The Factors that Influenced Heavy Metal Music
Heavy metal music is a genre that not only has a lot of listeners, but tells a lot about the listeners as well. This music is loud, aggressive, and unique to this genre. The Plasmatics with the lead singer Wendy O. Williams, reflects this music and the time period. During the time the genre began, the children of the generation felt that everything was going wrong. The divorce rates of their parents were skyrocketing and unemployment was through the roof causing these people to partake in violent music. The artists used timbral distortion, many loud layers, and expression in order to show how frustrated they were during this time. The music reflected the attitudes of artists and listeners during this time period.
In the heavy metal/ punk rock music world, there is a lot of yelling when screaming. In the song that I am researching “The Damned” by Wendy O. Williams, there is a part in the song when she takes a word she is singing, then the word turns into a screech/ yell. This yell impacts the song because it makes the music get louder. People wanted loud music because of everything going on around them due to the baby boomers high divorce rates, and leaving children to fend for themselves at home. Lets face it, when someone gets really angry, they just want to yell into their pillow don’t they? Same for this generation. They were getting treated like garbage and things around them were making them really upset and angry with the world, so they wanted to get their anger out. Many artists did this in the music they sang. One source described punk rock sensation, Ozzy Osbourne as a guy who liked to yell a lot and had long hair (Lorne). People liked to yell to get their frustration out. Yelling impacted the music because since it was so loud, the instruments also had to be loud. Voices were very aggressive and angry sounding. People during this time period, (the baby boomer’s children) enjoyed listening to groups that felt the same way as they did and liked to sing along, and follow after the artists who sang. Most of the artists used drugs along with their music which also effected the sound of the music because of the way the drugs make you feel and behave. Yelling was an important part to physically show how they felt using their voices.
Another trait of heavy metal music, is the distortion of the instruments being played. One source says that the heavy part of heavy metal is the distortion of the bass and the electric guitar. Something that I have noticed in my project song “The Damned” by The Plasmatics, (lead singer Wendy O. Williams)(Characteristics), is there is timbral distortion at some points during the music, mostly with the instruments, but also with Wendy O. William’s voice. This distortion happens when the guitarist or bass guitarist plays/strums a note and lets the note play out until it eventually fades away. This makes a “mean” sounding note. This note sort-of makes the sound seem unorganized, for lack of a better word. It sounds as if the guitarist does not really know what he is playing and makes it sound like it does not fit. This sound fits how the artists and people listening feels like. The audience like to hear a wild side to music because they are feel as if they are on the wild side. They feel unorganized by, for example, divorce rates. A child who listens to this music could have a family which is unorganized at the time. From what I have learned in class, timbral distortion is a trait from African American music. Before the civil rights movement, African American people were treated badly by being segregated from the rest of the country. In a way, the sons and daughters of the baby boomers felt separated from society, due to what was happening around them. I believe it is possible that this timbral distortion came from African music from African Americans because during this time, both groups were feeling the same heavy metal listeners because of society and African Americans because of civil rights, and it was reflected in the music.
Another musical feature of this song was the timbral distortion from the singer. The singer, Wendy O. Williams is a woman, and rather than having a high pitch, female sounding voice, her voice is deep, raspy, and sounds like that of a male. Most women singers of this time sang very traditional, female sounding songs. There was not many women, or minority groups singing in the heavy metal genre at this time. At this time during the 1960’s and 1970’s women were still battling for rights here in the United States of America. I think this was a huge reason as to why Wendy O. Williams changed her voice to a low pitch, male sounding voice. Just like some of the African American artists had to change the sound of their music after the civil rights movement, women in the heavy metal genre like Wendy O. One source states “Many (heavy metal) bands either openly encouraged violence against women or fail to support legitimate female freedom” (Loye). Williams and the Plasmatics had to do something in order to get listeners to be successful. Williams may have changed the sound of her voice in order to get more listeners just like the African American artists did during the civil rights movement. Black artists were trying to sound like a white artist just like some women were trying to sound like men in the case of Wendy O. Williams. Women at this time were still behind men in their record deals and did not get paid as much as male musicians did. The mediators have a lot to do with the popularity too. Mediators help give bands and artists the best chance to succeed. The mediators of the Plasmatics and Wendy O. Williams could have told her to make her voice lower on purpose to sound like a male so that she and the band, as well as them as the mediators would make the most money.
Heavy metal music reflects how the people during this time were feeling. There was a lot of disorder in the lives of the families and singers lives. The children of the baby boomer generation were the people affected and who listened to this genre. Between timbral distortion both with instruments and voices of the singers and the volume of the music gave people an escape that helped them feel better from the disorder in their lives. This music was a way for the artists and listeners to express themselves in a way that let them get their anger out
Works Cited:
“Characteristics of Heavy Metal.” English, https://www.metalrulesmagazine.com/characteristics-of-heavy-metal.html.
Lorne Jackson. “Midland salute to those who rock; Heavy metal music is being celebrated in the Midlands with a host of exhibitions, writes Lorne Jackson “. Birmingham Post, June 16, 2011 Thursday. https://advance-lexis-com.hoover2.mcdaniel.edu:2443/api/document?collection=news&id=urn:contentItem:533R-8G11-F107-B0JC-00000-00&context=1516831. Accessed November 6, 2019.
Loye, Kristy. “Metals Problem With Women Is Not Going Away Anytime Soon.” Houston Press, 4, 24 Oct. 2019, https://www.houstonpress.com/music/metals-problem-with-women-is-not-going-away-anytime-soon-7858411.
