The loudest band in the world is a subject of some dispute in musical circles. Many bands have claimed to be the loudest, measuring this in various ways including with decibel meters at concerts and by engineering analysis of the CDs on which their albums are published.
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The notion of "loudness equals greatness" pervades rock music to the extent that it has been satirized. In the mockumentary This Is Spinal Tap, the band is presented by the fictional filmmaker Marty di Bergi, as "one of England's loudest bands". One popular joke from the film features Nigel Tufnel displaying the band's amplifiers which are calibrated up to 11, instead of up to 10, allowing them to go "one louder". As a consequence of this, real bands and musicians started buying equipment whose knobs went up to 11, or even higher, with Eddie Van Halen reputedly being the first to do so.[1] Marshall, the company that provided amplifiers for the film that the custom marked knobs were applied to, now sells amplifiers such as its JCM900 (first sold in 1990) whose knobs are marked from 0 to 20.[1][2]
Volume on the BBC iPlayer is also calibrated up to 11.
Japanese garage punk band Guitar Wolf humorously claim that their album Jet Generation is the loudest album ever recorded and "may cause irreparable damage to stereo equipment".
Another well-known parody is the fictional band Disaster Area (appearing in Douglas Adams's The Restaurant at the End of the Universe), whose concerts can literally devastate entire planets.
Led Zeppelin's "Heartbreaker" is said to have reached 130 dB (SPL) observed by a team of participants at the American Speech–Language–Hearing Association.[3] Daniel Kreps of Rolling Stone argues that "Whole Lotta Love" established Led Zeppelin's reputation as one of the loudest bands of their time.[4]
Deep Purple held the record and were recognized by The Guinness Book of World Records as the "globe's loudest band" when in a concert at the London Rainbow Theatre their sound reached 117 dB. Three of their audience members were rendered unconscious."[5][6]
The Who were listed as the "record holder", at 126 dB, measured at a distance of 32 meters from the speakers at a concert at The Valley (home ground of Charlton Athletic F.C.) on 31 May 1976.[7]
The Australian hard rock band AC/DC once had a trademark of performing painfully loudly. During Back in Black tour, they reached 130 dB at some gigs but since there were too many noise complaints, they turned the volume down later.
The heavy metal band Manowar is one claimant of the title of "loudest band in the world",[8] citing a measurement of 129.5 dB in 1994 in Hanover.[9] However, The Guinness Book of World Records listed Manowar as the record holder for the loudest musical performance for an earlier performance in 1984. Guinness does not recognize Manowar's later claim, because it no longer includes a category of loudest band, reportedly because it does not want to encourage hearing damage.[10][11][12][13]
Pioneering English House/Electronica band Leftfield became known for the volume of its live shows on the tour to support their debut album Leftism. In June 1996, while the group was playing at Brixton Academy, the sound system caused dust and plaster to fall from the roof. Sound volume was 137 dB.[14]
British punk band Gallows allegedly broke Manowar's next to last record for loudest band in the world, claiming to have achieved 132.5 dB; however, this record was claimed in an isolated studio environment as opposed to live.[15]
Manowar achieved a SPL of 139 dB during the sound check (not the actual performance) at the Magic Circle Fest in 2008.[16]
On July 15, 2009, in Ottawa, Canada, the band KISS achieved a SPL of 136 dB measured during their live performance (not the sound check). After noise complaints from neighbors in the area, the band was forced to turn the volume down.[17]