The History of Heavy Podcast

One could debate whether or not Pink Floyd belongs in the conversation about "heavy" music but their influence on such denizen's of heavy as Black Sabbath, Sleep, My Bloody Valentine, Neurosis and Blood Incantation is undeniable. It is also hard to debate  the sonic heaviness of some of their louder songs including this, the lead track from 1971's Meddle.    Recommended Listening, Watching & Readi...

We know why Black Sabbath and Deep Purple and the MC5 are heavy but how does Janis Joplin fit into our chronology? Dave explains during our latest conversation.    Recommended Listening, Watching & Reading   HHP Spotify Playlist   https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2qkURdYib8hLz8s20D9yTC?si=1526168526854a62   HHP on TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@the.history.of.hea?_t=ZP-8z7me40bcbu&_r=1   Instagra...

Coming mere months after the release of their debut LP, Black Sabbath changed the future of music for the second time in less than a year with the release of their sophomore release, Paranoid in September of 1970. Our conversation covers all of its greatness and somehow we also somehow touch  on Hip Hop, Billy Joel, and The Grateful Dead.  #BlackSabbath #Paranoid   Recommended Listening, Watching...

The album that started it all.  #metal #doom #sabbath #ozzy #iommi #geezer #billward #historyofheavy   Recommended Listening, Watching & Reading Live in Paris 1970 https://www.invisibleoranges.com/black-sabbath-live-in-paris-1970-dvd/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPJXuTK8j5k   HHP Spotify Playlist   https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2qkURdYib8hLz8s20D9yTC?si=1526168526854a62   HHP on TikTok htt...

One third of the British Unholy Trinity of hard rock that also includes Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, Deep Purple started establishing themselves as a heavy force to be reckoned with in 1970 with the release of their fourth album, In Rock. The album introduced Ian Gillan as the band's singer and his value to their sound is immediately obvious on this banger of a track 2, an under appreciated son...

In April 1979 Ozzy Osbourne was fired from Black Sabbath for behavior so disruptive to the group that even his notoriously hard partying bandmates could no longer deal with him. Upon his dismissal, the rock world had assumed that they had heard the last of the then 32 year old singer but less than a year a half later he would release his soon to be classic debut solo LP that featured a young music...

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

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

In honor of Sabbath's last ever "Back to the Beginning" show at Villa Park in Birmingham we discuss our all-time favorite songs by the band that started it all!   Recommended Listening, Watching & Reading   HHP EP21: "The Wizard" https://open.spotify.com/episode/1CpoXNMCcSByHMvLZ7lBIp?si=29b384a7906644c4   Brown Sabbath "Fairies Wear Boots" https://open.spotify.com/track/24w0AeGooUIswDDJl5uA3c?si=...

We've discussed iron butterflies and we'll get to hawk winds and swans but tonight it's all about nuclear cocks as we take a step deeper into the heaviness that was beginning to emerge in early 1970's London.    Recommended Listening, Watching & Reading   Movies Sly Lives https://www.hulu.com/movie/sly-lives-98d14eec-caa7-4974-ba2e-ad34a17d6f8f   Summer of Soul https://www.searchlightpictures.com/...

Uriah Heep were undoubtedly heavy for their time and they were also incredibly self-serious and goofy, which begs the question; were they a key inspiration for the mighty Spinal Tap?   Recommended Listening, Watching & Reading   Randy Holden Population II https://open.spotify.com/album/1qg23tCQNP6MmO50d6rEfG?si=6ecydc_2QPSCEkPO2dYGSQ   Spotify Playlist   https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2qkURdYib...

Stray were largely ignored throughout their career in the 1970s and have been all but forgotten since. However, their lack of any commercial or critical success is due to no fault of their own. They were good players that wrote some great songs. Chalk their irrelevance up to bad timing in a highly competitive market that included the likes of Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath. Regardless of their cul...

The Stooges are to punk what Black Sabbath is to metal. That is, they effectively invented the genre and all of its splinter subgenres which would all sound completely different without them. Like Sabbath, The Stooges don't get enough credit for how multi-dimensional their music was. Elements of Free Jazz, psychedelia and even art rock are as prominent as their acclaimed shambolic electrical blues...

We're always  talking about Sabbath but now we're really talking about Sabbath.   Recommended Listening, Watching & Reading Black Sabbath: Symptom of the Universe by Mick Wall https://www.amazon.com/Black-Sabbath-Universe-Mick-Wall-ebook/dp/B00NS3175I/ref=sr_1_4?crid=UVSY0FM3XE6C&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.ZL-Jtc78tbIzspOEs2s6tp9ncgzhDInZGu-Me2ZmIF3UBkdeNEZNO3m48WWig802HMuhJNw45g8A_puFkSuaS8JDpoc4JimfQ0XUu1...

We dedicated 18 episodes to the heavy songs to the 1960's and traversed psychedelia, electric blues, proto-punk, acid jazz, hard, garage, art, and occult rock. Now we reevaluate all of them to determine which two songs will rule them all and be crowned the heaviest of the decade. Reccommeded Listening, Watching & Reading Aldous Huxley  The Doors of Perception https://www.amazon.com/perception-Fore...

This late sixties/early seventies Occult Rock band featured a member named Oz Osborne, had a track called "Black Sabbath" that kicks off it's debut album and is credited with being the first band to ever use the devil horn hand gesture... and they are not called Black Sabbath. In fact, Coven's debut LP predates Sabbath's by a year and while not widely acknowledged, their influence stretches well b...

It's time to get weird and you don't get much weirder than Captain Beefheart. His amalgamation of garage rock, free-jazz, delta blues and avant garde insanity was challenging and strange in the 1960's and its power hasn't diluted one bit all these decades later. "Dachau Blues" is from his widely recognized masterpiece Mask Trout Replica and the future sound of PiL, Gang of Four, Sonic Youth and th...

It's safe to say that without the MC5 punk rock and all of its adjacent sub genres would sound completely different. They were chaotic, intense, political and heavy in every sense of the word. Nothing about their unedited, unwavering approach was ever delivered lightly. Though their popular musical legacy doesn't go much further beyond the title track of their debut LP, their impact and influence...

Led Zeppelin were pretty popular. Though often pigeonholed as a "Hard Rock" band, their music was fairly eclectic, touching on elements of blues, folk and psychedelia. Still, they are mostly remembered as being loud and bombastic and one of the forebears of what would come to be known as Heavy Metal. Their eponymous first album predates Sabbath's debut by a full  year and the sludgy tempo of their...

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

Did the Beatles invent Doom Metal? The Fab Four are not exactly the first group you consider when discussing the history of heavy music but the song that closes Side One of Abbey Road is undeniably the precursor of many a down-tuned guitar to come. From the droning repeated guitar phrase to John Lennon's pained vocal, this ode to Lennon's desire for muse Yoko Ono is as heavy as anything on Black S...

Arthur Brown proclaimed "I am the god of hell fire" in the opening moments of his band's lone hit single "Fire" and those words coupled with his extravagant stage presentation (which included face paint and a flaming headpiece) and unique vocal style, would prove to be a massive influence on everyone from Alice Cooper and KISS to King Diamond, Iron Maiden and the whole of Norwegian Black Metal. "F...

Blue Cheer may have released the first Heavy Metal album when they put out their debut Vincebus Eruptum in 1969. It had all the trademarks that would come to define the genre — angry vocals, heavily distorted guitars, a thundering rhythm section) and it was released more than two years before the first Black Sabbath record. What the San Francisco power trio also brought was the danger. They were n...

It's not inaccurate to call Iron Butterfly a one hit wonder but it is unfair. In seventeen minutes and four seconds "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" ebbs and flows and constricts and expands exploring every corner of psychedelia, prog, garage, acid, occult and hard rock.  The songs lyrics, vocal melody, sludgy guitars, bass fills and two minute plus drum solo would influence scores of bands across every genre...

In addition to being one of the most influential guitar players of all time and a brilliant songwriter, Jimi Hendrix was also 1/3 of one of the heaviest power trios to come out of 60's psychedelia. The power of the band (which also included Noel Redding's bass and Mitch Michell's drums) was never more clearly on display than on Electric Ladyland's last track.     The History of Heavy Podcast Spoti...