FIRST - I found this thread funny because just today I was driving around southern Indiana (I'm a sales rep and spend a lot of time in the car!) listening to HANK WILLIAMS JR.'s cd, "Habits Old and New". My favorite track on this album is, ironically, titled, DINOSAUR. Here are a few lines. "used to be, I had a lot of fun in this old hangout/ we'd get stoned at the jukebox and stay outta fights/ now and then, light a little smoke in the truck out back/ then a little old Jim Beam and we'd get right/ but now these flashin' lights, sure make me dizzy/ and this disco's very strange to my ears/ it looks like they've turned the Longhorn into a spaceship/ and I'll be leavin' just as soon as I finish this beer/ CAUSE YOU SEE I'M A DINOSAUR/ SHOULD'VE DIED OUT A LONG TIME BEFORE/ HAVE MERCY ON A DINOSAUR/ HAND ME MY HAT, EXCUSE ME MA'AM / WHERE'S THE DOOR?" Well, I was singing this aloud to myself and enjoying the fact that I felt like it summed up my life at age 31 as well! That I feel like everything I loved as a kid/teen/young man is now just great memories!
But the post was DISTURBING to me in this sense. It made me feel like maybe a lot of you don't know me. Rather that's due to my own fault or anybody else's. I have given the wrong impression, and I want to clarify.
It's not that I don't like any new bands, or have refused to give any new bands a chance.
The difference is that even though there are new bands that I like...my PASSION is for the OLD SCHOOL DINOSAURS OF ROCK AND METAL that I grew up on. KISS, VAN HALEN, OZZY, MOTLEY CRUE, METALLICA. Those are my top 5 bands of all time. I will never tire of their old songs, even though they may be past their prime. They are the standards that I judge all hard music on. Not that I compare the sounds, but if a band makes me feel like any of THOSE bands do, then I'm in. Take a band like THE DARKNESS. Are they a joke? Yeah. But when I listen to them, I get the same feeling I get when I listen to Van Halen II! My body responds to it! What can I say? I like what I like.
EDGUY - a freakin' awesome band. Love the hell out of 'em. But would I stand in line to meet 'em? Nah.
VINCE NEIL - a train wreck. A dumbass. Can't sing. But would I stand in line to meet him? FUCK YEAH!
Why? Because like Paul McCartney to some he is a guy I grew up with! Bands like KISS or VAN HALEN will always be larger than life to me and that's what I dig!!!! Sure, there's lots of great NEW music out there and when I find something new that I really like such as WOLF or HAMMERFALL or the HELLACOPTERS then I dive in head first! But it won't be long until I break out the SHOUT AT THE DEVIL again!
DIMMU BORGIR is another band I got heavily into for a while. I still love 'em . But if one of those dudes walked by me at WalMart i probably wouldn't even bug 'em. That's the difference. There's music I enjoy. NEW MUSIC. But I don't have the passion for any new artists that compares to the passion I have for my old favorites. That's why it may sound like I'm stuck in the past or up David Lee Roth's ass (I still say even now that he's washed up he kicks the dog shit outta anybody out there behind a microphone!) Sure I like new bands. But do I feel compelled to write and talk about 'em???? NAH! Besides, there are a lot of youngsters out there just coming in to metal and reading this OLD SCHOOL forum. I am proud of the fact that I bought THEATER OF PAIN or MASTER OF PUPPETS on the day they came out!!!!! I am proud to say that I saw METALLICA WITH CLIFF opening for Ozzy when my dad took me at about 12 years old! I am PROUD to say that I saw Johnny Cash and got to shake his hand a couple years ago. I am PROUD to say that I remember when POISON first came out...good or bad...I was there!!! It's not something I learn about today. I'm sure HAWK understands that...look at all the LEGENDARY stuff he saw! That is old school, baby!
So I agree that it's important not to live in the past and I do feel sorry for anyone who only listens to one type of music and one time period. (Not just metal!) I love rock, metal, country, classical, and even good rap (like Ice T or NWA) but you gotta admit that in ALL genres, it is hard to compare newcomers to legends.
When I first heard VAN HALEN it melted my brain the way hearing JIMI HENDRIX or THE DOORS did for a generation before me. I could probably NEVER convince a guy twice my age that Edward is 1/2 the guitarist Jimi was. So even if I like a new band, with all my heart, they'll still never be as good as MOTORHEAD, WASP, or one of those bands. They'll just be somebody new to like. Every now and then a new band comes along and kicks my ass. I'm not against trying anything new. It's just that I love the old so much.
love
ted