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I know it's a rather misconstrued stereotype that all metalheads must have long hair and all longhairs are metalheads. However I'm actually quite curious to know how many people here listen to metal (or other metal related genres).
Personally, I listen to quite a few different genres but metal makes up a large quantity of my listening material.
In fact, Ironically I started growing out my hair around the time I got into this music, not because it's the stereotypical thing but because I was just exposed to this hairstyle more than I ever had before and being rather unsatisfied with an array of different short hair cuts it compelled me to give it a try.
I guess you could say i'm a metal head but my metal of choice is mucis from Led Zeppelin, Cream, etc. from the 1960s.
I was inspired to grow my hair by the Beatles, was further inspired by many long haired rockers from the 1960s.
I have similar musical tastes, but I would say those bands were heavy rock, not heavy metal. The latter term originated as an epithet for music with too many guitar arpeggios/drum solos and not much melody, but of course then some people embraced it.
I was a Beatles fan. I even had the wallpaper! Didn't even occur to me to grow my hair out at that time, although I was only 5 when they had their first UK number 1. OTOH, their hair wasn't really long at that point, and I probably had a fringe even before they did.
Nu-Metalhead here, if you will ;)
Seeing as my teens were the 90's and early 2000's, I grew up listening to bands like KoRn, Limp Bizkit, Tool, Slipknot, System of a Down and so on.. and though many are and have evolved to other styles other than nu-metal, that's what I consider myself mainly a fan of :)
Long hair and metal go hand in hand like... love and marriage, to quote Married with Children :D
Well, that expression is a lot older than that:
One problem with being an old longhair is you were living then, so you remember stuff like that!
Bill
Haha.. you rock, Bill! =)
Actually, metal is the furthest from my tastes. I like soothing, soft, jazz, classical, standards, etc. BUT, I have to say the guys in those metal and glam bands Were an inspiration as far as hair length. To each his own, as long as his hair is long while he listens, right?
I grew up listening to country and still like it to this day. My listening tastes has broadened over the years to the point to where there are only two genres that I just can't tolerate, metal being one of them. I do tend to put on the mix stations on my radio and just suffer through the occational metal song knowing that some Eagles, Queen, and Willie will be coming up pretty soon.
Daniel
I've come to hate clsssical music. I would fully attribute that to a number of relatives who hated rock music and kept shoving their taste in music down my throat. This was back in the 60s and 70s. (of those four family members two of them have since died, the other two I haven't seen in years.)
Ironically while they hated my rock music they never complained about the long hair. Go figure.
Maybe the long hair was okay with them since many composers had long hair. Franz Liszt comes to mind.
Ted
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I absolutely hate classical music for the EXACT same reason! My (single) mother would only ever play classical music around the house everyday, and i got so sick of it, I always associated classical music with grumpy parents, being told what to do and endless housechores.
What was worse is that I wasn't allowed to play any of my own music, she just wouldn't tolerate it, even when i was wearing headphones she would always come and express her distaste that i was listening to "evil, horrid and satanic" music
I listen to country,rock,metal & bluegrass.Ive played drums in country,oldies,southern rock,rock,classic rock,original rock & metal bands. The photo is an original aggressive metal band I played drums in a few years ago.
i do not consider myself a metalhead but i do listen mostly to metal and rock
Well, I wouldn't include myself in this list because I'm not the metal fan type, I grew up in a family where I only listened to songs from the 70's,80's and 90's and sometimes some classic rocks, nowdays I still listen to those musics but I went more far away, from the Classical Music to the 40's and 50's era, I'm always discovering new musical styles.
I would say that I didn't let my hair grow just for musical taste, because in my opinion, I think style and musical taste does not interfere much in this regard for me.
The worst of it is that there is no case in my family, even looking at old photos of male family members who wore long hair, in this case I would be the first and because of that, I really got no inspiration at all, just looking to pictures from people from 70's and other eras.
Hi Stickeelion,
I like most any kind of music. But my favorite bands are Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Godsmack and Disturbed. I like Iron Maiden and Judas Priest because the singers have a wide vocal range. I like Disturbed and Godsmack because of the singers' style of singing. I do like other styles also and am always listening to something different.
Ted
Hey Ted, It's great to see older people enjoying this music as well :) I'm a little suprised to see newer bands like disturbed but that's cool :D I listen to mostly death metal and black metal such as Taake, Meshuggah, Beyond Creation and inferi
I am not a metal head fan.
I like southern rock bands from the 70s, country, blues, classic rock and the old top 40s stuff of my youth... but, somewhere around 1989, I lost track of current music - so that would put me about 25 years out of touch...
I am, by definition, a metalhead and just like you I started out when I got into the music, as it gave me the willpower to go through with it. We have something in common.
Fistbump to a metal brother :D \m/
Metal is by no means my main music.... but I always liked their hair....
Depending on my mood ... I might play "Christian Metal" (Dead to Self Radio)... on Tunein Radio
And yes....Many classical composers had long hair ( or wore wigs)
.... many Country musicians have long hair too...
Keep Growing.... The Spaf Man
My favorite music usually brings me back to dance memories: Swing dancing (both West and East Coast styles, Jitterbug, etc.); Salsa, Merengue, and other Latin dancing; Country & Western (2-Step, Waltz, Texas Swing, etc.); and even Ballroom (American Tango, Foxtrot, Rumba, and what little I know of Argentine Tango, etc....)
WATCHING a longhaired guy head-banging to metal music is of course a heck of a lot of fun(!); but listening to heavy metal without a good set of earplugs is just not for me (LOL)!
Hey, I'm an old geezer that took a lot of partner dance classes when I was younger; so R&B, Soul, Latin, Jazz, Oldies Rock & Roll, classic Standards, etc., that's what moves me... I'll even head-bang to it, if the music is just right (LOL)!
- Ken
Yeah, we couldn't pry you away from the TV on Tuesday when we put that Foo Fighters video on!
Bill
LOL, I'm at work right now; but I couldn't help but respond to this comment -- as the saying goes, "Hey, i resemble that remark!"
- Ken
One thing I love about MLHH is our diversity of cultural references. As a classical musician, I relate very badly to most forms of modern music, but I have to be tolerant and respectful.
I suppose I'm more the ecological and "unconventional" type, interested in alternative ways of life and how that fits in with my religious views and calling as a priest. I tried to be conventional for many years - and discovered that short hair was all part of the ideology and the corporate world.
I have discovered various musicians, artists and spiritual figures who had long hair. Just to name a few - Mozart, Liszt and John Wesley. My own option of wearing my hair long gives a sense of solidarity with those who are no longer of this world.
I'm sure there are wonderful people in the metal world. I just hope they can moderate "head banging" as it can cause a lot of damage to the brain. But, this is their choice which we all have to respect.
I would love to read more contributions about our cultural references and the feeling of identity that brought us to grow our hair and brave the criticisms of the "mainstream" world.
My blog
We should all not lose sight of the fact that "longhair music" as recently as the 1950s meant "classical music"!
Why is classical music also known as long hair music>
Bill
This should be no surprise. Although parts of my identity (such as wanting long hair) awakened in early childhood, my identity all came together and was cemented in my early twenties. I see that age having importance to some of the others who have posted in this thread.
Bill