Investigation

Out of the hard rock swamps of the early 1970s rose a new form of guitar music that wanted to turn everything up to 11. Mark Craven searches for the origins of heavy metal

While music historians debate when and where exactly the heavy metal genre began – some cite songs from the 1960s and even the 1950s – what is inarguable is that by the early 1980s the name was well established. And what did it mean? A particular breed of guitar music where the tempos were faster and the solos were longer, accompanied by lyrics that touched on more than the usual rock ’n’ roll tropes. Singing about sex and drugs had become, for the most part, passé.

Bob Dylan, fire-breathing dragons and a certain bespectacled wizard... Ken Kessler spotlights 20 recent stage and screen soundtrack albums available on vinyl and SACD

Who can explain the raft of ultra-desirable, super-luxurious soundtracks released this past year or two? If anyone thought the genre – once a dependable source of demo LPs and tapes for audiophiles – was past its best, this batch is so on trend that one can only imagine an invasion of Gen Zers taking control. Soundtrack albums have made a comeback and I for one am not complaining.

Various artists sets keep the variety levels high and boredom at bay, while being the perfect way to discover new artists and genres. Ken Kessler spins 20 of the latest

Compilations featuring various artists come in a number of flavours, but nearly all of the serious ones are intended to provide overviews of genres or eras, while others show off a label’s catalogue. Ever since the first great various artists sets of the 1970s, especially 1972’s Nuggets chronicling US garage rock and the one-hit wonders it engendered, the levels of research have been dazzling.

One part musical genre, one part media-fuelled cultural phenomenon, Britpop was the UK’s vibrant answer to America’s grunge. Johnny Sharp spotlights 20 of its best albums

Who, or what, was Britpop? Good question, partly because it wasn’t a genre as much as a movement, or a ‘scene’. It’s shorthand for a period in the mid-1990s when a slew of alternatively inclined British vocal groups (solo artists barely got a look in – this was all about community endeavour) grew too big for their spiritual home of the weekly music press and the ‘indie’ charts, and entered the mainstream...

The naming and framing of an album is an underrated marketing tool. Whichever Paul McCartney/Wings LP of the 1970s is your particular favourite, ask someone to name one of the ex-Beatle's albums from that era and the chances are high they will pick Band On The Run.

The resurgence in vinyl sales over recent years is not just about the sound emitted from those shiny black grooves. Many buyers, particularly younger ones, are just as attracted to album sleeves. And of those, a good proportion will tell you they like to have the full-fat LP package experience sat on their shelves unspoilt by actual plays, or even framed on their walls as artworks.

The artist formerly known as Robert Zimmerman broke new ground in all kinds of ways. But one field where his pioneering role isn't often acknowledged is sleeve art. By the early 1970s, it was standard practice for fans to pore over LP covers pondering the significance of the imagery presented to them. But in 1965 the profundity of most popular music album artwork didn't extend much further than a shot of the band looking mean and moody, or happy and playful depending on the image they'd chosen to portray.