Heavy metal: References & Edit History
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Additional Reading
The first attempt to analyze the social meanings of heavy metal was Philip Bashe, Heavy Metal Thunder (1985). Mark Hale, HeadBangers: The Worldwide Megabook of Heavy Metal Bands (1993), is the best reference work on the subject; Jas Obrecht (ed.), Masters of Heavy Metal (1984), provides technical profiles of influential guitarists. The best scholarly studies of heavy metal are Robert Walser, Running with the Devil: Power, Gender, and Madness in Heavy Metal Music (1993), which mixes musicology with cultural studies; and Deena Weinstein, Heavy Metal: A Cultural Sociology (1991). Donna Gaines, Teenage Wasteland: Suburbia’s Dead End Kids (1991), is a sobering and insightful ethnographic study of one group of heavy metal fans. Filmmaker Penelope Spheeris’s documentary The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years (1988), offers an eye-opening look at the excesses of the Los Angeles heavy metal scene.
Representative Works
- Led Zeppelin, Led Zeppelin II (1969)
- Deep Purple, Deep Purple in Rock (1970)
- Black Sabbath, Paranoid (1971)
- Kiss, Alive! (1975)
- Van Halen, Van Halen (1978)
- Judas Priest, British Steel (1980)
- Ozzy Osbourne, Blizzard of Ozz (1981)
- Def Leppard, Pyromania (1983)
- Iron Maiden, Powerslave (1984)
- Bon Jovi, Slippery When Wet (1986)
- Metallica, Master of Puppets (1986)
- Poison, Look What the Cat Dragged In (1986)
- Guns N’ Roses, Appetite for Destruction (1987)
- Metallica, Metallica (1991)
- Soundgarden, Superunknown (1994)
Article Contributors
Primary Contributors
Other Encyclopedia Britannica Contributors
Article History
| Type | Description | Contributor | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Added links. | Oct 30, 2026 | ||
| Invalidated site: Grinnell College - Subcultures and Sociology - Heavy Metal. | Sep 29, 2026 | ||
| Add new Web site: National Center for Biotechnology Information - PubMed Central - Extreme Metal Music and Anger Processing. | Nov 01, 2025 | ||
| Add new Web site: BBC - How Black Sabbath found their sound - and invented heavy metal. | Sep 06, 2025 | ||
| Added a link. | Jul 23, 2025 | ||
| Article revised and updated. | Jul 22, 2025 | ||
| Add new Web site: Academia - What Makes Heavy Metal 'Heavy'? (PDF). | Jan 13, 2025 | ||
| Cross-reference to the Britannica article on Bon Jovi added. | Sep 23, 2024 | ||
| Add new Web site: Frontiers - Frontiers in Human Neuroscience - Extreme Metal Music and Anger Processing. | Sep 12, 2024 | ||
| Add new Web site: Grinnell College - Subcultures and Sociology - Heavy Metal. | Jan 25, 2024 | ||
| Added cross-references to Megadeth, Eddie Van Halen, Ozzy Osbourne, and Kiss. | Dec 02, 2023 | ||
| Add new Web site: LiveAbout - History and Styles of Heavy Metal. | Nov 10, 2023 | ||
| Links added. | Apr 05, 2023 | ||
| Add new Web site: Humanities LibreTexts - Hard Rock and Heavy Metal. | Nov 30, 2022 | ||
| Corrected display issue. | Jul 11, 2018 | ||
| Add new Web site: ThoughtCo. - History and Styles of Heavy Metal. | Apr 27, 2018 | ||
| Add new Web site: AllMusic - Heavy Metal. | Nov 20, 2014 | ||
| Add new Web site: ThinkQuest - Heavy Metal. | Aug 19, 2011 | ||
| Added new Web site: The BNR Metal Pages - The Internet Heavy Meatl Encyclopedia. | Jun 23, 2006 | ||
| Article revised. | Oct 28, 1999 | ||
| New article added. | Aug 05, 1998 |