Learn to determine the smartest musical style

Sebastian Kohler/watson.de

There is almost no other art form that is as closely connected to our personality and spirit as music. It accompanies most people in their daily lives, from shopping to the gym to walking – no place is without a suitable soundtrack. Whether you listen to Mozart while lifting weights or Tupac while trimming the geraniums in your front yard, there's no wrong or right way to do it.

As we all know, taste cannot be argued. But music can certainly be evaluated analytically. Now there is a learning platform that already does this. Goal: Find out which type of lyrics is the smartest. The winner may surprise some.

The genius Ozzy Osbourne? Heavy metal has the largest vocabulary

Because the survey picked probably the toughest mainstream music genre as the winner: heavy metal. According to the study, sounds that often sound like noises and shouts to outsiders actually have a surprisingly diverse vocabulary.

Shock rocker Ozzy Osbourne has creative lyrics.Image: trapezoid

This result comes from a study by the learning platform Prodigy Education. The criterion for this study was the size of the vocabulary used. Bands and artists who have ranked particularly high on the U.S. Billboard charts in recent decades are considered.

British shock rock band Black Sabbath became a flagship of lyrical creativity. The beloved Satanic band, which surrounds singer Ozzy Osbourne, received the highest rating of any artist for the lexical diversity of their lyrics.

Although Frank Ocean and Billie Eilish both failed in rock, R&B and pop

The founder of heavy metal music is tied for first place with fellow countryman Pink Floyd. Both bands scored 52% on the “lexical diversity” scale.

Pink Floyd, a psychedelic rock band from the 1970s and 1980s, topped the list for a reason, as classic rock ranked second in the study. Rounding out the top three is Slayer, a very tough band that makes even Black Sabbath look weak in comparison.

The vocabulary for “soft” music styles seems less extensive. Pop and R&B/soul ended up on the lower end of the spectrum. Positive examples include Dasha and Billie Eilish on the one hand, and Frank Ocean and Bryson Tiller on the other.

By the way, EDM is at the bottom of the rankings. This doesn't necessarily mean that passionate listeners of techno and minimal music are any less demanding. In contrast, electronic music focuses on physical and harmonic expression rather than words.

Ariana Grande, Miley Cyrus and country stars score here

While heavy metal ranks high on lyrical versatility, it holds the red lantern high when it comes to positivity. Because heavy metal rarely involves “good vibes.” Instead, Iron Maiden, Slipknot and Slayer sang about death, destruction and the end of the world.

In this category, pop and country music will likely dominate. Artists like Ariana Grande, Miley Cyrus and Whitney Houston have made it to the top 10 with life-affirming lyrics. Two country stars, Garth Brooks and Cody Johnson, also rounded out the top three in the category.

The two trailed only Marvin Gaye. The American R&B and soul legend achieved global success in the 1970s and 1980s with his upbeat, inspirational lyrics.

In this story we focus on images of things that we barely notice. But today we use macro photography and microscopes to take a closer look – and almost nothing remains undiscovered.