The "No B.S." Interview

[ICEDEARTHFAN]

I don't live in northeast Alabama so I can't say this with certainty, but I'm willing to bet that the high school kids are less interested in bands with members their grandparent's age (such as Priest) but still are all about garbage bands like Trivium, Job for a Cowboy, etc. Metal is still popular...just not the type that was popular 25 years ago.

But what music from 25 years ago still has the same popularity today as it did then?

I'll give you a couple of bands that are worshipped in my area from way back:
Led Zepplin,Aerosmith,Van Halen,Journey,Motley Crue.Don't get me wrong,I realize those bands are legends.But I use them to ask this question: Why are they considered still cool by kids today and Priest or Ozzy or insert band here is not?The radio stations where I live played metal all day long and then poof it was gone unless it was considered classic rock.You may be right on the bands you mentioned about kids today being into around here.I'm too disgusted with them to ask.........

 

[Claus / Intromental]

.. but still are all about garbage bands like Trivium, Job for a Cowboy, etc. ...

Wow, that's some blanket statement right there. I don't (duh!) agree with you on this - in my opinion Trivium kicks major ass!

c.

 

[AngraRULES]

Wow, that's some blanket statement right there. I don't (duh!) agree with you on this - in my opinion Trivium kicks major ass!

c.

Coming from someone who worships Stomrwarrior, I'm not surprised he hates Trivium. I kinda lost track on them, though. I love Ascendancy. Hated The Crusade.

How was Shogun?

 

[ICEDEARTHFAN]

Wow. I actually agree with you for once. And the truth of the matter like I and you said is power and prog have never been popular in the US. Priest and Maiden? yeah but they were nwobhm. In the US it's pretty much thrash, metalcore, some death and some black.

That's another thing I don't get.Why wouldn't Power Metal have gotten popular since it fits with the metal that was popular back then? I mean you have your power metal bands that have that nice smooth singing voice that could fit a 80's hair band.Then you have your more aggressvie power metal that would seem to come from thrash.I just never understood why it never took off.To me if you like Bruce Dickinson's voice,you should love a lot of Power Metal bands.I think Bruce would have been a great power metal singer.Halford to with all the screaming he can do.

 

[dcowboys311]

I'll give you a couple of bands that are worshipped in my area from way back:
Led Zepplin,Aerosmith,Van Halen,Journey,Motley Crue.Don't get me wrong,I realize those bands are legends.But I use them to ask this question: Why are they considered still cool by kids today and Priest or Ozzy or insert band here is not?The radio stations where I live played metal all day long and then poof it was gone unless it was considered classic rock.You may be right on the bands you mentioned about kids today being into around here.I'm too disgusted with them to ask.........

Halford's openly gay.
Ozzy's openly braindead.
Maiden is very fantasy based.

Those other bands are all sex, drugs, and rock and roll.

It's not hard to see why a 16 year old kid would prefer that group of bands over the metal bands.

 

[dcowboys311]

Coming from someone who worships Stomrwarrior, I'm not surprised he hates Trivium. I kinda lost track on them, though. I love Ascendancy. Hated The Crusade.

How was Shogun?

Well I wouldn't quite say I worship them as they have only 74 plays in my last.fm library.
I do think they are the best power metal band Glenn has booked in years.

I just prefer my metal to not be so...watered down.
Give me Morbid Angel any day and I'll be happy.

 

[ICEDEARTHFAN]

Halford's openly gay.
Ozzy's openly braindead.
Maiden is very fantasy based.

Those other bands are all sex, drugs, and rock and roll.

It's not hard to see why a 16 year old kid would prefer that group of bands over the metal bands.

Good points.But if radio decided to revert back to the old formula would that change kids minds on those bands? I think today's kids are saturated with the other metal bands of today just like I was back in the 80's with hair bands.16 year olds are easily influenced with what they hear on a daily basis.My former supervisor HATED the 80's and loved the 90's.But he let me listen to the Boneyard on XM because he was just a nice guy.At first he laughed when I would sing along in the warehouse with Iron Maiden but it actually grew on him and there were some songs he began to like.He was 33 at the time.If he can be influenced at that age,I think today's kids could also.I know I'll never live to see radio "Go Metal" again,but I'm just speaking hypothetically about radio helping kids today disregard anything else.

 

[Claus / Intromental]

Coming from someone who worships Stomrwarrior, I'm not surprised he hates Trivium.

Right, but "GARBAGE"? That's just a stupid word to use.

I kinda lost track on them, though. I love Ascendancy. Hated The Crusade. How was Shogun?

Shogun is way more technical and heavy that The Crusade. I really love it, think it might be their best yet. Oh, and this is kind of funny, because in another post the other day you mentioned that you never saw anyone but Persefone writing about Japanese warriors/ninjas/shoguns etc ... well, guess what "Shogun" is about? hehehe

 

[General Zod]

I've tried doing this actually. The unfortunate thing for me is that most of my friends and people I know just aren't that into metal, and those who are HATE power and prog it seems.

Aside from the friends I have through the online Metal communities, I have no friends who are into Metal. Which if you think about it, makes sense. If we each had six or seven friends who were as passionate about Metal as we are, we wouldn't have come online and struck up conversations with complete strangers.

To date, I've only made one recruit; my youngest brother. He attended his first PP last year, loved it, and will be returning this year.

 

[nomisofsiman]

Wow, that's some blanket statement right there. I don't (duh!) agree with you on this - in my opinion Trivium kicks major ass!

c.

I'm with you there, Claus, but for some reason Trivium seem to be one of those bands people either love or HATE!!!! Personally I feel they're one of the more talented bands out there, at least of those who are gaining some success.

 

[nomisofsiman]

That's another thing I don't get.Why wouldn't Power Metal have gotten popular since it fits with the metal that was popular back then? I mean you have your power metal bands that have that nice smooth singing voice that could fit a 80's hair band.Then you have your more aggressvie power metal that would seem to come from thrash.I just never understood why it never took off.To me if you like Bruce Dickinson's voice,you should love a lot of Power Metal bands.I think Bruce would have been a great power metal singer.Halford to with all the screaming he can do.

I agree. I've never understood it and it's not like all of them are keyboard driven either. I could understand why some don't like keyboards added to the mix but let's face it if Maiden came out nowadays they would be considered power metal. Period. But yet people love Maiden but then will hate on power metal.

Good points.But if radio decided to revert back to the old formula would that change kids minds on those bands? I think today's kids are saturated with the other metal bands of today just like I was back in the 80's with hair bands.16 year olds are easily influenced with what they hear on a daily basis.

Yeah and I think part of the problem too and it's from my experience from other people I know is that a lot of people tend to associate metal nowadays to gutteral and screaming vocals, so people automatically say "I hate metal." When, realistically, that is not the only brand of metal, just the only brand of metal it seems that is promoted in the US for some reason. A lot of people don't realize that a lot of metal bands still have singers.

 

[ICEDEARTHFAN]

Yeah and I think part of the problem too and it's from my experience from other people I know is that a lot of people tend to associate metal nowadays to gutteral and screaming vocals, so people automatically say "I hate metal." When, realistically, that is not the only brand of metal, just the only brand of metal it seems that is promoted in the US for some reason. A lot of people don't realize that a lot of metal bands still have singers.

I agree.That's why I quit going to Ozzfest.Every year,more and more bands were the gutteral screams like you are talling about.It just got too much for me.I wonder what Iced Earth would be like as far as popularity goes if they would have played Ozzfest?

 

[compurocker]

Yeah and I think part of the problem too and it's from my experience from other people I know is that a lot of people tend to associate metal nowadays to gutteral and screaming vocals, so people automatically say "I hate metal." When, realistically, that is not the only brand of metal, just the only brand of metal it seems that is promoted in the US for some reason. A lot of people don't realize that a lot of metal bands still have singers.

Totally agreed. I have had the same experiences with people.

But it's no surprise. The metal bands that have gained any sort of popularity lately (whether through music video airplay, radio airplay, tours like Ozzfest, places like Hot Topic, etc) have been mostly harsh vocals. The layman hasn't had much exposure to metal with clean vocals. So it's understandable they'd think all metal has harsh vocals.

With next to no radio play (even on satellite, only one station, plays a lot of harsh vocals) and dwindling CD availability at brick and mortar stores, it takes a little extra work to be a metal fan (opposed to alternarock, country, pop, and rap which are all fairly ubiquitous), especially of clean vocals. Thanks to Last.FM and iTunes it's a little easier these days but those are still barriers to entry for a lot of people. Now that we can carry the iTunes store (or Zune Marketplace) in our pocket and services like Last.FM and Pandora are coming to other entertainment devices like video game systems and car audio systems, those barriers are getting smaller by the day.

Maybe there's hope yet for metal to make a comeback.

 

[AngraRULES]

Shogun is way more technical and heavy that The Crusade. I really love it, think it might be their best yet.

I'll check it out then. Been on my "to check out list" but I never have for some reason.

Oh, and this is kind of funny, because in another post the other day you mentioned that you never saw anyone but Persefone writing about Japanese warriors/ninjas/shoguns etc ... well, guess what "Shogun" is about? hehehe

Hmm.... A really awesome, lightning fast type of shotgun that's so fast that you don't even notice the T on it?

 

[DADRocks]

Glenn, I see you hesitate on a band like Gotthard because of turnout for bands like PC69. I came just for them, and because of them I haven't missed a ProgPower since. You may not have a full house for a band like Gotthard but you may grab others that keep buying because of the great time they have. Just my opinion though.

 

[KingsGene]

This is quite true. I also first found out about PPUSA because of finding out PC69 was playing there and have not missed one since either...

 

[adaher]

That sounds right. It is certainly possible to have a band not be very popular with the majority of fans at the fest, yet gain a high number of net new fans who come just to see the melodic rock band.

 

[General Zod]

Glenn, I see you hesitate on a band like Gotthard because of turnout for bands like PC69.

And you can't discount that PC69 sucked balls live. Myself, my wife and few other friends were all quite psyched for their ProgPower performance, which just lacked any energy whatsoever. They looked like old men up there. Regardless, none of that should be read as me having any interest in Gotthard. They sound like every generic L.A. Metal band that started releasing discs just as Metal tanked in the late 80s. However, I wouldn't mind seeing bands like Fatal Smile or Hardcore Superstar at ProgPower.

 

[The Invisible Guest]

I don't know why, but they were lackluster at Prog Power. I know they have it in them to be excellent live .. their DVD is great.


Britt

 

[Harvester]

They sound like every generic L.A. Metal band that started releasing discs just as Metal tanked in the late 80s. .

Totally baffled at that statement.

Anyhow...I cannot remember if you like the Eagles or not, but if so, then check out "D-Frosted."