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From the dawn of the Sabbath ... metal was born

Cope, AL

Authors

AL Cope



Contributors

S Whiteley
Supervisor

Abstract

The early 1990s saw the publication of important academic works on the subject of heavy
metal music. These works were seminal in that they were the first to recognise and
interrogate, in any substantial way, a topic that had been, until then, valued only as a
cultural/sociological subject. Those ground-breaking works included Robert Walser's
1993 publication Running with The Devil: Power, Gender and Madness in Heavy Metal
and Deena Weinstein's Heavy Metal: The Music and its Culture first published in 1991.
Both works however, present heavy metal in broad terms, creating a wide paradigm that
includes bands with widely differing musical syntax and aesthetic concerns (e.g. Cradle
of Filth to Bon Jovi). These generalisations, being based on the perceived commonality
of such concepts as power-chords and gendering, form something of a paradox that has
been unquestioningly embraced by subsequent authors and so sustaining that opinion.
I have challenged these generalisations and asserted that hard rock and heavy metal are
distinctly different generic forms in both musical syntax and aesthetic. Moreover, I have
argued that both Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin were pivotal in the formation of heavy
metal and hard rock respectively and that the first six albums of both bands were
particularly significant to the generic evolution of both forms of music.
Heavy metal has evolved and become an established form of music over the last three
and a half decades but vitally retains the central coding established in Black Sabbath's
early work, not least the consistent utilisation of key intervals such as the tritone and flat
2nd, modal riffs, down-tuned guitars, aggressive performance techniques, episodic
structuring and anti-patriarchal themes. By contrast, Led Zeppelin made significant
contributions to the evolution of hard rock through a re-working of blues-based themes
and syntax and the development of an eclectic repertoire. This work deconstructs that
evolutionary process, highlighting the distinct nature of both forms.

Citation

Cope, A. From the dawn of the Sabbath ... metal was born. (Thesis). Salford : University of Salford

Thesis Type Thesis
Deposit Date Oct 3, 2012
Award Date Jan 1, 2007

This file is under embargo due to copyright reasons.

Contact Library-ThesesRequest@salford.ac.uk to request a copy for personal use.






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