God Save British Rock Tea, Biscuits and Some Heavy Riffs and Bass Lines. Please. Believe it or not, but once upon a time there was an era when rock-music was on top of the musical food-chain/hierarchy and ruled humanity’s thirst of music. This rock-era was preceded by malevolent dark times where disco- & and funk-music dominated. Thankfully humanity woke up from such nightmare and saw the light in handful of musical pioneers and geniuses. Let us briefly list them, shall we?Iron MaidenFormed back in 1975, this heavy metal music giant still performs today and reminds us how age is just a number. The band saw their greatest success in the mid-80s even without the help of music television. All together Iron Maiden composed 38 albums, which sold cumulatively over 100 million copies. Founders of the band credit for example Deep Purple, Jethro Tull, Black Sabbath and other British rock-bands as their musical inspirations. Not too shabby British rock legacy.
Pink Floyd
Although not quite part of the heavy metal era, Pink Floyd will go down in history as perhaps the most influential British rock-band. As opposed to Iron Maiden’s heavy-rock style, Pink Floyd focused on more innovative psychedelic/progressive rock sounds. With over 250 million sold records, I’d say their experimentations with musical philosophy, trippy sounds and visually intriguing live shows went pretty well. If only the band’s personal chemistries had fared better.
Queen
They say Lady Gaga is the most electrifying artist alive. They said the same thing about Elvis Presley and Michael Jackson. They are all wrong. I mean no disrespect, but nobody comes close to Queen’s immensely electrifying singer & songwriter Freddy Mercury. Formed in 1970, Queen was never really part of the traditional heavy-metal rock genre. Instead, with Freddy Mercury’s musical talent, Queen became more of a stadium-rock band. If in doubt, please Youtube Queen’s 1986 Wembley concert. You won’t regret it. Brian May’s hard, yet somehow delicate riffs always hit a home run whereas Freddy Mercury’s powerful voice and stage charisma left (and still leaves) everyone speechless.
Honorable Mentions
To understand the scale of British rock’s legacy to musical world, let us not forget for example The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, David Bowie, Status Quo, Yes, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Judas Priest, Rainbow and too many others we didn’t list. Most importantly, however, their legacy is bound to create new stars in the rock & roll musical realm. Although I must say it is hard to come close to the above mentioned pioneers’ legacy.