When you think heavy metal music I’m sure one of the bands that come to mind is slipknot. Slipknot is one 
of the best heavy metal bands out right now. They have got it down from their music to their performances to their presentation slipknot has got it all. Slipknot got their start in 1995 in Des Moines, Iowa but before they got filthy famous they under went several line up changes and band name changes. Their first name was Painface, The Pale Ones, Meld, and in 1996 the band renamed themselves as Slipknot. Slipknot was a song on their first demo that was released on October 31, 1996 Mate, Feed, Kill; Repeat science then the band has not changed names. In 1996 the band also started experimenting with their image by putting on makeup which eventually led to their anti-image of wearing masks. In 1999 Slipknot gained enormous popularity and attended the Ozzfest in March. 
Their second album release Slipknot soon followed on June 29, 1999. The album Slipknot soon reached platinum early in the year 2000. This was a first for their record label Road Runner Records. Slipknot had gained immense popularity. On May 24, 2009 Vol.3 (The Subliminal Verses) was released and peaked at #2 on billboard 200. Their fist live album was released in November 2005 this album reached #17 on billboard 200. The following year the band won their first and only Grammy for best metal performance with “Before I Forget”. Slipknots latest release was their fourth studio album All hope is Gone released on August 20, 2008. This was their first album to be #1 on billboard 200. This album has sold almost 900,000 copies in the U.S alone. 
The band and producers really put a lot of hard work into this album which featured an expansion of trash metal, acoustic guitars, melodic vocals, and the introduction of hi hats and symbols. Preparations started on October 2006, it took over 2 years of work to release this rocking album it is no wonder it was such a hit. The album wasn’t the only thing that was new from Slipknot, the band also decided to change the look of there masks to go more with the upgraded style of the new album. Slipknot has just recently finished their All Hope Is Gone tour that lasted a year. Now that the tour is over you will be able to see them perform in heavy metal concerts and festivals. Though there are still no set dates of when slipknots next performance will be you can bet it won’t be long for us to see them perform with ozzfest coming up so be on the look out.
Misfits
The Misfits are a punk rock band that started in 1977 in a small town in New Jersey called Lodie. The band got their name from the last movie Marline Monroe started in. The misfits are known for bringing onto the scene the idea of incorperating horror makeup as part of their style with an a agressive diabolical, Halloween look. Their idea has inspired various artists and bands like Maraline Manson, Green Day, Slipknot, And Metalica who has been one of the biggest supporters ofthe Misfits by wearing Misfit t-shirts on stage and covering three of their songs on one of their albums. The oficial symbol for the Misfits is a white scull called ”The Fiend” the members of the band put this symbol on all their equipment and clothing. The public loved it and up until today and well into the future you can and will be able to find thousands of prouducts like t-shirts, posters,body jewelery and much more with the Fiend on it in stores world wide. The Misfits have released a total of eighteen albums to date and have plenty of hit songs like American Pycho, Scream, die my darling die, Halloween, dig up her bones just to name a few. They have had countless concerts each showing their fans thier creativity and love for punk by dressing up putting on makeup and having special effects to make it feel like halloween. With all this energy it is no wonder this band has gone down in history as one of the best punk bands in history.
The Doors
Picture a hot summer day in July 1965, at Venice Beach, CA, two former UCLA film students bump into each other and have a friendly conversation about lyrics that one of them wrote. From this we get one of the greatest psychedelic, acid rock bands of the 60’s. Known for their creative writing, and crazy stage performance from front man Jim Morrison, The Doors music lives on today. THe doors shared a short 8 year career with band members Jim Morrison, Ray Manzarek, John Densmore and Robby Kriger. One of the few things that set The Doors aside from all of the other bands around at the time, was that they did not use a bass guitar in their live shows. Ray played the bass lines with his left had on a newly invented piano bass, and played other keyboards with his right. They started playing shows and eventually became the house band for the Whiskey a Go Go , and were spotted by Electra on August 10th 1966. Shortly after being spotted they were signed with Electra on August 18th 1966. This was the beginning of an amazing journey for this unforgettable band. Shortly after the band was fired from The Whiskey, due to Jim’s extraverted performance of their song “The End” . In the live performance Jim Morrison goes into his own depiction of the Greek drama Oedipus Rex. In which Oedipus unknowingly kills his dad, and sleeps with his mother. This type of performance foreshadow the trouble Jim would later have with law enforcement, and himself. In march of 1969 while performing in Miami, Jim is accused of lewd, and perverse acts while on stage. This trouble followed him untill his death on July 3rd 1971. By this time the band had split up and Jim and his wife Pamela had moved to France. Jim’s drinking and constant drug abuse had driven the members to their wit’s end, and could no longer handle all of Jim’s antics. Even through their troublesome career The Doors managed to appeal to the millions selling over 32.5 millon albums in the U.S alone. Their smash hit “Light my Fire” sold one million copies, and reached #1 on billboard charts in July of 1969. To this day you still hear this song being played worldwide. Kids, as well as adults continue to buy albums and merchandise of The doors. And, on February 28, 2007 The Doors earned their star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Their music has stood the test of tim, and lives in the hearts and souls of music lovers worldwide.
The Clash
Labeling “punk rock” before it ever existed, The Clash has been one of the most influential bands to music today. With their wide variety of styles that have been incorporated into so many of the songs they recorded, it’s no wonder why they have such a broad fan base. Using and tapping into reggae, ska, dub, funk, rockabilly, and even rap, the appeal of this band is world-wide. In 1977 with their debut album “The Clash”, they brought their popularity to the U.S. This album became know as the best album of the 80’s, and kids continue to buy it today. With their political lyrics, and rebellious attitude they appealed to a young generation that was craving freedom from the establishment. The brought raw energy and new light on things that werent being expressed. Every song that was written had political agenda to expose the things that people werent awear of, or were looking the other way of. Joe Strummer said ” We are against ignorance” , this band came to make a statement, to leave their mark on the youth of that era, which they did, as well as influencing so many teens of today. You see kids walking down the street everyday wearing Clash t-shirts. Stores everywhere carry posters, blankets, and even baby clothes with this bands name. And, in 2003 this band got the recognition that is deserved, and was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Even though they were disbanded in early 1986, this bands legacy lives on today, as one of the greatest bands of all time.
Nirvana
Breaking through in the 90″s Nirvana became THE grunge band of the era. Coming together in 1989, and finally entering mainstream in 1991 with their hit single “Smells like Teen Spirit”. This song was played in every radio across the country, as it continues to play today. This became the anthem for teenages, for the outcasts, for those who wanted to rebel. Kurt Cobain became the spokesman, for a rebellious generation, and his songs were the prayers of those teens. They began to tour and their success grew as well as their popularity. A key factor to this was that their video was constantly played on MTV. In February of 1992 Cobain married Courtney Love of another popular grunge group known as Hole. She gave birth to their daughter Frances Bean Cobain. With all the fame and fortune that Nirvana was beginning to get from all the recognition from the media, Their album “Nevermind” sold 400,00 copies a week in 1991. That same album has sold 25 million copies in the us alone,and 50 million world-wide. The fame, although wanted by all the members, Cobain stated to resent it and withdraw. He began to use drugs heavily, including heroin. An intervention was held for him, and he agreed to go to rehab, only jump a wall less than a week later and fly back home where he was eventually found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. This marked the end of Nirvana. Many have speculated Cobain’s death, and many more have their theories about what really happened that day on April 8th 1994. Even through the tragedy of a wonderful singer Nirvana’s popularity did not fade. They have continued to sell millions, and kids continue to play the music of the greatest grunge band to come out of Seattle. “Smells like Teen Spirit” will continue to appeal to the teens of american. They will keep looking for the perfect poster, the perfect article that makes them feel as one with this incredible band. The wave of impact that this band has left on teens today could never be erased. They have stood the test of time, and will continue to by coming into the hearts of so many that have yet to discover who NIrvana is. Girls and boys around the world pick up guitars, bass guitars, and drums eager to learn how to play the songs once preformed not so long ago by this amazing band. It goes to say that the memory of Nirvana will never die.
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin is known as one of the most popular bands of the 70’s surpassing even The Rolling Stones in popularity. This heavy metal band is known for their individualistic style of rock infused interpretations of the blues and folk genres, reggae, soul, funk, classical, celtic, Indian, Arabic, pop, Latin, and country. Led Zeppelin made their first debut in 1968 at the University of Surrey, Guildford. Their first album was released shortly after in 1969. Science then the band has released nine albums and sold more than 200 million albums worldwide. The band separated on December of 1980. Their separation came soon after the death of Bonham. After a long day of drinking he was found dead the following day on September 25,1980 by Benji 
Lefevre and John paul Jones. The cause of death was asphyxiation from vomit. No other drugs were found in his system
besides alcohol. Despite their popularity after Benji’s’ death the band decided to disband. Their last album Coda was released in 1982. Science then the surviving members of the band have made several concerts and appearances. Led still continues to inspire future generations through their music, fabric posters, t-shirts, music blankets, and other products featuring the greatest band of the 70’s Led Zeppelin.
AC/DC’s Legendary Career
AC/DC is definitely one of the greatest rock bands to ever exist. This rock band from Sydney Australia was formed in 1973 by Scottish-born brothers Malcolm and Angus Young. Getting the idea to name the band came from a very unlikely place an initial-ism on a vacuum cleaner with AC/DC. AC/DC is short for alternating current/direct current. They couldn’t have picked a better name for this band science this band delivers so much energy in their power driven performances. The bands first gig was on New Year’s Eve, 1973 at a club named Chequers in Sydney. They were later signed to the Emi-distributed Albert Productions Label of Australia and New Zealand. It wasn’t until 1975 the band released there first album High Voltage. Then in 1979 the band recorded their very successful album Highway to Hell. This was the last album featuring Bon Scott the lead singer and co writer who unfortunately passed away the following year on February 19, 1980 due to alcohol poisoning. The band selected Brian Johnson to replace Scott. Later that year the band recorded their best-selling album, Back in Black. Their following album, For Those About to Rock We Salute You, was their first album to reach number one in the U.S.A. The band was on a uphill roller coaster and after reaching the top came their slight down fall. Their down fall began soon after AC/DC’s drummer Phil Rudd was fired in 1983 and replaced with Simon Wright. It wasn’t until 1988 after a lot of negative publicity and criticism that AC/DC began to gain its popularity after releasing the album, Blow up your video. The album Blow Up Your Video sold more copies than the previous two releases combined. This was just the beginning for the band. In 1990 they released the album, The Razors edge. This album was a huge hit and went multi platinum. This confirmed AC/DC was back on track. On July 30, 2003 AC/DC performed with the Rolling Stones, and Rush at Molson Canadian Rocks for Toronto. This concert was held before an audience of half a million. This concert holds the record for the largest paid music event in North American history. On October 16, 2007 Columbia Records released a DVD titled Plug Me In. This was a double and triple DVD set of five and seven hours of rare footage and performances. AC/DC later came on the video game scene debuting on Rock Band 2, with ”Let There Be Rock” included as playable track. Wal-Mart later came out with a Wal-Mart-exclusive retail disk titled AC/DC Live Rock Band Track Pack. Their latest release has been Black Ice which was sold in the U.S exclusively at Wal-Mart, Sam’s Club and the band’s official website. Science then the band has been on tour and is still pretty high on the popularity chart. AC/DC has been in our hearts for over 35 years and will continue to inspire future generations.
Metallica is the number one, undisputed champion of heavy metal, and really all things metal. The achievements this band has are staggering: fourth highest selling American Music Artist(s), an estimated one hundred million records sold worldwide, more than half of that in the U.S. alone, and the only band to have five records debut at number one on the Billboard Top 200. Metallica has been around for over twenty-five years, and in that time has redefined the heavy metal, thrash metal, hard rock, and speed metal genres. With an impressive discography of NINE albums and over forty successful singles, Metallica truly is a musical giant that STILL shows no signs of stopping anytime soon!
