Heavy Metal

by Martin Popoff and Annabeth Albert

The 50 most important heavy metal bands from the 1970s, 80s and 90s are included in this book along with who influenced them and who they, in turn influenced. Complete with histories and... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1896522475
• ISBN13: 9781896522470
• Release Date: January 2000
• Publisher: Collector's Guide Publishing
• Length: 191 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.6" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

excellent, highly useful hodgepodge of heavy metal info

Martin Popoff established himself as a writer of acerbic wit and tremendous knowledge with his collector's guide to heavy metal. That book and its three-thousand-plus reviews is a mammoth testament to his energy as well as the genre's amazing invention and staying power.For this outing, Popoff gives what I see as a survey course in Heavy Metal History, utilizing the more "objective" standpoint of artistic and historical influence in metal to discuss the music rather than the slightly shakier ground of a subjective album review.Popoff divides the music into the decades of the 1970's, 80's, and 90's, and from there ranks (okay, so we still have a tiny bit of subjectivity) the bands and/or artists in terms of their importance and influence on metal as a whole. The result are 50 bands that Popoff sees as essential to the progression of metal. This is terribly intriguing as it introduces bands like Marilyn Manson, Nirvana, and even The New York Dolls into the list alongside undoubted legends like Black Sabbath and Judas Priest. Along the way there are pleasant surprises like seeing Yngwie Malmsteem make the list as well as UFO, Bathory, and Alice In Chains. In an effort at being completist, Popoff nobly lists in a series of appendices bands too strange or unique to make the list, bands that almost made it, and his short list of the most influential metal records.The drawbacks? Well for one the written pieces on each band are limited to around 2 pages each, so there is nothing deep or exploratory. There is also the issue of Popoff's biases, which show themselves rarely but sometimes humorously. Having said that, there is also much to like about this volume. It is a short, readable, entertaining ride through metal's high points as seen through biographies and key works of each artist. Where possible Popoff has included either in textboxes or sidebars snippets of interviews with the bands themselves. It also (like Popoff's collector's guide) demonstrates a keen sense of the history of the genre. The bottom line folks is that someone has to be setting this stuff down for posterity, and no matter whether you agree or disagree with Popoff's opinions he is plainly a huge fan of the music too!This is a book that will spark debate and discussion to be sure, and it is overall quite worth a read by those wishing to acquire a sense of the history behind the power chords as well as those who want to revisit classic metal vibes. Rock on...

Excellent, Perhaps Short Overview

I'm not a big fan of Popoff's writing style, but he does have a good ear for the metal scene. I found myself agreeing with a lot of what he wrote. Also, when he breaks down the bands by decade, it's pretty obvious that the metal world is in decline when Pantera is considered the most influential band of the 90's (although I dig their stuff).