Speakers
Leonardo Masi
Born in Florence (Italy), Leonardo Masi graduated in classical guitar and achieved a doctorate in Slavic Literatures. He currently works at the Italian Studies Department at Cardinal Wyszyński University in Warsaw (Poland). He has written many essays about Polish music and literature and translated into Italian some of the major Polish contemporary poets and writers. His main research fields are Translation/Translator Studies, Music and Literature, Progressive Rock. He took part in the three previous Progect conferences.
THE HEAVY SIDE OF PROG. VDGG AND PETER HAMMILL’S (NON) INFLUENCE ON METAL
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Leonardo Masi
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My paper aims to show a couple of aspects which can be defined as “heavy” in the music of English Progressive Rock bands. In particular, I will examine the output of King Crimson and Van Der Graaf Generator, looking for the elements that might have influenced the Heavy Metal bands of the 70s. Some of them are in the lyrics (the “gothic” topics, or the theme of madness and alienation), some are in the sound (rawness, ostinato patterns). Examples will be taken, among the others, from White hammer by VDGG and 21st century schizoid man by King Crimson
Even if the melodic lines in Progressive Rock and Metal are generally different, the way in which they are performed shows an influence of the latter genre, especially by the singer of VDGG Peter Hammill. Focusing in particular on the lyrics and performances of singers such as Rob Halford, Ronnie James Dio and Bruce Dickinson, quoted as the pioneers of an operatic vocal style in rock music, I will show through some examples how much they borrowed from Hammill.
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Keywords: King Crimson, Van Der Graaf Generator, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Peter Hammill, Rob Halford, Bruce Dickinson, gothic, madness, insanity, vocal performance, operatic singing in Rock