We heard a lot of great new bands over the years The Killers, Trapped Five Finger Death Punch and many more, However, music from bands from the late 1970’s-1990’s such as Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, Guns& Roses Motley Crue and Metallica remain just as popular.
Today’s bands such as Airborne, Black Stone Cherry, Hardcore Superstar, Avenged Sevenfold and more of today’s Hard Rock/Heavy Metal bands were heavily influenced by the classic bands.
Many of the classic bands still perform in front of sell out crowds or coming close to doing so. Metallica set an attendance record at SOFI stadium of 78-80,000 people each of the two nights in August of 2023. AC/DC performed in front of a crowd of approximately 90,000 people at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena in April of 2025.
For the record, AC/DC’s recent studio album Powerup which was released in November of 2020 debuted number one on the billboard 200. Although to be fair, the world was still going through the Covid 19 pandemic.
The Hard Rock/Heavy Metal genre doesn’t come without controversy, politicians such as Tipper Gore thought that the music was poisoning America’s youth during the 1980’s saying it drove kids towards violence and Satanism The United States government placed a Parental Advisory sticker on every Hard Rock/Heavy Metal album hoping it decreased record sales it ended up having the opposite effect.
The artists themselves aren’t without controversy, Ozzy Osborne bit the head off a bat while performing one of his concerts, he had to get a rabies shot. Another incident occurred during a record release party for his solo album “Blizzard of Ozz” where a dove landed on him and he bit the head off that as well.
Instead of criticizing and ridiculing the music, parents and politicians should take the time to actually listen to the music, the lyrics are very informative with songs such as, “War Pigs” by Black Sabbath “Generals gathered in their messes just like witches at black masses, the lyrics continue with “Politicians hide themselves away, they only started the war. Why should they go out to fight? They live that all to the poor.
Ozzy Osbourn’s “Crazy Train” contains lyrics such as, “Maybe, it’s not too late to learn how to love and forget how to hate” Metallica’s “One” and “Unforgiven” and Guns & Roses “Civil War” are more examples of incite full and meaningful lyrics.
Bands such as AC/DC and Motley Crue write lyrics about life as rock stars. Though their lyrics are a bit raunchy, parents need to be parents and tell their children not to do everything the artist does or says.
Unfortunately, in today’s society most parents don’t have any idea what their kids are doing or worse don’t care at all. Skid Row’s song “18 and life reflects this. AC/DC lyrics are about having a good time and enjoying life. Motley Crue’s songs are about growing up in the rough parts of Los Angeles.
Heavy Metal music has left its cultural impact the music was mainly played during the original launch of MTV. The TV show “Headbangers Ball” was a huge hit for the network. The animated TV show “Beavis and Butthead” was credited with saving the career of Rob Zombie while the two characters were reviewing the video “Thunderkiss 65”.
The reason this music is still popular is because it helps express people’s frustrations with the “Stick it to the man” type mentality about what’s going on in society today. It also brings a sense of social togetherness, fans gather at arenas and stadiums to sing the songs and hum along to the guitar riffs.
Fans still look forward to seeing solos from the drummer or guitarists. Ozzy Osbourne’s final performance “Back to the beginning” concert had 40-45000 fans last year, he passed away later that week.
Today’s Heavy Metal scene may not be as popular so older fans pass along their favorite bands to their children and grandchildren also, coverbands such as Damage Inc and Thunderstruck are quite popular.
