why in the hell do you listen to metal?

[Black Winter Day]

i mean, as a whole, the genre sucks. let's face it: it died out in the 80's. it is no more. it is an apatosaurus. velociraptor. extinct. all metal amounts to nowadays is either girly, hackneyed "power" metal or overrated, chainsaw shit with vocals that sound like a modern-day al pacino hacking up last night's meal. nobody listens to this "music". it is not popular. the only people who like this "underground" garbage are a few bored people on the internet. the future of music is hip-hop/r&b. get with the times!

so what i'm asking is why do you people listen to this stuff???

 

[NAD]

My god, I never thought of it that way.

Look for my 600+ CD collection on http://www.ebay.com any day now!

:Spin:

 

[JayKeeley]

@BWD - so you got the Negura Bunget CD in the mail then?

 

[Demonspell]

I agree with the sentiment of the post buried within the jokes...that metal as it was once defined is indeed extinct, but that doesn't stop it from being exhumed and put on display repeatedly...

 

[Dark One]

I understand the satirical nature of BWD's post but nevertheless:

Why do you eat ice cream when you know how bad it is for you? Why do you wear a right side up cross when you could wear an upside down cross? Why do you watch sitcoms when you could be reading and learning about Himalayan yak grazing habits?

Because environment does not dictate the personal tastes of those who have the ability to think independently.

 

[Ayeka]

Because I just do. I just like it. It's got enerjy and is great fun. Did that really need explaining? :B

 

[JayKeeley]

This is my opinion today. It will change from day to day:

Most of the metal scene is shit.

The game we all play on a daily / weekly basis is all about filtering the good music from the bad. It's all about nostalgia. We search for albums that will remind us of how we felt the first time we heard Ride the Lightning, In the Nightside Eclipse, Blessed are the Sick, Somewhere in Time, Brave Murder Day etc etc.

Every now and then we strike gold, but for the most part we strike pig doo doo. The thing that is most noticeable to me is all the enormous talent being wasted on shit song writing.

Somewhere along the journey, people got so caught up in learning how to play well that they forgot how to write a good song.

 

[Russell]

Well, to give a serious answer (just because this post made me think about it) - while I believe 45% of the genre is crap, and another 50% is so mediocre I can barely hide my indifference towards it, there's a 5% that I think makes it all worthwhile

 

[NAD]

The game we all play on a daily / weekly basis is all about filtering the good music from the bad. It's all about nostalgia. We search for albums that will remind us of how we felt the first time we heard Ride the Lightning, In the Nightside Eclipse, Blessed are the Sick, Somewhere in Time, Brave Murder Day etc etc.

This is true. The stuff just isn't new anymore, and the really good stuff pays homage to the past. Hence my listening to the more progressive/experimental stuff like Manes, Antimatter, Ulver, etc.

To quote my King Crimson review:

...represents the future sound of metal, something that will take even the best contemporaries in the genre at least 5 years to catch up to...

Just you watch, it will happen. The genre will change as a whole, and it will be for the better. [/optimism]

By the way JayKeeley, I do highly recommend that album to you even though I know you are no big fan of progressive.

 

[JayKeeley]

By the way JayKeeley, I do highly recommend that album to you even though I know you are no big fan of progressive.

I'll take a CD-R. And I promise to buy it if I like it.

And I don't hate 'prog rock' really, I was just a kid who grew up in the 80's listening to Maiden and Ozzy, not Yes and Kansas.

 

[Erik]

Somewhere in Time

Actually, I really wouldn't go searching for albums that make me feel the way I felt when I first heard "Somewhere in Time."

 

[NAD]

I'll take a CD-R. And I promise to buy it if I like it.

And I don't hate 'prog rock' really, I was just a kid who grew up in the 80's listening to Maiden and Ozzy, not Yes and Kansas.

You'll be the first person outside my parents who I'll burn an entire CD for. Just shoot me your address or put a return address on JayKeeley's Power Metal Bonanza Extravaganza CD-R you're sending me.

Yes is only good for the guitar work, and Kansas is only good while rip roaring drunk. King Crimson was and is always more rock than "hey let's play this because it's hard." More groove, less math.

 

[Ayeka]

I still can't believe you guys reviewed a King Crimson album this is the same King Crimson as in 21st Century Schizoid Man and not a random Death Metal band who blagged the name?

 

[NAD]

I still can't believe you guys reviewed a King Crimson album this is the same King Crimson as in 21st Century Schizoid Man and not a random Death Metal band who blagged the name?

Trust me, I won't be sending in any reviews for the flutes and mellotrons, as much as I love that era Crimso.

But believe you me, the new KC is most certainly metal.

 

[Demonspell]

The working title of the album was Nuovo Metal, most likely changed because Crimson is a band that has always disregarded stylistic restrictions and transcended genres...while calling it metal is questionable, what isn't is that Level Five and Dangerous Curves are as heavy as anything I've heard in the last few years.

 

[neal]

i dont like metal.
-neal

 

[JayKeeley]

i dont like metal.
-neal

We noticed.

 

[NAD]

The working title of the album was Nuovo Metal, most likely changed because Crimson is a band that has always disregarded stylistic restrictions and transcended genres...while calling it metal is questionable, what isn't is that Level Five and Dangerous Curves are as heavy as anything I've heard in the last few years.

That would be a very fitting title, but I love the Power to Believe haiku theme. It's not 100% metal, because without those beautiful instrumental tracks it just wouldn't be Crimso. And of course the obligatory Adrian Belew ballad with Eyes Wide Open.

 

[nataservant]

YOU'RE RIGHT!!!! Metal sucks, now where's my tupac?

Anyone want my crappy metal CD's?

 

[Black Winter Day]

wow, these are some great responses for such a smartass topic! this is probably one of the most down-to-earth board at ultimate metal, people who can actually share opinions without being assholes. thanks guys!

anyway, i DO think that when one loves something and is passionate about it (like metal is for us), then it should be constantly scrutinized. when someone keeps doing something merely to do it or out of force of habit, then an undefinable sense of stagnation occurs. what will we be listening to at age 40? the only feasable answer would be "hopefully something i'm passionate about, no matter what genre it is." my musical preferences have changed drastically the past 5 years. who is to say that this won't occur many more times? mutatis mutandis. change makes life interesting. as for me, i still love metal, but i also love a lot of other types of music. whatever moves me. and it looks like this is true with everybody here. i also agree that most music is mediocore or just plain bad, yet sometimes i find myself loving music so much that it doesn't matter, i will still enjoy it (to a degree at least). music is a spiritual experience for me. many people don't see it as such (consider the popularity of rap, dance, r&b, techno and other genres whose purpose mainly serves for dancing or trying to get laid at clubs). not the same thing. . . most people never hit that "next step(s)" while listening to music, they see it only as a momentary excitement. i can only hope in my future days that that does not become me!

anyway, enough rambling on. . . back to the college thing!


(btw i now have a digi camera so if anyone wants to see what the son of satan looks like in sunglasses, just send me an e-mail at jtharbinson@yahoo.com)