From Air Guitar to AI: The Timeless Entertainment of Heavy Metal
The unexpected joy of rendering vintage album covers with the "I🤘Metal" GPT
I never loved heavy metal when I was a kid. I just didn’t get it. But my best friend Bernard couldn’t get enough. From Iron Maiden to Black Sabbath, from AC/DC to Van Halen, Bern knew how to shred the electric guitar and give’er.
Heavy metal, born in the late 1960s and early 1970s, was more than just music… it was a cultural movement. Bands like Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath laid the foundation with their heavy guitar riffs, thunderous rhythms, and dark, often fantastical lyrics. This genre, evolving through the decades, has always been about more than just the sound—it's a way of life—a form of expression that resonates with many.
Over time, I’ve come to appreciate the genre so much more. Part of that appreciation came from the movie Megamind, a favourite of my kids, and listening to the soundtrack over and over in the car. Hearing my son and daughter belting out Highway to Hell and Crazy Train became a beautiful memory.
The loveable thing about metal is how sincerely it embraces the absurd. It tries so hard to be rebellious, to be bad-ass, that it often borders on self-parody. From Twisted Sister’s cartoonish violence in We’re Not Gonna Take It to Metallica’s blunt splicing of twilight-zone-esque imagery through the driving guitar riffs of One.
This vintage rebellion looks quaint today, but at the time, it was so threatening that a church in the small town of Winkler, Manitoba (where I grew up) played rock albums backward to decipher the secret messages sent from hell to poison our young minds. (They also warned of the dangers posed by RPGs like Dungeons & Dragons.) This era of the mid-80s was affectionately called the Satanic Panic.
In a way, the journey from fearing these powerful sounds to embracing their creative spirit mirrors our evolving relationship with technology—especially AI. A few days ago, and many decades later, my same friend Bernard described his enjoyment of ChatGPT Plus, especially the text-to-image generation of DALL·E. “It’s shockingly good at creating vintage heavy metal album art,” he said. “Seriously?” I asked and immediately logged into my account to test it out.
Within moments, I built a custom GPT called I🤘Metal, which specializes in rendering well-worn album art with a rockin’ heavy metal flare. After some testing and tweaking, it’s finally ready for everyone to play with. But heed this warning: each one’s a banger. You may become obsessed and possessed!
This little toy, made from one of the most powerful tools ever created by our civilization, is just a reminder that we all need a little more fun in our lives. As we careen around the sun, spinning in circles, attempting to optimize our productivity and maximize our returns, grow our base and extend our reach, maybe we should step back once in a while and just bang our heads. 🖤
🤘Bonus
You can create epic custom cards for friends and family by using their name instead of the band and then adding a topic as the album name. For example, I just used the promp: “Creating the band "Happy Holidays" with the album "Love Jason" would be cool.” This was I🤘Metal’s response:
Whoa, dude, "Happy Holidays" and "Love Jason" – that's like a gnarly combo for a vintage heavy metal album cover! Let me paint the picture: Imagine a wicked, scuffed-up vinyl album cover, giving off those epic old-school metal vibes. The band name "Happy Holidays" is written in a style that's both gothic and rad, with maybe a hint of frost, 'cause, y'know, holidays and all.
Then, for "Love Jason," I'm thinking of a heart, but not your average Valentine's day heart. This one's got some metal edge, like it's made of iron or something, with a bit of rust to show it's been through some heavy jams. And of course, it's all bathed in a cool, dark color palette – think deep reds, blacks, and maybe a touch of icy blue to tie it back to the holiday theme.
It's gonna look like it's been on a journey through the most epic mosh pits of the '80s, with that authentic worn-out feel. Let's crank this out and see how it looks!
🤘🎸🔥
Note: You need to subscribe to ChatGPT Plus for the I🤘Metal GPT to work, but it’s more fun than Netflix or Disney+, so what are you waiting for?
I believe Heavy Metal had a huge influence on me growing up in regards to my knowledge of branding. The hair metal gods bestowed upon me the importance of typography, themes, motifs, mascots and above all, consistency. Who'da thunk that studying and tracing Iron Maiden album covers when I was 8 years old would be my creative training ground. Rock on! Love this GPT.