Headbanging Styles & Notable Headbangers!

[dragonboy]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Headbanging#Styles

Headbanging is a type of dance which involves violently shaking the head in time with music, most commonly heavy metal music. It is most visually effective when the person headbanging has long hair, though the added weight will increase the risk of neck strain.

There are various styles of headbanging, including:

    * The up and down: the most common style, which involves shaking the head up and down. This style is demonstrated at the climax of the "Bohemian Rhapsody" scene in the movie Wayne's World.

    * The circular swing (windmill): swinging the head in a circular motion. This style is more commonly known as the Windmill or Helicopter. It was popularized by Blackie Lawless of W.A.S.P. and George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher of Cannibal Corpse, and is used by members of Amon Amarth, Slipknot, Meshuggah, late Metallica bassist Cliff Burton, Corey Beauleau of Trivium, and many other bands.

    * Drunk style: a form of head banging in random directions, as if the person is drunk. Bands such as Immortal are a good example of this.

    * The half-circle: swinging the head repeatedly from side to side in a downward arc. This style is often used by Tom Araya of Slayer.

    * The figure eight: shaking the head in a figure eight.

    * The side to side: shaking the head from side to side, whipping the hair on each transition. This style is used by Wayne Static of Static-X, Alexi Laiho of Children of Bodom, James Root of Slipknot (during the "build-up" moments of a song), Martin Mendez of Opeth, and Metallica bassist Robert Trujillo.

    * The whiplash: an especially violent form of the traditional "up and down" style, characterized by the hair of the handbanger moving about so rapidly that it obscures their face. This style may have been pioneered by AC/DC guitarist Angus Young, and has also been used by Mick Thomson of Slipknot and late Metallica bassist Cliff Burton.

    * The all-out: dropping on the ground, holding oneself up with the arms, and violently swinging the head between the arms. This style sometimes involves grabbing onto tables and other fixed objects, as their head movements have become so violent they seriously affect balance.

    * The tandem. Judas Priest guitarists K.K. Downing and Glenn Tipton pioneered and perfected this form of headbanging, in which they stand side by side and headbang in unison. (See also Wolf Hoffman and Jörg Fischer of Accept.)

    * The thrust: an antisocial form of headbanging where the person violently swings forwards and backwards from their waist, often headbutting people in front of them, or in more extreme circumstances, behind them.

    * The hammer: a form of headbanging performed by Till Lindemann of Rammstein perfomed by semi-squating and hitting the opposite knee of the hand you're doing the hammer motion to, while moving your head side to side or up and down. The speed of the Hammer fist goes hand in hand with the drum beat.


    * The low-profile: a variation on the "up and down" where the performer's headbanging movements are short and more subtle, but still noticeable.

Various styles are often mixed together according to taste and to the tempo and aggressiveness of the music. They can also be performed with eyes closed and/or in combination with hand gestures such as devil horns, singing, yelling, and lip syncing. Headbangers' bodies usually bang with the head, reducing the strain on the neck and making the body move in a serpentine, up-and-down fashion to the music. There are a number of different stances a headbanger can stand in, which include:

    * Standing up straight. This is most commonly performed with the legs slightly apart, mainly to keep balance.
    * Standing with the legs slightly bent and the hands on the knees or thighs. This is a common stance for headbangers performing the half-circle, as it allows maximum movement and balance.
    * Standing with the hands behind the back.
    * Standing with one leg in front and one behind, with the hands held together near the lower body. This style is often used in tight spaces or to alleviate cramp and maintain balance.
    * Standing with legs extremely stretched to the front and back of the body, lowering the head and body as low as possible to avoid loss of balance, while shredding an Air guitar, usually with the hand holding the guitar neck placed on the according knee and the other one lowered to "pick the strings".
    * Standing with arms crossed and feet slightly apart.

A headbanger can also perform while seated, crowd surfing, or in a number of other positions.

Origin

The term "headbanger" was coined on Led Zeppelin's first US tour in 1968. During a show at the Boston Tea Party, audience members in the first row were banging their heads against the stage in rhythm with the music.

Notable headbangers

    * Cliff Burton
    * Phil Anselmo
    * Tom Araya
    * K.K. Downing
    * Jeff Hanneman
    * James Hetfield
    * Kerry King
    * Scott Ian
    * Jason Newsted
    * Glenn Tipton
    * James Root
    * Dimebag Darrell
    * Alex Webster
    * Per Wiberg
    * Angus Young
    * Martin Mendez
    * Status Quo
    * Daron Malakian
    * Kaoru Niikura
    * Mick Thompson
    * Jeff Hatrix (Has a unique style of headbanging)

Health issues

In practice, headbanging is considered much safer than moshing and has hardly any short-term side effects. Unsafe practice, such as headbanging while intoxicated, under the influence of narcotics, or too close to someone else, is the common cause of injury, also known as a bangover. In 2002, Jason Newsted claimed his departure from Metallica was partly due to wear of the cartilage in his neck, but this is the only known case of long-term physical damage as an alleged result of headbanging. Also, many people experience a 'pulled muscle' in the neck if no stretching is done beforehand, or if the headbang is performed improperly.



So there you have it, be sure to stretch beforehand if you plan on doing the half-circle or the all-out at your next MMJ gig  ;D  ;)

[primushead]

Awesome!  

No long term health effects from headbanging!  

That sounds fantastic.

 8)

[Angry Ewok]

Judging by the killer headaches afterwards, there's gotta be some brain-bruising or something... Afterall, your brain is pretty much just moshing against your skull for the duration.

 8)

[JacketGal]

Judging by the killer headaches afterwards, there's gotta be some brain-bruising or something... Afterall, your brain is pretty much just moshing against your skull for the duration.

8)

So most of you have suffered headbanger's neck the day after?

I often wonder if the Jacket has well developed head-banging muscles.....

[EC]

So most of you have suffered headbanger's neck the day after?

I often wonder if the Jacket has well developed hang-banging muscles.....

check out the thickness of the neck - that's muscle tone there, that is.

i can't believe that jim james wasn't mentioned in this article.  are you allowed to add to wikipedia?  nobody in the world has quite the same full body banging technique.  according to me.  but i haven't seen rammstein.  but greggy has.

my technique would be labeled "the oblivious" which involves whipping your head around uncontrollably and pissing off people close to you.  close in proximitiy, i mean, because my close friends understand the losing of oneself in the rock.

[Chills]

So most of you have suffered headbanger's neck the day after?

Definitely  ;D

[JacketGal]

check out the thickness of the neck - that's muscle tone there, that is.

i can't believe that jim james wasn't mentioned in this article.  are you allowed to add to wikipedia?  nobody in the world has quite the same full body banging technique.  according to me.  but i haven't seen rammstein.  but greggy has.

my technique would be labeled "the oblivious" which involves whipping your head around uncontrollably and pissing off people close to you.  close in proximitiy, i mean, because my close friends understand the losing of oneself in the rock.

I will do that next time I see them...:) I love how Jim's head goes in mini-circles and you could get lost following the motion of his head and hair.... ;D

EC, you can add to the wiki reports at least that's how I understand it! They should DEFINITELY be mentioned!

At a Jacket show I would hope that fewer people are pissed off by flying head and hair, it's only natural, right? :)

[dragonboy]

but i haven't seen rammstein.  but greggy has.

;D ;D ;D

The older I get the worse the 'headbangers neck' is the next day. I guess I do need to stretch.
Last gig I suffered big time after was QOTSA a year or so back...

[dragonboy]

Anyone ever had next day 'calf-ache' from too much jumping?
Had a serious case of that one after seeing J5...

[primushead]

Anyone ever had next day 'calf-ache' from too much jumping?
Had a serious case of that one after seeing J5...

For sure!  The worst was when I saw...um...::cough:: Linkin Park ::Cough::...back in '03.   :D  Calf-ache sucks!

[banjohead]

For sure!  The worst was when I saw...um...::cough:: Linkin Park ::Cough::...back in '03.   :D  Calf-ache sucks!

That was the same year you saw Christina Aguilera!