Heavy Metal Thoughts To Ponder, As We Enter October Of 2011…
Like most Metalheads, I think about and listen to Heavy Metal quite often. Many times my brain makes up these “thoughts to ponder”, only it is never any fun pondering them by myself. Therefore, today being the last day of September 2011, I am letting the world know what current Heavy Metal thoughts I am pondering! Take a look below, to see if maybe you would like to “ponder” them with me.
01 – The X Factor (USA) is on Fox! Who gives a crap about this show if your into Heavy Metal or Hard Rock? This is just another televised anti-Heavy Music talent show to find the next pre-teen and teen idol that can’t sing a damn lick of Pop manure. Hollywood doesn’t care if you can’t sing, as long as you have that “perfect face” and skinny body. As far as the “older dudes” that audition for this show, it’s the same thing: bubble gum.
02 – Nevermind by the legendary Nirvana has been reissued this past Tuesday, celebrating the 20th Anniversary of its release. I bought the cassette of Nevermind when it was released back in 1991. I always felt Nirvana was a great band and Nevermind was a great album. That’s it, folks. That album is NOT the Holy Grail of Rock music history. Elvis, The Beatles, The Who, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, KISS, RUSH and The Ramones already came and conquered, way in advance of Nevermind, sorry to say. I never checked in my loyalty to Heavy Metal card at the door, just due to a band coming out of (Seattle) Aberdeen, Washington and decided to mix Punk, Hard Rock and Alternative Rock together.
03 – By the way, Grunge never killed Heavy Metal. Nope. Back in those early 1990’s, the press decided to not cover Heavy Metal while the record companies decided Seattle was the gateway to Rock and Roll’s Atlantis. Whose face has egg on it now?
04 – If I read one more article about how there will no longer be CD’s manufactured in “five years”, I think I’m gonna jump out of my skin. Regardless, there is a “genius” that pops up every week, somewhere, that decides they are gonna remind us all about how terrible the CD is and how this music medium will be wiped off the face of the planet.
That’s it. Those are my Heavy Metal thoughts to ponder. I wish I could list more, yet I won’t. Why not list more? Well, the two blogging books I’ve been reading recently state: keep your posts short, simple and to the point. Screw the blogging books. Here is one more Bonus Heavy Metal thought to ponder!
BONUS – Who are Rufus with Chaka Khan? It sounds like some high caloric dish you would order from a pricey restaurant in New York City. Despite my being confused, they were nominated for induction into The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame for 2012. I realize that KISS pisses off The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame for some crazy reason, still, Carmine Appice, Cheap Trick, The Moody Blues, RUSH, The Doobie Brothers and many other qualifying and REAL legends of ROCK AND ROLL are not nominated and Rufus with Chaka Khan is? Metal be thy name.
LONG LIVE HEAVY METAL AND REAL ROCK & ROLL.
Rest In Peace, Kurt Cobain.
Stone.
Metal Odyssey > Heavy Metal Music Blog 
September 30, 2011 at 2:41 pm
Well put Stone!
September 30, 2011 at 5:36 pm
Thank you Nil’ and Rock Steady 😉
September 30, 2011 at 3:00 pm
Re: 01…I have never heard of “The X Factor”. Is it an American TV show?
Re: 02…I honestly never understood the appeal of Nirvana. Even at their peak of popularity in the early ’90s, I didn’t like their music.
Re: 03…Have you ever heard the song “The Metal” by Tenacious D? “Grunge tried to kill the Metal. They failed as they were thrown to the ground!”
Re: 04…CDs may very well disappear. Every few years a new music medium eliminates the one before it…and now the internet has changed the music industry completely! I’ve heard that American kids today download music rather than buying CDs from a store…in Japan, downloading music is popular but CDs are still very popular too.
(And I’ve never heard of “Rufus with Chaka Khan”!)
September 30, 2011 at 5:44 pm
I guess “The X Factor” started out in the U.K.? I watch a minute of it here and there for it makes me laugh so hard. Comedy at it’s finest.
I love my CD collection, especially since my vinyl album collection was destroyed by our basement being flooded by Hurricane Irene.
Kev Moore gave some insight here as to Rufus and Chaka Khan.
I did write that Nirvana was a great band as well as “Nevermind” being a great album… yet I’m with you on the whole “appeal” thing… I never took “Nevermind” to be groundbreaking. Heck, The Knack basically put out a debut album that “stunned” the Rock world just the same… in my Metal opinion.
Thanks Tokyo5 for your pondering thoughts! 🙂
September 30, 2011 at 3:49 pm
The Rock and Roll hall of fame has lost the plot. I have a VERY wide musical taste, and love “Stop on By’ by Rufus and Chaka Khan – wicked bassline and vocal……but ROCK’N’ROLL????? NO WAY! H.O.F: If you’re going to nominate a black act, at least pick one that plays ROCK!!! Living Colour, Mother’s Finest. duh????
The omissions from the Hall of Fame cheapen the whole idea. I’m just waiting for the first X Factor nominee.
September 30, 2011 at 5:35 pm
Once again… right on Kev! I’ve always bought and listened to different genres of music as well… yet whoa, once I saw Rufus and Chaka Khan! Now I understand better as to who they are, thanks to your mentioning the song. I do remember Chaka Khan as a “solo” artist now too… disco. (!)
The next thing you know Kev, The Village People will be inducted way before Living Colour… and that is not far fetched with this bizarre hall of fame!
October 1, 2011 at 7:09 am
Well said Stone! I never understood the concept of Grunge badly written and performed songs by mediocre/lousy musicians singing out of tune about their miserable life dressed like hobos.
October 1, 2011 at 11:42 pm
It sounds like punk rock if you describe it like that. 😉
October 2, 2011 at 5:46 pm
Tokyo 5: I do revere The Ramones, Sex Pistols and of course, the MISFITS. I really, really, really dig RANCID and The Casualties. Punk Rock has always been close to my Metal heart. \m/
Do you like any Punk Rock bands?
October 3, 2011 at 10:07 am
I’m not a big punk rock fan.
But sometimes I’ll listen to The Ramones, Rancid, or NOFX.
October 3, 2011 at 2:30 pm
Stone, you should remember before the term ‘grunge’ came into vogue, that Soundgarden, Alice In Chains, Mother Love Bone, and yes even Nirvana, where all promoted as metal bands, the term alternative metal was thrown around, and magazines such as Rip, Circus, Hit Parader called them metal bands and MTV’s Headbanger’s Ball used to put their videos on heavy rotation before the damn burst open in terms of popularity.
I personally loved all those bands, including Pearl Jam and I am still a fan.
Metal at that point, IMO, became to predictable especially hair metal bands, with their rocker single, then ballad etc, thrash IMO had lots of great bands but the genre itself failed to grow, so it is no surprise the hard rock/metal audience turned to newer band that wanted to explore different sounds, etc. That is my take on it anyway.
October 3, 2011 at 3:02 pm
You are correct Manny. I am referencing the endless articles and statements I’ve read/heard over the years that Grunge killed Heavy Metal and I just totally disagree. Frankly, the label “Grunge” is not even liked by some of the bands you mentioned, as told to me by Geoff Tate himself, who is close friends with Pearl Jam and Alice In Chains. Pearl Jam, Nirvana and their peer bands are better served by being called Rock, Hard Rock, Alternative Metal or Heavy Metal. Whoever coined the label “Grunge” and started the controversy of Grunge trouncing Heavy Metal must have been really bored at the time.
I’ve probably used the line from Billy Joel before: “It’s still Rock and Roll to me”. I stated “Nevermind” as a great album and Nirvana as a great band. I admire “all” the work that Dave Grohl has done… and his love and admiration for Metal can never be more evident than with his project Probot from 2004. Despite my liking many of the “Alternative Metal” bands from that era, I still stuck to my love for Thrash, Death, Black and Traditional Metal. In the end though, I will still stick to my belief that MTV and the press did back off (in those 90’s) from promoting Heavy Metal as “heavily” as they once did in those glorious 80’s.
Thanks for your thoughts on it all Manny, it is always appreciated! \m/