Ok we all know Heavy Metal started in England. Metal didn’t really start in America like it did with Sabbath but more as an evolution from a number of sources including:

• The British influence of: Black Sabbath, Led Zepplin and Deep Purple
• The Proto-metal sounds of Alice Cooper, Blue Oyster Cult and Blue Cheer taking things in a darker direction
• American rock bands like Aerosmith, KISS and Van Halen providing the hard edged riffs and larger than life imagery and guitar work.
• The punk influence of MC5, Iggy Pop and providng the grittiness

It wasn’t always called metal, and many of the musicians creating it in America probably wouldn’t have described themselves as metal musicians either.

But with the benefit of hindsight, it’s pretty easy to see how it all came together in a kind of mash composed from several different sources.

The Roots of American Metal (Proto-Metal)

Rock Music was becoming louder and more aggressive in America before Metal had been conceived in Britain. I suppose you could say before there was metal there was what was to later become referred to as “Proto-metal” bands such as Blue Cheer , Steppenwolf, Iron Butterfly and Vanilla Fudge from the 1960s were upping the ante in terms of aggression and loud, beefy guitar tones and and general heaviness in their feel.

Detroit Gets Loud

MC5 and The Stooges from Detroit were not definitely not Metal, but the primal aggression and danger with which they played definitely contributed to the angry confrontational feel of many metal (and punk) bands today.

The Shock Rock Revolution

In Britain, bands such as Black Sabbath were creating an ominous musical atmosphere. In America, musicians were discovering that heavy rock could also become theatre. Alice Cooper is the most obvious example of this. Alice used confronting make up, shocking stage performances and horror imagery to create something darker and more sinister. Albums such as Love It to Death and Killer helped demonstrate that hard, heavy rock could be commercially successful without sacrificing its darker side. Alice Cooper is one of the biggest influences on the following generations of American Metal

Blue Öyster Cult and the Birth of Something Stranger

Blue Öyster Cult formed in New York in the late 1960s, the band developed a sound that combined hard rock, psychedelia, science fiction and occult imagery.

The Black Sabbath Effect

For American musicians, the impact of Sabbath was enormous. We’ve said a lot about Black Sabbath and their importance to metal so there’s no real need to dwell too heavily into it here but rest assured many then teenagers bought their records and were influenced to start new bands following in Black Sabbath’s ominious shadow.

INTO THE PENTAGRAM

One of those musicians influenced by Black Sabbath was Bobby Liebling of Pentagram fame. Formed in Virginia in 1971 around vocalist Bobby Liebling, Pentagram became one of the most important early American heavy bands. Probably the first example of a band from America I’d actually call metal.

They were also one of the unluckiest. Pentagram’s music was heavily influenced by Black Sabbath, but there was something even darker about their approach. Their riffs were slow, heavy and ominous, while Liebling’s lyrics embraced occult and macabre themes.

At a time when bands were increasingly chasing commercial success, Pentagram seemed almost determined to remain underground much of it due to self sabotage and lineup changes. The band went through repeated lineup changes. While they evaded commercial success their influence would be enormous. Unofficial recordings spread throughout the underground and basically shaped the sound of American Doom Metal.

The Rise of American Hard Rock

During the early 1970s, American hard rock continued becoming heavier.Aerosmith emerged from Boston. Kiss developed their enormous theatrical presentation in New York. Ted Nugent brought a ferocious guitar sound to the mainstream.

HEAVY METAL IN LA (Shit gets real now)

By the early 1970s, Los Angeles was beginning to emerge as an important centre for heavy music. One important band was Quiet Riot and their legendary lead guitar player Randy Rhoads. Quiet Riot didn’t get the early attention they deserved as their first two albums were not released in the US but only in Japan. Their third release “Metal Health” was their first to be released in the US and propelled them into the charts in the US, putting themselves and for the first time, American Metal on the map in 1983. While Quiet Riot didn’t get big initially, they provided a vehicle for Randy Rhoads to try out and get accepted as the lead guitar play for Ozzy Osbourne who had recently moved to L.A. The fact that Ozzy had started again in L.A. really was a huge shot in the arm for American Metal and its credibility.

METAL IN NEW YORK

Simultaneously things were bubbling over in New York. Twisted Sister began developing their identity in the early 1970s, eventually bringing vocalist Dee Snider into the fold in 1976. Twisted Sister (like Alice Cooper) understood the importance of visual presentation as well, but their music was becomng heavier than KISS and ALICE COOPER. The band played years in clubs before hitting the charts in 1984 right after Quiet Riot.

While all this stuff got big with Other bands like Motley Crue, it’s important to remember that Quiet Riot and Twisted Sister had spent years in the club circuit sweating it out to build a scene for Heavy Metal in the US.

The Sunset Strip Explosion

By the early 1980s, Los Angeles was ready to explode. The Sunset Strip became a breeding ground for a new generation of metal and hard rock bands. Mötley Crüe, Ratt, W.A.S.P. and numerous other bands began building followings in the city’s clubs. The music was heavier than much of the previous generation of American hard rock, but it was also more melodic and commercially accessible.

MTV BLOWS METAL UP.

Suddenly, American metal had a visual platform capable of reaching millions of homes. Bands like Quiet Riot had already demonstrated the commercial potential, Ratt were hot on their tails and the visual eye candy that was Twisted Sister and Motley Crue would make great fodder for MTV to blast into the living rooms of American youth, simultaneously blowing all those bands up into the big time. American Metal was now regularly topping the charts and becoming a cult phenomenon.

As the Los Angeles and New York scenes were becoming increasingly commercial, another American underground was developing in places such as the San Francisco Bay Area. By the early 1980s, young bands were taking the aggression of punk and the precision of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal and creating something faster and more extreme.

THE NEXT STEP

Whilst there was an explosion of what was to be called “Hair Metal” on TV there was something brewing in the underground. Among them was a young band called Metallica who started performing in L.A. in 1981 and would spearhead the thrash Metal revolution. But thats a story for another time.

But with the advent of Metallica and thrash metal in general this meant that the US had taken metal in a few different directions including the shreddier fretwork of Quiet Riot, the theatrics of Twisted Sister, and the soon to emerge wave to thrash metal and then extreme metal.

Frequently Asked Questions About the Beginnings of American Metal

When did American metal begin?

The roots of American metal can be traced to the late 1960s, when bands such as Blue Cheer, Iron Butterfly and Vanilla Fudge were experimenting with extremely heavy guitar-driven rock. During the early 1970s, bands such as Alice Cooper, Blue Öyster Cult and Pentagram helped develop different aspects of what would become American heavy metal.

Who was the first American metal band?

There is no universally accepted answer. Blue Cheer are frequently cited as an important American proto-metal band, particularly because of their 1968 album Vincebus Eruptum. Pentagram are another major candidate for the title of early American heavy metal band because of their extremely heavy, Black Sabbath-influenced sound in the early 1970s.

What was American proto-metal?

American proto-metal refers to the heavy rock music created in the late 1960s and early 1970s before heavy metal had fully developed as a distinct genre. Bands such as Blue Cheer, Iron Butterfly, Blue Öyster Cult and Sir Lord Baltimore helped establish the loud, distorted and aggressive sound that would influence later American metal bands.

How did Black Sabbath influence American metal?

Black Sabbath provided an enormous influence on American musicians during the early 1970s. Their dark riffs, heavy guitar sound and occult imagery became particularly influential on underground American bands such as Pentagram and later helped shape the development of doom metal and other extreme forms of heavy music.

Why is Pentagram important to American metal history?

Pentagram are important because they were creating extremely heavy, Sabbath-influenced music in America during the early 1970s, years before American heavy metal became commercially successful. Their music eventually became highly influential on the American doom metal scene.

How did Quiet Riot change American metal?

Quiet Riot helped demonstrate that an American heavy metal band could achieve mainstream commercial success. Their 1983 album Metal Health reached number one in the United States and helped open the door for the huge American metal explosion that followed.

How did MTV affect American metal?

MTV gave American metal bands an unprecedented visual platform. Music videos allowed bands from Los Angeles, New York and other regional scenes to reach audiences across the United States. This helped transform the underground American metal movement into a mainstream phenomenon during the 1980s.