Grunge (the Metal years)

**HairMetalFantasy** · 11-19-03, 02:04 AM

Rock On.................

**greeno** · 11-19-03, 06:58 AM

Originally posted by HairMetalFantasy

- To tell you honest truth,....I remember the first day I saw the video for "Smells Like Teen Spirit",....I thought it was a joke video/commercial just poking fun at school kids, cause' it sounded like something written in 2 min. - I thought it was funny......then group after group came out of the woodwork, and I sat in disbelief as College kids took to this music like it was the Second Coming.

By the time the video for Teen Spirit came out the scene was 90% over. Six to eight months later I was also tired of the clone bands and moved on to new sounds (which would turn out to be the alt country scene a few years later).

- Wouldn't Cinderella blow Pearl Jam off any stage/any venue, even as we speak?

I'll agree with you on that one for 2 reasons... 1.) Pearl Jam sucked!!!! (just my opinion) .. and 2.) the bass player from Cinderella had THE COOLEST hair ever !!!!!

Hell, what do "I" know, I play guitar, am going to see Stryper tomorrow night in Boston, and think they are a "really" good band....."really"

I may need help........

Dude, if you catch one of those Stryper bibles that they throw into the crowd I'll trade you something for it. The old ones from the 80's go for a nice bit of change on the metal collectors scene. I had friends fly in from Germany just to see them in DC, so if anyone needs help it's them, not you.

Originally posted by plan13

Correct you are sir... Stryper is a "helluva" band... pun intended.

I think your "going to hell" score just went up a point. Don't be crackin' on the Lord's house band.

**Slayergrrl** · 11-19-03, 09:44 AM

Originally posted by XXX
Like Lazarus risen from the dead, god's bumblebee band is pollinating the gospel to the masses of Boston

This Bostonian is gonna hide from the pollination.

**Pagan** · 11-19-03, 10:29 AM

They were up by me at the Chance Theater last night...but $20 was a bit steep....

**HairMetalFantasy** · 11-19-03, 11:51 AM

$20 too steep for you Pagan? I guess they weren't the band you "had to see" this year............LOL
I see what you mean though...............seeing as for $10 more you can catch 3 of these bands together during the summer...

**Pagan** · 11-19-03, 01:02 PM

Well....it came down to $20 for Stryper this week or $40 for TSO on December 6th and $15 for Symphony X on December 13th. (new homeowner....money be tight this holiday season!)

I'll take them over Stryper anyday! TSO especially!!! Somehow paying $20 to be preached at for 90 minutes doesn't float my boat.

**HairMetalFantasy** · 11-19-03, 01:14 PM

I hear ya,...............But then again, I go to these concerts to see if the band's still got it,.....but mostly for "Nostalgic" reasons.................I was in 8th grade in '87, and never got a chance to see them afterward, so it's a but of a treat for me.
I'm a true believer in God, but as much as I love Stryper,.....I don't like to mix my faith with my Metal................

**Evil** · 11-26-03, 12:08 PM

yes...well put bro!

**KimJoy69** · 11-26-03, 01:34 PM

How is that I share a brain with some of you???

**BCRichRocker4JC** · 8-20-04, 12:07 AM

Man, I wish I would've been part of Xchange when this thread was posted. I would have been busy for a while. So here's my condensed version:

All I can saw after reading all of the posts on this thread is "Wow". And I agree with Pagan X2. And this is why music is like the saying "beauty is in the eyes of the beholder". But, again I'm with Pagan, being a musician you have to accept a certain amount of ability along with playing from your soul. Otherwise someone could pick up a guitar and after two days claim to be playing from his or her "soul" and still sound like crap. Just as in any profession people want someone with cultivation as well as talent (which I believe some are born with). Would you want a Surgeon who had a natural talent with his hands but no formal medical training working on you? Music is the same, talent + training. And unfortunately Grunge had very little.

I enjoyed most of the posts except the Stryper bashing. I feel most of it was because of a religious nature (Pagan I think you were exempt from that). There are a lot of talented groups out there who believe one way or another. Why is it that the Christian bands (and there are some good ones like Guardian, heck there are even Christian "Thrash" bands if your into that genre that don't even sound "Christian". In fact you wouldn't even be able to tell if you listened to their music) seem to get picked on the most and the non talented "Devil" (for a better word) bands don't. Believe me there are plenty of horrible bands that take on the "Evil" label if you will. Plenty.

Also, Pagan you don't have to go just to a Stryper concert if you want to get preached at. I went to see Venom, Slayer, & Exodus once and there was plenty of preaching going on if you know what I mean. It goes both ways. In fact it doesn't even have to be religious in nature to be preaching. Cobain was a preacher of his message and so is A LOT of punk bands (anarchy, etc.). I agree with how you handle it, though. You don't like the message, don't go to the show. Period.

**Pagan** · 8-20-04, 07:53 AM

BDR, I don't go to see ANY band that offers a "message" in any way, be it good or bad. Personally, since I'm not Christian, I don't feel the need to go hear about God for a couple of hours. I wouldn't go to church, therefore I don't feel I need to hear Stryper's message. Aside from the fact that I never thought they were that good anyway!

For me, music is an escape from reality. I want to get away for a few hours, which is why I like bands like Maiden, Priest and Saxon. No messages, no agendas, let's just rock - although those bands do it intelligently instead of "dumb" rock!

**Creeps** · 8-20-04, 10:11 AM

Good thread. But I think I have to stand firmly in Pagan's corner on this. Having gone through the 80s as a fan and in the 90s in "the biz" for a few years working at a AOR radio station I will firmly say that anything that was played on the air (new bands) pretty much sucked.

I do have Alice In Chains, STP and Soundgarden albums in my collection, but that's it. I at least thought they "brought something else to the table" when compared to the other bands. When I was in college and first heard Bleach by Nirvana I thought it sucked. I'd prefer Bullet Lavolta to them any day. True alternative or whatever you wanna call it from the early 90s would bury any grunge band in my opinion.

When I first heard Creed I did think it was new Pearl Jam. My ex-wife loved it (she also was a country fan, what the F*$@ was I thinking?). You can't tell me that those 2 didn't sound similar.

When Pagan said "dumbed-down" he hit the bullseye with that statement. The music being force fed today is full of talentless people. Some are, but just cause you can sell 100,000 units doesn't make you talented. Now before some of you want to start casting stones in my general direction let me site an example from one of my favorite bands of all time. The Ramones weren't great musicians, but they were talented songwriters (yes you can be a 3 chord talented songwriter) and paved the way for a genre of music spanning decades (there's your proof) that no band has even come close to touching or accomplishing for punk music. Will Korn be able to say that 30 years from now? Time will tell, but my money is on "Hell no".

At least in the 80s hair bands most of the singers could.. well, umm.. SING! I'm in a band where the vocals are screamed and I'm the one that does it. When people ask me if I'm the singer I deny it saying "Nope I can't sing, I scream the lyrics into the microphone so it sounds cool". So I'm not knocking that aspect, I'm just saying you don't really need the talent of an actual singer to make it in music these days depending on what genre you're shooting for. But when you're playing music like Anthrax-meets-Pantera-meets-Slayer backstage at a Weird Al show, screaming kinda fits.

The Prog and Power music that has been constantly coming out from mostly overseas is the only lifeline for metal fans who want something to listen to that they can sing along to. Remember that? Driving around singing along to some great tunes? Example; Sonata Arctica. Catchy, melodic, fast, furious, thunderous double bass at times metal. They got the whole package. From speed to ballads and you can understand the words without a lyric sheet even with the guys accent.

Another problem is radio (not mentioning MTV cos we all know they suck). We need good raadio stations (on air not on net) with open formats. Meaning a DJ that can play pretty much whatever he wants in the style of his station. The best format I seen was at a dance station in Miami. The DJs had to play a certain amount of songs from 3 rotation lists on a big board in the booth; heavy, medium, light. Anything else was DJ's choice. Now I know that's not really "open" but it's a business and I can udnerstand that you must play certain songs in those rotations, but it's nice to let the DJ have some free reign so people can hear something else besides the same 40 songs on shuffle all day. You can say all you want about internet radio being a good thing, but until people can drive around with it it's not going to do anyone any good unless their sitting in a PC chair at home or at work (if able) listening to it. Satellite radio will dominate in the future, my prediction, you heard it here first.

Some of the best rock albums to come out in a long time have been overlooked or ignored;

Beautiful Creatures (shoulda been this generations Appetite for Destruction)
Half Cocked
New American Shame
The Sounds
Brides Of Destruction
Lennon

to a lesser extent;
Buckcherry (these guys made it cool to play rock again, face it)
Jet (granted getting more play now, but these guys should be tearing up rock)

And I'm not afraid to say it.. thank God Velvet Revolver came out. Good album, but I bet if they see a second release it will make waves.

I'm a metal-head and my favorite music of all time will be rock, hair, glam whatever you wanna call it. I'm a sucker for it.

**Pagan** · 8-20-04, 10:22 AM

Amen Creeps....the Beautiful Creatures cd is one of my favorites. They just kick MAJOR ass!

**BCRichRocker4JC** · 8-20-04, 10:31 AM

Originally Posted by Pagan

BDR, I don't go to see ANY band that offers a "message" in any way, be it good or bad. Personally, since I'm not Christian, I don't feel the need to go hear about God for a couple of hours. I wouldn't go to church, therefore I don't feel I need to hear Stryper's message. Aside from the fact that I never thought they were that good anyway!

For me, music is an escape from reality. I want to get away for a few hours, which is why I like bands like Maiden, Priest and Saxon. No messages, no agendas, let's just rock - although those bands do it intelligently instead of "dumb" rock!

My point exactly. You don't like the message don't go to the show. That is what I was saying and that is what you do. You agreed with me 1000%. Just like I don't worship Satan (nor do I plan on going to that kind of church or ever believing what those bands lyrics are about) so why go to a Slayer gig and listen to that for a set? The only exception I make is if the band is truly gifted (this is not intended towards Slayer, guys so hold off on the flames) then I might consider seeing a group who "preaches" something I may not agree with. We both are on the same page with this one I think Pagan.

PG · 8-20-04, 10:37 AM