ABSTRACT
This chapter, employing a sociological methodology, re-examines the vexed issue of the classed identity of heavy metal bands and fans. It is important to note that even during the 1990s there were dissenting voices that challenged the typical class-profile of the heavy metal fan in North America. The exponential growth in membership of this group, due to an increase in non-manual routine and minor supervisory ‘office’ or service-sector work, requires an equivalent distinction between the lower and upper middle class. The theme of ‘individuality and intellectualism’ is also to be found in a number of recent Canadian studies of progressive metal and fan reception, where the majority audience for such genres is claimed to be middle class and such values to be a defining aspect of middle-classed educational cultures.
