Gimmicks aplenty
Here are a few bands and the gimmicks they used. At the end I either put a plus if I thought that the gimmick worked or a minus if I thought it didn't. Feel free to add any gimmicks of bands you liked or didn't like.
Manowar-This New York band dressed in fur loin cloths and pretended they were some Conan the barbarian type warriors. Lots of songs about ancient battles, dragons and such. They might only be able to play small clubs here, but they are absolutely huge in Europe and they have been around for 25 years. It's goofy, but it's worked for them. Other bands play, Manowar kills.Plus
Life, sex and death-Our singer is a homeless person, oh, how clever these guys were. This LA band did one album in 1992 with a singer they claimed was a homeless person they brought off the street. His name was Stanley, he was dirty, dressed in a shabby ill-fitting suit and sang completely out of tune. The music may have actually been worse.Minus
Crimson Glory- Long before Slipknot this Florida band wore masks from the mid 80's until the early 90's. Not horror masks, but metallic looking masks. The masks got smaller over time, but everyone I talked to about them invariably went "Oh, the band that wears masks". This is a shame because they were a decent progressive metal band, but I think the masks were ultimately a distraction. Minus
Tankard- German speed metal band proclaims themselves as the "Kings of beer". They have had such songs as "For a thousand beers", "Puke", "Beermuda" and "Space beer". Every album has a few or more songs about drinking. This band's debut came out in 1986 and album number fifteen is due out in May. They may be silly, but they stuck to what they wanted to do and I give them credit for that. Plus
Stryper-This LA band claimed to be a Christian band and to go with their name they wore yellow and black stripes for about six years. They were successful at this as they peaked around 1986. However in 1990 they released an album called "Against the law". They got rid of the stripes (which was good), and they started trying to look scruffy and tough. They also said in interviews that the Christian image was all a fake and that this was the real Stryper. The album did not sell well as the alienated their former fans, but the music was essentially the same so they didn't bring any new fans in either. Minus
Running Wild- Prior to their third album, this German metal band decided to take on a pirate theme and they did just that on 1987's Under Jolly Roger. They have kept the pirate theme around ever since and they are still around with a strong following in Europe. I like pirates and I think this gimmick only helped the band.Plus
Manowar-This New York band dressed in fur loin cloths and pretended they were some Conan the barbarian type warriors. Lots of songs about ancient battles, dragons and such. They might only be able to play small clubs here, but they are absolutely huge in Europe and they have been around for 25 years. It's goofy, but it's worked for them. Other bands play, Manowar kills.Plus
Life, sex and death-Our singer is a homeless person, oh, how clever these guys were. This LA band did one album in 1992 with a singer they claimed was a homeless person they brought off the street. His name was Stanley, he was dirty, dressed in a shabby ill-fitting suit and sang completely out of tune. The music may have actually been worse.Minus
Crimson Glory- Long before Slipknot this Florida band wore masks from the mid 80's until the early 90's. Not horror masks, but metallic looking masks. The masks got smaller over time, but everyone I talked to about them invariably went "Oh, the band that wears masks". This is a shame because they were a decent progressive metal band, but I think the masks were ultimately a distraction. Minus
Tankard- German speed metal band proclaims themselves as the "Kings of beer". They have had such songs as "For a thousand beers", "Puke", "Beermuda" and "Space beer". Every album has a few or more songs about drinking. This band's debut came out in 1986 and album number fifteen is due out in May. They may be silly, but they stuck to what they wanted to do and I give them credit for that. Plus
Stryper-This LA band claimed to be a Christian band and to go with their name they wore yellow and black stripes for about six years. They were successful at this as they peaked around 1986. However in 1990 they released an album called "Against the law". They got rid of the stripes (which was good), and they started trying to look scruffy and tough. They also said in interviews that the Christian image was all a fake and that this was the real Stryper. The album did not sell well as the alienated their former fans, but the music was essentially the same so they didn't bring any new fans in either. Minus
Running Wild- Prior to their third album, this German metal band decided to take on a pirate theme and they did just that on 1987's Under Jolly Roger. They have kept the pirate theme around ever since and they are still around with a strong following in Europe. I like pirates and I think this gimmick only helped the band.Plus
posted by Metal Mark at
7:57 AM
6 Comments:
The Stryper thing always killed me. And now the ex-singer from Creed with all of it's Christian undertones scrambling to keep his sex vid off the net. Crazy.
Stryper actually did a reunion album last year called Reborn.
Fred-I like the King too although I prefer Mercyful Fate to his solo stuff. Although I do think his gimmick may have scared away major labels in the late 80's when he was at his peak.
Well, we've discussed Life, Sex, and Death before...I still liked them.
As far as Stryper goes, did they actually say the whole Christian thing was bogus when "Against The Law" came out? I remember they were certainly trying to downplay the whole religion angle, but I don't recall them saying it had been just a gimmick, either.
Strutter-Stryper did say this in interviews with metal magazines. If I remember right, their label Enigma went under a few months after Against the law and the band broke up shortly after that. Michael Sweet was back on the christian rock scene as a solo artist just a few years later. I think they have been back together (3/4 original line-up) for a few years now and I believe they are doing christian rock again.
Ben-Thanks. I have only heard a few Tankard albums and they are decent, but it sounds like they haven't exactly grown a lot over the years. The new album is called "Beauty and the beer".
geez... i am so out of touch
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