When I was nineteen years old and playing the Hammond B-3 organ in a band called the Salvation Navy, we shared the bill with the Yardbirds. A skinny kid in burgundy lamé pants and a purple tie-dyed tank top walked on to the stage with his guitar and a violin bow. He subsequently went on to blow our minds with his incredible virtuosity and a vision of what was to come. His name was Jimmy Page and he formed a new band the very next year.

Led Zeppelin, with its roots steeped in rhythm and blues, was to become the greatest heavy metal band that rock 'n' roll had ever known.

One particular guitar solo of Page's, from the song "Heartbreaker," impressed me so much that I was inspired to write the fourth movement of this symphony. It was the forceful way he resolved his ideas in the last four measures that left the impression. Heavy Metal, the second part of a trilogy containing Symphony No. 2-Reggae and Symphony No. 4-Funk, had its compositional beginnings on January 13, 1987. Work continued periodically until its completion on March 13, 1990.

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