What's That Sound?: W. W. Norton StudySpace

"Shout at the Devil"

Artist - Mötley Crüe

"Headbanger" might now be interpreted as a pejorative term for unsophisticated, blue collar adherents of heavy metal music, but in the early 1980s it was a description fans applied to themselves, which referred to the forceful head bobbing that was as close as metal fans ever came to dancing. A number of metal songs of the era invoked headbanging, and for years MTV ran a heavy metal video program called Headbanger's Ball. Metal was music for culturally defiant social outcasts, and it was loud but often less angry than one might suppose.

The so-called "hair metal" bands of the early 1980s cultivated a "glitzy" look with teased hair, eyeliner, and spandex fashions that were somewhere between glam rock and camp. This is sometimes interpreted as a means of cultivating female fans, but such gender-bending was more common in heavy metal and hard rock than most recall; it can be traced back to the original punk band the New York Dolls, who performed in drag, as well as outfits like Kiss, Alice Cooper, and Twisted Sister. Mötley Crüe was the first successful hair band of the '80s. The group was formed in 1981 and went through several name changes before guitarist Mick Mars suggested the pirate-inspired Mottley Krue, The group liked the name but thought an alternate spelling would be more interesting; thus started the enduring fashion for umlauts in heavy metal band names.

Crüe's first album was released on the small, independent Lethur label, and surprised all concerned by selling 20,000 copies; the band had a following in Los Angeles, but they had no idea how large it had become. The album performed well enough that the group was offered a contract with Elektra records. Their first Elektra album, Shout at the Devil, entered the lower reaches of the charts, partly on the strength of their video for "Looks that Kill." The follow-up, Theatre of Pain, also charted, and produced their first Top 40 hit, a cover of Brownville Station's "Smokin' in the Boy's Room." The disc also yielded "Home Sweet Home," the first heavy metal power ballad. In short order power ballads became compulsory for any heavy metal band hoping for mainstream stardom.

Mötley Crüe's fame was in part due to unintended publicity. In 1984 Vince Neil was jailed after killing a man in a drunken driving incident; Tommy Lee married popular TV actress Heather Locklear; and all members had run-ins with the law over their drug and alcohol abuse. Bassist Nikki Sixx overdosed and was pronounced dead by paramedics, but was revived by a shot of adrenaline several minutes later. The rampant substance abuse covered up severe personality conflicts between the band members, and the group split up in 1990. They have periodically reunited to produce new albums, occasionally with alternate members.

Also see:AC/DC, Alice Cooper, Aerosmith, Slade, Kiss, Rolling Stones, Mott the Hoople

Must Haves:

• "Dr. Feelgood"
• "Smokin' in the Boy's Room"
• "Girls, Girls, Girls"
• "Home Sweet Home" (with Humble Pie) "
• "Wild Side"

Performers Influenced By This Artist:

• Poison
• Warrant
• Skid Row
• White Zombie

"One"

Artist - Metallica

Metallica was one of most influential metal bands of the 1980s. Their roots in biker culture and British hardcore separated them from 1970s arena rock and the perceived pretensions of metal bands of that decade, and they introduced speed metal—which married the virtuosity of British blues rock and the propulsive energy of punk—to the American mainstream. However, Metallica added to speed metal a complexity and depth that led them to be viewed as more serious and musically ambitious than their predecessors, and they achieved what no heavy metal band ever had: favorable reviews and critical respect.

Metallica was started by drummer Lars Ulrich, who fell madly in love with the music of Deep Purple at the age of ten; he soon became an avid heavy metal enthusiast. He did some jamming around the Los Angeles music scene after high school, but found his musical calling when he traveled to England in 1981 to hear Diamond Head, an English group he discovered through tape trading with other metal enthusiasts. He ended up living with band for a time, and was exposed to a new generation of British heavy metal bands like Motörhead, which had absorbed the energy of punk and the sophisticated musicianship of progressive rock.

When Ulrich returned to Los Angeles, Brian Slagel of Metal Blade records (with whom he had exchanged tapes) invited him to contribute to an anthology of local metal bands; Ulrich accepted, even though he wasn't part of a band. He recalled jamming with guitarist and singer James Hetfield, who happened to be between bands when Ulrich called. They complemented each other nicely. Ulrich had an encyclopedic familiarity with heavy metal, and Hetfield had extensive practical experience; he had been playing in bands and writing songs since his pre-teens. They added a guitarist and bass player, but found neither satisfactory; Metallica relocated to San Francisco in 1982 in pursuit of bassist Cliff Burton, who joined the group shortly before Kirk Hammett replaced guitarist Dave Mustaine. Both had extensive and stylistically diverse knowledge of music and backgrounds in music theory, and both liked jazz, blues, and classical music.

The band's first album, Kill 'Em All, landed them deal with Elektra, and Ozzy Osbourne—one of biggest metal stars of early 1980s—asked Metallica to open for his Ultimate Sin tour. They built an extensive following, which grew into a legion of devoted fans in 1986, after the release of Master of Puppets, considered by many to be their masterpiece. The album introduced a form of speed metal that placed less emphasis on blitzkrieg tempos and more on the hardcore riffs, intricate song structures, and complex textures that harkened back to bands like Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple. The lyrics also eschewed Lovecraftian horrors in favor of inner demons, subjects more relevant and immediate to most listeners. In 1991 Metallica crossed over to a mainstream pop audience with radio hits like "Enter Sandman" and "Nothing Else Matters," which were lighter in texture yet in no way compromised the band's overall aesthetic.

Also see: Motörhead, Judas Priest, AC/DC, Rush, Saxon, Angel Witch

Must Haves:

• "Enter Sandman"
• "Some Kind of Monster"
• "Master of Puppets"
• "The Four Horsemen"
• "Disposable Heroes"

Performers Influenced By This Artist:

• Biohazard
• Megadeth
• Fugazi
• Linkin Park
• Korn
• Papa Roach

"Rock Box"

Artist - Run-D.M.C.

Run-D.M.C.—sometimes hailed as "the Beatles of rap"—are largely responsible for the sound, style, and popularity of modern hip-hop. They were the first "hardcore" rap group, with sharp-edged flow and rock samples that made them sound more menacing than most early rappers, and they made entire rap albums, rather than just singles of popular street hits. Most significantly, they were the first rappers to break though to mainstream white America, through the still largely white-dominated medium of MTV.

Joseph Simmons (Run) is the brother of rap promoter and Def Jam co-founder Russell Simmons. The elder Simmons, who managed several successful New York artists in the early 1980s, encouraged his brother to form a rap group; he had a hunch that the genre was about to take off and there was money to be made by artists who were properly positioned. Joseph Simmons enlisted his friend Darryl McDaniels (D.M.C.); the duo got their start opening for Kurtis Blow (the first artist signed to Def Jam) while still in high school. They later added DJ Jason Mizell (Jam Master Jay) to the group. Their first single, "It's Like That," was an instant success. Run-D.M.C.'s literate rhymes, delivered in a sharply accented manner over sparse, R&B-inflected beats, sounded new and fresh. "It's Like That" introduced new possibilities for rap, and it is considered the first "new school" hip-hop recording. Their second single, "Hard Times," and two others, "Rock Box" and "30 Days," hit the rhythm and blues charts before the group's eponymous debut album was released in 1984. However, Run-D.M.C. did not become stars until Russell Simmons got "Rock Box" into MTV's prime time rotation; they were the first rappers to appear on MTV, and the exposure significantly broadened their fan base.

Their second album, King of Rock (1985), introduced a different, harder-edged sound, with the group rapping over beats clipped from heavy metal and hard rock. The group's third effort, Raising Hell (1986), is one of rock's most significant albums; its featured single, "Walk This Way," obliterated the boundaries between rhythm and blues and rock and roll as surely as the Temptations and the Supremes had twenty years before. The song began as a rap over the opening riff of the Aerosmith classic "Walk this Way," but it soon developed into a rapped cover version of the song. Producer Rick Rubin suggested that Run-D.M.C. bring Joe Perry and Steven Tyler into the studio to record with the group. The popular video, which featured both acts, made rap accessible to hard rock and heavy metal fans, many of whom had never given it a chance. The track reached number four on the pop charts, the best performing rap single to that date. It led to endorsement deals for Run-D.M.C., appearances on Saturday Night Live, the cover of Rolling Stone magazine, and a Grammy nomination, the first for any rap group. "Walk this Way" also fueled the comeback of Aerosmith, a band struggling to regain its place in the hard rock pantheon after several mediocre albums and public battles with addiction.

Also see: Kurtis Blow, the Sugar Hill Gang, Grandmaster Flash, Whodini, Mellie Mel

Must Haves:

• "Peter Piper"
• "Rock Box"
• "King of Rock"
• "You Be Illin"
• "Papa Crazy"

Performers Influenced By This Artist:

• Every current hip-hop artist; Public Enemy
• L. L. Cool J
• Kid Rock
• the Beastie Boys

"Don't Believe the Hype"

Artist - Public Enemy

Public Enemy is one of the most influential rap groups to date. While most rap of the 1980s addressed the same subjects as rock— partying, women, relationships, and fashion—Public Enemy pioneered a more confrontational style rooted in social and political issues.

Chuck D formed the group in 1982 while attending Adelphi University on Long Island. He was a disc jockey on the college radio station WBAU, where he met Hank Shocklee and Bill Stephney. Shocklee had begun assembling some tracks for his radio show, and convinced Chuck D (who had spit rhymes at parties as a teenager) to rap over the top. The demo, "Public Enemy #1," was played on WBAU and Rick Rubin, the co-founder of Def Jam Records, heard the track and wanted to sign Chuck D to a contract. The young collegian was reticent until he conceived of a new kind of rap group that directly engaged the problems of the African American community while introducing new, sophisticated musical backgrounds. DJ Terminator X and the Bomb Squad, Public Enemy's production team, employed cutting-edge digital techniques to blend samples from a number of sources— including real sounds like sirens—to create chaotic backgrounds that had audible links to funk and R&B but weren't recognizably lifted from any one song.

Public Enemy, however, was more than a rapper spitting rhymes over beats. On many levels the group challenged societal stereotypes of African American culture. Chuck D brought his childhood friend William Drayton into the group as a fellow rapper. As Flavor Flav, Drayton served as a sort of jester; he wore oversized sunglasses, an alarm clock on a chain, and provided absurdist rhymes that served as counterpoint to Chuck D's serious and sometimes militant lyrics. The Security of the First World Dancers were also an important part of Public Enemy; they performed militarized parodies of the carefully choreographed stage moves of Motown groups like the Temptations while holding fake Uzis.

The militant images presented by Public Enemy, as well as the confrontational nature of their music, were meant to be provocative. It is no surprise that they were controversial. After the release of their first album, It Takes A Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, Chuck D declared rap the "CNN of black America," in that they addressed issues that were important to the African American community. However, some older white listeners assumed he meant that all of their songs were factually based, and they were uncomfortable with the group's calls for revolt against the status quo and its endorsement of Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakan. Both black and white teenagers, though, embraced the group, which crossed over to a popular, mainstream audience with Fear of a Black Planet. This success established that rap could be confrontational and challenging and still be accepted as by the record-buying public.

Also see: Run-DMC, KRS-One and Boogie Down Productions, Kurtis Blow, Grandmaster Flash

Must Haves:

• "Fight the Power"
• "Public Enemy #1"
• "Shut 'Em Down"
• "By the Time I Get to Arizona"
• "9-1-1 is a Joke"

Performers Influenced By This Artist:

• NWA
• Ice-T
• Ice Cube
• Body Count
• Arrested Development, and all gangsta rap

"Smells Like Teen Spirit"

Artist - Nirvana

For those born before 1980, it is hard to remember what rock and roll was like before Nirvana. Or perhaps we don't want to. Hardcore alternative was not something one heard on the radio. Occasionally a band like Jane's Addiction or the Pixies would have big enough hit to reach the lower realms of the pop charts, but even these groups were unknown to most Americans.

Kurt Cobain, born in the small town of Aberdeen, Washington, didn't have access to punk and alternative bands. He developed a liking for both based on pictures he saw in old issues of Creem magazine and castoff fanzines; luckily, he also stumbled on a handful of seven-inch singles and the Melvins, a local band that played sludgy, distorted songs that sounded like a cross between Black Sabbath and the Sex Pistols. Cobain started writing lyrics, took a week's worth of guitar lessons, and began recording demos on his aunt's four-track tape deck. Though they were extremely rough and all but inaudible he traded them with other local alternative junkies. Among them was Krist Novoselic, a bass player who was impressed enough by Cobain's songs to track him down and join forces. The two began playing at house parties and anywhere else anyone would permit them, often times with a new drummer in tow. The band used most of their savings to record a demo, which showed enough promise to get them signed by Sub-Pop, a Seattle-based record company started by a local punk fanzine. Sub-Pop had no money for an advance, so many songs from the demo ended up on the album; for the final sessions of Bleach Nirvana had to deputize an extra guitarist whose sole function was to pay the $606 dollars for the studio time. Bleach, an aggressive blast of punk metal, sold 30,000 copies, a respectable number for an underground indie band.

It was good enough to merit a follow-up. Sub-Pop paired the band with a promising new producer, Butch Vig (who later founded the band Garbage), but did not pay for the recording sessions. Cobain was beginning to think Nirvana could do better. The band had hired a new drummer, Dave Grohl, shortly before they signed with Geffen records in 1991, and the label paid the entire $135,000 cost of making the new album. Nevermind differed greatly from Bleach; the tunes were still heavily colored by heavy metal, but at their core they were hook-laden blasts of pop with the kineticism of punk and surprisingly lovely melodies. Nonetheless, the songs retained a dark, sullen menace. The combination was unique, and it would ultimately mark the musical beginning of the new decade.

Nevermind was released in September 1991 and Geffen, expecting modest sales, pressed 50,000 copies of the album. They were gone in three weeks. A much larger second pressing was hustled into stores, and sold three million copies in the next four months. The sales were driven by "Smells Like Teen Spirit," Cobain's riff-laden diatribe against the manufactured teen angst that was used to sell personal hygiene products, clothing, and MTV.

Also see: The Melvins, Sonic Youth, Mudhoney, Black Sabbath, The Replacements, Neil Young

Must Haves:

• "Lithium"
• "Heart-Shaped Box"
• "Polly"
• "Love Buzz"
• "Come as You Are"

Performers Influenced By This Artist:

• Pearl Jam
• Soundgarden
• Everclear
• Presidents of the United States of America

"Born in the USA"

Artist - Bruce Springsteen

Bruce Springsteen is now an American icon, the single figure in which is encapsulated nearly the entire stylistic history of rock and roll, a respected storyteller whose rock credentials are unassailable. His ascent to popular acceptance was a long one, but it also provided him the freedom to experiment with different rock styles in isolation before incorporating them into his idiosyncratic style. He began fronting garage rock and blues-rock bands in his native Asbury Park, New Jersey, in the mid 1960s and in the early 1970s moved to New York City to work as a singer/songwriter in the coffee houses of Greenwich Village. After returning to New Jersey and joining the E Street Band he was signed by Columbia records in 1973 to a three-album deal. The first two—Greetings from Asbury Park, NJ and The Wild, the Innocent, and the E Street Shuffle—were better received by critics than consumers, but he and the E Street Band toured extensively and built a reputation as an exciting live band playing a kind of straight-ahead rock and roll that was different from anything else on the charts. The new fans created during this period were enough to push his third album (and last chance), Born to Run, onto the charts and into the spotlight. Unfortunately, the fawning critical notices and popular press declarations of Springsteen as the "savior of rock and roll" turned off some potential listeners, who assumed it was all music industry hype.

It might have been possible to overcome this impression with a strong follow-up album, but a conflict with his management led to an involuntary three-year hiatus; by the time he released Darkness at the Edge of Town in 1978, punk rock, new wave, and disco dominated the charts, and it seemed his moment had passed. However, by 1980 the pop landscape had changed yet again, and his next two albums sold well; additionally, other acts were entering the Top Ten with his songs—Manfred Mann's Earth Band with "Blinded by the Light," the Pointer Sisters with "Fire," and the Patti Smith Group's "Because the Night." The runaway success of Born to Run, released in 1984, which generated seven hit singles and sold ten million copies, did more than prove that Springsteen was a major force in American popular music; it also affirmed that rock and roll still had a significant commercial audience.

Springsteen has consistently explored several musical styles, and his popularity has waxed and waned over the years. His deeply introspective records in the singer/songwriter and folk styles are often less well received than his harder rocking ones, but his commitment to writing about normal people and everyday experiences remains. His reputation as a rock bard was enhanced by the success of The Rising, an album released in response to the tragedy of September 11.

Also see: Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Woody Guthrie, Roy Orbison, Van Morrison, Chuck Berry

Must Haves:

• "Hungry Heart"
• "Born to Run"
• "Rosalita"
• "Backstreets"
• "Downbound Train"

Performers Influenced By This Artist:

• John Mellencamp
• Southside Johnny and the Amboy Dukes
• Tom Petty
• Eddie Money

"Ladies First"

Artist - Queen Latifah

Queen Latifah (Dana Owens) is now best known to many as an actor and spokesmodel, but Latifah, also known as the "Queen of Hip-Hop," is one of the most influential female artists in the largely male-dominated world of hip-hop.

Queen Latifah grew up submerged in the flourishing East Coast rap scene. She began her career in high school, beat boxing for group called Ladies Fresh. In college she adopted the Queen Latifah moniker and hooked up with Africa Baambata's Native Tongues Collective. A demo tape found its way to Fab Five Freddy, host of the popular Yo! MTV Raps, who helped her secure a recording contract. Her first album, All Hail the Queen, was released in 1989. Though hip-hop had gained mainstream acceptance, few female MCs had broken into the upper echelons of the genre; Latifah (which means "sensitive" or "delicate" in Arabic) was charismatic, strong, and intelligent, and soon emerged as a feminist icon who served as a model for other women in the field. Her 1993 album Black Reign was the first by a female MC to go gold, and it helped convince record companies to take chances on other women rappers. Though an outstanding rapper, Latifah soon grew tired of what she described as "the same loop over and over¿you had a chorus that was a phrase you said over and over, or it was some type of sample, and that just never satisfied me." She began to inject more melodic segments into songs, in a way that was more common to West Coast hip-hop, and incorporated R&B and reggae influences. She made only one album between 1993 and 2004, and then returned to recording with The Dana Owens Album, a collection of blues, pop, and R&B standards that earned her rave reviews and a Grammy nomination.

In the past ten years many hip-hop artists have launched successful acting careers (Mos Def, Ludacris, Ice Cube, Ice-T, and LL Cool J, to name a few); Queen Latifah and her contemporary, Will Smith, were the first to use rap as bridge between music and acting. In 1991 she began to appear in small parts in movies and television, and in 1993 was cast as one of the leads in the sitcom Living Single. After the series was canceled she appeared in the film The Bone Collector, with Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie. Larger and more mainstream roles followed. She has done her most acclaimed work in movie musicals, notably her performance as matron Mama Morton in Chicago, for which she earned an Academy Award nomination, and Motormouth Mabel in Hairspray. In 2004 she founded a production company and now serves as executive producer for many of her own projects. In 2008 she became first hip-hop artist to be given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She has also written a book, Ladies First: Revelations of a Strong Woman, and runs a foundation that grants scholarships to economically disadvantaged youth.

Also see:MC Lyte, Aretha Franklin, Salt-n-Pepa, Sha-Rock, Roxanne Shante

Missy Elliot, Eve, Lauryn Hill, Yo-Yo, Foxy Brown, Lil' Kim

Must Haves:

• "I Know Where I've Been"
• "U.N.I.T.Y."
• "Come Into My House"
• "Just Another Day"

"Sledgehammer"

Artist - Peter Gabriel

Peter Gabriel was the co-founder of Genesis, which at its inception was progressive rock band with a penchant for theatrics including performing in drag, bizarre masks, and surrealistic monologues between songs. Gabriel also liked to fling himself into the audience, trusting them to catch him and pass him around. Stage diving is now a rock show staple, but it was unknown in the early 1970s; Gabriel may well have invented it.

Family demands and personality conflicts led to his departure from Genesis in 1975; he was replaced by Phil Collins. After a hiatus of several years he released first eponymous solo album in 1977, which yielded the haunting single "Solsbury Hill." The album was darker than any Genesis had tackled, and it also incorporated sampling—a technique then still in its infancy—minimalist textures, electronically constructed sounds, and rhythms from various foreign cultures. The last had long fascinated Gabriel; since the early '80s he has employed non-Western rhythms as a means of song creation. In 1982 he briefly reunited with Genesis to raise funds for the creation of WOMAD (World of Music, Art, and Dance), a touring festival intended to introduce music of third world cultures to Western audiences. WOMAD soon became annual event that helped stimulate interest in world music (or world beat) in the 1980s.

Gabriel's third album (also titled Peter Gabriel) produced two singles that barely missed the Top 40; he finally cracked the charts in 1982 when the disturbing video for "Shock the Monkey" became a staple on MTV. With his background in performance art, Gabriel found music videos an exciting new medium for artistic expression, as well as a means to publicize his songs. He enthusiastically embraced cutting-edge techniques, and made videos for nearly every track on his next album, So (1986). "Sledgehammer," a collaboration with claymation pioneers Aardman Animations—a company that includes Nick Park, creator of Wallace and Gromit—and the Brothers Quay, experts in stop-motion photography, set new standards for computer animation and music videos. Rolling Stone has declared it the best video of all time. So yielded two more hit singles, the Stax soul influenced "Big Time" and "In Your Eyes," a Top 40 hit that experienced a revival when it was featured in the 1989 John Cusack film, Say Anything.

Gabriel has long been associated with charitable causes; he is a vocal supporter of Amnesty International and famine relief organizations. He is also the founder of Real World, a company "devoted to developing bridges between technology and multiethnic arts." His devotion to world music continues; his most recent album, Up (2002), features non-Western icons like the Senegalese mbalax pioneer Youssou N'Dour and legendary Pakistani singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, who died in 1997.

Also see: The Beatles, King Crimson, The Moody Blues, The Kinks, Steve Reich

Must Haves:

• "Solsbury Hill"
• "Shock the Monkey"
• "Big Time"
• "In Your Eyes"
• "The Drop"

Performers Influenced By This Artist:

• Many groups that include world music influences; also Paul Simon (Graceland, Rhythm of the Saints)
• Live
• Primus
• John Hassell