Opinions on Heavy Metal Trends

[Entrerie]

That is a Slaughter song NOT Winger

It's been like 15 years or so. Oh well, at least I didn't get them mixed up with Nelson.

 

[General Zod]

Well I'm in a peculiar situation here. While I'm confident that I'm not a "scene kid," it is true that I've only been listening to metal for two and a half years. Moreover, if Lacuna Coil never garnered that minor hit "Heaven's A Lie," I may have traveled along my life ignorant of the wonderful world of metal. So no, I haven't been around since the beginning of Iron Maiden - but hell if I'm not working hard and loving hard every bit of good music I can get my hands on.

Yet, I guess I'm just trendy...

If you listen to Metal because you love the music, you're not "trendy". Most people discover Metal because of the bands that walk the fine line between commercial success and underground credibility. And don't worry about the fact that you weren't listening to Maiden back in 1983. Plenty of the folks who were, have long since ditched their Iron Maiden cassettes in favor of CDs by Creedbox 182 and the Blowfish.

Zod

 

[mloanna]

I think most of us here have a true metal/rock heart. We can define it however we want. I have been around the metal scene for years. It is interesting to see the change at rock concerts now. I remember going to concerts in jr. high and seeing the crowd as being close to my age, well jump forward 25 years and the crowd is still my age..lol. but a lot are younger. I like seeing the younger kids because that means the music will carry on.

We all had to start somewhere. We all got hassled about liking liking ZEP, STONES and JIMI to name a few because we "were not there or old enough" to be in the know but we came through. It is dishearting to see stores like HOT TOPIC but at least it is there for that kid or newbie to buy that METAL SHIRT and represent. Hell, I see all my Concert shirts at stores now and think it is funny. I am comforted in knowing though that I actually went to the concert or can remember when that tour came through.

The only disappointment in our most recent metal history is Metallica. That should be a thread someone posts.

 

[Entrerie]

The only disappointment in our most recent metal history is Metallica. That should be a thread someone posts.

Actually, it is such a disappointment nobody talks about it and probably we should keep it that way.

 

[Daybreaker]

Here's my contribution to this debate: I'm a fairly young person yet sometimes I feel like an aging rocker and I'm not even close to hitting thirty yet which is nowhere near old by any stretch of the imagination. Yet I adhere strongly to "old school" ideals. The way I was introduced to heavy metal was through all the classic bands. 5th grade was when And Justice For ALL and Master OF Puppets came into my life. A year later I was blasting Iron Maiden after purchasing Live After Death and then snatching up the rest of their catalog. Next up was Painkiller by Judas Priest and the five million cds they had at the time. Then it was a slew of thrash bands such as Anthrax, Mercyful Fate, Death Angel, Annihilator, Overkill, and Testament amongst many others. For Power Metal I bought a tape of Keeper II and that was the big one, the album that completely threw me on a Power Metal craze for almost ten years. I'm glad I got into metal through the old guard bands such as Maiden, Priest, and Overkill. I get more satisfaction out of Hell Bent For Leather than I do from almost any new cd from the past five or six years easily.

I also am vehemently against this new age of "five million mp3's, one cd" fans that are all over the place. I remember how hard it was to get Blind Guardian , Gamma Ray, Angra, and all the other Euro bands I liked in the States so I had to import these bastards at the rate of one or two a month when I was a kid. Instead of blowing my money on going to movies with friends and getting a case of beer on the weekendsI was buying two cds a month at thirty bucks a pop. I learned to value music and appreciate it.

Now because everything is so much more accessible it is alot easier for people to jump on trends and then forget them because nowadays its all about instant gratification. If somethings cool then act like you like it, when its not cool anymore download the next trend and follow that. I just dont agree with that mentality at all.

 

[TychoCelchu]

I also am vehemently against this new age of "five million mp3's, one cd" fans that are all over the place. I remember how hard it was to get Blind Guardian , Gamma Ray, Angra, and all the other Euro bands I liked in the States so I had to import these bastards at the rate of one or two a month when I was a kid. Instead of blowing my money on going to movies with friends and getting a case of beer on the weekendsI was buying two cds a month at thirty bucks a pop. I learned to value music and appreciate it.

Me too, the hard part is logically defending such an attitude. It's very hard to do. Mp3s are a technology of convenience and it's hard, for me anyway, to explain my irrational attachment to physical media. I've also been prone to dropping large amounts of money to get a rare or out of print album, which mystifies my friends.

 

[Daybreaker]

I simply dont get satisfaction from listening to mp3s. As a tool to check out a bands sound they work fine, but I cannot "sit" on albums on my computer for ages and listen to them with enjoyment like I do when I actually own them.

 

[Kenneth R.]

METAL NEVER DIED. It just got buried alive

I for one am glad to see metal returning to the public eye in a positive light. I don't care if they're just pretending to like it, as long as it's real metal. Sooner or later they'll realize they stopped pretending.

 

[edgeofthorns]

Easy come Easy Go video was done by Tesla not Winger

No, actually Winger has a song called "Easy Come, Easy Go" from their In The Heart of the Young disc.

 

[skeksis]

a nation of metal stomps that of pop/(c)rap/cuntry... which is what we've got. wouldn't it be great to flip past mtv and see dragonforce shredding or pyramaze on cribs (lol), rather these no talent rappers? so on and so forth...

i think the honorable nathan explosion's (dethklok) goal of world domination says it best... "we will make everything metal"... so i say the more the merrier and by any means necessary. the originals will always be the originals, and you'll know that. that's all the matters.

there will ALWAYS be posers... i can deal with metal posers a lot better than these hiphop wanksters.

 

[LunaTEKKE]

I try to ignore it but the idea of other people claiming to love this music and then just throwing it aside for the next trend gets me beyond frustrated.

This sort of behavior isn't limited to fans, though -- some artists have done the same thing. I had forgotten about “Ronnie Lee Keel” until someone mentioned him on another thread…

 

[LunaTEKKE]

So no, I haven't been around since the beginning of Iron Maiden - but hell if I'm not working hard and loving hard every bit of good music I can get my hands on.

No shame in coming to the party a little late – you’ve obviously invested a lot of effort in getting up to speed on the bands and their catalog. Folks who are just following the current trend won’t take the time to do that.

I remember in the late ’80s my sister wanting to know if I had Def Leppard’s “first” album. “Hmmm…which one would that be?” I asked. The response: “You know, the one with ‘Photograph’”.

Overall, metal’s waxing and waning popularity doesn’t bother me too much. Although it *was* a little depressing in the early ‘90s when metal bands started getting knocked out of rotation on radio and MTV in favor of guys wearing flannel shirts…

 

[Yngvai X]

I simply dont get satisfaction from listening to mp3s. As a tool to check out a bands sound they work fine, but I cannot "sit" on albums on my computer for ages and listen to them with enjoyment like I do when I actually own them.

I agree. Even if someone sends me a leak of an album Im looking forward too, I casually listen until I have the actual CD in my hands.

Its just not the same when I can't browse the liners while listening to a brand new album for the first time.