Contrast Songs by Bon Jovi with Ones by Metallica - Report Example

13 July Assignment American music has undergone a vast amount of change from the earlier times to modern day and age. Today, two of the most influential artists in the rock and metal genre are Bon Jovi and Metallica. Both these bands have been able to establish their musical sense all over the world in a very successful manner. They have both been able to make use of more or less the same instruments for the purpose of playing their music, and their lyrics are also very intense and have wonderful moralistic meanings and sentimental value to a large number of people, most of the time. This paper helps to provide an insight regarding a comparison and contrast between the two bands and the effect that they have had largely on American society, as well as the rest of the world. It also aims to talk about the biography of both the bands, as well as talk about its music and composition in terms of certain elements like the tempo, instrumentation and the texture. Formed and founded in 1981 after responding to an advertisement by drummer Lars Ulrich, Metallica has gone on to have a few members that dropped out of the band and others who joined in later, in order to produce and compose some of the best metal music that the world has heard. The various members of the current band are James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Kirk Hammet and Robert Trujillo. Over the years, they have released nine studio albums, three live albums, twenty four music videos as well as forty five singles. (Band) As opposed to this, Bon Jovi was formed in 1983 under the leadership of the lead singer, from where the band has also been named; John Francis Bongiovi or Jon Bon Jovi. Currently, the band consists of Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora, Tico Torres and David Bryan. Throughout the course of their career, this hard rock band from New Jersey has been able to produce eleven studio albums, three compilation albums and one live album. Both bands have also performed a number of tours worldwide and have a fan base of more than 34 million people from all over. (Bon Jovi Bio) Both these bands have been able to, over the years, produce music that has become legendary. Their music is sung on the lips of young adults as well as a slightly older generation and will not be forgotten for a long time to come. They each have their own batch of very renowned songs like Metallica’s ‘Nothing Else Matters’ and Bon Jovi’s ‘It’s My Life’. Metallica takes its influence from early British bands that played rock music, like Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin and Aerosmith, and new wave and punk bands like Iron Maiden, Judas Priest and the Sex Pistols. The lyrical themes and lyrics of most of the music of this band range and focus on expressing emotions through words; the band has been able to emphasize its expression through lyrics that talk of social and consciously felt issues by the general people at large. A number of songs talk about drugs, military control, religion as well as insanity and rage, and helps people to vent their emotions out with the help of the heavy metal music and guitar and drum solos. Bon Jovi on the other hand has been categorized as a production house of pop rock music, and they have floated from one genre of rock to another during the course of their career, helping a vast number of people all around the world get acquainted to rock music, even in its softest sense. Their recent albums like Lost Highway have country rock music in order to appeal to a better and larger group of people. Their first five albums contained heavy rock and metal type music as they slowly shifted base to softer and more rhythmic tunes. Most of their influences also range from American and British rock music. Both bands have won themselves a number of prestigious awards including Grammys, American Music Awards, MTV Music Awards, Billboard Music Awards etc and have always been known to top the charts in most of the main countries around the world with respect to their new releases. Bon Jovi’s ‘It’s My Life’ is from their first single titled ‘Crush’ and has become one of the most popular anthems all around the world. It is also the band’s biggest hit and most performed song at all live shows without fail since its release in the 80s. (Maguire, Joan) ‘Nothing Else Matters’ by Metallica on the other hand, is also a classic release that most Metallica fans characterize the band by. It was released in the fifth album and remained for quite some time at the top ten levels in a number of Billboard charts around the world. Furthermore, this song was also featured as one of the playable tracks on the renowned game Guitar Hero and has been covered by bands and singers around the world over forty times till date. ‘It’s My Life’ features Frank Sinatra’s song ‘My Way’ in one of their lines and has also made use of the fictional working class couple, Tommy and Gina, from the band’s earlier rendition of ‘Livin’ on a Prayer.’ ‘Nothing Else Matters’ was written and composed by guitarist James Hetfield while he was on the phone with his girlfriend and has now managed to become one of the most staple songs that the band has ever had. The song features and opens with an arpeggio with low E, G and B strings and chords. Bon Jovi’s song opens with a strong chord sense and patch and moves on to following similar tones throughout the rest of the song. Both songs have softer acoustic versions played by other singers and fans as well and have memorable music videos. Metallica’s video consisted of shots from its ‘A Year and a Half...’ videotape and shows Hetfield playing the 12 string as well. However MTV refused to air the video because of the nude pin up posters that adorned the studio walls during the course of the shot. Bon Jovi’s video is similar, of a concert where the band has been playing and is attended by a young man who tries to attract others from all over and let them know how he desires to live his life. (Crocker, Chris) Both these songs have an adept meaning which has taken over the world in different ways. They talk about the emotions that one goes through during different phases in his life and have proven to be excellent for the purpose of the live shows of both bands, and has thus shot to popularity with ease because of mass appeal. Both Metallica and Bon Jovi have an excellent following from far and wide and have aimed to take their music to the next level. They have excelled in the genres that they have been playing for and have managed to make the world understand their emotions and feelings through their music. Greatness lies in only those bands that are able to let their fans comprehend the very feeling that the band gets while making the music and composing tunes and lyrics; both these bands have been successful in conveying the message to people all over and that is what sets them apart from other bands that make music in similar genres. Almost every person in every country is aware of the kind of music that Metallica and Bon Jovi have created and being able to reach out to such a large number of people can only be done through hard work and dedication; virtues that both bands possess. Their music and lyrics set them apart from each other as well as other bands out there and have helped a number of people find themselves and understand the purpose of their lives just through the emotions and feelings that these bands have been able to portray through their music. Works Cited "Band." METALLICA.com. Web. 14 July 2011. . "Bon Jovi Bio." Bon Jovi † The Official Website. Web. 14 July 2011. . Crocker, Chris. Metallica: the Frayed Ends of Metal. New York: St. Martins, 1993. Print. Maguire, Joan. Bon Jovi. Kangaroo Point, Qld.: Joan Maguire, 2010. Print. Read More