Precious Rocks & Rare Heavy Metals: Chapter 3

The third of a series of fun articles aiming to explore the impact that Rock and Heavy Metal artists/bands had on the world and the impact the world had on them. This series will cover a number of artists so all favourites are presented. Read the first and second chapters here and here.

Please note: There is no specific reason (e.g. greatness, preference etc) for the order bands are presented!

ALICE COOPER

There is no question that Alice Cooper himself is well respected and considered as a great example of a rock star. He is pretty much the leader of Shock Rock as people call it. His stage presence and theatrics had people talking for generations. But behind that creepy façade of his you may find a “born-again Christian”, a humanitarian, and an esteemed friend. He has become very talkative about his religious beliefs and has set up his own non-profit organisation called “Solid Rock” aiming to help teenagers in many aspects of their lives. Alice Cooper has recently received an honorary doctorate too and gave a strange speech. Full story here. 

Now, out of respect to his outstanding musical contribution and long career and due my own admiration of him as a human being and artist I will have to pass and try not judge Mr. Cooper about his recent religious enthusiasm. He is 64 after all and closer to the “light”. But there are some signs of (possible) dementia and I'm raising a red flag here. I’m no doctor but any sort of admiration towards the thing called Lady Gaga must surely mean that some neurological deficiency is present. He IS 64 after all. Full story and proof I’m not crazy here. On a lighter note, you can catch Alice in the new movie by Tim Burton alongside Johnny Depp. Now that I wanna see! 

RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE

Rage Against The Machine (RATM) are mostly known for their political and social activism. Their music and lyrics represent this and it’s no wonder considering that guitarist Tom Morello is a social studies graduate from Harvard University. There is no protest or march that Morello and de La Rocha are not part of. There is an interesting paper on radical criminology with an extensive analysis of RATM lyrics which I found very interesting (link here). Some less known “services” to the world include Morello’s stripper career! Full story here. 

If I was forced to listen to Nu Metal I would choose to only listen to RATM. The fact is I do and I like it. The combination of funk, metal, and a bit of rapping with that guitar sound and those lyrics is just remarkable. I cannot imagine a more cathartic and aggressive song than "Killing in the Name". Ok, maybe "Angel of Death" by Slayer but not for soul-catharsis reasons! Anyway, my point is, being an idealist myself, I find it comforting that there are people out there who (still) believe in ideas like civil rights, equality, world peace, etc etc. And believe it or not a political science graduate-cum-vegetarian stripper-cum-protest musician is part of this bunch. But the best part is that I don’t have to do a thing, just watch them from my couch and smile devilishly! Here is a fun video of a school marching band “covering” Killing in the Name. Enjoy!

SLAYER

 

Slayer is undoubtedly the most controversial of the “Big 4” in terms of lyrics, music, and pretty much everything else. Ideas like Nazism, white supremacy, Satanism, terrorism, war, murder, and all other awful-sounding words in the English dictionary can be found in the repertoire of the accusations towards this band. Kerry King’s feisty personality and uncounted feuds don’t help much either. Still, the band managed to leave its stamp in the Metal history as one of the most important bands and probably the most consistent Thrash Metal band of all. Recently, they joined the Heavy Metal marketing race when they named a wine after the hymn “Reign in Blood”. Full story here. It is only available in Sweden (where else?) and at the ridiculous price of €80! You may purchase here. The description for this wine is very impressive and effortful: 

"The wine, a Cabernet Sauvignon from California, is as uncomprimising [sic] and tough as the band. After a couple of Seasons in the Abyss, the wine has an undisputed attitude and a soft nose of dark berry fruits with oak and spicy nuances. Good mouth feel with hints of fresh fruit and juicy, smooth tannins. Well structured and rounded with subtle notes of oak, showing true Divine Intervention. Best company for the wine comes as no surprise, enjoy it while headbanging, riffing or with food, friends and great music. Reign in Wine!"

Honestly, Slayer was not one of the bands I listened to when I first got into Heavy Metal. But I was meant to and I soon realised there is not another band that “screams” more Metal than this one. I mean come on, even their diseases sound Metal: necrotizing fasciitis, a flesh-eating disease that Hanneman contracted from a spider bite! What’s more Metal than that? Oh, perhaps a Jagermeister add featuring Kerry King? Watch it here. I just love this guy's look!

Watch this space for the next chapter of this series.

_________________________________________________________________________________

Image credits:

http://www.radiometal.com 

http://www.ratm.com/ 

http://www.fasterlouder.com.au

Read More

Black N' White World

WARNING: This post is not intended for people who get easily offended.

As you may have noticed by now, I get annoyed with many things in life but the one thing that works every time is human stupidity. Stupidity does not capture the full essence of what I mean here but feel free to substitute with your own preferences. Under stupidity I usually include the following amongst other:

•          Lack of self-awareness
•          Selective narrow-mindedness
•          Lack of intellectual properties/processes
•          Herd-like approaches to opinion
•          Lack of knowledge
•          Ignorance by choice
•          Self-righteousness
•          Hypocrisy

One such manifestation of human stupidity (who I have the good luck of not knowing personally) managed to make my blood boil and the veins in my forehead stick out. This being, which from now on I’ll refer to as the thing posted a picture capturing the various stages of (surgical) abortion. Then underneath that picture there comes the flock.

Opinions were unified under a general hateful theme:

“shame to those who do it”, “horrendous”, “disgusting”, “how can people do it”, “murderers”, “crime”, “I would never do such a thing”, “wrong”, “innocent soul”, “whores those who do it” and my personal favourites “religion says it’s wrong” & “babies are godsend gifts”!

If you are amongst people who have such opinions, then you might want to look away and not read any further. The thing that posted that picture claims to be an educated person and from a discipline where such black and white opinions are not encouraged or promoted. But anyway I will not focus on the stupidity of just one person, it would be rather unfair!

First of all, there are two types of people who see the world in black and white:

1. Genuinely narrow-minded: The type of person, who refuses any alternatives offered to them, despite the provision of good arguments.
   
           Example: “There is a god, and he is watching us. Darwin was just another nutter who sailed around the world and collected birds for a hobby."
2. Ignorant: This is the type of person, who refuses to use the few brain cells that kind Nature offered to them and prefers to go along with the flow or the masses.
   Example: “Religion and society teaches us that women are inferior to men; shame on those who go out there and follow their dreams.”

To be frank, I don’t know which is worse. But, I am shocked that 99% of the comments published under the picture that the thing posted came from women and from people that grew up in an era where issues of morality and ethics are relative. I am not getting into the whole abortion debate as we all know the arguments for and against, and really, that’s not the issue here. I will focus more on the stupidity involved in “thinking” of such sensitive subjects.

As I read through the comments I realised that I was more pissed off with not what they were writing per se, but the way all of them agreed with one another like they were members of some sort of secret society of grand virtue, intelligence, morality, and court-like standards. I wouldn’t be surprised if these people turned out to be the same ones that argue for the idea of an Aryan race, exhibit Hitler-like characteristics, believe that the Earth is only 2,000 years old, or believe that there is a white-bearded white man sitting on a cloud holding a lighting and waiting to strike someone that did something “wrong”.

On the other hand, these same (hypocritical) people may engage in morally questionable actions during their everyday lives. But who cares about all these when you have in front of you a “baby murderer” right? That is the ultimate sin, they say, because you choose to “kill”, or let a human being die. Well, I’ve got news for you: people die every day, in Africa 60 babies per day do so.

People, the world is not black and white. If it is, then you are probably a dog (that’s a myth by the way). As I argued before, we are all hypocritical in nature. But at least some of us have the ability to keep our mouths shut when appropriate, or at least try and express our opinion in a civilised, educated way.

Oh, and just to clarify, babies are not godsend; they come from a blind date between an eager sperm and a very popular egg.

__________________________________________________________________________________

Read More

Religion Vs Rock N' Roll

I know, the title couldn't be more kitschy and lame. But here is what the world has come to! I have been avoiding to get into this debate (i.e. the religion, not the Rock N' Roll one) for obvious reasons:

1. I am not religious, at all, so my thoughts and ideas are probably biased (or maybe scientifically researched, educated, and rational);
2. I will defend Rock N' Roll (not intentional Christian Rock, Satanic Rock or whatever useless piece of propaganda out there, just pure Rock N' Roll);
3. I despise ignorance and people who are comfortable with it.

I will probably make more enemies than attract followers with this piece of writing but a person has to do what's honest to them. So here it is then!

I've recently read another piece of "creative writing" (and I am being very kind here) by a certain person, of certain religious beliefs, through a certain propagandic website. I will not disclose any more details as I do not want to advertise them more than I need to.

This piece starts off by describing how the Rock N' Roll scene has shocked parents around the world; from Elvis' hip moves, to The Beatles' haircut (!), The Rolling Stones' vulgar rock, Jefferson Airplane's hippie ways, and last but not least, Heavy Metal's advocation of sexual promiscuity, homosexuality, drug abuse, and Satanism (notice the capital S!).

Then it goes on to defend the Rock music that suits them best, i.e. the one infused with relevant religious elements and in their opinion human sensitivity, poetry, and constructive social criticism and ditch the Rock music that is EVIL.

Evil Wrong Rock music (could be a new sub-genre, don't you think?) according to these people is the music of Sex & Lust (i.e. Mötley Crüe). It goes into a detailed discussion about scenes of sex & lust in specific songs and the androgynous look of Mick Jagger. Then we have Rebellion, a condition promoted by Rock music along with attacks towards society, parents, school, and god....!

Then follows Aggression & Violence, apparently evident on MTV. Here is the argument that mostly got on my nerves (politely put): Heavy Metal music is not intellectual, it's meant to connect to the "most base and low levels of the unconscious mind". There are so many wrongs in that sentence, that as a Psychologist, I'm offended by the lack of interest, understanding, and pretentious use of what they think is deep and science-y enough to impress the readers.

The fourth danger of Rock is Immediate Gratification, enjoying life in the present and avoiding thoughts about the future. Finally, we have Satanism, which as always cannot be excluded from any discussion on Rock music. Here we are presented with examples like The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and MTV. The blame for satanism is settled then!

Reading this article evoked many feelings in me: mainly the EVIL ones! I was surprised how people can be so narrow-minded, ignorant, and dishonest all at the same time. I don't wish to attack people personally, that is not my purpose in life. I worry how religious propagandas undermine the intellectual ability of people. Especially when these propagandas come from people who change their religious affiliations like dirty underwear.

Surely a well-educated, wise, and rational person can understand that Rock music cannot be blamed for all social problems. And by well-educated I don't necessarily mean people with University level degrees etc. On the contrary, I mean people with life experiences that teach more than a University doctorate.

People are way smarter than the person who wrote the article thinks (or is). Surely, from a psychological perspective, the teenage years are a very challenging and sensitive period in our lives. But most problems derive from inadequate familial, educational, and societal support and guidance. Music, in the same way as books, movies, and TV, does carry some challenges and thought-provoking views, ideas, even fantastical elements. 

It's the way children are equipped that will determine whether they succumb to stupid ideas such as satanism, gods, and mythological creatures. I wish that people would simply stop blaming general vague umbrella-type terms such as Heavy Metal for all the problems society (another vague umbrella-type term!) faces.

Just to be clear: As I do not believe in a white-bearded, long-haired, sandal and cape-wearing man, sitting on a white cloud and picking his next "miracle" victim, the same way I do not believe in a red-faced, goatee-bearer, goat-like man, with horns, sitting in the deepest parts of earth, stirring an imaginary soup made with humans in a giant cauldron.     

Imagination can help with creativity but sometimes it can get in the way of reality as well.

_________________________________________________________________________________

Image credits:

http://www.rokpool.com/

http://www.motley.com

Read More

Mind Under Training (Introduction)

I realised that while I have been writing my extremely influential (!) articles, I still haven’t introduced myself properly. And since this blog is now more popular (who would have thought) than I expected, I feel that it is something I should have done already.

Well, I am an alien 25-year-old woman living in the graphic yet moody city of London, a psychologist under training (UK regulations require me to clarify), and attempting to get the infamous “Dr” title (?) in front of my name – we shall see! I have the same issues as the average 25-year-old woman, perhaps a lot more as you may see.

The two main things you should have probably realised about me by now (that is if you actually bothered reading my previous masterpieces) are that I am sarcastic (both towards self and others), ironic (mainly towards others), and I listen to Heavy Metal. And you would have probably inferred that I am a disdainful, arrogant Miss-Knows-It-All...and you would be probably right!

Just kidding, I don’t know everything, yet.

My main purpose in life is to listen, love, learn, and become genuinely open-minded (please refer to my pretentious open-mindedness post). I don’t really like the way the world operates (but who does anyway) and I am determined to change a fraction of it (i.e. a helpless hopeful idealist) with what I’ve got, which unfortunately is not that much. I kind of hate vanity (please refer to my generation: vanity post) but I have come to believe that we all have it somewhere in our DNA structure.

I am also not religious at all although I was meant to be (according to familial, societal, and global values but that’s another blog post altogether – watch this space). And here is where some of you may infer that I am Satan’s advocate (this blog is not for you then). Sorry to disappoint you, I am not that important (to Satan at least). I don't dance round a pentagram, naked, while holding a goat's head and singing Antichrist songs (although it would make a great movie). I just prefer Science over Fiction - although come to think of it science fiction movies have their merits too - but I will not get into a debate about this in the blog – ok maybe a little bit.

I love great music (sorry to disappoint people but some genres out there are not music) and that means I love music developed by people playing real, tangible instruments (please refer to my Why I choose Heavy Metal post). I listen to Rock N’ Roll if I am allowed to sum it all up under that term (quoting the great Lemmy). I spend most of my money on gigs as these offer me the “high” other people get from drugs. Which brings me to another point: Drugs kill people – some do slower than others. End of story.

In order to learn, I travel...a lot, mostly in Europe; not because of choice but because of money (under training, remember?). People who die with no such experiences (mainly due to choice), do so incomplete. I try to love art (sometimes it's much harder than it seems), and I do, most of it. I also believe that if mind is the door to the unconscious and the unseen, then books are the key. So I read quite a lot (from trashy magazines to scientific journals). Also I write (as you can see from this blog) and I think I do that pretty well (think).

Finally, I am proud of myself (surprised?) for mainly one reason: I have reached a point where I can “see” through my big head and have an insight, a meta-cognition (for the fellow psychologists ...under training) of my stupid/wrong/stereotypical/weird thoughts, actions, and dispositions, the same ones that I see everyday around me in other people. For a self-obsessed person like me that’s not a happy place to be, at all! The good thing is that I can take a step forward and talk about it in a blog – for the whole world to see – and show what an insightful, open-minded, really really smart person I am (see above re issues). What I write here in this blog, do not necessarily exclude me.

Plainly put, I am just writing what most people already think/know/observe/realise/do not admit about themselves, others, and society. I criticise and judge as a result of disappointment, contempt, and hope at the same time – in a vain attempt to:

1. Cover with words my own self-doubt and the little voice in my head;

2. Minimise my attention-seeking behavioural patterns and the feelings these cause by doing it in a useful and entertaining way;

3. Achieve self-affirmation;

4. Provoke thinking.

So, don’t shoot the messenger, just enjoy the debate. Oh, and give peace a chance!
_________________________________________________________________________________

Read More

Pretentious Open-mindedness

Definition: Excessive or unnecessary display of receptiveness to new or different ideas in an attempt to be "unique"

Synonyms: Bullshitting, shamming, feigning

Applies to: Idiots who think they are "it"

Examples (conscious or sub-conscious reality in parenthesis):

"I am really open-minded man, I mean, I can appreciate all sorts of music" (after all, I believe I am the musical critic of the century and too cool to be associated with just one genre, though.... I really want to fit damn it!)

"I am not racist at all, actually I have friends from all over the world " (since I really want to be the person that changes the world and the way it operates in a vain attempt to be different and develop my low self-esteem)

"I am in an open relationship and I actually like it" (go on try it yourself... with my girlfriend/boyfriend, just don't tell people I am actually so insecure I can't live with myself)

"I believe in my own religion, but I can accept other people's beliefs too" (although I am so eager to look beyond religious boundaries because of my own self-doubt in terms of morality)

"I am not homophobic, I have gay friends too" (if they try to hit on me, I am out because I feel that my sexuality is above everything and anyone who tries to challenge it)

"I can accept criticism, in fact it intrigues me" (although it is a fact that I am perfect and I can do the favour of listening to what normal people have to say since I think I am the smartest person that ever existed on this earth - though without any original ideas)

"I am the coolest person you know, I can accept you as you are" (deep down inside I hate your guts and I hope you die, you lame excuse of a human being)

There are many more examples for which I will need to access the subconscious level to find but will try and add later on.

Disclaimer: I am not excluding myself from the above, in fact what I am trying to say is that this is a way of life for many people. I am criticising those who choose not to admit it and still think they belong in a higher class of the human species (or should I say, animal kingdom?).

With great respect and open-mindedness as always! :)
_________________________________________________________________________________
Image credit:
http://www.funnysigns.net/

Read More