Article Series – Genres: Metal and Rock

Classic Heavy Metal Music by Deon Melchior

Millions of Americans, whether they actually lived in the era or not, love classic rock. There are thousands of classic rock radio stations around the country. With all of the popular rock bands around there is still no comparison to the music known as classic rock. Classic rock entailed a wide variety of different music styles including some heavy metal music.

There are many heavy metal fans. These fans are often known as metal heads. While there are still a few heavy metal bands around today, but it is apparent that the heavy metal scene is not exactly what it used to be. There are many groups that try to play heavy metal music, but their music can not always be considered straight up heavy metal.

Many modern day bands are known for trying to combine a number of music genres together. When hip hop music first became popular there were a number of bands who were trying to incorporated heavy metal and hip hop music together. While many music listeners enjoyed this combination there were many who were outraged.

Even with some fans outraged there were many bands who still continued to combine multiple music genres; however, a number of true heavy metal bands stuck to their roots and continued to support only the heavy metal music genre. This was not just an event that happened with heavy metal. There are many other music genres, including country music and pop music, that have been combined together.

What makes a true heavy metal band? Well many metal music players and music lovers would come up with a number of reasons, but many individuals claim that it has to do with the musical instruments played and the way that they are played. There are many heavy metal band that were famous for their loud playing guitars. Other band members of the band included a singer, a drummer, and a base player.

During the classic rock years many heavy metal bands were referred to as hair bands. This was because many band members wore long and outrageously styled hair. In addition to their hair, the outfits of many earlier heavy metal bands were something that is rarely seen today.

It is rare to find a band that is solely labeled as a heavy metal band anymore. There are bands that may be considered a sub-genre of heavy metal. Many heavy metal music styles are also referred to as hard rock or progressive rock. Even though heavy metal may not be what it used to be back in the day there are still many individuals who enjoy listening to new rock bands. If the new music does not meet their satisfaction they can always turn their radio on to their local classic rock station to experience the real stuff.

About Author:
Deon Melchior is the Editor and Publisher of Article Click. For more FREE articles for your ezine and websites visit ArticleClick.com. Article Click is a free content article directory.

Rock Music Has Many Genres by Kati Makat

Rock music is a popular from of music that is accompanied by instruments like drums, guitar and bass. Rock music in itself has many styles that were incorporated by musicians who loved this music. One can come across rock music where instruments like synthesizers, piano and organ is also used. Rock music began in the early fifties in United States and the United Kingdom and like all popular music has it own loyal fan following. Rock music was subsequently mixed with many other elements of music to give their own touch to rock music. Rock song subsequently over the years had many new genres added in its fold.

So in 1970s jazz was blended with rock to create jazz rock music, and then it was blended with folk music resulting in folk rock and later Latin, soul and funk music also had its influences on rock music at times. Today we have different categories under rock music and some of the popular ones are heavy metal rock, progressive rock, blues rock, soft rock, punk rock and techno rock among others. In the 1980’s and 1990’s many new additional genres of rock music such as Brit pop rock, Indie rock, alternative rock, hard rock and grunge style rock were introduced. The United Kingdom is another country where rock country flourished and British rock is also as famous as American rock music all over the world.

One of the greatest rock music band The Beatles is from Britain and they are famous worldwide for their songs and rock music. Through 1970 Pink Floyd was the most influential band in the rock music scene. This group had four artists and all of them were from Britain. The kind of rock music that Pink Floyd was sang was known as psychedelic rock. The folk scene combined with rock gave the new term folk rock. Here all the traditional songs were combined with the instruments that were traditionally associated with rock music. This genre of music was pioneered by Bob Dylan and Woody Guthrie. Some of the other popular rock folk rock music artists include Joni Mitchell, Neil Young and The Band.

Progressive rock is one genre of rock music which went beyond the established musical norms and was more experimental in nature. Singers and musicians that were associated with this genre loved to experiment with different types of instruments, beats, musical forms of type of songs. Bands that played progressive rock music borrowed elements from jazz, folk, electronic and classical music to experiment with rock that turned out to be very successful. Some of the bands that were into singing progressive rock included Camel, Can, Barclay James Harvest, King Crimson, Magma and Yes among many others. Music be it of any kind rock music, house music, gospel music, folk music or country music each has its own touch and of course its own group of loyal followers.

About Author:
Kati Makat loves all kinds of music like rock, hip hop, country, pop, rap and reggae. She refers http://www.ez-tracks.com as one of her favorite sites for downloading music, free MP3 downloads, online music, Rock Music.
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Article Series – Genres: Jazz and The Greatest Rock Song

Jazz Music: The Many Styles by Goodness Maseko

The essence of the appeal of Jazz music has expanded and became reinvented from the use of elements found in African drumming, spiritual and hymn music, bluegrass hillbilly music, blues, impressionist, and classical traits to newer sounds. Jazz music became popular from radio and underground clubs that influenced other parts of the world. For instance, Europe's French Jazz scene created Gypsy Jazz and South America's Brazilian and Afro-Cuban Jazz sounds. Not only did make it's mark on the world, but it also found its way back to its roots through urban contemporary gospel music of percussion as well as brass instruments.

Hard Bop-From the middle of 1950's the church's spiritual and gospel roots of African style returned to the Jazz music which assisted in the making of Rhythm and Blues. One example of this music is Davis' work titled "Walkin".

Mainstream- From the 1950's era, Jazz improvisation changed from single line melodic ornamentation to chordal which appeared again as a loose form of Jazz music in the later part of the 1970's and 1980's. This style was influenced by the cool, classical, and hard bop Jazz styles.

At this time, Jazz music moved away from the basic melodic element of the piece to produce a more abstract chordal sound of dissonant tones, and chromatic patterns. The dissonant tones in Jazz music can be heard when two tones are played simultaneously in a clashing manner that can either sound strange or terrible depending on how the tones of the chord fit together as melody notes from a particular key. Clashing sounds can also occur from the use of lowered fifths and raised fourths.

Smooth Jazz- From the 1970's and 1980's Jazz became a lighter pop style of fusion which begat muzak an electronic form of popular music on the radio. This music made popular by Kenny G., Najee and Grover Washington Jr. is played in many businesses to entertain customers.

Today's jazz music

With jazz music today, musicians of the electronica age were St. Germain, Jazzanova, Portishead, Apex Twin and more who used live Jazz music to beats. The Cinematic Orchestra and Julien Lourau from Europe's France were very successful with this style of music. However, those musicians who master keeping the traditional Jazz music combined with new elements are the most loyal to the style from which it came. In the millennium, Jazz elements became a part of the American Pop scene with the artist Norah Jones, and Christina Aguilera, Amy Winehouse.

Rhythm and Blues music is a product of Jazz music that describes funk and soul. The musicians who successfully made their mark with this sound of jazz, boogie-woogie gospel, bebop and blues reinvented R&B into contemporary styles. Artist such as Robert Palmers, Jerry Lee Lewis, Fats Domino, Prince, Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Janet Jackson, Keith Sweat, Mariah Carey, En Vogue, Guy, Jodeci, Mary J. Blige, Levert, Teddy Riley, Justin Timberlake, Aaliyah, Missy Elliot, Lauren Hill, Brian McKnight, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis are a few of the many people who've made this music popular. Later on Pop artist like Pink, Britney Spears and Gwen Stephanie used R&B musical elements in their songs. The wheel of the evolvement of Jazz music keeps turning into new styles, yet turns back at different times toward the root where it began.

About Author:
Goodness Maseko - If you want more information and tips on fun, games and entertainment click here: Global entertainment center and get more general entertainment. Please bookmark the website for future reference.
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The Greatest Rock Song of All Time by Terry Mansfield

Rock and roll music originated in the American South in the early 1950s and then quickly spread throughout the rest of the country and ultimately the world. By the late '50s and early '60s, rock and roll had become what many thought was the most popular genre of music in the western world. It has largely maintained a very high level of popularity since then, despite evolving over time into various sub-genres that are now lumped together under the generic term "rock".

In the more than 60 years since rock and roll burst onto the national and international music scene, there have been literally thousands upon thousands of rock songs recorded (performed in English but also in many other languages) that we have loved, liked, were indifferent to, found pretty irritating, outright hated, or had a wide range of other responses to. The vast majority of these songs made absolutely no lasting impression on our musical psyches. But a small percentage did stand out in the crowd in a positive way, some so much that they were head and shoulders better than all the rest. And an even smaller percentage of those were so great that they have stood the test of time and entered the pantheon of greatest rock songs ever, depending on whom you ask, of course.

But of all the great songs, which one truly rises above all the rest to claim the title of "greatest rock song of all time"? The answer is part of what appears to be a never-ending debate and there's certainly no shortage of people willing to offer up their candidate. No doubt you have your own personal choice but for now let's consider what some other folks think.

If you like poll results, you'll be interested to learn that The Rock and Roll Report said that in a 2004 poll conducted by Planet Rock, a digital radio station in Britain, Led Zeppelin's Stairway to Heaven was voted by over 70% of respondents as the greatest rock song ever recorded. Not so fast, chimed in "Eric" when he saw the list with Stairway to Heaven sitting at the very top, saying that he has "for many years declared to all who would listen to me that the best rock 'n' roll song of all time is Louie Louie by the Kingsmen." But the editors of DJ Zone Magazine agreed with the Planet Rock poll results and think Stairway to Heaven is the all-time best.

Not to be outdone, Rolling Stone Magazine compiled its own list in 2004, getting a lot of input from a lot of people, and Stairway to Heaven didn't even make it into its Top 5 (in fact, it didn't even make it into its Top 10). The number one spot went to Bob Dylan's Like a Rolling Stone. However, "Drifter" posted a comment in which he heartily disagreed with their choice of Dylan's song, asking pointedly: "In what sense is Like a Rolling Stone by Bob Dylan--working in the folk-song mode--even a rock and roll song?" Good question.

John Lennon's Imagine was number 1 in Virgin Radio's list of All Time Top 500 Songs published in 2004. Imagine that? And in 2000 MTV's music video sister cable TV station VH1 ranked (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction by the Rolling Stones at the very top of its list of 100 Greatest Rock Songs. While two of "Todd M.'s" friends ("Chuck C." and "Hank S.") agreed with VH1's choice of number 1, many of his other friends didn't, with a range of choices for the top spot, including songs such as The Beatles' Let It Be, Cinnamon Girl by Neil Diamond, Voodoo Chili by Jimi Hendrix, Purple Haze (also by Hendrix), Hound Dog by Elvis, and various other selections in what turned out to be a pretty eclectic list of choices for best rock song of all time.

Now what does all this prove? Well, not very much except that everybody has an opinion of what they think is the all-time greatest rock song, and these opinions are pretty darn subjective. Even different polls will come up with different songs at the top, proving that it's very difficult to gain a consensus on this subject or practically anything else, for that matter. Nonetheless, these lists are fun to make and fun to read and ponder. If nothing else, they bring back fond or not so fond memories of the many songs that we have encountered along the way and which have become an indelible part of our life experience.

So what's your own personal choice for the Greatest Rock Song of All Time?

About Author:
Terry Mansfield, Owner/President of First World Enterprises, http://www.firstworld.biz, has been a big rock fan his whole life (his own personal choice for Greatest Rock Song of All Time is Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen). Terry recommends that, if you want to find tons of free music (plus movies, video, software, games, etc - over 1 billion choices), to check out this really cool web site: http://snipurl.com/Free_Downloads Copyright © Terry Mansfield
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