Metal is educational

Onhell

Onhell

Infinite Dreamer
I love Heavy Metal, LOVE IT. Why? Damn, where to begin, it is smart, complex, deep and it is the most versatile genre of music. You have from Thrash to Symphonic Metal. No other genre can boast that. Another thing that is great about metal is that it is educational. Unlike the Pop that sings about sex and nothing else, Rap that talks about their bitches and 'hos. Metal not only builds an intelligent argument if it critics something, the words they use are quite unusual in common speach. Megadeth sings in french on A Tout Le Monde, uses Marionette on symphony of destruction and so on. Iron Maiden's songs are mostly based on historical events as Maverik has pointed out and that gets the listener interested in that field. The struggle of native americans, viking invasions and Ghengis Khan. Helloween sing in Latin on V Lvadate Domino, Haggard switches from English to German, creating an awarness to other languages and cultures, igniting many to learn a second or even third language. Metallica, in their early days, made a great job of critiquing the government and war, Iced Earth is notorious for bashing established religion. The latter, if you're religious, reminds you not everybody is going to think like you, you have to respect other peoples opinions even if they don't agree with yours. Leave it to metal to make learning interesting. [!--emo&:rock:--][img src=\'style_emoticons/[#EMO_DIR#]/headbang.gif\' border=\'0\' style=\'vertical-align:middle\' alt=\'headbang.gif\' /][!--endemo--]
 
I'll be talking mostly about Iron Maiden in my reply (s) to this topic, because frankly that's what I know the most about.

Although The Clansman was the first Iron Maiden song I heard, the song that hooked me (and was for a very long time my favourite song of all time) was Aces High. I'm a history major specializing in 20th Century European Conflict. I spent my life up until Aces High listening to cheap alternative. Post Black Album Metallica. Limp Bizkit. Korn. The list goes on.

Aces High amazed me. A band that cares about history. Taking a great conflict and idolizing it in a song. Before listening to the rest of my brand-new Powerslave CD I listened to Aces High until I memorized the lyrics. Churchill's "The Few" would have approved.

2 Minutes to Midnight. Remembering that this album was written during the Cold War, 2 Minutes astounded me again. A band that cares about history and politics? Amazing!

The list from Powerslave continues. Television (Back in the Village). Art (Flash of the Blade). Movies (The Duellists). Ancient mythology (Powerslave). Literature (Rime of the Ancient Mariner). Up until then I listened to:

ANGST!
ANGER!
HATRED!
DRUGS AND SEX!

It was a revolution for me! Amazing! My next purchase was Best of the Beast. Songs like Run to the Hills, Fear of the Dark, Wasted Years, The Trooper, and Hallowed Be Thy Name astounded me.

Then I started listening to the music. The complexity of the twin guitar attack. That intense and accurate rhythm in the background (NICKO!). The amazing air raid siren, or that powerful low growl of Blaze.

Hey? What was this odd thing...in the middle of most of the songs? Sounds like someone playing a guitar! But no one could play like that...My first exposure to guitar solos. That was amazing. Just amazing. I never guessed that a guitar could lift a song like that.

So I continued to download, buy, and listen to Iron Maiden. The deeper I got the deeper I wanted to get. What other band plays about such diverse material? I love it all. But especially the historical songs. They get me every time. Aces High, The Trooper, Alexander the Great, The Clansman, Run Silent Run Deep, and now Montsegur and Paschendale amaze me. The attention to detail is astounding.

The music fits the songs perfectly. Close your eyes during Aces High and imagine your Spitfire diving through the ranks of the German bombers, finding Me-109s suddenly on your tail. Hear Nicko's drums hammer as you'd fire your guns.

Heavy metal, and Iron Maiden, fills a gap I never realized I had. It's perfect for me, in every way.
 
You really hit it home, LooseCanon. You said that it is maidens historical epics what drew you in. Mine were their "spiritual quest/psychological" songs like Hallowed be Thy Name, Infinite dreams, Still Life and so on. Then came the ones based on literature like Brave New World which even though it departs a little bit from the book itself, is still an amazing song. Yet like maiden there are other bands that blend great metal with History, Mythology, Legends and Literature. Most of them European of course (there's no metal like european metal) but the U.S has a few bands of it's own. Symphony X is one of them. their latest work "The Odyssy" is a masterpiece. "The Odyssy" itself is 24+ minutes long! telling the whole story with great musicianship. Bringing such great literature to people via music is a great way in getting them to read the original work. [!--emo&:rock:--][img src=\'style_emoticons/[#EMO_DIR#]/headbang.gif\' border=\'0\' style=\'vertical-align:middle\' alt=\'headbang.gif\' /][!--endemo--]
 
I totally agree, Onhell. One of the things I love most about metal is that it's the only rock style which can approach the complexity and beauty of classical music, which I also love. I really get into epic songs with unusual but intelligent lyrics, and once again metal is the only style that can consistently produce such songs.

And speaking of metal songs based on literature: I'm working on writing an epic metal adaptation of HP Lovecraft's "The Dunwich Horror" for my band. If I can get it half as good as Ancient Mariner, I'll be ecstatic.
 
Well, Onhell, that's the beauty of Maiden...their material is so diverse, there's something there for everyone.
 
It's not only the beauty of Maiden but of Metal itself. It's real, you can feel it. unlike pop, that's called bubblegum pop for a reason. the taste goes away after a while and you spit it out. Not metal which is more like a fine wine. [!--emo&:rock:--][img src=\'style_emoticons/[#EMO_DIR#]/headbang.gif\' border=\'0\' style=\'vertical-align:middle\' alt=\'headbang.gif\' /][!--endemo--]
 
[!--QuoteBegin-Onhell+Sep 27 2003, 09:17 PM--][div class=\'quotetop\']QUOTE(Onhell @ Sep 27 2003, 09:17 PM)[/div][div class=\'quotemain\'][!--QuoteEBegin--] It's not only the beauty of Maiden but of Metal itself. It's real, you can feel it. unlike pop, that's called bubblegum pop for a reason. the taste goes away after a while and you spit it out. Not metal which is more like a fine wine. [!--emo&:rock:--][img src=\'style_emoticons/[#EMO_DIR#]/headbang.gif\' border=\'0\' style=\'vertical-align:middle\' alt=\'headbang.gif\' /][!--endemo--] [/quote]
So you're saying that if I buy a Maiden album fifty years down the road it'll taste better? [!--emo&:lol:--][img src=\'style_emoticons/[#EMO_DIR#]/lol[1].gif\' border=\'0\' style=\'vertical-align:middle\' alt=\'lol[1].gif\' /][!--endemo--]
 
lol. I don't think Maiden will still be making records in fifty years, so with all certainty I can tell you that in fifty years if you play Powerslave or Dance of Death it will sound better because they will carry over 50 years of memories with them. [!--emo&:rock:--][img src=\'style_emoticons/[#EMO_DIR#]/headbang.gif\' border=\'0\' style=\'vertical-align:middle\' alt=\'headbang.gif\' /][!--endemo--]
 
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