Ok, I have a question as I have gotten into this argument a lot lately.
Do you people consider 80s glam metal to be metal?
I think is DEFINITELY is. Lets take for example Poison and Motley Crue as glam metal bands, and Scorpions and W.A.S.P. as heavy metal bands...
The only real difference between these bands is that the glam bands have more pussy vocals and cleaner production. The riffs are the same style, solos the same, same big rock beat, and same attitude (except glam metal is sleazier).
I think to deny glam as being metal, would also deny nearly all 80s "Heavy Metal" except for maybe Maiden, Priest and Manowar, which were more originators of power metal I think, as being metal also... which is almost saying heavy metal didn't exist until the birth of thrash, which is completely stupid.
To me, music styles are defined by attitude more than anything else. It's the reason why fans are attracted to that style of music, because it has the same attitude as that person. The attitude of metal has always been about fun/fantasy/escapism I think. Even death and black metal are about that, but in a much more violent and extreme form.
This is where I have a problem calling bands like Slipknot metal. To me, they are much closer to hardcore punk than heavy metal. Their music is based on chaos, aggression, and noise... the guitars are there just as backing like in punk, where as in metal they are the driving force of the music, the vocals are aggressive and screamed, and the lyrics are anti-social about how crap the world is. But because it is simply heavy, it is called "metal", while because glam is party music and not heavy, its called "rock".
Glam metal is about a big fist in the air drum beat, rockin' riffs which drive the songs, big guitar solos, catchy choruses, long hair and leather, flamboyant live shows, and escaping into boyish fantasies.
Lyrically, glam metal has the same attitude as heavy metal too. Where glam is about sexual male fantasies and rock and roll, heavy metal lyrics like in Iron Maiden songs are often re-enactments of battle scenes and adventure stories... again male fantasies. And where the lyrics of glam songs are about rocking hard, so are songs by Manowar and Priest... just check out things like Metal God, Metal Warriors, Kings Of Metal, etc...
If you look at the lyrics of Slipknot, its a negative social commentary that speaks of youth rebelling... ("Fuck the world, fuck everything that you stand for" etc..) This is reminiscent of punk bands like the Sex Pistols and hardcore bands like Misfits and Anti-Nowhere League.
To me, and I think most metalheads, the so called "nu-metal" scene is much more a hardcore scene with influences crossing over to thrash and death metal. And also, its important to remember this: why don't hardly any metalheads like "Nu-metal" if it is metal? It would seem strange that nu-metal shows are made up of skaters and punks, MTV followers and grunge fans, and the metal community stays far away from it if it is metal. If it was metal, metal fans would like it! It is also interesting that fans of these bands don't like any heavy metal except for a bit of thrash! (And this would be because thrash metal has influences in hardcore punk)
I think "The Decline Of Western Civilization Part 2: The Metal Years" highlights it the best. Alice Cooper says that heavy metal is the rock and roll of the 80s. Kiss refer to heavy metal as rock and roll. Ozzy Osbourne says that heavy metal is rock n roll. My point? 80s HEAVY METAL WAS ROCK N ROLL! And because now since grunge killed metal in the mainstream in the early 90s, metal is a much more serious and technical underground style of music that has lost most of it's rock n roll attitude, people forget that 80s heavy metal was rock n roll and judge the 80s stuff by comparing it to '90s styles, and most of these people only consider thrash metal in the 80s (and death metal in the very late 80s) as 80s metal. The rest is just seen as rock, or hard rock. This assumption is already proven wrong by the fact that the term heavy metal was being used before thrash started. In the 1970s, Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Scorpions, Kiss etc.. were regarded as heavy metal, and I don't see why that should change now just because there are new styles of metal.
In summary: glam is heavy metal! 80s heavy metal is heavy metal! "Nu-metal" is hardcore with a metal influence, but not metal! Hahaha.
What do you guys think??
(I think I might save this little piece into a text file so I can send it to people next time I have an argument, I never find the right words in an argument haha).
Do you people consider 80s glam metal to be metal?
I think is DEFINITELY is. Lets take for example Poison and Motley Crue as glam metal bands, and Scorpions and W.A.S.P. as heavy metal bands...
The only real difference between these bands is that the glam bands have more pussy vocals and cleaner production. The riffs are the same style, solos the same, same big rock beat, and same attitude (except glam metal is sleazier).
I think to deny glam as being metal, would also deny nearly all 80s "Heavy Metal" except for maybe Maiden, Priest and Manowar, which were more originators of power metal I think, as being metal also... which is almost saying heavy metal didn't exist until the birth of thrash, which is completely stupid.
To me, music styles are defined by attitude more than anything else. It's the reason why fans are attracted to that style of music, because it has the same attitude as that person. The attitude of metal has always been about fun/fantasy/escapism I think. Even death and black metal are about that, but in a much more violent and extreme form.
This is where I have a problem calling bands like Slipknot metal. To me, they are much closer to hardcore punk than heavy metal. Their music is based on chaos, aggression, and noise... the guitars are there just as backing like in punk, where as in metal they are the driving force of the music, the vocals are aggressive and screamed, and the lyrics are anti-social about how crap the world is. But because it is simply heavy, it is called "metal", while because glam is party music and not heavy, its called "rock".
Glam metal is about a big fist in the air drum beat, rockin' riffs which drive the songs, big guitar solos, catchy choruses, long hair and leather, flamboyant live shows, and escaping into boyish fantasies.
Lyrically, glam metal has the same attitude as heavy metal too. Where glam is about sexual male fantasies and rock and roll, heavy metal lyrics like in Iron Maiden songs are often re-enactments of battle scenes and adventure stories... again male fantasies. And where the lyrics of glam songs are about rocking hard, so are songs by Manowar and Priest... just check out things like Metal God, Metal Warriors, Kings Of Metal, etc...
If you look at the lyrics of Slipknot, its a negative social commentary that speaks of youth rebelling... ("Fuck the world, fuck everything that you stand for" etc..) This is reminiscent of punk bands like the Sex Pistols and hardcore bands like Misfits and Anti-Nowhere League.
To me, and I think most metalheads, the so called "nu-metal" scene is much more a hardcore scene with influences crossing over to thrash and death metal. And also, its important to remember this: why don't hardly any metalheads like "Nu-metal" if it is metal? It would seem strange that nu-metal shows are made up of skaters and punks, MTV followers and grunge fans, and the metal community stays far away from it if it is metal. If it was metal, metal fans would like it! It is also interesting that fans of these bands don't like any heavy metal except for a bit of thrash! (And this would be because thrash metal has influences in hardcore punk)
I think "The Decline Of Western Civilization Part 2: The Metal Years" highlights it the best. Alice Cooper says that heavy metal is the rock and roll of the 80s. Kiss refer to heavy metal as rock and roll. Ozzy Osbourne says that heavy metal is rock n roll. My point? 80s HEAVY METAL WAS ROCK N ROLL! And because now since grunge killed metal in the mainstream in the early 90s, metal is a much more serious and technical underground style of music that has lost most of it's rock n roll attitude, people forget that 80s heavy metal was rock n roll and judge the 80s stuff by comparing it to '90s styles, and most of these people only consider thrash metal in the 80s (and death metal in the very late 80s) as 80s metal. The rest is just seen as rock, or hard rock. This assumption is already proven wrong by the fact that the term heavy metal was being used before thrash started. In the 1970s, Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Scorpions, Kiss etc.. were regarded as heavy metal, and I don't see why that should change now just because there are new styles of metal.
In summary: glam is heavy metal! 80s heavy metal is heavy metal! "Nu-metal" is hardcore with a metal influence, but not metal! Hahaha.
What do you guys think??
(I think I might save this little piece into a text file so I can send it to people next time I have an argument, I never find the right words in an argument haha).
