The Best of Friends (Use your Appetite)

Picture this:

A young Axl and Slash playing merrily in the woods. It's a strange combination, and yet the friendship comes naturally to one another... Big Mama looks on:

Young Slash: Bill, you're my best friend. 

Young Axl: And you're mine too, Saul.

Young Slash: And we'll always be friends forever. Won't we? 

Young Axl: Yeah, forever.

I imagine that the Guns and Roses guys were very gang-like in the beginning. Axl probably punched people for talking shit about Slash and Slash probably threw up on anyone talking shit about Axl. They were brothers in a scene that was predominantly hair metal. Guns and Roses were outcasts bonded by their mission.

Being a bit of a narcissist, Axl probably knew he would be famous one day. His troupe was the perfect storm of misfits for his high pitched squealing. They created something equal parts dangerous and beautiful along the way.

When Guns found an audience on a large scale, they rose to the top quickly. It took the world a while to catch on initially as "Appetite for Destruction" was out for over a year before it reached critical mass. Released in June of 1987, it peaked in August of 1988. By today's standards, a young band would have been dropped if a label had to promote their album for over a year, and certainly the masses would have moved on.

Appetite did hit, and it hit hard. It has since sold over 30 Million copies and is the 13th best selling LP of all time.

They were pure rock and roll the way we wanted it. Dirty, controversial, messy and awesome. None of them were really ready for what fame and fortune brought along with it. Sex, drugs and Rock and Roll. They lived it up in the media and in their personal lives. The latter was definitely their undoing, but some of us lucky fans got a front row ticket to the fireworks playing out in the media...  

Watching the band implode was strange. Steven Adler was fired after the EP "Lies" for being the most screwed up in a gang of screw-ups. Izzy left right after the release of the long awaited full length follow-up(s) to Appetite, and the band started to unravel. In just a few years, Axl was the only one left...

Steven Adler stated recently that Slash and Axl are the equivalent of Mick and Keith or Joe Perry and Steven Tyler. I always thought that Izzy was the glue, but I really don't know squat about how that camp worked. I do know that Slash was not happy by the time of the "Spaghetti Incident," and felt his time with GnR was up.

The rest disbanded shortly after.

As fans, we know the rest. There have been several releases by the original Guns as solo artists, bands, cameos and even a re-vamped version of Guns and Roses featuring Axl (and only Axl).

Axl Rose has seen many a musician come and go out of the band who's namesake he kept. The fans care, but they don't care enough to stop showing up at shows put on by Axl under the moniker. The album his revolving team worked on for 14 years  (The Chinese Democracy) cost 13 Million to make and sold just under 3 Million copies globally, and most of us have never heard a note of it.

Of course there were fights highly publicized in the press over the last several years. Axl and Slash have been very vocal about never reuniting. By all accounts, they hated one another.

Fast forward to today. The boys are talking. Rumor mills are working overtime. The latest rumor is an offer of $100 million to reunite for 1 year of touring. That's a hard amount to ignore.

All of these guys are worth a kabillion dollars already, but to earn enough in one tour to retire the grand-kids seems a little too good to turn down. With that kind of bling, creating some magic should be a whole lot easier. They can fake it for all I care. 

I hope it does happen. It's should happen while we are all young enough to celebrate it. All of these guys have matured into sober, active adults, and the fans across the world deserve some closure from my generations Rolling Stones.

My fingers are crossed. If Axl and Slash are playing nice, there is hope.

Nago.

Mallet of the Half-God

I met Jason Bonham at a meet and greet a few years ago during one of his "Led Zeppelin Experience" shows. It was a pretty standard package: a photo op, a signed drum head and few nice words exchanged. The line of fans waiting to meet Jason was informed beforehand that we could not touch him, and he would remain seated. This made pictures a little akward, but he seemed very cool and genuine with the select few that chose to spend the extra money.

After the meet and greet, he then blew the faces off the theater crowd with almost 3 hours of live Led Zeppelin music. All was forgiven for the strange photo op as soon as the lights went down. Who wouldn't want to see the son of John Bonham, the legendary skins behind Led Zeppelin, play his dad's music with a full production and excellent musicians?

Maybe it's not for everybody, but if I'm asked to see a tribute show, I'd be less likely to say "um, no" if there was some actual linage to the artist (hence: you probably won't catch me at an Austrialian Pink Floyd show).

Jason keeps his dad's memory alive through his live performances. The surviving members of Zep think of him as family, and have supported his career in many ways over the years. Jimmy Page invited Jason's band Virginia Wolf to open for The Firm's 1986 tour. Jimmy then used him as his drummer during his "Outrider" album and tour in 1988.

Since then, Jason's recording and stage credentials include Paul Rogers, UFO, Foreigner, Joe Bonamassa, Black Country Communion, his own band "Bonham," and very occasionally, with a group of Britts called Led Zeppelin.

Jason would love the opportunity to be the full time drummer in his fathers band, but that just won't ever happen. Robert Plant will not play full time in a Zep without John Bonham. He acknowledges Jason's natural talent, but respectfully declines. John's loss is too great of a barrier for him, even 35 years after his death.

As someone who has followed Jason's career since it basically started, I have seen him mature as a talent and more importantly, as a human. I say that because he created a legendary reputation as a party animal, on par with that of his father, during his first 20 years of adulthood as an performer.

Jason was convinced he would die at the age of 32, because that's what dad did. He tried his hardest to kill himself with alcohol, creating a trail of stories and drunken memories along the way. He was notoriously out of control on more than one occasion.

Then he did something unexpected: somewhere around 2002, he got sober. He did it for his family, but subsequently did it for the world as well.

 

I read somewhere that Jason had his moment of clarity in a pub watching a woman drop off a child with a drunk father sitting at the bar.If that is true then I'm sure he thought about his own children (he has 2). 

He reached out to his wife and asked for help. As someone who has hit rock bottom a time or two in my own life, I imagine that was the hardest call he ever made.

I heard an interview with Jason after he announced his sobriety publicly, so I put him in my war chest of inspiration for finding some clarity of my own. Believe it or not, I actually do have a mental list of iconic people that have chosen the "clean living" path, and I think about them quite a bit, especially Jason. The quote I remember from him was something like "it only took me 35 years to figure it out." It has taken me 40, and I still struggle given the right triggers, so I absolutely respect his honesty and dedication.

Today, 14+ years sober, he is proud. It is mentioned in every interview and discussed openly alongside questions about Led Zeppelin. Jason never dodges any questions about either.

It can't be easy being the son of a legend, especially if you have chosen the same path as your father. There is no way to eclipse, transcend or escape John Bonham. A lesser man would succumb to the demons, but not Jason. He embraces his fathers legacy. I am sure John would be proud.

Most recently, Jason can be heard pounding the skins behind Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony on the Live album "At Your Service" from the supergroup "The Circle." I have listened to this album, and unless they are playing a Zep tune  (which they do) you forget it's Jason playing. 

That's the test of how good Jason really is. He plays Alex Van Halen just as good as he plays John Bonham. He pounds out Hagar solo material and Montrose songs with ease. According to Vic Johnson (The Circle's amazingly experienced, but virtually unknown guitarist), Jason also handles any sampling from behind the kit (cue the string slides on "Whole Lotta Love.")

No two drummers play exactly the same. I do notice a difference between Jason and John when I hear Jason play. Maybe it's swing? I can't really put my finger on it exactly, but there is no other person alive better to carry on John's legacy, regardless of the project he is involved with.

Jason is a multi-millionaire. He doesn't have to work, let alone put himself out there as the one person from the Zep camp consistantly performing the classic material Live. He chooses to do so. The fact that he also plays other material outside his Dad's history is a testament to his passion for his craft.

In regards to the The Circle, I am glad they exist. The Sammy Hagar era of Van Halen needs to be played and not ignored. These guys do it justice, and Vic Johnson is a beast with amazing guitar tone. His story and history is a pretty wild ride itself. From playing Funk-Rock with BusBoys to hip-hop with Dr. Dre's as Dre's house guitarist during the early years of Aftermath, Vic is a bit of an unsung legend in his own right.

Both Led Zeppelin and Van Hagar are big parts of my soundtrack, and I really like having a mash-up of both in a live setting. It's a best of both worlds scenario, so I give it all of my love.

The band is solid, and if they come within 5150 miles of wherever I am on any particular day, I'll go see them to celebrate some great classic heavy music. 

Nago

Life Imitates Art, and a Chevy Van Imitates Molly Hatchet.

Some music nerds already know that the coolest piece of art ever put on the cover of an Album is called "The Death Dealer."

As an original painting, the "Death Dealer" was the work of artist Frank Frazetta done in 1973. The work was propelled into the Rock Music mainstream after being adopted by the southern rock band Molly Hatchet as their self titled debut album cover.

The record, which was 100% Southern Rock stylistically, eventually reached certified Platinum status, but aside from a few solid tracks, that figure was probably based heavily on the artwork featured on the cover. It grabbed attention, and made you want to hear this band.

It was an interesting marketing strategy and cool concept for Molly Hatchet, but had absolutely nothing to do with the band it helped propel to stardom. A Viking riding a horse being used to sell swamp music? It's a little confusing, especially in an era of Black Sabbath and Judas Priest using dark imagery to sell dark music. In comparison, Molly Hatchet was pretty upbeat.

I imagine that if you were 10 to 30 years old in 1978 and browsing through a record store, you flirted with buying this album, because it was the most rad fucking thing you ever laid eyes on. It just looked evil in an era when evil looking stuff was cool.

It was their follow-up "Flirting with Disaster" that is remembered more frequently, selling Double Platinum with equally confusing cover art featuring a Viking running at the listener. The title track is probably their definitive song and is a staple on classic rock radio across the U.S. 

Molly Hatchet cut their teeth in the gator country of Jacksonville Florida. Forming in the midst of the 1970's southern rock scene, they caught the attention of Lynryd Skynyrd, who subsequently offered Hatchet use of 8-Track recording equipment for demoing. Ronnie Van Zant (Skynyrd vocalist) was even rumored to produce Molly Hatchet's debut album, but fate had other plans for Ronnie, falling victim to the plane crash that took 3 members of Skynyrd in 1977.

Molly Hatchet helped to fill the southern rock void left by the demise of Lynyrd Skynrd alongside other bands of the era like Blackfoot. They did enjoy some popularity early on in their career, but given that the band came at the end of Southern Rock's mainstream run, they found themselves adapting to heavier sounds. By their third album, "Beating the Odds" the trends had changed, and they were becoming a borderline Southern Metal band. The title track from the third LP is a great example of how much these guys rocked, embracing a harder edge which was a little more in tune with the artistic direction depicted on their album covers.

Molly Hatchet is still an entity today. Unfortunately, the legacy of the band is marred with lineup changes and confusion. The singer that brought them to fame, Danny Joe Brown passed away in 2005 to renal failure, a compilation do to a diabetic condition that followed him since he was a boy.

To this day, the art is still iconic. It has been the muse for novels, graphic novels (one even penned by Glen Danzig), adopted by the U.S. Army III Corps as their symbol, and of course airbrushed onto the side of hot rod vans in another strange trend of the 1970's.

The artwork was in no way the first depiction of fantasy art to be put on a album cover. It was one of the coolest of the time and most popular by far. Many musical acts followed the lead of this style of art, and honestly still do. It definitely had influence and helped bring a little evil to the mainstream, and for that reason, it should be celebrated and continue to live on through other works.

In a time before music videos, kids could throw on some headphones, drop a needle and stare away at album art. Listening to, and really bonding with, a musical artist was an experience that involved a bit of imagination. I personally would rather check out some art like "death dealer" than stare at some bare chested meat head wanking a guitar pose on an album cover. 

It the case of this particular work of art, it was cool enough to have airbrushed onto the side of a "Go Van" or "Shaggin' Wagon" complete with a bed, shag carpet and personalized amenities associated with the short lived Hot Rod Van fad. I've seen examples where people actually installed mirror balls and chandeliers into their customized toys.

It seems like a huge amount of money to spend to try to impress someone enough to get laid in a parking lot. American pop culture is fascinating. We are, and always have been, sorta weird.

Nago

3-1/2 years of Blog.

I write my scribblings because I'm driven to do it. Other then social media, I don't really advertise it or spend a bunch of time promoting it, mostly because I don't do it for any self serving purpose other than to write.

I add a little about me in each one, but again, I don't expect anyone to really take much from it, except maybe the knowledge that I'm passionate about Music and Writing.

I write about music because I'm full of useless information. It's the form of art that speaks to me most, and I tend to be a little OCD about what I like.

It always surprises me when people reach out and interact with me about something I've written. If you are one of them, thank you. It means a lot to know that people actually do read the words I write, and are kind enough to say so.

In truth, the last 3 years of writing has yielded over 8000 page views, and I assume not all of the views are from my kin. So I say thank you if you are someone who actually reads or has read this little blog, either by accident or on purpose.

As far as the content goes. I choose to lean toward classic rock and classic Metal for a reason. Today's music fan has the ability to tear apart everything from their basement or apartment with little regard to the person they are attacking. I've been on the wrong side of that a time or two, and I have nothing to add to that conversation. I've had classic Metal fans bash me pretty hard, so it's not exclusive to the current wave, but I am not a glutton for punishment. I leave that arena to the people that feed on negativity. 

I am not against criticism, but I don't actively seek bad vibes over some words written on the Internet. Writing about current metal trends tend to lead into that sinkhole.

Besides that, writing about music history soothes my old soul. Classic Metal and Rock is important for many reasons. With today's music business being so funneled, a lot of what I write about is a look into a time before downloading bankrupted record companies.

I also still think there is something cool about a loud distorted guitar NOT playing at breakneck speeds. Keep in mind that my own shitty playing is Thrash oriented, so I can say that and not have it be a diss on shredder guitar players. In fact, I love Metal in 2015 just as much as I loved Metal in 1987, and for the same exact reasons. It's mine. Shredding guitar is like Bob Dylan to me (kudos to you if you get that reference). Just like any good metalhead, I'm not growing out of it. Sometimes I may even write about it. 

I also dive into Star Wars and other stuff when it feels right to do so, again it's about writing just as much as telling a story. The best stories write themselves, and my muses can be any number of things.

In conclusion, I'll keep writing, please keep reading, but most of all, thank you.

Nago

#1 with a Live Bullet

I've kept track of how many copies of Bob Seger and The Silver Bullet Band's "Live Bullet" I've had over the years.

It's at least 6. 

The first copy was dubbed for me by my broseph, Shane. He thought it important that I keep well grounded in Rock Music, and even through our generation, and us, were all about Thrash Metal. Shane was the first friend I had that had an old soul like mine.

He turned me on to Neil Young, Bob Seger, Cat Stevens, and a good portion of Classic Rock Radio before our town had a Classic Rock Radio station. One step further, there was no media outlet for the music of a generation past, but my friend was passionate about the music spun for him by his parents, who were hard core Bikers.

I like to think that I am smart, and even though that's not really up to me, I'll say that I was smart enough to understand how damn good most of this material was. One LP that I really fell for was "Live Bullet."

Personally, I believe that this LP may be the best of the Live LP craze. Way cooler than the pretty boy Peter Frampton "Comes Alive" record usually given that crown. 

"Live Bullet" is different. It takes the vested listener on a journey into Rock, Blues, Funk and Soul at the hands of an underrated Rock Demi-God, Bob Seger.

Live albums were becoming very popular in the mid-70's. The idea of a Live LP was nothing new, but the popularity of a recorded live experience was reaching new heights. It was a glimpse into what was perceived as a night of amazement, and for the listener, you could almost imagine the excitement of actually being there, wether it be onstage, or in the audience.

Advances in studio magic allowed artists to fix mistakes and add crowd noise to enhance the experience. As Paul Stanley puts it "the memory of the experience, and the actual experience are completely separate things." I agree with him.

For the first time since Little Stevie Wonder hit the radio with "Fingertips" in '63, artists actually became stars based on Live tracks. Frampton, Kiss and Cheap Trick all reached new heights based on live work, and for a few years, everybody had a live Album.

Back to Bob Seger. Bob was a huge star in Detroit, and virtually unknown across the rest of the world. He had minor radio success, but was not a large enough name to play anything but large clubs outside of his home state. 

According to Wiki:

The success of Seger's music at this time, however, was highly regional, with Seger still remaining quite unknown even in adjacent media markets such as Chicago. In June 1976, for example, Seger played the Pontiac Silverdome in metropolitan Detroit at a historic concert that also included Point Blank, Elvin Bishop, and Todd Rundgren. 78,000 people were in attendance and the concert lasted until nearly 1:30 a.m. The next night, Seger played for fewer than a thousand people in Chicago.^[2]

This seems impossible by today's standards of entertainment and media, nationally anyway, but very much the norm at the time. Bob broke big not long after this with "Night Moves," and the world was better for it. Bob stands for Americana the same way Mellencamp and Springsteen do, at least to me he does, and "Live Bullet" is a masterpiece of American Rock.

Today, any Classic Rock station worth a shit will have two tracks from this album as staples in their playlists : Beautiful Loser / Jodie Girl, and the timeless "Turn the Page." 

I love this LP enough to have purchased, liberated or stolen at least 6 copies (2 vinyl copies (one from my mothers collection, and one from a flea market) Kaza, my dubbed copy from youth, a CD and lastly from I-Tunes). 

Time has justified how good this was, and in 2001 the album was certified 6x Platinum. Not bad for a little group of guys from Detroit. 

I'm going to have another listen today as I work on the yard and a couple of projects.

Dreaming like young man, with the wisdom of an old man.

Nago

Dying Gods, coming into Human Flesh

It's inevitable, heroes get old. They get sick, retire and eventually walk that Stairway to Heaven just like the rest of us.

Black Sabbath have announced their final tour due to Iommi's health issues, Lemmy stopped a Motörhead show recently because he couldn't play, again due to health issues, Halford basically lost his ability to move, a factor in JP retiring from touring, and the list goes on.

Not every rocker gets to go down in a blaze of glory. I believe that none of them really want that anyway. It's human nature to idolize and make martyrs of the talented individuals that are taken too soon. Randy Rhoades, Dimebag, Bonzo, Bon Scott and countless others are perfect examples of rock and roll martyrs, and rightfully so, but more often our heroes get to die AFTER they get old, which is how it should be.

I'm afraid that we are on the cusp of seeing this first hand in a big way, but in an effort to stay out of morbid territory topically, I'd like to not get into the mud of all that. Rather, maybe celebrate a few timeless icons who still bring it even though traditional thinking says they should be in recliners and house shoes, reading the funnies on a Tuesday afternoon.

Paul McCartney: 73, may have been more active in the last 5 years then he has been in the prior 30, and absolutely still bringing it live! He pulls out all eras of his career in celebration, and he actually still writes and records!

Iggy Pop: 68, and still in freakishly good shape. The Stooges have been touring frequently since reuniting in 2004 (after a 30 year hiatus), and Iggy is still crazy as ever, complete with stage diving.

Steven Tyler: 67, and starting a country career. He still sounds great, and still performs his ass off. In a way, his little beard makes him look less like a freakish grandmother, which is a very good thing.

Mick Jagger: 72, still touring, still doing the funky chicken, still tasting that sweet brown sugar night after night. You go Mick.

Keith Richards: 71, Keith looks like an extra on The Walking Dead, yet he still makes headlines. He shouldn't talk shit about Metal (recently dissing' Black Sabbath and Metallica as "jokes"), but he's 40 years out of touch, so we give him a pass.

Bruce Springsteen: 65, and not only still playing, he stays in touch with music beneath him (cue the Gasslight Anthem). Bruce is a worker, and I doubt he'll ever stop.

Alice Cooper: 67, has publicly stated that he won't consider retirement until Mick Jagger retires, and then he has another 10 years to go. Opening for the Crüe this year is a classy move, proving humility exists. 

The legends do what they do best, and are rewarded for it. There are countless other examples (I want to be as young as Rick Springfield when I'm 66), but maybe another blog on another day.

Drink plenty of water.

Nago

KISS ALIVE is 40, just like me.

I had the opportunity to have a long overdue re-listen to KISS ALIVE today through my ridiculously sweet noise canceling Vic Firth head phones while plugging away at a very trying spreadsheet.

I figured, why not? After all, the band is celebrating the release's 40th anniversary, and I am a wanna be member of the KISS ARMY. 

The listen is overdue because KISS is one of those bands that I can still enjoy dusting off old records and rocking out to. There is absolutely always something I missed. 

KISS pre-dates me in age by a few months, so they were under my radar until I was 11. The make-up-less "Animalize" was my introduction, and hearing them Live consisted of watching the Animalize tour video on VHS. 

In many ways, KISS was one of the first bands that set me on a path of geeking out on a bands history. I found them in 1985, but as a band "Animalize" was their 12th studio release, and 14th overall release (give or take) so they had this huge back catalog just waiting for me to unlock. Given the enormity of the catalog, I never really did invest enough time into most of the early material, but I did find that Destroyer and Love Gun were beast LP's, and Creatures of the Night is still my favorite KISS release, all of which were discovered by me between the ages of 11 and 14.

I had Alive II on vinyl back then as well, and I thought it ripped, but beyond the "hits" on ALIVE, I can't honestly say I ever bonded with the topic of today's blog with any regularity.

I first blogged about KISS in Feb of 2012, and at that time I was digging on the first 3 LP's. The takeaway from that blog and exercise was understanding the groove these guys had very early on, and the impact it had on Groove Metal, mainly Pantera.

So today, 3-1/2 years later, I put the virtual needle down on ALIVE, and again I am smitten by Baby KISS, which makes sense given that ALIVE was basically live cuts of primo material from their first 3 studio releases.

Paul Stanley refers to early KISS musicianship as virtu-no-shows, and that's true, but there is something that I love about the raw nature of the early years. Rock and Roll shouldn't be perfect, and Paul so elegantly says that what you remember, and what it actually was, are two completely separate things. He is absolutely right.

"She," "Parasite" and "Got to Choose" are great, but I was really impressed by "C'Mon and Love Me" on this listen.

No one will ever touch Paul's stage rap, and hearing Peter's sticks click and unplanned sloppy rim shots during the drum solo, both on "100,000 Years," are super cool.

This was KISS, warts and all, and even though it was "fixed" in the studio, it's still the band before production really took them to polished professional heights.

So, Happy Anniversary ALIVE. Thanks for being my background music on this stress filled day.

Nago

Coronation.

Many years ago, I became a converted Queen fan. Today, I still believe that Freddy Mercury is one of the best Rock singers to have ever graced this planet. Maybe the best, period.

I'll also admit that I am not overly impressed with the vocal weirdness of Bohemian Rhapsody, which is so often sited when the rock elite talk about Freddy's brilliance. I understand that the song was an achievement both in concept and execution, and that multi tracking took a huge step forward because of Freddy's work, but the truth is that the song itself is a bit too Broadway for my tastes.

I think Freddy shined brightest when he was straight up killing it vocally. I could watch Queen at Wembley on repeat and not get tired. It's that damn good.

Queen were at their prime at that stage in their career, and even though America mostly had moved on, the rest of the world saw the band turn into the monster they were really meant to be. 

Recorded on July 12th, 1986 during the Magic Tour, this second show of a 2 night stint was viewed live by approximately 72,000 blessed fans lucky enough to be there. 

It should be said that this was a small crowd for the band during this era, playing to 350,000 in Rio the prior year, and several shows with over 100,000 in attendance during a two year tour cycle.

If you've never seen the video for this concert, watch it immediately. It's all over YouTube. The crowd participation in Radio GaGa alone is chilling, but Freddy is on fire.

Sadly this would be Queens last tour with Freddy, but with that in mind, they absolutely went out at their peak.

I got to see Queen when they toured with Paul Rodgers as their vocalist. It was an amazing night, but just not the Magic it would have been 20 years earlier.

Freddy was two months shy of 40 years old at the time of taping, but he was ageless and his performance showed the world that a talent of that caliper was timeless. It's still amazing today. The world has not seen his equal.

Brian May is a legend guitar player and Queen always was a very solid Rock band. Brian's signature sound, also never duplicated, was the perfect backdrop for the voice, personality and presence of Freddy Mercury, but Queen was the sum of its parts. Brian, John, Roger and Freddy were the perfect muses for one another.

Very few people do exactly what they were meant to do in life. Freddy and Queen were one of the exceptions. 

Happy Birthday Freddy. RIP.

Nago

His wings turn to ashes, to ashes his wings.

I was sitting in a sales meeting in 2007 (or so) listening to a pitch on a new software program the company was considering. It was a radical change from what we were using, but supposed to make reporting easier for the bean counters.

During this presentation, I noticed pretty early on that all of the example customers listed on the slides were named after members of Iron Maiden. Best part was that was that the presenter was not in on the joke. Someone else had made this presentation for him. Loser.

I immediately started doing the same thing to my presentations when it was feasible to do so. I try to keep my presentations on point, so I don't have a ton of opportunity to add a Mr. Harris to a slide very often, but it has happened, and will happen again. 

That's the best part of loving the underground, we heads tend to notice stuff like that.

Today Iron Maiden released its 16th studio Lp "The Book of Souls." Worldwide, it's a big deal. In America, it's basically under the radar that Maiden is still around unless you are like me and still care about Metal and the band that every metal head respects and loves. 

Maiden is cool like that. No matter what genre you follow, you probably love Iron Maiden in at least one of its incarmations. I can honestly say that I've never heard anyone say "Maiden Sucks."

If you are not a metal fan or if you live in the USA, you may not realize that Iron Maiden is one of the biggest names in music worldwide. They play Stadiums to millions of people each time they tour. Not Sheds (average outdoor American venue), not Hockey or Basketball Arenas, Stadiums, across the world. 

In the last 7 years, they have played to over 6 Million fans in 3 Tours. The last of which grossed over $69 Million at the box office. In comparison, U2 made $72 Million on their last tour. Both tours started in 2012. That's pretty good company.

Since their inception, the band has played in 59 countries and over 2000 shows.

Beloved is an understatement.

But why?

In order to have that kind of impact, you need to carve a new path. Maiden has proceeded to do so with consistency and dignity for 40 years. Sure, there's a few missteps here and there, but a few bad offerings over a 40 year span is completely acceptable.

In the beginning, they definitely had the "it" factor musically. It was completely different then, just as it is now. There are people today that still worship the early years. It's amazing that a fan base will argue over the era of band gone for 35 years, but Maiden fans are like that. Of course I'm talking about the Paul Di'Anno era. If you don't know the difference, I'm not the one to explain it. Just know that it was different than the Maiden that put out "Run to the Hills."

Fans get mad at them for other reasons, mainly for not playing the '80's material at every show. Bruce Springsteen gets the same heat from his fans too. The thing is, they don't have to play old stuff, the fans will show up no matter what.

I'm all about nostalgia, but I love seeing a band play other material besides the normal 30 year old song you'd expect. One step further, in the case of Iron Maiden, my favorite LP is 2006's "A Matter of Life and Death." It's amazing from start to finish, and if not for my son Kameron, I might have wrote it off. Old schoolers will call me crazy for saying that, but I bet they've never given it the chance they gave "Number of the Beast."

That's the other thing about Iron Maiden, they are generational. They will always draw fans of all ages.

The visual is a legend all its own. A mascot, never really explained beyond its evil presence. Is Eddie a zombie, mummy, alien, time traveler, or monster? He has existed in several points in time according to the artwork, but besides all of that, he is the best visual compliment mascot a band has ever had. 

It's very American to not be in the loop on things like Iron Maiden. As a society on whole, we can really be pretty simple with our entertainment choices. To each his or her own. I know I couldn't even begin to understand the appeal to booty rap club music, and the kids that are into that are none of my business.

So there it is. I buy Iron Maiden LP's, and I'll buy this buy this one too. I'll buy it unheard and hope for the best.

In conclusion.... up the irons and stop wasting time.

Nago

7th Subgenre of a 7th Subgenre

What is a Subgenre? Websters defines it as follows:

1.

a lesser or subordinate genre : 

a subgenre of popular fiction.

It's literally exactly what it should be, a genre within or under an already existing genre, hence the "sub" portion of the compound word.

However, headbangers worldwide have taken the term to new and ridiculous heights. In the musical Genre "Metal," or the less used old school phrase "Heavy Metal," the ludicrous amount of subgenres, along with the titles of said subgenres, have become a game that really is pretty difficult to try to master.

Movies and print have been dedicated to the topic, but the genres are ever evolving, and quickly the info changes.

The need for the subgenre in the Metal world, and the titles that separate the classifications, were somewhat understandable at first, but in order to understand it today, you sort of have to live it.

I feel like some others that have written about subgenres, really reached to created subgenres that didn't exist until they made it so. Looking backward and plugging in genre names in hindsight is something that isn't necessary. It's easy to say Black Sabbath is Doom Metal, but in 1969, it was heavy blues, and once the term caught on, it was Heavy Metal. 

It could be argued that originally the term Heavy Metal was specifically describing a subgenre of Hard Rock, which was actually a subgenre of Rock and Roll. Heavy Metal described the bands that were a bit heavier than the radio rock of the day. The idea of "heavy" was much more than just guitar distortion, it encompassed an attitude as well.

Led Zeppelin sounded nothing like Black Sabbath, Kiss sounded nothing like Deep Purple, and Judas Priest sounded nothing like Queen. The lines were blurred back then. The 70's were a simpler time because a music fan could like Floyd, Skynyrd and Zep and still be considered cool by his peers, and absolutely be considered a Heavy Metal fan.

At the same time, Punk Rock (yet another subgenre) was on the rise. Both Punk and Metal had distortion and roots in rock and roll, but generally speaking Punks and Heads didn't really get along.

Punk subgenres and Metal subgenres started around the same time, but Punk really divided quickly. Hard Core Punk, was very raw, much heavier and was in response to the New Wave movement some of the Punk bands of the day capitalized on (Blondie, Talking Heads etc) and the commercialization of the genre's big bands (The Clash). 

At the same time, Metal really was finding a voice and a direction. NWOBHM (New Wave of British Heavy Metal), which was heavily influenced by Judas Priest and UFO, was really the first defined subgenre of Metal. Iron Maiden stood on top of that movement.

On the other side of the Atlantic, Los Angeles bands, led by Van Halen, somehow adopted the Heavy Metal name and really set the course for the next 10 years of the genre.

Iron Maiden had very little in common with Motley Crüe, yet they were lumped into the same category at the record store. 

The first subgenre I was aware of was "Thrash Metal."

Thrash was a direct descendant of Punk and NWOBHM. It included, and was championed by, the "Big Four" bands of Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer and Anthrax, yet was also heavily influenced by the likes of Venom and Motörhead.

It was important for this era to separate itself from what eventually became known as "Hair Metal." At the time, it was all considered Heavy Metal, yet couldn't have been more polar opposites in content and aggression.

Hard Core Punk started to cross a line into the Metal world, and dropped the Punk suffix, same as Metal dropped the Heavy prefix eventually.

Doom, Progressive Metal and Black Metal existed in content early on, but they weren't given solidified genre names until some point in the late 80's/early 90's. Death Metal came along in the 80's, and was quickly defined as such (a rarity in the early metal world).

The subgenres of today are directly related to other subgenres crossing each other, or at very least incorporating an element of a metal subgenre into an exiting music style. Confused? Yeah, me too.

DJENT is a category named after the actual guitar sound prevailing in the song structure, so that is an easy one, but before DJENT was DJENT, it was dangerously considered Math Metal, but it also needed to seperate from other bands that were more Prog and called Math Metal.

Nu-Metal, which started its life as Rap Metal actually charted for a few years, and Metal Core rose up the chain to a lesser degree as well.

Technical Thrash, Technical Death Metal, Grind Core, MetalCore, Industrial Metal, Stoner Metal, Folk Metal, Symphonic Metal, and so on.... It's hard for me to get my head around it all. I'm positive that I'm not the only person who can't imagine a young Metal Head who only listens to Cello Metal.

At the end of the day, diversity in the Metal world is a good thing, but the question remains: can a house this divided actually stand? After all, it's all Metal, isn't it? 

The answer is yes, as Metal lives and breathes through all of its bastard children. Unfortunatly, along with the subgenre and the rise of the Internet, the infighting became a mainstay as well, which is pretty trivial, but just as people need food, water and air, they need something to bitch about. Gone forever are the simple days of Kiss vs Led Zeppelin, which Zepplin wins every time, except for when Kiss wins, and Sabbath Rules.

Sleep well my friends.

Nago.