World’s greatest Metal workout band? For me, Accept, hands down. For an intro to their trademark sound & the best bang for your buck check out the compilation CD of the best tracks from “Balls to the Wall” and “Restless & Wild.” It goes for about $8.99 at Tower Records. From the shredded and powerful voice of lead singer Udo Dirkshneider (sp?) to the classically inspired, cleverly arranged, and meticulously executed riffs of Wolf Hoffman, Accept puts your “Balls to the Wall.”
Check out the first track on the compilation CD “Fast as a Shark”–one of the first European speed metal tracks of the early eighties.
80s vs. 90s (and post 90’s) Chart Metal
Nirvana’s grungy replacement of the glamorized persona of late 80’s metal–with it’s over style-ized vocals and big hair–with the band’s Cobainy (but realistic) anti corporate gloom (each track a virtual mini-shrine to the inner subjective darkness and anquish of the existential human situation)was actually a breath of fresh air back then. It was almost a spiritual experience to hear an edgy music genre that was cognizant of the dark undertones of Americana. I found this uplifting after nearly a decade’s worth of the fantasmic of 80’s metal.
BUT having said that, it seems to me that all we hear now from most Metal–at least the stuff that gets air-play–is the “woe is me/I came from a dysfunctional home/daddy left me/I’m lonely, pissed and gonna kill something” kinda thing. Its now becoming pathetic and perpetuates a victim mentality.
At least one thing can be said about 80’s metal–it was (generally) positive; it (the ethos of it) caused you to believe in yourself and it made you wanna kick ass in life. It told you: “you rock.” One can go on and on about “keeping it real” (and there certainly is a time and place for this) but the steady diet of “woe is me” is self-defeating.
This is one of the reasons I have come to appreciate Rap. The hommies believe in themselves–whether their “hustlin’, bangin’, or pimpin’ ho’s and clockin do.” The black man believes in himself in his music and I have found this personally inspiring; he’s “keepin’ it real” but there’s a different fell. You don’t hear much personal victimology in Rap music today–sure there might be some victim mentals when it comes to perceived social injustice (esp. early 90’s Rap) but even this seems to be changing and rather than just piss and moan–they actually have been and are willing to do something about the situation (at least lyrically) instead of layin’ around and lamenting it.
White folks need to get back to this and quit abdicating personal responsibility. Like that line from Saliva’s track–Click Click Boom: “you won’t hear no cryin’ ass bitchin’ from me/Like there seems to be/On everybodies CD”
I want the music back that that tells me I can go into the gym and kick some ass on the Iron; that reconnects me with the greatness of white culture, history and tradition. I’m not a white supremist or anything like that (in fact my wife is a Latina); I appreciate and have love for all ethnicities and cultures–our rich ethnic and cultural diversity has (and continues to) made us a great nation. But Metal puts me in touch with something that is basic to my own culture and self-identity in a unique way. I can interpret myself through such music and draw strenght and inspiration from it. I’d like to start doing that from a more positive vantage point than what the contemporary metal scene allows for. I guess I’ll just have to keep listening to Accept, AC/DC, ZZ Top, Ozzy, Van Halen, Judas Priest, Motely-Crue, and the all the others–at least for now.
haha