[5] During this period, the mass of young people, deprived of the prospect of even relatively low-skill jobs that were available to the previous generations, searched for different ways to earn money in the music and entertainment businesses.

[6] The explosion of new bands and new musical styles coming from the UK in the late 1970s was a result of their efforts to make a living in the economic depression that hit the country before and during the governments of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

[6] The desperation and the violent reaction of a generation robbed of a safe future are well-represented by the British punk movement of 1977–1978, whose rebellion against the establishment continued diluted in the new wave and post-punk music of the 1980s.

[3] However, not all working-class male youths embraced the punk movement; some preferred to escape from their grim reality in heavy metal, which was equally effective in providing fun, stress relief, and peer companionship – otherwise denied because of their unemployment.

[14] Each of these bands was in crisis in the mid-to-late 1970s: Led Zeppelin were plagued by discord and personal tragedies and had drastically reduced their activities,[15] Black Sabbath finally fired their charismatic but unreliable frontman Ozzy Osbourne,[16] and Deep Purple disbanded.

[17] As a consequence, the whole movement lost much of its momentum and media interest, which were refocused on what British writer Malc Macmillan calls "the more fashionable or lucrative markets of the day" such as disco, glam, mod revival, new wave and electronic music.

[28] The British chart results of the period show that there was still a vast audience for heavy metal in the country, and upcoming bands UFO[29] and Judas Priest,[30] also had tangible success and media coverage in the late 1970s.

[31] Foreign hard rock acts, such as Blue Öyster Cult and Kiss from the US,[32][33] Rush from Canada,[34] Scorpions from West Germany,[35] Thin Lizzy from Ireland,[36] and especially AC/DC from Australia,[37] climbed the British charts in the same period.

[73] Access to this male-dominated world for female musicians and fans was not easy, and only women who adapted to their male counterparts' standards and codes were accepted,[74] as attested by Girlschool[75] and Rock Goddess,[76] the only notable all-female heavy metal bands of that era.

[77] The music, philosophy and lifestyle of heavy metal bands and fans were often panned by both left-wing critics and conservative public opinion,[78] described as senseless, ridiculous to the limit of self-parody,[79] and even dangerous for the young generation.

[95] Those young musicians were also linked by a shared inspiration from the works of the aforementioned successful heavy rock bands of the late 1960s and 1970s, and kept a sort of continuity with the earlier acts, whose music had temporarily gone out of fashion, but was still thriving underground.

[97] Following a largely organic and uncalculated impulse, many of these new bands infused classic heavy metal with the immediacy of pub rock and the intensity of punk rock, implementing to various degrees the crossover of genres started by Motörhead;[98] in general they shunned ballads, de-emphasised harmonies and produced shorter songs with fast tempos and a very aggressive sound based on riffs and power chords, featuring vocals ranging from high pitched wails to gruff and low growls.

[99] Iron Maiden,[100] Angel Witch,[101] Saxon,[102] Holocaust,[103] Tygers of Pan Tang,[104] Girlschool,[105] Tank[106] and More[107] are notable performers of this style, which bands such as Atomkraft,[108] Jaguar,[109] Raven[110] and Venom[111] stretched to produce even more extreme results.

[114] The music of Def Leppard,[115] Praying Mantis,[116] White Spirit,[117] Demon,[89] Shy,[118] Gaskin,[119] Dedringer[120] and many others, contained hooks as much as riffs, often retained a closer link with blues rock,[121] included power ballads and featured keyboards, acoustic instruments and melodic and soaring vocals.

[146] Like most British bands in the past, the new groups spent their formative years playing live in clubs, pubs, dance halls and social circles for low wages; this training honed their skills, created a dedicated local fan base and enabled them to come in contact with managers and record label agents.

[147] Angel Witch, Iron Maiden, Praying Mantis and Samson from London,[148] Son of a Bitch (later Saxon) from Barnsley,[129] Diamond Head from Stourbridge,[149] Marseille from Liverpool,[150] White Spirit from Hartlepool,[151] Witchfynde from Derbyshire,[152] Vardis from Wakefield,[153] Def Leppard from Sheffield,[154] Raven and Tygers of Pan Tang from around Newcastle,[155] and Holocaust from Edinburgh[156] were the most important metal bands founded between 1975 and 1977 that animated the club scene in their respective cities and towns.

[159] What punk and NWOBHM musicians had in common was their "do-it-yourself" attitude toward the music business and the consequent practice of self-production and self-distribution of recorded material in the form of audio cassette demos, or privately pressed singles, aimed initially at local supporters.

[164] Neal Kay was one of those DJs; he started to work in 1975 at a disco club called The Bandwagon in Kingsbury, North West London, housed in the back-room of the Prince of Wales pub and equipped with a massive sound system.

[172] The DJ made a weekly Heavy Metal Top 100 list of the most requested songs at The Soundhouse, by both newcomers and established bands and sent it to record shops and to the music journal Sounds, the only paper that showed interest in the developing scene.

[162] Along with John Peel's broadcast,[180] Vance's was the only mainstream radio show to feature songs from underground metal acts, many of whom were invited to play live at BBC studios under the supervision of long-time collaborator and producer, Tony Wilson.

[190] In early 1980, EMI tested the market with the Neal Kay-compiled album Metal for Muthas and a UK tour of the bands that had contributed to the compilation,[191] eventually signing Angel Witch (who were dropped after the release of their first single)[192] and Ethel the Frog.

[195] A II Z,[196] Fist,[197] White Spirit[197] and Praying Mantis[198] were dropped after the release of their debut albums, while Tygers of Pan Tang,[197] Samson,[199] More,[107] Demon[200] and Girlschool[201] had more success and lasted longer on major labels' line-ups.

[204] The immediate consequence of that success was increased media coverage for metal bands,[205] which included appearances on the British music TV shows Top of the Pops[206] and The Old Grey Whistle Test.

[244] Sounds' publisher exploited his support of the movement to launch the first issue of Kerrang!, a colour magazine directed by Geoff Barton devoted exclusively to hard rock and heavy metal, in June 1981.

[267] The overwhelming international success of Pyromania induced both American and British bands to follow Def Leppard's example,[268] giving a decisive boost to the more commercial and melodic glam metal and heralding the end of the NWOBHM.

[274] Many of its leaders, such as Diamond Head, Tygers of Pan Tang, Angel Witch and Samson, were unable to follow up on their initial success; their attempts to update their look and sound to match new expectations of the wider audience not only failed, but also alienated their original fans.

[277] Record companies latched on to the more polished glam metal subgenre over the NWOBHM bands, which maintained a fan base elsewhere in Europe, but found themselves crowded out of the UK and US markets by the success of these American groups.

[291] The record labels' lack of interest, poor management of bands, internal struggles and musical choices that turned off much of their original fan base, resulted in most groups disbanding and disappearing by the end of the decade.

Since the beginning of the NWOBHM, North American bands like Anvil,[326] Riot,[326] Twisted Sister,[327] Manowar,[326] Virgin Steele,[328] The Rods,[329] Hellion,[330] Cirith Ungol,[331] and Exciter[332] had a continuous exchange with the other side of the Atlantic, where their music was appreciated by British metalheads.

[333] Acts like Accept, Grave Digger, Sinner and Warlock from Germany,[337] E. F. Band from Sweden,[338] Mercyful Fate from Denmark,[339] Killer and Ostrogoth from Belgium,[340] Picture and Bodine from the Netherlands,[341] Trust, Sortilège and Nightmare from France,[342] Barón Rojo, Obús and Ángeles del Infierno from Spain,[343] Gordi, Pomaranča, Divlje Jagode, and Warriors from Yugoslavia,[344] Luzbel from Mexico[345] or Aria from the Soviet Union[346] formed between 1978 and the beginning of the new decade and were heavily influenced by the sound of the NWOBHM.