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.

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Image credits:

http://www.radiometal.com 

http://www.ratm.com/ 

http://www.fasterlouder.com.au

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Heavy Metal Under Study

The days of court battles, PMRC (Parents Music Resource Center), and accusations of satanic lyrics (and other “evils”) by Heavy Metal bands from religious fundamentalists and journalists alike may be long gone but that era has definitely left its mark on our favourite musical genre. You assume that a well-educated person, meaning a person with rich life experiences and the ability for critical thinking (rather than actual degrees – what I would call “reservoir toilet paper of the highest quality”), will be in a position to look back and laugh at the naive and ignorant society of the 80s. And most do.

But the stigma that Heavy Metal carried through to the 00s has become such mainstream that it attracted the attention of the higher levels of the academic and scientific communities.  Along come academic research and the New wave of “Metal Studies” (NWOMS – my own abbreviation!). After the ridiculous attack from the even more ridiculous ignorant PMRC in the early 80s, psychologists and other scientists decided to look into this social phenomenon in more detail.

Studies stripped down Heavy Metal; from song lyrics and MTV videos to stage presence. They looked for subliminal messages in songs of bands like Judas Priest and Twister Sister, the promotion of sex, drugs, and self-destructive behaviours and many more. Below are some scientifically derived (?) yet really hilarious conclusions about the Heavy Metal fans:

“. . .a mass following of youth, their denim clothes covered in studs and appliqué, their hair long and wild so as to swing freely when they shook their heads in time with the music – what they called head-banging”

Cashmore (1984, p. 37)

“Contingents of longhaired, denimed males . . . consuming large quantities of beer and playing imaginary guitar runs in sycophant homage to their alter egos performing on the stage”

Chambers (1985, p. 123) on the Reading and Knebworth festival goers

Now I am not saying these scientists were crazy for researching the relationship between Heavy Metal music preference and anti-social behaviours, suicide, anxiety, and depression. But as expected of poor and highly biased methodologies, studies offered conflicting evidence in all areas, be it psychological, social, or cultural and not many reliable conclusions. Brown (2011), from which the above quotations were extracted, reports that research has now shifted its focus from looking at Heavy Metal as a social problem to a more cultural and musicological approach (i.e. NWOMS).

This sort of research may not appeal or even be known to the average Heavy Metal fan and really, who cares what happens within the scientific/academic community, right? Well, it may sound boring but truth is that proper research approaches and methodologies undertaken by serious researchers who understand the Heavy Metal music and its “culture”, will manage to catch the attention of fans and educate them about the important aspects of their favourite genre.

My new found respect for the NWOMS derives mainly from people like Sam Dunn a Canadian musician, film director, and anthropologist (you probably know him as the director of Metal: A Headbangers Journey, Global Metal, and Iron Maiden: Flight 666) as well as Keith Kahn Harris a writer, sociologist, and music critic.

Heavy Metal music intrigues scientists and inspires research that may even lead to joke-like quotations like the above-mentioned, benefit to our own amusement. It might have given birth to strange phenomena such as head-banging, air guitar and provocative attire but at least it’s not responsible for plague-like phenomena such as women who want to be called “Lady”, have a weird fond of umbrellas or wish for you to hit them one more time!

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Article reference:

Brown, AR (2011). Heavy Genealogy: Mapping the Currents, Contraflows and Conflicts of the Emergent Field of Metal Studies, 1978-2010. Journal for Cultural Research, 15 (3), 213-242.

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Image credits:

http://en.wikipedia.org/

http://www.examiner.com

http://www.imdb.com

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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.

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Image credits:

http://www.rokpool.com/

http://www.motley.com

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