Report: Kicking And Screaming, Metal Is Back In Music Spotlight

Jacob Ganz of National Public Radio's (NPR) "All Things Considered" (web site) reports:

Whatever happened to heavy metal? On [Sunday night's] Grammy Awards, the five nominees in the Best Metal Performance category might wonder if they even want to be invited to the party; the music has rarely gotten along well with the pop music establishment. And it has been years since an industry spotlight has shined on a heavy metal band.

But though the state of heavy metal may be in question, but partisans can agree on one thing: The form's roots are located in the chugging guitar and wailing vocals of two bands: LED ZEPPELIN and BLACK SABBATH.

"It's very powerful music," says Shawn Bosler, a New York writer and musician. "It's bombastic, it's like Wagner, and the themes have always fantasy or war."

Bosler counts himself as a longtime follower of metal, and its misunderstood fans.

It's always been pimply-faced, geeky long-haired kids who don't fit in. They feel outcast somehow," Bosler says.

Accordingly, metal led its fans along a couple of dark pathways. Down one: death and suicide, gore and Satan. Down the other, slightly less-morbid, path: a Lord of the Rings-style fantasy world with monsters and hobbits. So things went through the '70s and '80s, when British bands like DEEP PURPLE, IRON MAIDEN and MOTÖRHEAD ruled the scene. A scene encapsulated by the 1986 cult documentary "Heavy Metal Parking Lot", which captured the excitement of teenage fans hanging out before the big show. .

The entire feature is available in text and audio formats at www.npr.org.