For decades, musicians have turned their amps up to 11 in a quest to wow audiences with their walls of sound.

From old-school heavy metal to cutting-edge electronic artists, bands from a variety of genres have shattered eardrums, damaged buildings, and even caused earthquakes due to the sonic booms they produced.

In this article, we profile 10 of the loudest bands in history, outline the impact their audio assaults have had on their audiences and arenas, and detail how each earned their reputation as soldiers of sound.

Motor head

Lemmy Kilmister and his crew started out with the goal of being the loudest, dirtiest, fastest, toughest band in the world, and many will say they succeeded.

Their live concerts could reach a powerful 130 decibels, and venues around the world suffered as a result.

At the Cleveland Theater of Variety in 1984 they caused the plaster ceiling to break and fall on the audience below, while in the UK they smashed the roof of Newcastle Town Hall, smashed the windows of Wolverhampton Polytechnic and set fire to the speakers in Puerto Vale FC.

It’s no surprise then that they titled one of their live albums ‘Everything Louder Than Everyone Else’.

Left Garden

This electronic duo proved they could match any heavy metal band for destructive noise when they performed at the Brixton Academy in June 1996.

Their concert was measured at 137 decibels and the brutally loud beats ripped pieces out of the building. Having covered their audience with bits of plaster and dust from the walls and ceilings, the group were not invited to perform at the venue for another four years, and only on the condition that they turn down the volume.

my bloody valentine

This alternative rock band practically reinvented what guitars could sound like on their 1991 album heartbreak, immersing the songs in layer upon layer of feedback and distortion. When performed live, the combined force of all sound levels became terrifyingly loud.

During the tour to promote the album, the band set out to test their audience’s ability to withstand extreme volume for extended periods of time, leading one journalist to describe the shows as “more torture than entertainment”.

Fans attending concerts were often issued earplugs before entering, and despite the band spending more than 20 years on hiatus, breaking up entirely or unsuccessfully attempting to record a follow-up to Loveless, the first few days left their mark in the form of chronic tinnitus. .

“I consider him a friend,” said singer/guitarist Kevin Shields.

The OMS

On May 31, 1976, 75,000 people packed Charlton Athletic’s football ground in London to watch a line-up headlined by The Who. His performance that night was measured at 126 decibels… 100 feet away from the speakers.

However, being among the loudest bands in history came at a price for the members, as Roger Daltrey told reporters in 2018: “My advice to all you rock and roll fans: bring your damn earplugs. to the concerts.” If only we had known when we were young… we’re reading lips.’

blue joy

American psychedelic rockers Blue Cheer are considered pioneers of extreme loudness, being the first band to be listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s loudest band.

In the late 1960s, his volume levels were well beyond what people were accused of, and fans at his concerts often had to leave the front rows because they couldn’t stand the noise.

Blue Cheer were so loud they had to record outdoors, and part of their second album was recorded on a San Francisco pier.

Manowar

These power metal troublemakers often write songs influenced by tales of swords, sorcery, fantasy, and mythology, and are well known for their epic, smashing sound. It seems fitting, then, that Manowar has apparently been on a quest to reach volume levels that no other band can match.

In 1984, the group was named by the Guinness Book of World Records for giving the loudest performance in history, and they have since broken their own record two more times.

Their current personal best decibel count was achieved during a soundcheck at Magic Circle Fest in 2008, when they hit a mighty 139 decibels.

Dark purple

Another band recognized as the world’s loudest by the Guinness Book of World Records, Deep Purple are among the creators of inflicting supreme noise punishment on their over-eager audiences.

An entire generation grew up with Deep Purple pounding their eardrums and earning their place in rock folklore, while some fans ended up taking harder hits than they bargained for, as three audience members attending a 1972 concert at the London Rainbow Theater were knocked unconscious by the blow. force of the sonic assault to which they were subjected.

Kiss

Gene Simmons’ latex-clad performers had their heyday in the 1970s and 1980s, so it’s perhaps surprising that their loudest moment came in December 2009.

During a performance in Ottawa, Canada, the band reached an extraordinary 136 decibels. The concert was apparently so loud that noise complaints from city residents forced the band to turn down the volume mid-show.

foo fighters

During a show in Auckland, New Zealand on December 13, 2011, Dave Grohl and his crew literally shook the earth. Over the course of their 3-hour set, the band caused a movement in the ground similar to a volcanic tremor that was felt up to a mile away.

That clearly wasn’t enough, as the following year they played a concert in Belfast to 32,000 fans who could be heard up to 12 miles away, resulting in 140 noise complaints.

led zeppelin

These rock gods have long been considered one of the best, loudest and most influential bands in history. Known as one of the founders of heavy metal, Led Zeppelin’s soulful crunch hit harder than nearly every band before it.

Anecdotally, many music journalists believe that the group’s performances during the 1970s were the loudest of that decade, but their legacy of loudness gained official recognition when the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) measured a performance of heartbreaker at a staggering 130 decibels.