"Metal Health"
Cover of the 1983 US single
Single by Quiet Riot
from the album Metal Health
ReleasedDecember 9, 1983 (US) [1]
Recorded1982
Genre
Length
  • 5:17
  • 4:16 (single)
LabelPasha
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Spencer Proffer
Quiet Riot singles chronology
"Cum on Feel the Noize"
(1983) 		"Metal Health"
(1983) 		"Mama Weer All Crazee Now"
(1984)

"Metal Health", sometimes listed as "Metal Health (Bang Your Head)", "Bang Your Head" or, as it was listed on the Billboard Hot 100, "Bang Your Head (Metal Health)", is a song by the American heavy metal band Quiet Riot on their breakthrough album, Metal Health.[3] One of their best known hits and receiving heavy MTV music video and radio play,[4] "Metal Health" was the band's second and final top 40 hit, peaking at #31 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Being about the headbanging subculture, the song caught the attention of many heavy metal fans on its release.[5] The single contained both the studio-recorded version and a live version, which was later released on their Greatest Hits compilation. The lyric, "well now you're here, there's no way back", eventually became the title for Quiet Riot's documentary, released in 2015.[6]

The main riff/structure of the song comes from an older track entitled "No More Booze," which was originally performed by Snow, Carlos and Tony Cavazo's pre-Quiet Riot band. A live version of the song can be heard on the At Last recordings, which finally received a release in 2017. [1]

Music video

Produced for $19,000 and employing students as extras, the music video was filmed in the Walt Disney Modular Theater and hallways of the California Institute of the Arts.[7] It features the masked man on the album cover breaking out of the asylum he is confided in. After taking off his mask, the man is revealed to be Kevin DuBrow who then joins the band and playing the remainder of the song.

Personnel

Quiet Riot

Additional personnel

Charts

Chart (1983-1984) Peak
position
Australian Singles (Kent Music Report)[9] 84
Canada Top Singles (RPM)[10] 48
UK Singles (OCC)[11]
with "Cum on Feel the Noize" 		45
US Billboard Hot 100[12] 31
US Mainstream Rock (Billboard)[13] 37

Accolades

Publication Country Accolade Rank
Rolling Stone US 20 Greatest Two-Hit Wonders of All Time[14] 5
PopMatters US 36 Essential '80s Pop Metal Tracks[15] 17
Loudwire US The 11 Heaviest Hair Metal Songs[16] 1
LouderSound US The 20 Best Hair Metal Anthems Of All Time Ever[17] 3
VH1 US Top 40 Metal Songs[18] 35

Uses in popular culture

The song was heard in the 2009 film Babylon A.D., 1984 film Footloose and its 2011 remake. It was also used in the opening credits of the movies Crank (2006) and The Wrestler (2008),[19] and in a TV commercial for Hyundai first shown during CBS's coverage of Super Bowl XLVII on February 3, 2013.

"Weird Al" Yankovic performed the song as part of his 1985 polka medley "Hooked on Polkas" from his album Dare to Be Stupid.

The song was featured in the professional wrestling video game Showdown: Legends of Wrestling in 2004.

The song was featured in the 2006 video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories on the fictional in-game radio station "V-Rock".

The song was used in the music games Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks The 80s, Guitar Hero Live and Rock Band Blitz.

References

  1. ^ "Quiet Riot singles".
  2. ^ Klosterman, Chuck (2007). Fargo Rock City: A Heavy Metal Odyssey in Rural North Dakota. Simon and Schuster. p. 17. ISBN 9781416589525.
  3. ^ "Quiet Riot - Chart history | Billboard". www.billboard.com. Retrieved 2017-04-28.
  4. ^ "Quiet Riot - Metal Health (Bang Your Head)". pastemagazine.com. Retrieved 2017-04-28.
  5. ^ "Metal Health by Quiet Riot Songfacts". www.songfacts.com. Retrieved 2017-04-28.
  6. ^ "Quiet Riot Documentary to Air on Showtime". Loudwire. Retrieved 2017-04-28.
  7. ^ Ragogna, Mike (April 14, 2010). "From Gods And Monsters and Quiet Riot to Tina Turner and Citizens Of The World: A Conversation With Spencer Proffer". Huffington Post. Retrieved December 9, 2013.
  8. ^ "Chuck Wright Interview". Music Legends. 5 June 2008. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
  9. ^ BigKev. "Forum – ARIA Charts: Special Occasion Charts – Top 100 End of Year AMR Charts – 1984". Australian-charts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
  10. ^ "Top RPM Singles: Issue 4454." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 16 February 2021.
  11. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 16 February 2021.
  12. ^ "Quiet Riot Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved 16 February 2021.
  13. ^ "Quiet Riot Chart History (Mainstream Rock)". Billboard. Retrieved 16 February 2021.
  14. ^ Harris, Keith; Johnston, Maura (2014-03-31). "Love Me Two Times: 20 Greatest Two-Hit Wonders of All Time". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2021-05-30.
  15. ^ "36 Essential '80s Pop Metal Tracks". Stereogum. 2017-04-05. Retrieved 2021-01-26.
  16. ^ Rivadavia, Eduardo (August 6, 2018). "The 11 Heaviest Hair Metal Songs". Loudwire. Retrieved 2021-01-26.
  17. ^ Sleazegrinder (December 4, 2015). "The 20 Best Hair Metal Anthems Of All Time Ever". loudersound. Retrieved March 3, 2021.
  18. ^ "The Importance of Quiet Riot". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved 2017-04-28.
  19. ^ "'The Wrestler' Soundtrack Finally Hits The Mat - Curiously Does Not Contain "The Wrestler"". Theplaylist.blogspot.com. January 30, 2009. Retrieved December 9, 2013.


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