I find myself wondering why there is such a huge backlash against the idea that many of the most popular metal bands are popular for the same reason that the biggest pop bands are popular. That is, catchiness and accessibility.
Generally speaking, the biggest pop bands in history have been those that are catchy and accessible. I am using catchy to define music that is easy to listen to and has immediately identifiable pleasant sounding qualities. Accessible, or at least how I am using it here, means that it is unoffensive to a majority of people, and that it can appeal to people from a wide range of music listening backgrounds.
I'm not going to write a book here. I just want to say that those are the things that make a band popular. It says nothing about skill or quality of the music - it could be amazing, or it could be shit - it doesn't matter. Metal is no different. The huge bands, Sabbath and Maiden and Metallica, are popular for those same reasons.
All I am wanting here is maybe an idea why fans of metal are so averse to this notion? Why is this so hard to handle?
Generally speaking, the biggest pop bands in history have been those that are catchy and accessible. I am using catchy to define music that is easy to listen to and has immediately identifiable pleasant sounding qualities. Accessible, or at least how I am using it here, means that it is unoffensive to a majority of people, and that it can appeal to people from a wide range of music listening backgrounds.
I'm not going to write a book here. I just want to say that those are the things that make a band popular. It says nothing about skill or quality of the music - it could be amazing, or it could be shit - it doesn't matter. Metal is no different. The huge bands, Sabbath and Maiden and Metallica, are popular for those same reasons.
All I am wanting here is maybe an idea why fans of metal are so averse to this notion? Why is this so hard to handle?