The Story Of Metal: Classic Rock & Metal Hammer Special Edition - out now!

Features
By ( Metal Hammer ) last updated

The birth and rise of heavy metal (1964-84) is chronicled in this new collection of stories from the pages of Classic Rock and Metal Hammer magazines.

the story of metal

The birth and rise of heavy metal is captured in a new special edition from Classic Rock and Metal Hammer: The Story of Metal – Vol.1 is onsale now and available free to all TeamRock+ members.

Split into three sections – The Birth, The Explosion and How Metal Went Mainstream – The Story of Metal tells the inside story of the cult heroes and pioneering bands that conquered the world.

Beginning with interviews with the bands that forged metal (Blue Cheer, Steppenwolf, Captain Beyond, Sir Lord Baltimore, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath…), this special edition then takes you through the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM) explosion of the late 70s (with Iron Maiden, Saxon, Judas Priest) and lesser-known heroes like Venom and Diamond Head. The LA glam pop-metal scene of the 80s is represented with Def Leppard’s Joe Elliott and Motley Crue’s Nikki Sixx looking back, plus inside stories on Ratt, Aerosmith in the 80s and more.

Along the way, experts – including Scott Ian from Anthrax – choose the songs that built metal. They’re not all the obvious choices either.

“This is the history of metal in all its complicated, daft and terrifying glory,” Says Editor In Chief Scott Rowley. “Complicated? Well, metal you see, all started with Eddie Cochran, but it didn’t really exist until NWOBHM. Hot Chocolate made one of the early metal classics, but punk helped define it. Bon Jovi and Ratt stretched the definition of genre to breaking point – and made millions doing so. Grunge didn’t kill metal – it saved it. Goth was a key influence on metal’s future – and so was hip-hop.

“The story of metal has taken many twists and turns over the years. This first volume takes us from metal’s beginnings up to its mainstream peak around 1984. Volume 2 will pick up the story from the backlash to that mainstream success – thrash metal, Guns N’ Roses – via alt.metal, nu metal and the many amazing sub-genres that make up the metal scene today.”

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Instead, enjoy metal’s first thrilling footsteps…

The Story Of Metal is in the shops now. You can buy it directly from us. TeamRock+ members get it – and digital editions of all our print magazines – as part of their membership.