I still think (see comment on the other thread) that the electric guitar is really important for Heavy Metal but I guess not absolutely neccessary. It's just that when I hear Metal groups playing accoustically, they sound fine or great, but it is definately different.

I guess it comes down to the definition game. There are some things fairly easy to define (such as 12 bar blues songs are Blues - or am I wrong?) but others are nearly impossible. - Someone define Jazz to me in a couple of sentences. There are elements of Benny Goodman and Herbie Hancock that are common, but not a lot, yet I think they're still both Jazz.

Heavy Metal seems to me to be a form of Rock that is nearly always electric, uses a lot of amplification and a fair amount of distortion and seems to create a "wall of guitar sound" In surfing terms I'd say that Heavy Metal is the "Bonzai Pipeline" of surfing locations.

There is sort of a "power to sound" ratio thing for me. I mean, The Edge of U2 lays down a wall of guitar sound, but it's not really as powerful and raw of the sound that Sabbath or Metalica lays down. There are also groups that are really loud (The Who, Queen - my ears still a ringing from a 1980 concert) but they aren't metal either.

Any more ideas? Where am I wrong or misinformed?

by the way, it's not really Metal that much, but there's a really cool CD out there of Folk music played by Scottish Rock/Metal bands called "Folk N'Hell." check it out.

pax yall