musicians and fans came under severe criticism in the 1980s. Political and academic groups sprang up to blame the genre and its fans for causing everything from crime and violence to despondency and suicide. But defenders of the music pointed out that there was no evidence that heavy metal's exploration of madness and horror caused, rather than articulated, these social ills. The genre's lyrics and imagery have long addressed a wide range of topics, and its music has always been more varied and virtuosic than critics like to admit.
Heavy metal fragmented into subgenres (such as lite metal, death metal, and even Christian metal) in the 1980s.
SPEED METAL - a genrй of music typified by a continuous double-bass drum roll, high-speed distorted guitar rhythms, an almost silent bass, and screeched or groaned vocals concerning war, death, fighting, environmental abuse, brutality, and (in rare cases) . The main problem with most speed metal bands is that they still see a need to put in their songs, and the guitar solos are always really bad and last entirely too long. Speed metal seems to be a result of a marriage between and .
. Examples of speed metal bands: , , , , ,
THRASH METAL - with an especially strong influence. While in general speed metal musicians pride themselves on their talent and knowledge of music theory, thrash musicians laugh at such concepts or else skillfully conceal their acquaintance with them. Examples of thrash bands: , , some , and even some .
V. DICTIONARY
Dictionary of youth slang during 1960-70’s
acid (n) LSD, a narcotic drug popular among hippies. see psychedelic, bad trip.
afro (n) haircut popular among African-americans during 1960's and '70's.
aquarian (adj.) we're not sure exactly what this means, but it has something to do with the "Age of Aquarius" and the musical Hair.
bad scene (n) a bad situation. see scene.
bad trip (n) originally described a bad experience using drugs, characterized by frightening hallucinations. Can be used to describe any bad experience.
bag (n) one's main interest or purpose in life.
black light (n) a decorative light, dark blue in color to the human eye, which makes objects or artwork in flourescent colors appear to glow.
blow your mind (v) to have an enlightening or illuminating experience.
bread (n) money.
bummer (n) bad experience.
bust (v) to arrest someone, (n) an arrest.
cat (n) a person. derived from beatnik language of the 1950's.
chick (n) a girl or woman.
commune (n) an community of people who share possessions, living accomodations, and work (or lack thereof). Usually encompasses a farm and other fashionable industries.
crash (v) to sleep, rest, or do nothing.
crash pad (n) a place where one sleeps, rests, or does nothing.
dig (v) like, enjoy, be interested in.
drag (n) an unfavorable situation or state of affairs.
dude (n) person, usually male.
establishment, the (n) traditional business and government institutions, believed to stand in the way of human progress. see "system, the."
(adj) very interesting, good. Also an exclamation.
free love (n) love without expectations or commitment.
fuzz (n) police.
get it on (n) successfully interact with others.
groove (v) enjoy, achieve proficiency at. see "groovy."
groovy (adj) good, interesting, enjoyable.
hang out (v) to be some place, usually doing nothing, with no purpose.
hang-up (n) inhibition, usually due to morals, beliefs, or culture.
happening (adj) exciting, new, good.
heavy (adj) thought-provoking.
hippie (n) [still searching for a definition here]. hip (adj) knowledgable of, or consistent with, the latest trends and ideas.
Iron Butterfly (n) a rock band which had one popular song, "Inna Gadda Da Vida."
lava lamp (n) a cylindrical glass container filled a semi-solid viscous material which breaks apart and forms globules while floating in a clear fluid.
like (?) word used to fill up space in an utterance when the speaker is unable to think of a suitable adjective to describe something. Use of this word has also been adopted by adjective-challenged subcultures of more recent generations.
love beads (n) colorful beads worn around the neck to symbolize love.
man (interjection) used as an exclamation to draw attention to one's utterance. related phrase: "hey, man."
mood ring (n) a ring worn on the finger which contains a large stone, the color of which is supposed to indicate the wearer's emotional mood. Mood rings were a fad in the mid-1970's.
(interjection) exclamation uttered in response to new, thought-provoking, or exciting information.
out of sight (adj) excellent, outstanding. Often used as an exclamation.
pad (n) living accomodation--house or apartment.
peace (n) absence of war.
psychedelic (adj) of or related to a mental state characterized by a profound sense of intensified sensory perception, sometimes accompanied by severe perceptual distortion, hallucinations, or extreme feelings of euphoria or despair. see acid.
rap (v,n) to talk, conversation. More recently used to name a category of music where words are spoken, rather