Big turkey award 2011

Normally I give this out closer to Thanksgiving, but I knew it wouldn't before then so I'll give this one out now. Every year for the last few years I pick someone or some even in the hard rock/metal award that has proved themselvesto be a real turkey during the year. A couple years ago I picked the Rocklahoma festival as the big turkey of the year because it was a celebration of hasbeens trying to cash in on a last payday and a bunch of old fans trying to relive their youth. The M3 festival is essentially the same thing only slightly worse. Why is it slightly worse? Because Rocklahoma was/is held in Oklahoma (hence the oh so clever name). I don't live in Oklahoma. The M3 festival on the other hand is held in Maryland. I live in Maryland. So I hear even more of the hype and promotion of this celebration of over the hill, never all that good in their prime rock bands. Actually I like a few of these bands back in the day, but that was a long time ago. You want to listen to these bands in their prime then play the CD. You want to have festival that celebrates hard rock then do a mix of younger and older bands. You wish it was still 1989 and you have more money then sense then go to the M3 festival next year.

***Don't worry because the much happier top five things I am thankful in metal is coming soon.

The Big Turkey Award for 2010-Ozzy

To be honest 2010 has been a very good year for hard rock and metal. Not just for a large amount of solid albums, but also because there have been very few bad releases. However one that really stunk it up was Ozzy's latest "Scream". Okay, it wasn't as bad as "Black Rain" and it's really one in a line of stinkers. Still the fact that Ozzy is still releasing garbage and making money from it bothers me to no end. He was great on the first six Sabbath albums and his solo career produced mostly good albums from about 1980 until 1991. In the last fifteen years he has become more a product than a performer. He is a shell of what he once was and he gets propped up and they squeeze some sounds out of him and produce it to death because we know he can hardly talk anymore let alone sing. In a way it's to see him as the joke that he has become, but he definitely deserves this award for this year.

Big Turkey Award

The Big Turkey Award for 2009 goes to Lita Ford. It's not like Lita Ford's "prime" was that special to begin with. However I did have some admiration for her due to the decision to be happy with being a parent and choosing not to try some comeback like every other act who was around in the 80's-early 90's. When I first heard she was going to play at Rocklahoma in 2009 I figured a comeback album was inevitable. I didn't have expectations of it being worthwhile, but she and her husband former Nitro vocalist Jim Gillette managed to put out a recording that's far worse than anything I ever could have dreamed of. The music is light industrial ramblings, but it's all generic at best. The vocals have effects piled on top of them and lack any personality whatsoever. Add to that the lyrics try to be kinky and come across as awkward and unpleasant. So this was an easy decision indeed.

Here is a list of the past Big Turkey award recipients in case you were wondering.
2006-Axl Rose
2007-Rocklahoma
2008-Judas Priest