How Heavy Metal Music Became Popular in the 1980s

How did heavy metal music become popular in the 1980s? This blog post looks at the history and some of the key bands and albums that brought metal to the masses.

The Birth of Heavy Metal

Hard Rock in the 1970s

The 1970s saw the rise of hard rock, a heavier and louder subgenre of rock music. Hard rock bands like Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, and Deep Purple became some of the most popular bands in the world. The popularity of hard rock paved the way for the birth of heavy metal in the 1980s.

Heavy metal is a subgenre of hard rock that is even more aggressive and distorted. The first heavy metal bands emerged in the early 1980s, including Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, and Metallica. These bands quickly gained a following among music fans who were looking for something louder and more intense than hard rock.

Heavy metal music was often criticized by older generations for its loudness and violence. However, many young people gravitated towards heavy metal because it was seen as rebellious and exciting. In the 1980s, heavy metal became one of the most popular genres in the world.

The New Wave of British Heavy Metal

The New Wave of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM) was a musical movement that started in the late 1970s and peaked in the early 1980s. The term was coined by journalist Geoff Barton in a May 1979 issue of the British music magazine Sounds to describe the emergence of new heavy metal bands in the mid-to-late 1970s.

The NWOBHM began as an underground phenomenon growing out of the earlier hard rock and pub rock scene. By the early 1980s, it had spawned a generation of successful bands such as Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Diamond Head, Saxon and Defenders of the Faith. These bands were influenced by older heavy metal bands such as Black Sabbath, Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin as well as more recent bands such as UFO and Motörhead.

The NWOBHM initially developed independently of any major record label attention; most of the bands were signed to small independent record labels or none at all. Over time, a number of major record labels – including EMI, Polydor, CBS and Atlantic – became interested in signing NWOBHM bands. By the end of the decade, metal fans had begun to tire of the NWOBHM’s commercial[clarification needed] sound; this resulted in a decline in popularity for many of its leading exponents during the early 1980s.

The Golden Age of Heavy Metal

The 1980s were a golden age for heavy metal music. This was the decade when metal bands like Metallica, Megadeth, and Slayer released some of their best-selling albums. The popularity of heavy metal music soared during this time, with metal becoming one of the most popular genres of music in the world.

The American Scene

In the early 1980s, American bands like Metallica, Megadeth, and Anthrax began to gain popularity in the heavy metal scene. These bands were influenced by British bands like Iron Maiden and Judas Priest, and they began to create a heavier sound that would become characteristic of American heavy metal. American bands also began to experiment with longer song formats and more complex arrangements.

During this time, many metal fans in the United States were angry about the state of the country and the world. They felt that society was becoming too materialistic and that people were losing touch with what was important in life. This dissatisfaction was reflected in the lyrics of many heavy metal songs, which often dealt with topics like death, war, and personal struggles.

As the popularity of heavy metal grew in the United States, so did its influence on popular culture. Heavy metal fashion became popular among young people, and metal albums and concerts began to sell out arenas across the country. In 1985, Rolling Stone magazine declared that heavy metal was “the biggest phenomenon in rock & roll”.

By the late 1980s, however, heavy metal’s popularity began to decline in the United States. Newer genres like rap and grunge became more popular than metal, and manymetal bands struggled to adapt to these changes. As a result, the “golden age” of American heavy metal came to an end in the early 1990s.

The European Scene

While American heavy metal was struggling to find an audience in the early 1980s, the European scene was thriving. bands like Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, and motorhead were topping the charts and selling out stadium shows. These bands would go on to influence the American metal scene in the years to come.

Despite its humble beginnings, heavy metal quickly gained a following in Europe thanks to its aggressive sound and larger-than-life attitude. Bands like Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, and Rainbow were creating a new sound that was heavier and more distorted than anything that had come before. This new sound resonated with European audiences, who were eager for something different from the pop music that dominated the charts.

Heavy metal soon became THE genre of choice for European teenagers, who were drawn to its rebellious image and dark lyrical themes. In the 1980s, heavy metal reached its commercial peak with bands like Def Leppard, Bon Jovi, and Whitesnake selling millions of records worldwide. The popularity of heavy metal in Europe would lay the groundwork for its eventual explosion in America.

The Decline of Heavy Metal

In the 1980s, heavy metal music became increasingly popular with young people. For many of these fans, the music was a way to express their feelings of anger and frustration. The lyrics often dealt with dark and depressing subjects, such as death and violence. The music was loud and aggressive, and the performers often used distorted guitars and drums.

The Grunge Movement

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, there was a movement in the music industry that many believe killed off hair metal and glam metal. This movement is commonly referred to as “grunge”. It arose in Seattle, Washington and quickly spread across the United States. The sound of grunge was very different from hair metal – it was darker, heavier, and more “real” sounding. The lyrics of grunge songs were also more introspective and personal than those of hair metal songs.

The most successful grunge band was Nirvana, who released their album Nevermind in 1991. Nevermind contained the song “Smells Like Teen Spirit”, which became a massive hit and catapulted Nirvana to international stardom. Other successful grunge bands included Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, and Soundgarden.

Grunge was not only popular with music fans – it was also popular with critics. Many believe that the success of grunge signaled the end of hair metal and glam metal because it showed that fans were no longer interested in that kind of music. Grunge bands were also hailed as being more “authentic” than hair metal bands, which many people felt were contrived and fake.

The popularity of grunge led to the decline of hair metal and glam metal in the early 1990s. While there are still some bands playing these genres today, they are nowhere near as popular as they once were.

The Rise of Hip Hop

In the early 1980s, hip hop music began to gain in popularity with young people in the inner-city. This was in part due to the increased availability of affordable music equipment, but also because the style of music was seen as a way to express the frustrations of living in poor and often dangerous neighborhoods. As hip hop grew in popularity, it began to be incorporated into other genres of music, including heavy metal.

Heavy metal bands such as Metallica and Megadeth began to experiment with rap-style vocals and beats, and soon there was a subgenre of metal known as rap metal or ” nu metal.” This style of music became extremely popular with young people in the 1990s, and helped to make heavy metal music more mainstream.