenix and other portions of the metropolitan area. Center Street, running north to south, bisects Mesa into eastern and western halves and serves as the east and west numbering point of origin within Mesa. Streets west of Center St. such as W. University Drive or W. Main St. are considered to be in West Mesa, whereas streets east of Center St. such as E. University or E. Main St. are considered to be in East Mesa. Mesa Drive, running north to south and bisecting Mesa into east and west sections, is located 0.5 miles east of Center Street, serves as the zip code boundary between the 85281, 85201, 85202, 85210 zip codes of Western Mesa and the 85203, 85204, 85205, 85206, 85207, 85208, 85209, 85212, 85213, 85215, 85220, 85242 zip codes of Eastern Mesa.
Country Club Drive, running north to south and bisecting Mesa into east and west sections, is located 0.5 miles west of Center St, serves as the jurisdictional boundary between Arizona's 5th and 6th congressional districts. Note that this sam
Countdown to Extinction
Countdown to Extinction is the fifth studio album by American thrash metal band Megadeth, released on July 14, 1992, through Capitol Records. It was the group's second studio release to feature the "classic" lineup of Dave Mustaine, Marty Friedman, David Ellefson and Nick Menza, with all of them contributing to songwriting on the album; the album features some of the band's best known songs such as "Symphony of Destruction", "Sweating Bullets", "Skin o' My Teeth", which enjoyed significant chart success and made a great musical impact. Countdown to Extinction received positive reaction from music critics, who noted its politically oriented lyrics and simplified sound in comparison to their previous record; the album entered the Billboard 200 at the band's highest position ever. It achieved triple platinum status and became their most commercially successful album; the record was nominated for Best Metal Performance at the 1993 Grammy Awards, while the album's title track won the Humane Society's Genesis Award for raising awareness for animal rights issues.
In 2012, in recognition of the album's 20th anniversary, Megadeth kicked off a 20th anniversary tour in South America, playing the album in its entirety. In addition, a 20th anniversary special edition of the album was released in November 2012, a live album featuring a performance of the full album was released in September 2013. Countdown to Extinction is Megadeth's fifth studio album, the second to feature the line-up of Dave Mustaine, Marty Friedman, David Ellefson and Nick Menza. In an interview for Billboard at the time, Mustaine admitted that he fired past members Chuck Behler and Jeff Young because they resisted his pleas to seek rehabilitative counseling, he added that it was a "major accomplishment" that all four members of Megadeth contributed material to the album, unlike their earlier releases which were "nearly all Mustaine". Mustaine revealed that producer Max Norman had significant input to the album by making "a lot of suggestions and a lot of great artistic ideas". Guitarist Marty Friedman said that unlike Rust in Peace, the creation of this record was "completely different".
He further stated that the band had changed the songs "a million times" before recording them on demo and entering the studio. The music for Countdown to Extinction was written in two different sessions; the first session was done following the conclusion of Clash of the Titans tour, while the second session took place after a one-month break, in the fall of 1991. The album was recorded in the first half of 1992; these events negatively affected the recording process, as the band was forced to leave the studio every night at six o'clock because of the enacted curfew. Dave Mustaine shared his experience: "There’s nothing worse than getting a creative moment and you have to leave, it was like a school bell ringing." The record was produced by Mustaine and Max Norman at The Enterprise in Burbank, while the mixing was handed by Norman with the help of Fred Kelly. Referring to the recording process, Mustaine said that Countdown to Extinction "was one of those records where everything was firing on all 12 cylinders and you just know it".
He said that it didn't take the band a long time to record the album because "records were a lot easier to make back because the pressure wasn't quite as hard". Following Metallica's mainstream breakthrough in 1991 with the success of their eponymous album which saw them strip down their sound, Mustaine decided to follow suit, though the music remained as technically perfectionist as their previous releases. Drummer Nick Menza explained: "Metallica has opened the doors for other bands to step through. We're the next band to step through that doorway." Musically, Countdown to Extinction saw Megadeth beginning to incorporate more melody and mid-tempos into its traditional sound. Bassist David Ellefson noted that the band's goal was to "create music that had more of a groove to it," capitalizing on the melodic playing style employed by Friedman, further assisted by the input of producer Norman. Author Thomas Harrison wrote that with this album, Megadeth's music became "more virtuosic than noisy and took the next step towards widespread acceptance".
Like its predecessor, many of the songs on the album have military undertones. However, the opening track "Skin o' My Teeth" was speculated being about suicide, a theme which differs from the rest of the album. "Symphony of Destruction", with lyrics written by Dave Mustaine, details a story about a regular citizen as the head of a puppet regime, as the country is run by a phantom government. The song was noted by critics for its great philosophical impact. "Architecture of Aggression" explores the nature of global conflict. "Foreclosure of a Dream" deals with social inequality. According to music critic Eduardo Rivaldivia, "perhaps no other Megadeth song in history deals as directly and soberly" with these issues; the song sampled then-U. S. President George H. W. Bush's infamous "Read my lips" speech, making a statement about taxation endangering the "American Dream". Billboard praised the track, along with "Symphony of Destruction", for being "socially conscious" and described them as "powerful statements for hard rockers".
The fifth track, "Sweating Bullets", shows Mustaine's battle with his inner selves, presented throughout a conversational singing style. "Sweating Bullets" was written during the second recording session and was released as the album's third single. Its lyrical theme deals with paranoia. David Ellefson commented that the song's lyrics were "psychotically per
Risk (Megadeth album)
Risk is the eighth studio album by American thrash metal band Megadeth, released on August 31, 1999 by Capitol Records, the band's last album to be released by the label. The first Megadeth album since 1990 to feature a lineup change, Risk marks the studio debut of drummer Jimmy DeGrasso with the band, as well as the final appearance of longtime guitarist Marty Friedman, who announced his departure a year later. Meant to be a breakthrough on alternative rock radio, Risk received a mixed response because of the great deviation from the band's traditional sound; the backlash resulted with the band returning towards a heavier sound with its next album. Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine has blamed the record's lack of success on the fact that it was released under the "Megadeth" moniker: "if anybody else's name was on'Risk', it would have sold"; the album debuted at number 16 on the Billboard 200 chart. As with the rest of Megadeth's studio records released by Capitol, the album was remixed and remastered in 2004, with several bonus tracks added.
This reissue featured a different cover. Risk followed the band's 1997 release Cryptic Writings, which according to Nielsen Soundscan, had sold 850,000 copies and won widespread praise from rock radio programmers. Referring to the upcoming record, Rob Gordon, a VP of marketing at Capitol Records, stated that "before the last record, we'd maybe had one track at rock radio, it would be over. With this record, like the last one, I think we'll have four-plus again."The title stems from a comment by Dave Mustaine's former Metallica bandmate Lars Ulrich, who suggested to Mustaine that he should take more "risks" with his music. According to Mustaine, he was encouraged to experiment by Marty Friedman’s desire to indulge in his pop sensibilities. On the other hand, newcomer Jimmy DeGrasso wanted to do a "heavy record", unlike the rest of the band who wanted to try out something different; as bassist David Ellefson recalls, the band's manager Bud Prager had told them that they needed "to do something that will make all of their contemporaries knock themselves on the head and say,'Why didn't we think of that'?".
This decision resulted in mixed reviews for the album. Megadeth chose to produce the album once again with Dann Huff in Nashville, satisfied with the success of their previous record; the band started writing the songs right after finishing the tour in support of Cryptic Writings. It took them five to six weeks to write the songs, they went to Nashville in January 1999 to record the album; the recording process lasted four months, according to Ellefson, it was a "long haul". The original American pressing of the album was released as an enhanced CD, featured a brief documentary about the making of the album as bonus content. Several European editions of the album contained a "No Risk Disk" as a bonus item, featuring one song from each of Megadeth's previous six major label albums. Lastly, the Japanese version of the album includes a bonus track, the theme from Duke Nukem. In 2004, a remixed and remastered version of the album was released, featuring three bonus tracks, all different mixes of songs on the album.
The cover for the remaster was noticeably different from the original, featuring a scene from the music video for "Insomnia". In addition, a couple of tracks have different song durations—some shorter, some longer—with the most noticeable one being "I'll Be There," which features an additional 53 seconds. Three singles were released in support of the album: "Insomnia", "Crush'Em", "Breadline". All three received music videos. Additionally, "Crush'Em" was featured in Jean-Claude Van Damme's 1999 movie Universal Soldier: The Return. Mustaine wrote the song hoping that it would be adopted at arenas nationwide as a new sports anthem. After its release as a single, the song has been broadcast during NHL games and pro wrestling events. Jeff Treppel spoke positively about the album's opener "Insomnia", naming it "one of the best Megadeth songs of the past 15 years"; the song features swirling Middle Eastern strings, crunching guitar line and, according to Treppel, some of Mustaine’s most demented lyrics.
Treppel further described "Ecstasy" as "grunge ballad" and noted that it sounds like a "reject from Cryptic Writings". He had mixed feelings about "Seven", observed "The Doctor Is Calling" like a tune that "aims for creepy, but hits cheesy instead". By contrast, DeGrasso felt that "The Doctor Is Calling" along with "Prince of Darkness" were "definitely heavy songs" with "really dark lyrics on them". Ellefson described the tracks "Breadline" and "Wanderlust" as "melodic" with "very modern-sounding" grooves. Neil Arnold from Metal Forces opined that "Breadline" is "as melodic and commercial as Megadeth gets", while noting that "Wanderlust" and "I'll Be There" are "probably two of the band's most underrated songs". All of the released singles charted on the Billboard's Mainstream Rock Chart, with "Crush'Em" and "Breadline" breaking into the Top 10. Aside from just being released as a conventional single, "Breadline" was released as its own EP in Japan featuring several versions of the song, remixes of other songs from Risk and Megadeth's back catalog.
After leaving Megadeth, Friedman would cover this song on his solo album Future Addict. All music composed by Marty Friedman except where noted; the album received a mixed response from music critics. AllMusic's reviewer Steve Huey gave a sympathetic, if not favorable review of the remixed and remastered 2004 pressing of Risk. Huey stated that the album had "aged gracefully," compared to Metallica's Lo
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s in the United Kingdom. With roots in blues rock, psychedelic rock, acid rock, the bands that created heavy metal developed a thick, massive sound, characterized by amplified distortion, extended guitar solos, emphatic beats, overall loudness; the genre's lyrics and performance styles are sometimes associated with machismo. In 1968, three of the genre's most famous pioneers, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and Deep Purple were founded. Though they came to attract wide audiences, they were derided by critics. During the mid-1970s, Judas Priest helped spur the genre's evolution by discarding much of its blues influence. Beginning in the late 1970s, bands in the new wave of British heavy metal such as Iron Maiden and Def Leppard followed in a similar vein. Before the end of the decade, heavy metal fans became known as "metalheads" or "headbangers". During the 1980s, glam metal became popular with groups such as Mötley Crüe.
Underground scenes produced an array of more aggressive styles: thrash metal broke into the mainstream with bands such as Metallica, Slayer and Anthrax, while other extreme subgenres of heavy metal such as death metal and black metal remain subcultural phenomena. Since the mid-1990s popular styles have further expanded the definition of the genre; these include groove metal and nu metal, the latter of which incorporates elements of grunge and hip hop. Heavy metal is traditionally characterized by loud distorted guitars, emphatic rhythms, dense bass-and-drum sound, vigorous vocals. Heavy metal subgenres variously alter, or omit one or more of these attributes; the New York Times critic Jon Pareles writes, "In the taxonomy of popular music, heavy metal is a major subspecies of hard-rock—the breed with less syncopation, less blues, more showmanship and more brute force." The typical band lineup includes a drummer, a bassist, a rhythm guitarist, a lead guitarist, a singer, who may or may not be an instrumentalist.
Keyboard instruments are sometimes used to enhance the fullness of the sound. Deep Purple's Jon Lord played an overdriven Hammond organ. In 1970, John Paul Jones used a Moog synthesizer on Led Zeppelin III; the electric guitar and the sonic power that it projects through amplification has been the key element in heavy metal. The heavy metal guitar sound comes from a combined use of heavy distortion. For classic heavy metal guitar tone, guitarists maintain moderate levels gain at moderate levels, without excessive preamp or pedal distortion, to retain open spaces and air in the music. Thrash metal guitar tone has scooped mid-frequencies and compressed sound with lots of bass frequencies. Guitar solos are "an essential element of the heavy metal code... that underscores the significance of the guitar" to the genre. Most heavy metal songs "feature at least one guitar solo", "a primary means through which the heavy metal performer expresses virtuosity"; some exceptions are nu grindcore bands, which tend to omit guitar solos.
With rhythm guitar parts, the "heavy crunch sound in heavy metal... palm muting" the strings with the picking hand and using distortion. Palm muting creates a tighter, more precise sound and it emphasizes the low end; the lead role of the guitar in heavy metal collides with the traditional "frontman" or bandleader role of the vocalist, creating a musical tension as the two "contend for dominance" in a spirit of "affectionate rivalry". Heavy metal "demands the subordination of the voice" to the overall sound of the band. Reflecting metal's roots in the 1960s counterculture, an "explicit display of emotion" is required from the vocals as a sign of authenticity. Critic Simon Frith claims; the prominent role of the bass is key to the metal sound, the interplay of bass and guitar is a central element. The bass guitar provides the low-end sound crucial to making the music "heavy"; the bass plays a "more important role in heavy metal than in any other genre of rock". Metal basslines vary in complexity, from holding down a low pedal point as a foundation to doubling complex riffs and licks along with the lead or rhythm guitars.
Some bands feature the bass as a lead instrument, an approach popularized by Metallica's Cliff Burton with his heavy emphasis on bass guitar solos and use of chords while playing bass in the early 1980s. Lemmy of Motörhead played overdriven power chords in his bass lines; the essence of heavy metal drumming is creating a loud, constant beat for the band using the "trifecta of speed and precision". Heavy metal drumming "requires an exceptional amount of endurance", drummers have to develop "considerable speed and dexterity... to play the intricate patterns" used in heavy metal. A characteristic metal drumming technique is the cymbal choke, which consists of striking a cymbal and immediately silencing it by grabbing it with the other hand, producing a burst of sound; the metal drum setup is much larger than those employed in other forms of rock music. Black metal, death metal and some "mainstream metal" bands "all depend upon double-kicks and blast beats". In live performance, loudness—an "onslaught of sound", in sociologist Deena Weinstein's description—is considered vital.
In his book Metalheads, psychologist Jeffrey Arnett refers to heavy me
The Offspring
The Offspring is an American rock band from Garden Grove, formed in 1984. Formed under the name Manic Subsidal, the band has consisted of lead vocalist and guitarist Bryan "Dexter" Holland, bassist Greg K. guitarist Kevin "Noodles" Wasserman and drummer Pete Parada since 2007. Over the course of their 35-year career, they have released nine studio albums and experienced lineup changes, most noticeably with their drummers, their longest-serving drummer was Ron Welty, who replaced original drummer James Lilja in 1987, stayed with the band for 16 years. The Offspring is credited—alongside fellow California punk bands Green Day, Bad Religion, NOFX, Blink-182, Pennywise and AFI—for reviving mainstream interest in punk rock in the 1990s, they have sold over 40 million records worldwide, being considered one of the best-selling punk rock bands of all time. The Offspring achieved its first commercial success with their third studio album Smash, which has sold over eleven million copies worldwide, setting a record for most albums sold on an independent record label, was the first album released on Epitaph to obtain gold and platinum status.
After switching record labels, from Epitaph to Columbia, in 1996, the Offspring continued their commercial success with its next six studio albums: Ixnay on the Hombre, Conspiracy of One, Splinter and Fall, Rage and Grace and Days Go By. The band is in production of their tenth studio album, tentatively due for release in 2019 or 2020; the foundations for the Offspring began with guitarist/vocalist Bryan "Dexter" Holland and bassist Greg Kriesel playing music together in a garage in Cypress, California in 1983. After hearing the T. S. O. L. Album Change Today? at a party, following a riot at a 1984 Social Distortion show, they decided to form a band called Manic Subsidal. Holland changed his role from drums to guitar, the band was rounded out by singer Doug Thompson and drummer Jim Benton. Marcus Parrish joined as a second guitarist, however, no recordings were made at this point. After Thompson was forced out, Holland took over vocals, Benton was replaced by Clowns of Death drummer James Lilja.
In 1985, school janitor Kevin "Noodles" Wasserman joined as a second guitarist because he was old enough to purchase alcohol for the other members, who were under the legal drinking age. In 1986, after changing their name to the Offspring, the band released their first single, they released the single on their self-made Black Label record company, named after the brand of beer. An earlier version of "I'll Be Waiting", known as "Fire and Ice", appeared on the long-out of print Subject to Blackout compilation tape, released in 1986. In 1986, the Offspring recorded a demo tape, which received a positive review in Maximum Rocknroll magazine. Lilja left the Offspring in 1987 to pursue a medical career in oncology, was replaced by Ron Welty, 16 years old at the time. After recording another demo in 1988, The Offspring signed a record deal with a small-time label, Nemesis Records. In March 1989, the band teamed up with producer Thom Wilson to record their first album, titled The Offspring; the album was released in limited numbers by the label, only on the 12" vinyl and cassette formats, was not released on CD until 1995.
A six-week national tour followed, but Noodles was stabbed during a performance at a Hollywood anti-nuclear benefit. In 1991, the Offspring teamed up with Wilson again to produce the Baghdad 7" EP and a third demo tape; this EP and demo were instrumental to the band's signing with Epitaph Records. In 1992, Thom Wilson and the Offspring returned to the studio to record their second album Ignition, released in October of that year; the band went on U. S. tours with Pennywise and Lunachicks, a European tour with NOFX. When the Offspring returned to the studio in early 1994 to record their third album, the band's relations with producer Thom Wilson had begun to strain; the band released. Fueled by the hit singles "Come Out and Play", "Self Esteem", "Gotta Get Away", the album set the all-time record for most units sold by an independent label band at 16 million records. Smash has continued to sell well in the years since its release, has been certified 6x platinum in the United States; the album sold well outside the U.
S. in Australia, where it debuted No. 1 on the ARIA Charts, remained in that position for three weeks in 1995. After the release of Smash, armed with a newly expanded income, the band decided to buy out the rights to their first album. Holland and Kriesel created their own record label Nitro Records and started signing bands. One of their first releases was a re-release of the band's 1989 debut album The Offspring; the label signed a number of punk bands including the Vandals, Jughead's Revenge and AFI. Soon after, Nitro Records became Holland's responsibility. Despite the success of Smash, the Offspring signed with Columbia Records. Epitaph retained its rights to release the next album in Europe, while Columbia had it for all other territories; the band's attorney, Peter Paterno, had issued a letter to Epitaph stati
