An Introduction to America’s Music

538 PART 4 | SINCE WORLD WAR II

Whereas Marilyn Manson updated the more theatrical branch of heav y

metal that had spawned the 1980s hair bands, other groups emulated Metallica

and Megadeth in saving the fl amboyance for the music itself. An important new

development was rap metal, which combined the assaultive instrumental tex-

tures of heav y metal with rapped vocals. Rage Against the Machine pioneered

rap metal in the early 1990s, adding funk rhythms and scratching to the mix. By

the end of the decade one of the most innovative bands was System of a Down,

whose four members are of Armenian descent and bring the rhythmic complex-

ity of Middle Eastern music to rap metal, especially in the work of Beirut-born

drummer John Dolmayan.

Many musicians reached further back than heav y metal for inspira-

tion. Jam bands such as Phish and the Dave Matthews Band continued the

legacy of the 1960s-era Grateful Dead by focusing on live performance more

than recording, touring incessantly, and developing instrumental virtuos-

ity in long solos. Other artists pursued roots rock, which, as the name implies,

combined a return to earlier rock sounds with the roots revival’s interest

in folk music. Roots rockers include the Wallfl owers (led by Bob Dylan’s son

Jakob Dylan) and Counting Crows. Sheryl Crow has probably had the longest-

lasting infl uence; she is also among the signifi cant number of female singer-

song writers to emerge since 1990.

WOMEN SINGER-SONGWRITERS

As male-female relations changed in late twentieth-century America, women

began to explore a widening range of identities. Music has been involved in

that exploration. In the early 1960s, for example, girl groups spoke powerfully

to young women, who were bombarded with contradictory messages from par-

ents, teachers, and the mass media. The songs of girl groups allowed teens to play

at being the defi ant rebel as well as the docile girlfriend. “Sweet Talkin’ Guy,” a

Chiffons record from 1960 about a deceitful, irresistible charmer, sent the mes-

sage that it’s normal to want to yield to such boys as well as to try to resist them.

Movies, literature, and fashion in the 1960s proclaimed a new openness about

sexuality. That openness followed a breakthrough in contraception: the 1960

appearance on the market of the birth control pill. Women could now engage

more freely in sexual activity without worrying about unwanted pregnancies.

With fertility under their control through contraception and early-term abor-

tion, legalized in 1973, growing numbers of married women pursued careers

outside the home, and family roles changed accordingly. The women’s move-

ment of the 1960s and 1970s challenged the idea that women are truly fulfi lled

only through child care and housework.

As discussed in chapter 13, songwriters in the 1920s began celebrating

romantic love between unattached individuals. But rock introduced other

views of love. Where the characters in earlier love songs longed for connec-

tion, those in rock songs also perceived that male-female relations involve

power. Though women may have been freed from earlier stereotypes, they

were assigned new ones, still subordinate to men, including the fl ower child,

earth mother, and idealized prostitute. The tension between sexual freedom

and restraint persisted.

rap metal

jam bands

roots rock

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