History Rocks..!!!!!

Originally posted by gremlinlord ...my favorite band is Sonata Arctica, who have a song about a soldier returning from a war, but I'm not sure what war it is, if it is indeed one that really happened.

"Replica" - my absolute favourite song of Sonata Arctica! It seems we share the same taste of music, gremlinlord, since my Top 5 are:
1. Nightwish
2. Sonata Arctica
3. Blind Guardian
4. Rammstein
5. BTR
(three power metals, one alternative industrial and one Bulgarian classic rock).
Blind Guardian is indeed centred mostly around Tolkien's works and its no wonder why it's the favourite band of all Tolkien fans (including me).

ActOfOblivion, I highly suggest you do find Virgin Steele's "House of Atreus" - I'm not sure how to classify them, but I'd say they're more like the old and classic heavy metal style and they're not a new band either.

Btw, can we count Corvus Corax as a rock group? Because they do have a main theme aimed at history, with tracks like "Saltarello" (medieval dance) or f.e. "Bacchus" and others...

Camel has a series of history-based concept albums, mostly on early and mid-20th century...

Right, NikeBG, forgot about that Nightwish song...I was thinking of Blind Guardian, but all I could think of was Lord of the Rings.

Originally posted by gremlinlord Nightwish sings about Tutankhamen...

Also "Pharaoh sails to Orion" etc, it seems they have something like a general Egyptian theme.
Another one, which I would add, is Virgin Steele, especially with their album "House of Atreus", whose entire topic is the Trojan War and ancient Greek mythology.
If I might, I'd also add Blind Guardian with songs like "Precious Jerusalem", "Another Holy War", "Valhalla"...


Edited by NikeBG - 13-Dec-2006 at 07:33

�History rocks?�..few on this forum would disagree, and indeed, history�s ability to provide a source of creativity can be clearly seen in the �heavy metal� music brigade�.!!!�

�.As a keen advocate of heavy rock since I was in my early teens, I have often noticed the tendency for history themes and topics to play a prominent role in some bands make-up�.as a bit of personal entertainment and a leisurely stroll down memory lane, I thought I would take a peek at those bands for whom history rocked and certainly rolled..!!! I am deliberately trying to avoid the �protest� songs if I can, many of which are connected with opposition towards conflicts and political policies, I want to try and stick to historical events and (often tenuous!) links if I can�..not to be taken seriously, and plenty of stuff to be added�

�.starting with my favourite band Black Sabbath, but a tricky one to pin down as far as historical links go. Perhaps the most obvious is the name, and the very first song on the first Black Sabbath album, a reference to the supposed gathering of �witches� in order to play out a diabolical ceremony in order to worship the �dark one��a prevalent theme in rock music, but nevertheless, more of a theological philosophy than historical fact�..

..and so onto Iron Maiden, and although many of the bands songs allude to film titles and stories, Maiden are perhaps the MOST historically themed of rock bands, even the band name is a piece of medieval torture equipment!! How metal is that!!! So, where to start? The first album was somewhat lacking in history but �Killers� was a sign of things to come with songs such as �The Ides of March� and �Genghis Khan�. Later albums would deal with the experiences of the Native Americans on �Run to the Hills�, and the Crimean War with �The Trooper�. My all time Maiden favourite would be the album �Powerslave�, released in 1984, the cover is a depiction of ancient Egypt and the title track sticks with the same subject matter. The best song for me, however, is �Aces High� where Bruce Dickinson muses over the plight of wartime fighter pilots. The experience of World War I is tackled on Paschendale, but for ancient history lovers, the album �Somewhere in Time� contains �Alexander the Great�, a character destined to be honoured by the metal folk!! I am sure there are many others but for now I will move onto a collection of other tracks�

�..I think Led Zeppelin could be included given Robert Plants fascination with Viking and Norse mythology and legend, and many Zeppelin tunes often contained a flavour of Robert�s passion� �Hammer of the Gods� anyone??�also, the cover on the first album showed a flaming Zeppelin airship crashing to the ground, the third album saw the band pictured as (I think) World War I era German aircrew..

�.Judas Priest, not a band to focus on history that much but they do allude to the infamous �Jack� in the song �The Ripper�, a theme also covered by Thin Lizzy in their infamous track, �Killer on the Loose���Lizzy in fact have a pretty decent repertoire of history songs, �The Cowboy Song�, �Soldier of Fortune�, �The Holy War�, �Massacre� and �Genocide, The Killing of the Buffalo��Phil Lynott seemed to have strong affinity with the plight of the native American Indians and as such, wrote consistently about the subject. More obviously, Anthrax had a little bit of a hit in the UK with a track called �Indians�, the lead singer Joey Belladonna even wearing a large traditional feathered headdress for live appearances��

..with Lemmy�s personal interest in the Third Reich and a huge collection of Nazi memorabilia, you would expect Mot�rhead to comes up trumps on the history front, and Mr Kilminster does not fail to deliver.. �Bomber� is an absolute classic and anyone who has seen Mot�rhead live on stage will remember the replica metal skeleton of a bomber plane hanging scarily over the bands heads!!! Most obviously, is the album �1916� and the corresponding title track�.anyone who has heard Lemmy speak will know that the man commands a profound interest in historical matters and can refer to the past eloquently and with deep insight��.Jethro Tull�s lively little ditty �Living in the Past� is most appropriate!!!�..

�..Magnum wrote a poignant and sombre song called �Les Morts Dansant� and looked at the experiences of soldiers in the trenches of WWI�great track and saw this one live many moons ago!!! Magnum also asked �How Far Jerusalem�? and had a song called �Soldier of the Line��

�.more controversially, Slayer (one of my favourite bands) have included in their back catalogue �Angel of Death� concerning the Nazi doctor Joseph Mengele, and �Behind the Crooked Cross�, not to mention �Chemical Warfare� and �Ghost of War��

..and lastly, of course there is the classic metal band Saxon, what more could we expect with songs like �Battle Cry�, �Militia Guard�, �To Live by the Sword�, �English Man �O�War�, �Machine Gun�, �Witchfinder General�, about the infamous Matthew Hopkins, �The Eagle has Landed� dealing with the NASA space programme, �Dallas 1pm� and the JFK assassination, and the album �Lionheart�. However, my personal favourite is the album �Crusader� and the daunting metal feast that is the title track!!!...
�COME CRUSADER, LET BATTLE COMMENCE�!!!!!!!..aaarrrrgggghhhh!!!!

�..I could go on and on and on and on�.but I will stop now and hand it over to those who maybe interested�.!!!

�Please add feel free to pick up my mistakes, due I am afraid to a memory that is not quite as good as it was!!! And by all means, do add songs you feel should be included in the thread, but it must be rock and metal!!!