I have a question about 80's metal and todays metal?

Question

Okay..I have watched some 80's metal videos like Iron Maiden, Megadeth, Pantera, Black Sabbath...I'm just not into that stuff. So I THINK those bands are metal. But my question is....Is 80's metal different from todays? Because in todays, there's alot of screaming, and it's heavy, but the vocals just sound different. So is it different or is what I was listening to (pantera, black sabbath, iron maiden etc...) not metal?

Please don't give me a sarcastic answer like " Today's metal isn't even really metal! It's just screaming " I just wanna know if today whats considered metal is different from what was considered metal in the 80's.



I'm not into 80's music so please spare me if my question is ignorant or stupid.

Answer 1

Yes, what 'most' everyone said is correct....and also consider that if you're mostly noticing this difference based on 'videos' of 80's bands, then you should know that 'usually' whatever song was made into a video is most likely the most 'radio friendly'. So don't discount certain artists if all that you've heard were the 'video' songs. Also back in the 80's there were loads of bands doing stuff just as heavy as 'some' stuff that's out there today......But it progressed, during the 80's into the 90's the 'heaviness' was constantly being ramped up. All of the sub-genres we have today partly came to be due bands out doing one another in speed, heaviness, technicality, gore, evilness.etc......I grew up during that time and it was amazing to witness the progression of all those new bands springing up with completely new and different styles, and then you'd think to yourself--Man, no one can play any faster or heavier than them -- sure enough, there always was someone to out do them. So today what may seem like 'regular' metal (for lack of a better term) would have been considered very heavy back in the 80's. Also consider the technology has drastically improved, so the recordings sound completely different.

Answer 2

Well, by "Today's MEtal" you mean bands that came out after the year 2000?

Because usually it's just an attempt to play what the older bands played. They all play something within a Genre. that's USUALLY. they just have a different vocal tone. Not Rasps, but just different, a little more Bassy.



EDIT: You listen to Bullet for my Valentine.... I see where the confusion come from....



EDIT: It all varies. the metal music didn't really change. Is it more melodic? harsher? that depends on the band. I actually think they became LESS INTENSE. the heaviest bands in my opinion cam from the 90's. So what's the difference? the fact that metal changed but it's still the same genre's. I told you. The Vocals were a little lighter in the 80's. This is about HEAVY METAL and not it's subgenre's. the subgenre's were always harsher vocals and even today. Except for Nu-Metal, no one knows what the **** is Nu-Metal....

Answer 3

In my opinion, yes, there is a difference.



In the 80's, a metal band was noted as one when, "metal was the SOUND produced by the musicians instruments. Not the groove mind you, but the sound. "Metal" meant razor sharp, clear, piercing notes from one's guitar. "Metal" was a clean sound. Loud and Proud. Judas Priest was one of the founding bands of the "Metal" sound. When someone thought "Ozzy", "metal" was one of the first words to pop into your head. ("Bat" was probably next). Metal had an enduring beat. A definitive beat. Every artist aspired to produce a song with a beat AND a riff unlike any used before in recorded music. Together with ground-breaking riffs, vocals that ranged from melodic to ear-piercing vibrato screams, and beats that seemed to be hammered out of the steady forge of an iron foundry, metal was molded into a sound that declared in one voice: "IF IT'S TOO LOUD, YOU'RE TOO OLD!" The SOUND was unique to the band. If someone left the band for whatever the reason, the music suffered. They could keep playing, but you could tell something was missing from the music. That whiz, the bang, the zip. It took ALL the members to make that unique sound. Albeit, I must mention that Ozzy, for example, has endured and constantly hires new talent. But, that talent is usually from another well-known band and Ozzy KNOWS his unique sound. It was a unique time for Rock and Roll.



Then something happened:



People liked it. And others tried to copy. But that was the problem. They tried to COPY. Vocalists emerged that sounded like other famous artists. Guitarists began to use the exact same synths and sounds as that of their idols. A drummer became almost something of a passe band member. He's only there because they NEED a beat. And then many others followed suit.



I'm NOT saying that today's "Metal" are a bunch of posers. Not at all. They have a lot of talent and I'm glad to see that at least they are trying to make a living with their music instead of spray painting their gang-member name on the side of somebody's building. I think what has happened is that ORIGINALITY seems to be rather stagnated at the moment. Todays "Metal" is still written by heart, the best way that these musicians know how to, but the "sound as described above" and new originality is missing.



I like some of today's "Metal" but just like the 80's stuff, not ALL of it.



Your question is neither ignorant or stupid.



PEACE

Answer 4

Good question! 80's metal is a lot different from newer metal, there is also always the 80's hair metal too.. It's a lot more melodic and not as heavy. It was the roots from which today's metal evolved from, but it was just the beginning. Metal, in my opining has only gotten better since the 80's.



I'm down for any kind of metal, Megadeath and Iron Maiden, are amazing, and they defiantly shaped today's metal, but I do like today's metal a lot better too. I'm into bands like lamb of god, slayer, behemoth, job for a cowboy, cradle of filth, cannibal corpse, bleeding through, In flames children of Bodom, and many many more.



But remember, the 'screaming' as you call it IS not the foundation of a good song by any means. Metal is aggressive music and yes the screaming does help that factor, but it does not make a good song. Good bass, guitar and lyrics make a good song, 'screaming' is secondary.











No no no, you completely misread my answer..

Newer metal is generally heaveier where as 80s metal was a lot more melodic.

Answer 5

since Ive been listening to metal since the 70's (yes I'm old, i know) i can answer this one easily.

the bands you listed are definitely heavy metal (black sabbath were one of the first bands to play it) and iron maiden, judas priest, etc. were the big bands during the new wave of british heavy metal. megadeth and metallica popularized the speed metal genre (which was just heavy metal kicked up a notch) and pantera kept metal alive in the 90's (thank god for them!) which brings us to todays music. and i think its heavy metal for the next generation. the playing is usually top notch and the production is so much better than it used to be but i gotta say i don't like the singing most of the time. it seems like every vocalist wants to be Phil Anselmo so it just makes comparing the new bands to pantera that much easier. and since pantera was one of the best, original bands in the world, the new bands just come off as imitations of the real thing.

just my opinion though...

Answer 6

i may be the 1st to assert immediately's metallic...eighty's metallic does not have plenty style, on an identical time as there are dozens of forms of immediately's metallic, so which you will locate something new for all time.

Answer 7

Todays metal is very much metal. Ask any metalhead.





80's metal was just the beginning. We have several subgenres now including:



Death Metal

Black

Power

Melodic Death

Industrial

Progressive

Stoner/Sludge

Gothic

Nu-Metal





The only stuff that many (real) metalheads don't consider metal is nu-metal. Since it has hip-hop influence.

Answer 8

there is a difference in styles between 80`s metal and metal today the vocals tended to be cleaner in the 80`s (sung rather than growled). having said that there was a lot of variation in the 80`s too - poison,kiss,warrant,motley crue, slayer, maiden, sabbath, pantera,red hot chilli peppers, all considered metal back in the day ,all very different styles

Answer 9

todays metal?

ive listened to sooooo many bands...lists and lists of bands...

most lack any kind of funk or soul...



they refuse to EVER be up beat...they just want to be fast...drop-tuning your stuf and making a giant intelligible growl...is not what should be good...the last time i got a spinetingle from rock and roll was the 1st time i heard nirvana...



its not that i cant like new bands, they just go by so fast nowdays that im always behind...and im sure...that eventually i may be able to give todays harder bands a bigger nod...



the things that sound different to you...vocals...are greatly enhanced by outside forces now...what you used to hear was harder work and again...it had soul/heart/funk....



i allready think lamb of god and wolfmother are ok...in small doses...with an allman brothers or rush chaser



maybe the biggest differece is when i was comming up we had 2 kinds of metal...heavy and death...how many are you guys up to now? 25 or so...?

Answer 10

yes there is a diffrence,



80s metal split of in diffrent directions and some of thoes directions were far more intence that the standard heavy metal, also 80s metal became more mainstreme, 80s metal evolved in to regular old rock and roll today



todays metal whent from acid rock, to heavy metal to speed metal, to thrash to death metal, some of it tamed back towards regular metal but most of todays metal is a direct decendant of death metal and thrash,

Answer 11

The computer graphics are better and the sound system has gotten better since the 80's. I know it is different because the music has grown-up since then.

Answer 12

It's all about European metal nowadays. And no it doesn't need to be all screaming. What are you a stereotyping metal fan?

Answer 13

Today's metal has no soul. While thats ok for Death metal and the other morbid sub-genre's, its not good for the future of metal.



One of the main differences in todays sound is technology and speed..every band today seems to want to drag race thru a song. Lyrics have become secondary to decibels.