XM babysteps into Progressive Power Metal

[TheLongshot]

Starting Monday, February 18th, 2008 the Boneyard will serve up some "Bone Fragments"...

12p & 11p ET Mondays - Ballad Salad (4 ballad songs)

12p & 11p ET Tuesdays - Bone Clones (4 cover songs)

12p & 11p ET Wednesdays - Live Bone (4 live songs)

12p & 11p ET Thursdays - Power Prog (4 progressive/power songs)

12p & 11p ET Fridays - Hair Force (4 hair band songs)

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Yeah, it is only four songs a week on Thursdays, but at least it is something. I think some of us were hoping for some full fledged shows by now, rather than "Bone Fragments". It is rather disappointing that we still aren't getting Shredders back. That would improve things a lot.

Jason

 

[Meteornotes]

It fascinates me that both satellite radio services, which claim they don't pay attention to any sort of ratings, refuse to have any sort of prog or non-screaming modern metal station. I keep hoping, though...

dt

 

[ashaman7122]

I don't subscribe to any satellite radio, nor know much about it, but I spent around 7 hours at a friend's house playing poker yesterday, and he had The Boneyard on the whole time...and I was totally impressed.

Aside from the occasional Warrant, Def Leppard, and Bon Jovi song, I heard deep album cuts from bands like Love/Hate, Grim Reaper, Maiden, Overkill, Sabbath...I can't even remember now...but just a true rocker's paradise. At one point, as I emerged from the bathroom, ready to start a new game, I heard Astral Doors being played. We were making a lot of noise, but I heard some DJ going through the motions of putting on a show profiling different bands, and he played more Astral Doors, Gamma Ray, Primal Fear, Pagan's Mind, etc.

Again, I have no idea what the program was or if it is a regularly scheduled thing...but that program, and the whole day of The Boneyard in general, made for a great evening of background entertainment while I was taking the mortgage payments away from my (mostly) non-rocker friends...

Rock on!

 

[Mooseknuckle]

Depends on the DJ. There's a dude named Kevin Kash (I think) who plays some decent stuff. He seems to like Circle II Circle and Helloween alot. I've heard him play Brainstorm, Edguy and Primal Fear as well. Of course Eddie Trunk is a huge Dream Theater fanboy and he occasionally plays stuff from Stratovarius and Gamma Ray. It would be nice if XM had a Prog channel or even just a prog show on Boneyard

 

[TheLongshot]

Again, I have no idea what the program was or if it is a regularly scheduled thing...but that program, and the whole day of The Boneyard in general, made for a great evening of background entertainment while I was taking the mortgage payments away from my (mostly) non-rocker friends...

Rock on!

You probably heard the Breaking Bone Hour, which is on Sundays and plays new music of all sorts. They've played Redemption, Sonata Arctica and even Nightwish. Unfortunately, a lot of that stuff doesn't end up making the regular rotation.

One band that they do play a lot of is Iced Earth. Unfortunately, it is mostly from the last two albums. On very rare occasions you can hear a Barlow track. Blind Guardian actually gets some decent play.

After a slow start, Kash has done a good job mixing in obscure stuff with the more popular stuff and playing some new stuff as well. It isn't perfect, but it is at least listenable.

Jason

 

[steelreign]

It's for this very reason that I don't subscribe to those satellite radio companies. It's a fucking waste of money. My wife has it, and everytime I get in the car, all I ever hear is the same shit day after day, and it's stuff I've heard a billion times before. The programmers there need to get off their ass and put down their bongs and start seeing that there is more to life than 80's metal. Don't get me wrong - I love 80's metal as much or more than the next guy, but at least play something that isn't played everyday!!

 

[Metal Zealot]

It's for this very reason that I don't subscribe to those satellite radio companies. It's a fucking waste of money. My wife has it, and everytime I get in the car, all I ever hear is the same shit day after day, and it's stuff I've heard a billion times before. The programmers there need to get off their ass and put down their bongs and start seeing that there is more to life than 80's metal. Don't get me wrong - I love 80's metal as much or more than the next guy, but at least play something that isn't played everyday!!

I know exactly what you mean. My wife bought me Sirius Radio for Christmas and I'm finding out that the satellite stations do have limited playlists just like regular FM radio, only a little larger. Athough it is a little refreshing to hear at first compared to FM radio, I am ultimately disappointed that satellite radio still has a lot of uncharted musical territory that they desperately need to explore.

I'm a little annoyed that these stations (and the general public) seems to think that pretty much the only forms of metal released after 1992 are death/black/doom/nu-metal etc. I have no problems with extreme metal (which seems to makes up 90% of Sirius Hard Attack station), but I would also like to hear stations that specializes in Progessive and Power Metal, as well as newer Hard Rock/AOR, etc. Maybe soon.

 

[TheLongshot]

It's for this very reason that I don't subscribe to those satellite radio companies. It's a fucking waste of money. My wife has it, and everytime I get in the car, all I ever hear is the same shit day after day, and it's stuff I've heard a billion times before. The programmers there need to get off their ass and put down their bongs and start seeing that there is more to life than 80's metal. Don't get me wrong - I love 80's metal as much or more than the next guy, but at least play something that isn't played everyday!!

I think the problem you run into is that most of the customers out there aren't like you or me. They aren't very adventurous and are pretty set as far as what they want to listen to. They want the greatest hits of 80s hair.

Actually, I think Da Boneyard has come a long way. It used to be that you'd hardly get anything new, and what there was was from bands from back in the day. While the previous PD, Logan, would play some pretty obscure stuff, he'd eskew most new stuff and have some odd preferences.

There has been some growing pains with Kash, but his mix is getting better. It will probably never be what we want, because the retro guys will always want that stuff, but there is enough there to keep me interested. Course, I listen to XM because there is a variety of programming I like. (Unfortunately, less so than it used to be, since they cut two of my favorites.)

Jason

 

[steelreign]

I think the problem you run into is that most of the customers out there aren't like you or me. They aren't very adventurous and are pretty set as far as what they want to listen to. They want the greatest hits of 80s hair.

Oh, I understand that. And sometimes, that's fine by me to hear all the 80's hair hits at a party or as background music. But, look at some of the other channels on there... they seem to cater to 'niche' audiences, so why not post-80's metal (that is really metal, not the psuedo-metal they play on Hard Attack, etc...)? To me, there seems to be a massive void between, let's say, Ozzy, G'nR, and White Lion and the occasional good tune on Hard Attack like Overkill, Testament, etc. Someone at Sirius or XM has to realize that there are literally hundreds of great bands that encompass both the power metal and the progressive metal, as well as trad metal, that they are missing out on. Maybe it's up to people like us to voice our frustrations so that our opinions may be heard. Question is, would it be falling on the deaf ears of corporate mentality?

 

[TheLongshot]

Oh, I understand that. And sometimes, that's fine by me to hear all the 80's hair hits at a party or as background music. But, look at some of the other channels on there... they seem to cater to 'niche' audiences, so why not post-80's metal (that is really metal, not the psuedo-metal they play on Hard Attack, etc...)? To me, there seems to be a massive void between, let's say, Ozzy, G'nR, and White Lion and the occasional good tune on Hard Attack like Overkill, Testament, etc. Someone at Sirius or XM has to realize that there are literally hundreds of great bands that encompass both the power metal and the progressive metal, as well as trad metal, that they are missing out on. Maybe it's up to people like us to voice our frustrations so that our opinions may be heard. Question is, would it be falling on the deaf ears of corporate mentality?

Actually, I've seen XM going away from some of the niche programming. Since I started subscribing, Special X (Wierd), On The Rocks (Lounge), XM Music Lab (Progressive Rock and Jam Bands) and for a brief time, XM Liquid Metal (Heavy - Extreme Metal) all disappear from the airwaves. There also have been an increase in "greatest hits" stations like Big Tracks and Lucy. (Not to mention the Clear Channel channels they were forced to put on because of their lawsuit, which was part of the death of XM Music Lab.)

I've actually been very vocal in the past, so much so that I actually got invited to XM headquarters and got to speak my mind to Lee Abrams. I'm not sure if I had that much effect but the guy who has taken over Da Boneyard at least has an interest in new music, which in my eyes is a win. The fact that some of this stuff is now going to be played on a regular schedule is another win. They may be small ones, but I'll take them.

Jason

 

[TheLongshot]

For those interested in what they played today:

Noon
(I think I missed the first song)
Hammerfall - Titan
Grave Digger - Forecourt To Hell
Keldian - Heart Of The Sun

11PM
Pink Cream 69 - I'm Not Afraid
Paganize - Dark
Redemption - The Suffocating Silence
Ruffians - I Believe

Jason

 

[mëtålspëd]

I am not sure if it is a regular thing or not, but I was driving around last Friday... at noon I think, and they had a whole hour of progressive and power metal on 'Hard Attack'. They played some Queensryche, Dream Theater, Iced Earth, BG, Demons & Wizards, and some others. I was blown away.