US touring halted?

[DuchessOfDork]

Well, relatively speaking having two commercials out of the hundreds of thousands feature metal music isn't saying much since i can name at least three that Journey have been in.

Also.. unfortunately, I doubt many kids know who it is when that Priest song comes up. Generic metal tracks often accompany commercials and cartoons, but not as many young people listen to it as much as they do pop, rock, country, rap, ect.. at least, that hasn't been my experience? I'd love to be in a place where more kids listen to metal.

I imagine it would be a magical place.

 

[AeonicSlumber]

When did the idea that "Ghost is a good band" become a universally accepted truth? Why does it seem that people are no longer allowed to dislike Ghost simply because they suck? I find it so incredibly strange that people have made them the poster boys for engendering hatred based solely on popularity. I promise you... that's not it. Ghost really does suck. If you don't believe me, go YouTube some of their music. You'll see that I'm right.

>hurr music is subjective man

>they suck, i'm right. am i funny yet everyone?

sigh.jpg

 

[J. Golden]

Also.. unfortunately, I doubt many kids know who it is when that Priest song comes up. Generic metal tracks often accompany commercials and cartoons, but not as many young people listen to it as much as they do pop, rock, country, rap, ect.. at least, that hasn't been my experience? I'd love to be in a place where more kids listen to metal.

I imagine it would be a magical place.

Judas Priest is basically a household name now. Damn there are best ofs on the end caps of Wal-Mart isles. That band is pretty damn well known by adults and kids alike. I'm sure there are many "kids" who listen to Judas Priest. And isn't the progression still from pop band, to Hot Topic, to Dragonforce or whatever they are pushing that day, to being a seasoned metalhead the next day? Surely all these kids see Priest and come to know them. if not purely for ironic reasons.

 

[J. Golden]

Well, relatively speaking having two commercials out of the hundreds of thousands feature metal music isn't saying much since i can name at least three that Journey have been in. When Apple runs a metal band's song for an iPhone or iPod commercial then we know we might be making some waves. However for as much exposure as country music has with it's video channels and reality programming you would think that genre's sales would be stronger overall.

Also, never claimed you to be positive but you made a bold statement so i had to look it up, because never in my years at BB's did we ever sell more metal than pop/rock in any single day.

I'm not comparing commercials, I'm saying that someone has to like it an advertise must figure there is some kind of popularity to use it in commercials.
Oh, and the simple fact they use Priest, Scorps, Ozzy is because people will recognize it. And before you go to the but cars are market towards older people argument; well I'm sure we can find other product if we took time to look.
What I'm getting to is that it is not as bad as some might make it out to be. Seriously most of the bands tossed around here like Primal Fear are as popular in the U.S. as the would have been 20+ years ago. Metal is right were it has really always been just the look has changed. And just like back then some sub-genres of metal are not as popular now like long ago, but that is not saying there is no popularity.
But I could be wrong seeing the Slipknot shirts still, strangely even a Dark Angel one day. And I probably have no basis for comparison to decades past either you know since I wasn't there.

 

[TribunalRecords]

I imagine it would be a magical place.

It is a magical place, especially when Justin Gaines' young son talks about Iron Maiden and attempts to show me videos i watched as a kid. Now that is awesome.

 

[TribunalRecords]

I'm not comparing commercials, I'm saying that someone has to like it an advertise must figure there is some kind of popularity to use it in commercials.
Oh, and the simple fact they use Priest, Scorps, Ozzy is because people will recognize it. And before you go to the but cars are market towards older people argument; well I'm sure we can find other product if we took time to look.
What I'm getting to is that it is not as bad as some might make it out to be. Seriously most of the bands tossed around here like Primal Fear are as popular in the U.S. as the would have been 20+ years ago. Metal is right were it has really always been just the look has changed. And just like back then some sub-genres of metal are not as popular now like long ago, but that is not saying there is no popularity.
But I could be wrong seeing the Slipknot shirts still, strangely even a Dark Angel one day. And I probably have no basis for comparison to decades past either you know since I wasn't there.

But the songs they use in commercials are played every day on commercial radio. so it's not really shocking to hear "Rock You Like A Hurricane" in anything since i am pretty sure that cracked the top 30 back in 1984. those are big pop songs when metal was pop music. you and i both know there was a time when metal was "popular" in the masses. i saw bands play to 15,000+ at the Spectrum in my teens and they were selling MILLIONS of albums each, basically "pop music" because it was accessible to everyone at that time.

things changed, unless you can recall when the last metal album sold over 8,000,000 units like Whitesnake "Whitesnake"

Metal has never really been this stagnant sales and popularity wise. it grew in the 70's then blew up in the 80's and died out and then eventually leveled off for the last 20 years. but it has diversified within those 20 years. it was easier in the 80s you either like thrash, heavy metal or hair metal and those were the choices definitely not like it is now.

 

[Diabolik]

I'm not comparing commercials, I'm saying that someone has to like it an advertise must figure there is some kind of popularity to use it in commercials.
Oh, and the simple fact they use Priest, Scorps, Ozzy is because people will recognize it. And before you go to the but cars are market towards older people argument; well I'm sure we can find other product if we took time to look.
What I'm getting to is that it is not as bad as some might make it out to be. Seriously most of the bands tossed around here like Primal Fear are as popular in the U.S. as the would have been 20+ years ago. Metal is right were it has really always been just the look has changed. And just like back then some sub-genres of metal are not as popular now like long ago, but that is not saying there is no popularity.
But I could be wrong seeing the Slipknot shirts still, strangely even a Dark Angel one day. And I probably have no basis for comparison to decades past either you know since I wasn't there.

Ok, finally....this is something that I can beat anyone in with a debate. This is the field I work in. You have to remember though.....most people who were into Priest / Maiden / Sabbath in the 80's as kids are now older and working in creative fields so they are going to use stuff they know or at one time liked. I am sure the guys who did the ad with the Priest song in it was or is still a fan and thought that it would be a great sound clip for the ad.

I see hundreds of commercials a day and I can easily say....there is very few with metal in them. The Stanley Steemer ad with Twisted Sister is one I see a lot, and some with generic metal riffs in the music too but not many use the metal music as the forefront of the ads. Unfortunatly metalheads are deemed as idiots in most advertising and are stereotypically used as the "dumb guy" in some ads.

Metal has bleed into mainstream culture. Now with the internet any genre of music can. Even on TV, as mentioned before...many metal stars are on shows or have had shows. Unfortunatly all kind of made as the joke to laugh at or shown going over the top with excess.

There have been some cool things I have come across on cable though. In HDnet they have metal concert weekends where they have Judas Preist, Megadeth, and some other live HD concerts. On this other music channel they have a couple of the euro fest on there mainly with stuff like Anthrax, and more MTV style metal. There was a show on that channel that went to different music fest around the world and they did cover Waken but didnt show many bands.

But back to the thread at hand.

People are talking about the crazy dates that SkeletonWitch are doing. If anyone was around in the early 90's punk / hardcore days. Bands did this all the time. As pre-internet days, touring was the main way to get your music out there. There were some bands who lived on the road and played in front of small crowds each night. This isnt new. We all sit and debate over a small turnout but this has been going on for decades.

 

[nomisofsiman]

You have to remember though.....most people who were into Priest / Maiden / Sabbath in the 80's as kids are now older and working in creative fields so they are going to use stuff they know or at one time liked. I am sure the guys who did the ad with the Priest song in it was or is still a fan and thought that it would be a great sound clip for the ad.

Beat me to it. Exactly what I was thinking.

 

[Justin G]

It is a magical place, especially when Justin Gaines' young son talks about Iron Maiden and attempts to show me videos i watched as a kid. Now that is awesome.

You're a good sport about it though. Tell me more about this Iron Maiden you've discovered, young man.

 

[Pelata]

The reason Judas Priest and Journey are used in car commercials, insurance commercials, etc is that the target audiences for those commercials are late-30s, early 40-s who remember those songs and who need cars and insurance now...it's age demographic...not because it's popular.

If we recall, the use of "Electric Eye" was in a mini-van commercial, with a 30-something guy carrying milk out of a grocery store...it was trying to show "us" (old guys) that it's OK and somehow cool to by a mini-van now.

It's the same as 10 years ago when Led Zeppelin was being used to sell cars. 10 years from now, there will be Green Day songs selling cars.

 

[dcowboys311]

The fact remains that there are still metal bands who sell out amphitheaters regularly. Metal still sells in the millions. Everyone knows, to an extent, what metal music is. It generally has its own section in record stores. There are restaurants, tv shows, and movies that at the very least, reference metal, or are entirely dedicated to the genre. Just because it is not the MOST popular does not mean it is not popular. Someone else having a $300,000 car does not mean the person with a $200,000 car has a cheap, valueless POS. Most musical genres will never reach 1/10 of the popularity metal currently has.

 

[dcowboys311]

i saw bands play to 15,000+ at the Spectrum in my teens and they were selling MILLIONS of albums each, basically "pop music" because it was accessible to everyone at that time.

things changed, unless you can recall when the last metal album sold over 8,000,000 units like Whitesnake "Whitesnake"

Bands still do play to 15000+, just look at Mayhem festival or Warped Tour or whatever. Is it the exact same type, the exact same style, the exact same anything as it was 25 years ago? No, and find me one genre of music where that holds true. Or for that matter, movies, tv shows, anything. Tastes change, things evolve, you can't expect stagnation or blame your nostalgia on the industry. It still happens, a lot.

 

[TribunalRecords]

Bands still do play to 15000+, just look at Mayhem festival or Warped Tour or whatever. Is it the exact same type, the exact same style, the exact same anything as it was 25 years ago? No, and find me one genre of music where that holds true. Or for that matter, movies, tv shows, anything. Tastes change, things evolve, you can't expect stagnation or blame your nostalgia on the industry. It still happens, a lot.

You are describing touring "festivals" not like concerts of the 80's. TWO BANDS would draw 15,000-20,000 a night. Very different. Bands who do it regularly in 2012 are bands who did it back then like Maiden and Kiss (again with 2 to 3 bands on the bill). Priest played NC on that last tour and i bet drew less than 8,000 and this was "farewell" tour if i remember correctly.

Yes, those Rockstar festivals draw big numbers, but because they have 15-20 bands on two stages. Collectively with the bands on the bill and their respective and mutual fan bases they are able to draw those kinds of numbers. Some people go to those things because of "the event" itself, like attending PP for some people. Festivals in the 80's usually drew over 50,000 an event, but were not touring festivals. US festival on the metal day drew 375,000 i believe setting a record with only 7 bands.

I am not placing any type of blame, just saying the metal bubble burst in the 80's when popularity was at an all time high and had been growing throughout late 60's and 70's. This is history and how it went down. My nostalgia is what it is of those years, but the numbers and attendance speaks for itself. it became "popular" and somewhat mainstream and dominated MTV. it is nowhere near as big as it was then. that is all i am saying, and it's not opinion. it's fact, numerically speaking based on record sales and ticket sales of the genre on a whole.

You can just scroll through those top selling metal albums and see the numbers for stuff in the 80's. and yes this probably is skewed because of accumulative sales since then, but the bulk of sales came when the albums were first released.

I love metal and have lived my life since i was 12 enjoying it went to college and then took a career in it since 1993. it is and will be my life until it can do so no longer. I am a lifer, but i am also aware of what the genre has done since my youth. yes, 30 million metal albums sold in 2011 is nothing to shake a stick at for sure and is nice to see however.

http://www.theaceblackblog.com/2009/12/music-all-time-best-selling-heavy-metal.html

 

[TheLongshot]

I think what some people don't realize is that Judas Priest is now Classic Rock.

 

[dcowboys311]

You are describing touring "festivals" not like concerts of the 80's. TWO BANDS would draw 15,000-20,000 a night. Very different. Bands who do it regularly in 2012 are bands who did it back then like Maiden and Kiss (again with 2 to 3 bands on the bill). Priest played NC on that last tour and i bet drew less than 8,000 and this was "farewell" tour if i remember correctly.

Yes, those Rockstar festivals draw big numbers, but because they have 15-20 bands on two stages. Collectively with the bands on the bill and their respective and mutual fan bases they are able to draw those kinds of numbers. Some people go to those things because of "the event" itself, like attending PP for some people. Festivals in the 80's usually drew over 50,000 an event, but were not touring festivals. US festival on the metal day drew 375,000 i believe setting a record with only 7 bands.

I am not placing any type of blame, just saying the metal bubble burst in the 80's when popularity was at an all time high and had been growing throughout late 60's and 70's. This is history and how it went down. My nostalgia is what it is of those years, but the numbers and attendance speaks for itself. it became "popular" and somewhat mainstream and dominated MTV. it is nowhere near as big as it was then. that is all i am saying, and it's not opinion. it's fact, numerically speaking based on record sales and ticket sales of the genre on a whole.

You can just scroll through those top selling metal albums and see the numbers for stuff in the 80's. and yes this probably is skewed because of accumulative sales since then, but the bulk of sales came when the albums were first released.

I love metal and have lived my life since i was 12 enjoying it went to college and then took a career in it since 1993. it is and will be my life until it can do so no longer. I am a lifer, but i am also aware of what the genre has done since my youth. yes, 30 million metal albums sold in 2011 is nothing to shake a stick at for sure and is nice to see however.

http://www.theaceblackblog.com/2009/12/music-all-time-best-selling-heavy-metal.html

Maybe so but let's face it, the headliners of those touring 'festivals' would draw close to the same number regardless. Slipknot and Disturbed don't need help selling tickets, Marilyn Manson/Rob Zombie are playing at the same venue as the Mayhem fest fairly soon, you get the point.

Yes if you're including everyone from Jimi Hendrix to AC/DC, Aerosmith to Led Zeppelin, Staind to Limp Bizkit, ZZ Top to Nirvana as 'metal' like that article you linked does, then yes, metal sales have not only fallen but are already buried and gone. Just wish I could find a similar article with actual metal numbers

 

[DuchessOfDork]

I think what some people don't realize is that Judas Priest is now Classic Rock.

This.

 

[Diabolik]

You are describing touring "festivals" not like concerts of the 80's. TWO BANDS would draw 15,000-20,000 a night. Very different. Bands who do it regularly in 2012 are bands who did it back then like Maiden and Kiss (again with 2 to 3 bands on the bill). Priest played NC on that last tour and i bet drew less than 8,000 and this was "farewell" tour if i remember correctly.

Yes, those Rockstar festivals draw big numbers, but because they have 15-20 bands on two stages. Collectively with the bands on the bill and their respective and mutual fan bases they are able to draw those kinds of numbers. Some people go to those things because of "the event" itself, like attending PP for some people. Festivals in the 80's usually drew over 50,000 an event, but were not touring festivals. US festival on the metal day drew 375,000 i believe setting a record with only 7 bands.

I am not placing any type of blame, just saying the metal bubble burst in the 80's when popularity was at an all time high and had been growing throughout late 60's and 70's. This is history and how it went down. My nostalgia is what it is of those years, but the numbers and attendance speaks for itself. it became "popular" and somewhat mainstream and dominated MTV. it is nowhere near as big as it was then. that is all i am saying, and it's not opinion. it's fact, numerically speaking based on record sales and ticket sales of the genre on a whole.

You can just scroll through those top selling metal albums and see the numbers for stuff in the 80's. and yes this probably is skewed because of accumulative sales since then, but the bulk of sales came when the albums were first released.

I love metal and have lived my life since i was 12 enjoying it went to college and then took a career in it since 1993. it is and will be my life until it can do so no longer. I am a lifer, but i am also aware of what the genre has done since my youth. yes, 30 million metal albums sold in 2011 is nothing to shake a stick at for sure and is nice to see however.

http://www.theaceblackblog.com/2009/12/music-all-time-best-selling-heavy-metal.html

what I love Matt is people who were like 5 years old or not even born yet telling people who were actually there in the 80's how things were. This always cracks me up. There is a handful of us who were there back then and know how mainstream culture took to it.

 

[dcowboys311]

what I love Matt is people who were like 5 years old or not even born yet telling people who were actually there in the 80's how things were. This always cracks me up. There is a handful of us who were there back then and know how mainstream culture took to it.

I don't really get how this makes sense at all since you have a thread full of people who can't even agree on how things are, with near unlimited access to information, let alone how things were with not nearly as advanced communication. This is like saying that anyone who was in the Vietnam war must be an expert and know everything there is to know about it when that's pretty clearly not true at all and many historians who came after the fact with the resources to do so learned so much more.

Nobody here is playing revisionist history, this time anyway, just talking about the current, as in 3 decades after the 80's, state of metal, that we're all living through.

 

[DuchessOfDork]

what I love Matt is people who were like 5 years old or not even born yet telling people who were actually there in the 80's how things were.

I remember being really jealous when my brother went to see Cinderella and wouldn't take me with him. When he went to the army, he left behind a Poison bandana and an Anthrax t-shirt. That's about all I got from my brief stint in the 80's, having been born at the time.

 

[Diabolik]

I don't really get how this makes sense at all since you have a thread full of people who can't even agree on how things are, with near unlimited access to information, let alone how things were with not nearly as advanced communication. This is like saying that anyone who was in the Vietnam war must be an expert and know everything there is to know about it when that's pretty clearly not true at all and many historians who came after the fact with the resources to do so learned so much more.

Nobody here is playing revisionist history, this time anyway, just talking about the current, as in 3 decades after the 80's, state of metal, that we're all living through.

It matters alot actually. You can read about something but to experience it is a whole different thing. Sure you have no control over when you were born. But for someone who was there, it is always funny hearing from someone who wasnt on how things were...90's included. You can read people blogs or postings about it, but it is not the same.

Actually I would listen to a war vet who was in Nam than some geek who researched it. It reminds me of the movie Heartbreak Ridge, when the one guy who was book smart tried to outdo Clint Eastwood who actually had combat experience. The General took Eastwoods word since he has gotten dirty before and knows what most "researchers" could never know. Sure this isnt the same extreme but same ideoligy.

I know lots of people who think since metal was popular that all these classic bands played large shows and money was flowing in like crazy. Sure for some it was but like today....it wasnt.