I was wondering if someone would post this. To be truthful, I agree with everything he says. America moves from one "trend," to the next way too fast. Metal is still vital, but the MTV generation etc. are really into pepsi-corporate music now. Even when it is music of substance, it comes and goes too fast. A Rolling Stones, or U2, for instance, could probably never really happen now. That is to say, a band that is successful and dominant throughout its career.
The metal scene, sad to say, is basically dead in America. It's up to us stalwarts to show at all. Further, I think Brave New World was awesome; a new take on Maiden. Everybody on the net just bitched about it though, because it wasn't Piece of Mind or whatever. Mind you, the quality was there, it was just different. He was DEAD on when he said that The Grateful Dead could never happen now (whom I love). Waaaaay too "arty," for people.
I agree with Bruce, and while I'm here in America, and I care, I don't blame him for thinking America is hardly worth playing anymore. I see the slack-jawed radio fed folks that come to the metal shows (mostly) and they always bitch on the way out about what they didn't play. The only scene left is waaaay underground. I saw The Lord Weird Sough Feg this year, and hardly anybody went, an awesome local metal band. I saw Opeth last year a couple times, and while some folks came, it was not the turnout they deserved, I thought.
Metal is dead in America.
