Their Crime and Their Music

Motley Crue

The arrest and subsequent sentencing of some well known public figures in the Rock and Metal world recently has got me thinking.

The other day I bought a CD in a charity store. It was such an unusual item to see on the shelf, and it was only £2, that I jumped on the chance to get it - even though I have a digital copy somewhere else. That album was 'Double Brutal' by Austrian Death Machine.

Afterwards I taught about what I had done and how I'd purchased the music of a convicted criminal. I'll be honest, I have a lot of As I Lay Dying albums in my collection, I consider myself a big fan of the output and it was only in January that I purchased my last one - the Decas EP - from HMV Manchester. I remember at the time I was buying the album the sales assistant remarked that they were a great band, she said she'd seen them three times and loved their music.

About a decade or so ago I was a fan of the Lost Prophets. I listened to their music on a regular basis. Even now I think to myself, "should I delete their music from my digital collection" or should their music be stripped from store shelves. I condemn in the strongest terms what Ian Watkins did and what he freely admitted he was guilty of but I do not agree in punishing the other members of that band by labelling them with the same brush.

I think that for years to come those who approach the other members of LP are going to say that there must have been something they suspected of Ian, something they saw that indicated something about what a monster he was, public opinion might formulate that they just turned a blind eye. I know that their crimes cannot be compared but the point I'm getting at is should we judge the music on the same merits as its creator?

For example, would you listen to a Phil Spector produced album, would you turn on Gary Glitter or Rolf Harris (probably not because of taste more so than if they'd never done anything wrong) or - and I'm interested to see this - would you listen to Michael Jackson. Whether you personally believe he did anything wrong or just had a good legal team?

Once the music is created does it become separate from the individual in these cases or does their work become tarnished with their personal actions and their personal lives?

slavetothegrind

interesting postulation.

i wouldn't buy the work of a convicted child molester as i wouldn't want them to gain anything from it

if i already had it i think it would be hard to listen to it without thinking of the crime so i don't think i could.

Micheal Jackson is interesting alright, never convicted, in rehearsal some of his stuff often gets the metal treatment for a laugh so i guess i dont think of him as i would of Watkins.

Should i? always thought he had severe mental issues but always wanted to believe he never hurt anyone. Dunno.

Frown.

Liam McPoyle

Meh, just cos one person turns into a criminal doesnt mean Id listen to a band any less.

Where would one draw the line anyway when it comes to potential crimes?

Drink driving?

Public order offences?

Tax evasion?

Etc.

The likes of Ian Watkins is a special case in fairness and is at the top of the extreme list of possible criminal acts, as far as Im concerned anyway, but I always thought LP were shyte anyway!

:pac:

ush

Motley Crue wrote: »

Afterwards I taught about what I had done and how I'd purchased the music of a convicted criminal.

Rebellion!

Hotale.com

I used to like some Lostprophets songs a few years ago, saw them on spotify a few weeks ago and tried listening to a song and I actually nearly got sick when I heard that evil twisted c*nts voice.

Not a chance I'd ever listen to them again, I feel some bit sorry for the rest of the band but that Watkins fella is worse than an animal in my eyes.

Welsh Megaman

Even if I was a fan of Lostprophets, I wouldn't buy their music - only because I know Watkins would receive royalties from the purchase (their stuff is still available to buy on iTunes).

stefan idiot jones

What about this drunk driver thst killed Hanoi Rock's drummer? Plenty of people have bought Crues LP's since.

http://newsroom.mtv.com/2010/12/08/vince-neil-razzle-dingley-crash/

Motley Crue

stefan idiot jones wrote: »

What about this drunk driver thst killed Hanoi Rock's drummer? Plenty of people have bought Crues LP's since.

http://newsroom.mtv.com/2010/12/08/vince-neil-razzle-dingley-crash/

That's true, and a few years ago I was lucky enough to meet and interview Michael Monroe, and he said specifically that he couldn't believe Crue would be so insensitive as to release an album labelled "Music to Crash Your Car Too" and claim to forget why anybody would be offended.

It is interesting to think that Vince Neil has most likely avoided a major life behind bars due to his placement in Motley Crue

stefan idiot jones

Motley Crue wrote: »

That's true, and a few years ago I was lucky enough to meet and interview Michael Monroe, and he said specifically that he couldn't believe Crue would be so insensitive as to release an album labelled "Music to Crash Your Car Too" and claim to forget why anybody would be offended.

It is interesting to think that Vince Neil has most likely avoided a major life behind bars due to his placement in Motley Crue

http://www.google.com.au/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CCYQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fen.m.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FThe_Plague_(EP)&rct=j&q=butt****%20nuclear%20assault&ei=l82BU7TeKsHHlAXX-oHYDQ&usg=AFQjCNGSme2vpgPXMavQzrAn-tqQAY6-QQ&sig2=foybCLYM7Qu_whqUYHGP_g&bvm=bv.67720277,d.dGI

Buttfcuk. Nuclear Assault.

Links234

I don't know, it's hard to decide where to draw a line and to be quite honest I find myself being a bit of a hypocrite in these matters. I flat-out refused to listen to Burzum because of ****wit extraordinaire Varg, yet I like Dissection in spite of Jon Nodtveidt? I find it hard to reconcile

Furious-Red

Ive always been a fan of LP but i do agree what he did was 100% f'd up and he deserves whatever comes to him . But in saying that i still listen to their music when i comes on my i tunes/i pod , i do like a few of their songs but at the same time i would never complain or give out if someone wouldnt listen to them because of what he did