Eric Clapton’s Controversial Opinion On Heavy Metal Bands

Many would agree that when it comes to the guitar, Eric Clapton is one of the first names that comes to mind. In a career spanning over fifty years, he has been widely influential and also inspired numerous musicians. Besides his huge impact on guitar playing, Clapton proved himself also as a great singer and a lyricist.

Eric Clapton is mostly praised for his extraordinary guitar skills but he also developed a new way of using the guitar. He took classical ideas of the rock guitar and applied them to the blues in a unique way. Clapton created a new melodic sound, which enabled him to put a signature to many memorable solos.

Although his career was sometimes interrupted by troubles in his personal life and his drug and alcohol addiction, he has managed to keep his popularity over the years. It is hard to associate Clapton’s music with only one genre as he likes revolving around diverse styles. Still, he always remained true to his blues roots, and of course, as a music legend, he also has something to say on the other music genres.

What Did Eric Clapton Say About Heavy Metal?

All the musicians have their own distinctive styles so when they are asked about others’ music, they sometimes tend to be critical of them. The reason is mostly about their creative differences as this is also what happened when Eric Clapton was asked about his thoughts on heavy metal bands during an interview in 1986.

During the conversation, the interviewer asked Clapton what he thinks about the sound of some heavy metal bands like DeathClaw and Ratt, which were popular at the time. Eric Clapton replied that he wasn’t familiar with most of them because he didn’t listen to their music.

Later on, Clapton stated that such heavy metal bands make a lot of noise with their music and they don’t have a melodic sound at all. He highlighted that he has a more romantic music style so heavy metal doesn’t sound right to him. He also stated that he can’t say something about their guitar playing because he has never heard of them. Apparently, Eric Clapton doesn’t have much tolerance for heavy metal.

Here are Clapton’s words on heavy metal bands:

“I can’t claim responsibility for that. If anything I may have had something to do with the sound of the guitars being like that but in terms of what is played, I haven’t heard anyone of you know, usually from those groups. They just make a lot of noise and they don’t have a melodic thing at all, it is sort of anti-melody and I am a bit too romantic for all that.”

Below, you can watch the full interview.