Talk:Heavy metal music

"Extreme heterosexualist ideology"

Should this really be in here? I mean come on, Rob Halford for instance is a GOD of metal and he's not heterosexual. At the very least, in this context, the remark appears to have pejorative connotations. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 137.43.19.156 (talk) 13:24, 1 March 2013 (UTC)

Indeed, but it's the view of one person, Deena Weinstein, and it is not an established fact. For example, the sentence says that she "argues" about this, which suggests that this is not a generally accepted idea. Also the phrase is inside quotation marks, which means that these are the exact words the opinion holder used. The editors who included that part, in my opinion, maintained a NPOV.—Epicurus B. ^{(Not my talk page)} 13:44, 1 March 2013 (UTC)

First recorded use

"The first recorded use of "heavy metal" is a reference to a motorcycle in the Steppenwolf song "Born to Be Wild", also released that year [1968]."

This reads like a contradiction since the article has already mentioned earlier instances of the term's use, such as in novels by William Burroughs. Note that "first recorded use" is a standard term applying to any persistent medium, and would certainly include novels (I did wonder if "recorded" was meant in the specific sense of making a sound recording, which would be very confusing here). I am not sure what the article means to say, but whatever it is I think it needs clarifying. 86.160.222.156 (talk) 02:29, 9 March 2013 (UTC)

I think you are right, that it means "in a record". Not sure if I have the access to the source to check, so if anyone else does, please go ahead.--SabreBD (talk) 09:45, 9 March 2013 (UTC)

I have found the relevant snippet on Google Books. It actually says "The first appearance of "heavy metal" in a song lyric is generally agreed to be Steppenwolf's "Born to Be Wild"..." I will change the article accordingly as "first recorded use" is too confusing. 86.160.208.98 (talk) 14:10, 9 March 2013 (UTC)

Good job. Thanks.--SabreBD (talk) 15:11, 9 March 2013 (UTC)

What the article fails to mention (possibly under etymology) in respect to "first use" is that in 1967, Hapshash and the Coloured Coat#Music released a record under their name titled "Featuring The Human Host And The Heavy Metal Kids". The music of this album is indeed "heavy" but it is psychedelic in genre, not "heavy metal". There is also a group Heavy Metal Kids defined in Wikipedia as a British "hard rock" band, but since their formation is placed in 1972, it may well be that the "Heavy Metal Kids" of 1967 were another group that never rose to any fame. Whatever the case may be, this is the very first instance that the William Burroughs expression was used as a name of a band. Hoverfish Talk 13:29, 13 May 2013 (UTC)

For a sample from this album, one can search for "Hapshash & The Coloured Coat - Empires of the Sun" in YouTube. Hoverfish Talk 13:36, 13 May 2013 (UTC)

Machismo??

Really, lyrics are associated to Machismo? I'm really ofended as a metal fan and a wikipedia fan when I realize that wikipedia has a nonsense information, and I think that it should be removed/replaced by anything else. Metal lyrics are much more associated to agression and realism (realistc point of view of the world). -- 201.74.36.114 (talk) 03:39, 4 November 2013 (UTC)

I agree that heavy metal lyrics are usually unconcerned with machismo, but I disagree with saying they are focused on aggression and realism, the lyrics in heavy metal are often more fantastic (fantasy based) than other musical genres, and while they can be aggressive they can also be quite poetic. If anything it's just the lyrics are generally pretty dark. 139.192.36.134 (talk) 06:57, 5 January 2014 (UTC)

The statement is based on reliable sources and much observed by scholars on the subject.--SabreBD (talk) 09:19, 5 January 2014 (UTC)

Criticism

Why is there no section on criticism of heavy metal? There is a section in one of the talk archives but not in the article..one person in the talk page said something about how do you criticize art etc which is pretty much the problem..metal isn`t exactly high art to a lot of people so maybe no one cares enough to do it...I know I`m not going to bother...there is a criticism or at least a controversy section in just about every article in Wikipedia from Anthropology to the World Food Program but not here..interesting that it exist in the rap section. Lonepilgrim007 (talk) 23:52, 2 December 2013 (UTC)

Maybe you should write a section (with reliable sources), and it would be a reasonable addition to the article. Vortiene (talk) 03:51, 11 December 2013 (UTC)

2010s

This article needs to be updated with a section for the 2010s. Any ideas? — Confession0791 ^talk 04:56, 28 January 2014 (UTC)

Skid Row

Skid Row did not wear make-up, did not ever once wear spandex, nor was their hair teased. Their music was much heavier than the New York glam style surrounding them. They were, if anything, Sleaze Metal (like Guns N Roses). Their second album was thrash metal. Also, the article fails to mention that Skid Row had the very first heavy metal album in music history to ever release at #1 on the Billboard charts. Gee, that's a pretty huge omission. Not to mention they also took Pantera on their first ever arena tour, thus exposing them to a much wider audience and contributing tremendously to their mainstream breakout. Phil Anselmo has stated numerous times that without Skid Row, and especially Sebastian Bach, that Pantera may have never made the break-through that they did. Opening for Skid Row, Pantera quickly showed that their groove-metal style was the superior act. Lastly, the article should mention that Snake Sabo, Skid Row guitarist and founding member, is the long-time manager for Anselmo's band Down. --Nikoz78 (talk) 16:38, 14 February 2014 (UTC)