Photo taken from http://www.black-sabbath.com

There’s a new book about Heavy Metal. We haven’t seen a copy yet but the introduction that is available via the publishers website assures us it will be an interesting read. I hope it explains more about the sound itself and helps us understand why the form has had such an enduring global appeal.

The following is from the publicity blurb.

“The definition of ‘heavy metal’ is often a contentious issue. Andrew Cope presents a refreshing re-evaluation of the rules that define heavy metal as a musical genre.

Cope begins with an interrogation of why, during the late 1960s and early 1970s, Birmingham provided the ideal location for the evolution and early development of heavy metal and hard rock. The author considers how the influence of the London and Liverpool music scenes merged with the unique cultural climate, industry and often desolated sites of post-war Birmingham to contribute significantly to the development of two unique forms of music: heavy metal and hard rock. The author explores these two forms through an extensive examination of key tracks from the first six albums of both Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin, in which musical, visual and lyrical aspects of each band are carefully compared and contrasted in order to highlight the distinctive innovations of those early recordings.”