British Steel - How British Heavy Metal Conquered The World

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0120090926Heavy metal fan Justin Lee Collins tells the story of the British pioneers who drew up the blueprint for 'the Devil's pop music'. Metal gods like Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Judas Priest, Motorhead and Iron Maiden, whose vast record sales and enduring influence have made heavy metal the global music phenomenon it is today. In the first programme, find out how heavy metal music started right here in Britain over 40 years ago. Black Sabbath have to take the accolade for being the originators, when they rose from the fiery furnaces of the industrial West Midlands. Their doom-laden rock was the complete antithesis to the hippy movement of the late 60s and the four Brummies soon conquered the world with their monster riffs, dark lyrics and an appetite for rock 'n' roll excess. Equally as important were Deep Purple, a five piece band of exceptional musicians whose all-out hard rock music laid down the foundations for all heavy metal bands since: high pitched screams, heavy guitars, a battery of drums and enough testosterone to power an army. And if that wasn't enough to kick-start a heavy metal revolution, Justin reveals how the arrival of Judas Priest a few years later, would confirm the UK as the epicentre of all things metal.

Looking at how heavy metal music began in Britain in the 1960s.

Justin Lee Collins tells the story of the British pioneers of heavy metal

0220091003Justin Lee Collins continues the story of British heavy metal and reaches 1977, when some fans thought bands like Black Sabbath and Deep Purple had become overblown, pompous and out of touch with their audience, and punk came along to change everything.

In this concluding part, JLC explains how the new wave of British heavy metal combined the spirit and DIY attitude of punk with the original metal concepts, hailing an era that would produce international stars such as Iron Maiden, Def Leppard and Motorhead. It was a popular musical movement to rival punk, with hundreds of smaller bands all over the country like Saxon, Diamondhead, Venom, Angel Witch and all-girl metal band Girlschool. And while the 1980s would see a decade of metal dominance in popular music, the British bands were eventually usurped by their American counterparts.

The series includes rare BBC sessions and archive material, plus brand new interviews with members of Black Sabbath, Motorhead, Judas Priest, Deep Purple, Iron Maiden, Def Leppard, Budgie, Saxon, Diamondhead, and many more.

Justin Lee Collins recalls how the arrival of punk affected heavy metal in 1977.

Justin Lee Collins tells the story of the British pioneers of heavy metal