MOG

Years ago I was a metal head... not a total metal head, I never had long hair or anything like that, but I listened to a lot of metal, I listened to the metal show on the college radio station at MSU, I watched the Headbangers Ball , I even subscribed to Rip Magazine.. Somewhere along the way I started to listen to more punk and rockabilly, more country and even pop music, and while I found myself going back to metal here and there, It's been a while since I checked in with the scene.

The last couple of weeks I spent reading Sound of the beast : the complete headbanging history of heavy metal by Ian Christe... I even wrote the following review for the aadl.org website

I found this book to be a solid overview of the history and growth of the Heavy Metal Music style and scene. The dominate players, Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Anthrax, Slayer, and of course Metallica all received the attention due them, as at the same time smaller lesser known bands, the second and third tier bands and a host of also-rans were given their due. Various sub genres’s of Metal were discussed and fleshed out fairly well. The social elements of Metals history were also addressed and a Varity of viewpoints were provided.

I did have two big problems with this book. First is the almost apologetic free pass given to Al and Tipper Gore for their involvement in the PMRC and the censorship that has followed the wake of their hearings. It’s as if the author didn’t want to take on the fact that Gore is second only to Bill Clinton in the repression of not only heavy metal, but rock and roll in our modern culture. (Clinton sold out the rock world when he signed the telecom act of 1996). The second issue I have with this book is that it looks with almost distain on punk, grunge and Alt Metal music. There is a begrudging mention of these genres included in the book, and the authors obvious hostility to the forms comes through loud and clear. It’s almost like one oppressed minority fighting for their rights, while at the same time dismissing the validity of the rights of other minorities.

Over all I would recommend this book to people who are interested in the history of heavy metal.

The other thing this book did was get me to check out some more recent metal and of course go back and listen to my Black Sabbath, Accused and Metallica records... I haven't had time to distill all of it yet but it's interesting to check back in, it's like visiting a place that you used to live or work...