Hard rock legends

The list of heavy metal bands contains legendary bands that have made a real revolution in the world of heavy metal music. Such signs of rock music as the use of electric musical instruments, creative self-sufficiency (for rock musicians it is typical to perform compositions of their own composition) are secondary and often misleading. For this reason, the affiliation of some styles of music with rock is disputed.

Metallica

The group is rightfully considered one of the most successful projects in the history of heavy music. The team was founded in 1981 in the USA and is still popular all over the world. To date, over 110 million albums have been sold. The current line-up is James Hetfield (vocals, rhythm guitar), Lars Ulrich (drums), Kirk Hammett (lead guitar) and Robert Trujillo (bass).

In search of a new sound in the 90s, the team released several albums that could hardly be called metal. On the records there are rock ballads, the style of performance has become more hard rock. Some radical fans lashed out at the team with criticism that Metallica had stopped playing heavy metal.

Apparently, listening to the fans, the 2000s Metallica returned to its roots and released two albums in its classic “heavy” style. In 2016 Metallica’s latest album Hardwired… To Self-Destruct was released.

Today, more than 10 studio albums have been released, which can be attributed to the classics of modern heavy music. Lyrics are often associated with monsters, anger, war, and thorny social issues.

System of a Down

The peak of the group’s popularity came in the late 90s – early 00s. The group’s style combines a variety of styles of heavy music, which give the compositions such an unusual sound. Current line-up: Serj Tankian (vocals), John Dolmayan (drums), Daron Malakian and Shavo Odadjian (guitar).

After a huge success, a crisis occurred in the group, and they decided to end their joint activities in 2006. Some of the members took part in other heavy metal bands, and the leader of the group, Tankian, took up a solo career. However, 4 years after the breakup, the group reunited. During the existence of the team, the musicians have won various music competitions, such as MTV Europe Music Awards and ECHO Awards.

Rammstein

The group was created in the early 90s in Germany, the city of Berlin. For all the time of performances and to this day, the composition of the musicians has never changed. The team is famous not only for scandalous videos and lyrics, but also for the stage image.

A large number of pyrotechnics are used at concerts, which gives a special atmosphere to the performances of the legendary band. Line-up: Till Lindemann (vocals), Christian Lorenz (keyboardist), Christoph Schneider (drums), Richard Kruspe, Paul Landers and Oliver Riedel (guitar).

Almost all compositions are performed in German, and the number of copies sold exceeded 20 million records. Despite the bold and sometimes frank texts, the use of obscene language is kept to a minimum. The musicians were repeatedly accused by the media and public figures of expressing Nazi views, promoting violence and cruelty. However, according to the leaders of the group, their work cannot be compared with their life position.

Guns N’ Roses

It could be a story about opera singer Axel Rose, successful investor Duff McKagan or fashion designer Slash, but here we have heavy metal in our blood and Guns N’ Roses in our headphones. The most in-demand hard rock band, founded in 1988, now has 6 studio albums and is the author of the longest song on the Billboard Top 10.

This is one of the most crazy bands in the heavy metal scene, which was only worth their tour in support of the Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II albums, the longest and most financially successful tour in the history of rock. But even here it was not without hardcore.

If Kiss had eternal make-up, then Guns N’ Roses had eternal delays of concerts. Fans tore the stands in the literal and figurative sense. The musicians attributed everything to the desire to prepare for the performance at 102%, and we think that this is a good move – to turn on the crowd, give them the feeling that thunder will now break out, the skies will part and the most incredible event in the life of every fan will happen.

What the group has not yet been in a hurry to do is create hits. Platinum is not forged in days, it takes years, as for the release of the album Chines Democracy. For 15 years, fans have been waiting for the record and the expectations have justified themselves. It’s no joke, the album hit the top 50 albums of the decade 2000-2009.

But it cannot be said that the group was chasing records, they just took the project and made it, becoming legendary. The tracks of the group are loved not only by ordinary people, but also by many directors, they became soundtracks for cult films. The images of the participants still pop up in the head of every novice rocker, which is only worth the stage image of Slash – you must admit, this is what we imagine when we play an imaginary guitar.

The legendary and most financially successful rebels and true pros in their field, who created for us their eternal hits Welcome To The Jungle (VH1 called the song the best hard rock track of all time) and Sweet Child O’ Mine (Slash’s guitar solo is still in the lead in thematic charts).

Guns N’ Roses left an indelible mark on the history of heavy metal and laid down the traditions of the genre for many generations of bands to come, not for nothing that they were included in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012. Now the band continues touring throughout the United States, and in early 2019, Slash and McKagan announced that they were preparing a new album for fans.