USMC0341 said:
The only other criticism I have is about some of the comments made regarding American fans and how they are apparently MTV zombies who like whatever is played on that channel or whatever the record industry wants them to like. That couldn't be further from the truth. I will agree - there are noticible differences between the music scenes in Europe and the US, but to say that American fans like whatever is force-fed to them is completely ignorant. There are of course the fad-heads who like whatever is popular, but I honestly believe that US metal fans are just as discerning and appreciate really good metal when they hear it...not whatever garbage is currently popular and running on Headbanger's Ball.
Sorry Marine, but I must respectfully disagree with you there.
The majority of American music fans do tend to be mindless sheep who follow wherever the industry leads them (fad-heads as you called them). Baaah. Maybe you and I aren't an MTV zombies. Maybe our friends aren't MTV zombies. Certainly nobody here on these boards are MTV zombies. But the majority of the U.S.? Zombies. Even the metalheads. How else do you describe the incredible popularity of Limp Biskit and Linkin Park?
I meet a lot of people, especially during the summer months when I'm trying to promote my book(s). Anyone who even remotely looks like a metalhead, I quiz on who their favorite bands are. Inevitably I end up with the same grouping of bands, all who are (or used to be) prominent on MTV: Limp Biskit, Linkin Park, Rob Zombie, NIN, Godsmack, etc. (not saying all these bands suck, just saying it's the same list over and over). These people I quiz wouldn't know a killer underground metal band if Tad Morose came up and bit them on the ass.
Although it irks me that most Americans have no knowledge beyond what MTV and the radio feeds them, I also can't fault them. We are a media driven society here in America, much more so than other areas of the world. As a whole, Americans don't know any better. The only American music fans who get exposure to quality metal bands are the ones who take the initiative and do the needed research through metal magazines and the Internet (two mediums who aren't ruled by the iron fist of the American music industry).
Nothing has changed since I was a teenager and first getting into metal back in the early 80s. I never was one to follow along with the herd, so I always did my research through magazines like Hit Parader and Kerrang!. I was listening to bands like Warlord and Fates Warning and Demon while all those around me were playing the same albums over and over: AC/DC, Def Leppard, Ratt, Motley Crue, etc, etc. I liked all these bands when I first heard them. But they were so over exposed from radio, MTV, and the local party scene that I just couldn't stomach them anymore.
I have a prime example: Back in '82 I was reading a copy of Hit Parader magazine which featured a section called "Who to watch for" or something like that. It featured new bands who were still in the demo stage but showed much potential. I read about a band called Ratt and I went out and bought their six-song EP. My friends and I all got into it...it was our favorite party tape! I kept an eye out for their first full album, Out of the Cellar, and bought it the week it came out. Again, my friends and I were totally into it. We would take it to parties and tell the host, "here, put this killer new band into the stereo". The vast majority of our party crowd (included cowboys, jocks, stoners, eggheads, a very diverse group) simply wrinkled their noses at our offering. "I don't like it," they'd say. "I'd rather hear Back in Black or High and Dry" (for the hundredth time) another would say.
Finally, my friends and I just gave up and kept Ratt to ourselves. Well, six months later, Ratt was plastered all over MTV and both our local rock stations were playing Round and Round at least five times per day. Suddenly, every party we went to they were playing Out of the Cellar; the very same album we made them listen to before and they said they didn't like it!
So, you see my point? There are MANY out there (the vast majority by my observations) who will only like a band if it is popular to do so. They must first get the blessing from their friends, the local dj, or MTV before they can outwardly join a band's fanbase and buy their music. Those of us who are "in the know" of quality underground metal bands are few and far between when compared to the masses.
Obviously there are those who will disagree, but this is my belief based on 24 years of being a metal (and music in general) fan and watching others around me.
