Maybe I am not quite like the guy above, but maybe I am in some ways. This is a story about where the tide was shifting as to what music was big. For some reason back in the early 90's I didn't see the huge shift from hard rock/ metal to grunge/alternative as much as maybe others saw it. I was probably just blinded by my love of the music I have enjoyed for so long. Anyway it was 1992 and after four years of working I had decided to go to college at the age of 22. I had heard Soundgarden back in 1989, Alice in Chains in 1990 and Nirvana right when Nevermind came out and I knew about the growing popularity of this music. Yet I guess that I didn't see it as having to be one or the other, but that's what it became. As I went to college I was still wearing Iron Maiden and Judas Priest shirts. It was September of 1992 so I was into stuff that had come out in recent months like Maiden's Fear of the dark, Dream Theater's Images and words, Kiss-Revenge, Testament's The Ritual, Tora Tora's Wild America and Obituary's The end complete for starters.
Headbanger's Ball was still on and Metallica, Guns and Roses, Ozzy and others were still getting shown on MTV during the day. So even though there were more people wearing shirts of grunge and alternative bands, I still saw it as just being more heavy music, but not metal. I guess that I was living in a dream world to some extent. I liked Soundgarden, Faith no more and Alice in chains then. Most of the people I hung out listened to a mixture of hard rock, metal, classic rock, grunge and alternative. Yet most of the people I hung out with had graduated high school in 1991 which was right before Nirvana hit. So maybe it was the high school class of 1992 that saw the change more and they were people that came in to college when I did. I was older having graduated in 1988 and I guess my musical tastes were somewhat still stuck in that time. Throughout the course of my freshman year of college I saw more of a change and I saw less and less people wearing hard rock and metal shirts. Then I began to realize what was happening, but of course it didn't change my tastes. Pretty soon it was early 1993 and I was excited about the new Sacred Reich, the new Aerosmith and a number of other releases. So I guess that I was and still am a metal relic of sorts, but that's how it goes.
Hey tag me a metal relic any day. I still like the old metal sounds. I tried to adapt to all new waves of metal and grunge but finally admitted to giving up my values. I'm back to loving the old stuff and any new stuff that comes out sounding like the old stuff... and I'm not ashamed of it either. Old School Metal rules !
ReplyDeleteI also love the old stuff even If I am not that old, my dad's fault again....but I do also like some of the new stuff don't really know what category they sometimes fall into.....
ReplyDeleteI would say if old stuff was good, it will still be good, and true Metal heads will listen.....Whoohoo....
What you said.
ReplyDeleteMy music tastes do keep expanding, but I never understood the need for the anti-metal backlash. Like a friend of mine always says when people claim the alt/grunge thing 'saved' rock - rock didn't need saving. Did it, really? Why do I need to tune in to weak Velvet Underground/Stooges parodies like The Strokes to 'save rock' when I can kick back with Clutch's Robot Hive/Exodus, or some good 'postmetal' like Pelican or Red Sparrowes, some excellent not-that-old metal acts like Nevermore, or, newer still, Mastodon? And then there's all the new releases and old releases by classic acts to re-live or track down...
I think my love for metal has helped me stay tuned in to good,solid rocking music away from the hype machines. My tastes aren't limited to metal, but what I've learned from being a 'metal relic' is to keep it real and find music that isn't just flavour-of-the-minute mainstream hype. \m/
At least your still keeping the faith Mark! Pearl Jam was a pretty good band back in the early 90's. At least when Eddie Vedder wasn't crying that is.
ReplyDelete"metal relic" sounds so negative, but what you describe isn't negative at all.
ReplyDelete-- david
"Old school" would be a more apt description, I think; and there's nothing wrong with that. It's all in how you think. I'm much(much) older than you, and sometimes am considered old school in my tastes and habits. That said, at the same time, I like some of the newer stuff. The fact that my father was a DJ for so many years and exposed me, and my sister and brother, to all kinds of music is why I'm not "stuck" in any one era or genre. Yes, I prefer the heavier stuff, but I don't limit myself to it.
ReplyDeleteI'm a metalhead through and through. However, I've been known to listen to Blink 182/ soundgarden and the nu-metal scene. I tend to stay away from mainstream, but I like Disturbed. I need music that moves me. Metal has always been music with loads of emotion and passion and there will always be people to carry that torch. Metal will never die.
ReplyDeleteWhat always got me were the reviews of Green Days "American Idiot" saying they brought the concept album back. A little research would suggest that Savatage and various European metal bands have been keeping concept albums alive and well.
Metal has allowed me to avoid trends and be true to my individuality.
you'll always be a relic, Mark...don't change!
ReplyDeleteHey Mark,
ReplyDeleteSounds like you are about the same age as I. I graduated from HS in 1987. I love the 80's style Hard Rock, and the new stuff that comes out that is in that vein. I did like a few of the bands from the Grunge years, namely Alice In Chains, and Soundgarden.
I honestly wouldn't shed a tear if I never heard another Nirvana or Pearl Jam song for the rest of my life.
I guess I consider myself a Metal relic from years past. But this relic wont let the music die, at least without a fight. I think that is why I started my blog. I think there are a bunch of us in our 30's that still have a love for this music, but don't really have a place to call home anymore.
Mainstream radio rarely plays anything we want to hear, and MTV isn't a music network anymore (IMHO).
I agree, I never understood the "Grunge Killed Metal" argument. Just some stupid media concoction that people fell for. I loved both. I still think Nevermind was a metal album. In fact, I thought 91 was a great year in music. I had added the Use Your Illusion albums, Metallica, No More Tears, Ten, Nevermind, and Badmotorfinger to my collection that year and even now it would be hard to pick my favourite from those. Heck even Slave To The Grind had it's charm. And yes, Fear of The Dark was good, though I had no idea how good the title track was until they released the live version. Revenge? Loved Domino.
ReplyDeleteAnd btw, I was one of those highschool 92 classes. Axl and Kurt may have hated each other, but who cares? We didn't have to pick sides. Musical gods yes, but idiots otherwise.