What is it about Metal?

pbsuxok1znja4r

Haha, quite.

Doctor J

The point is, just like movies, just like books, just like poetry, just like paintings, there are horror, the is drama, there is violence, there is comedy, there is fiction, there is fact. Art covers a myriad of subjects and rightly so. Just beacuse it might be something drawn from the artist's imagination rather than a humdrum reproduction of a bowl of fruit, it doesn't make the painting any less vaild, no? I, for one, would hate to see Metal disown it's roots. Metal is what it is as a result of all the spiked wristbands and sleeveless denim jackets just as much as the socio-political lyrics. There is room for all of it. Long may that continue.

John

Doctor J wrote:

The point is, just like movies, just like books, just like poetry, just like paintings, there are horror, the is drama, there is violence, there is comedy, there is fiction, there is fact. Art covers a myriad of subjects and rightly so. Just beacuse it might be something drawn from the artist's imagination rather than a humdrum reproduction of a bowl of fruit, it doesn't make the painting any less vaild, no? I, for one, would hate to see Metal disown it's roots. Metal is what it is as a result of all the spiked wristbands and sleeveless denim jackets just as much as the socio-political lyrics. There is room for all of it. Long may that continue.

And that's why you're a rock doctor. I can't add anything more to this conversation apart from this:

Doctor J

Rock on John2

John

Doctor J wrote:

Rock on John2

I enjoy my work

Rustar

I can say it a lot more simply.
It's entertainment.

Specifically, youth-oriented entertainment. Real punk is 3 chords, not a lotta talent, but a lot of anger and rebellion. Not much technique, but whole lotta soul.
Metal is the opposite....not a lot of soul in the playing itself, but in the same vein as classical music, the orchestration and totality create the emotion.
It's all just ambience...a mood...a certain emotion that the music drags up in you, and the props help.
Doesn't have to have meaning.....do you look for meaning in a Chuck Berry tune? Or a Stevie Ray Vaughan tune? Or a Joe Satriani tune? No.....you're simply looking to feel a certain emotion, to feel powerful or sad or scared or happy.

Dathai

Barney Greenway for the win. ****ing god that man, I dare anyone to defy that man, they'll be deafened.

MagnumForce

So what if (certain genres of) metal has the image of skulls and demons? Why does pop have the image of clean, happy smiley people, punk the image of angry, unsatisfied, untidyness etc? Its only an image, a visual metaphor to display the mood the music creates. Whats wrong with song about dragons and such, you'd watch a science fiction film wouldnt you? It's exciting, it tells a story, a bit of fun and adventure, unlike other bands singin about goin out and partying in every song they write, or even worse, bands who sing about how terrible life is, you don't like it then shut up and stop bothering me about it! The leather came from a mixture of emulating bikers and S&M(you can thank Rob Halford for that), the demon imagery of some genres of metal, especially the early eighties metal, was probably a way of rebelling against popular society, just like punk sang about anarchy and nihilism and all that. After hearing everyone refer to it as the devil's music they probably just decided to go along with it and to try and see how far they could go and eventualy it just became normal for bands to use devil and demon imagery along with their music. The metal genre was born out of various circumstances, mainly to make good music for people to listen to and enjoy themselves to and have fun doing it, and of course to get some pussy! Punk was too extreme and took itself way too seriously, and still does. It's kind of hard to comment on metal these days as there's so many damn variations out there these days. Suffice it to say that for the most part, it's all about havin a good time and identifying with the music you listen to, whether it be skulls and dungeons, partying and drinking, social collapse and spitting or being depressed and suicidal and complaining alot cos daddy wont buy you a new beverley hills summer house.

im sure i left alot of good points out, i kept forgeting what i was saying.

Karl Hungus

^ All you need in Metal.

Tar.Aldarion

They are just playing the same thing over and over?




Metal makes me feel good,I thoroughly enjoy listening to it and do so all day.
A song is good or bad,it's a combo of lyrics guitar and va va voom.Who cares.You like ity or you don't.If people want to harp on about dragons let them,dragons are cute.Sometimes a song can be good without deep vocals,sometimes a song can be good without great guitar.Personaly,I thought they were trying to say our friends are skeletons or..skeletons are our friends...either wat,they are right.

Sarky

Rustar wrote:

Metal is the opposite....not a lot of soul in the playing itself, but in the same vein as classical music, the orchestration and totality create the emotion.

What? Metal (and classical, for that matter) is full of musicians who throw everything they have into what they play. They're just like every other musician in that respect.


And occasionally, yes, I do look for meaning in a Chuck Berry or Satriani tune. Sometimes I even find it.

Steoob

pants on fire wrote:

There are 2 very different classes of metal fans.

1st you have all the black wearing, pierced to the last, tattooed head, hate your parents, wish i was dead type metal fan.

Then you have the 'ordinary' people you see walking down O'Connell street with their jeans and fairly respectable appearance.

this is a very good explaination...

i would call the first group goths and the second... well i cant think of a name.. but i fall into the second group and when people who dont like metal call me a goth it enrages me so....:mad:

Rustar

Sarky wrote:

What? Metal (and classical, for that matter) is full of musicians who throw everything they have into what they play.

You missed a word in my post. Soul.
The Berklee School of Music version of "everything they have" is a far cry from the Mississippi Delta version of "everything they have".

The world is full of people who can move up and down a fingerboard faster than a camera and computer can track, but very few of those people are really famous. It's a niche, and a different form of entertainment.
This is not to degrade metal (or classical, I started life as a classical musician)....I love quite a bit of it myself (even play some!).

Beer is Life

Steoob wrote:

this is a very good explaination...

i would call the first group goths and the second... well i cant think of a name.. but i fall into the second group and when people who dont like metal call me a goth it enrages me so....:mad:

There are metalheads and metal fans. Metal heads do the metal "fashion" thing and the metal fans are the "normal" lookin types. Thats the way i look at it anyway.

Sarky

Rustar wrote:

Stuff.

No, I'm quite sure I saw that word. And that's why I said what I did. Surely your example of two different takes on the same thing proves that? If a performer doesn't add anything of themselves to even someone else's tune, what's the point in playing it?I wasn't considering technical prowess at all when I posted there.

Maybe you and I have different ideas of what "soul" in a piece of music is? I always considered it a combination of being able to evoke emotion (isn't that the whole point of any kind of music, anyway?) and the sense that the person playing is enjoying their task. It might be a coincidence, but it generally seems that the music I like most is made by people who love what they do.

I'm in danger of taking this all too seriously, so I'll stop now...

Karl Hungus

Sarky wrote:

I'm in danger of taking this all too seriously, so I'll stop now...

No, you're on a roll, keep going. Those would me my sentiments exactly.

Sarky

Hey, it's only rock'n'roll...

Rustar

Sarky wrote:

Hey, it's only rock'n'roll...

Heheh, that's the BEST argument I've heard all day!

All I was saying was that in metal, as well as classical music, the composer becomes the 'fifth musician'. Heavily orchestrated music (as much metal is) has a different effect than a soloist/backup kind of situation.

Here's a 'soul' example....
I'd say Ted Nugent has 'soul', whereas George Lynch doesn't, even though George is technically the far superior guitarist.
another:
Jeff Beck has 'soul', whereas Al DiMeola doesn't, even though Al blah blah blah.

See what I'm driving at?

Karl Hungus

Rustar wrote:

See what I'm driving at?

No, I don't.

Sure, some guitarists are more into fretwanking, while others are not, but that's simply stating the obvious, and it hardly proves that as you put it "Metal is the opposite....not a lot of soul in the playing itself."

Ruaidhri

Maccattack wrote:

When did I do that??? I said it 'seems' juvenille. 'seems' and 'is' have separate meanings.

Good post otherwise.

My humblest apologies! i meant to say

I'm amazed that you took the time to actually ask the community as opposed to writing it off as a bunch of immature assholes like so many people unfortunately do.

I was running out the door from work on a friday evening

Well spotted BTW scouser.tommy.

Parsley

Steoob wrote:

this is a very good explaination...

i would call the first group goths and the second... well i cant think of a name.. but i fall into the second group and when people who dont like metal call me a goth it enrages me so....:mad:

Ditto. I'd say the second group are called "metallers" or "metalheads". :v:

Ruaidhri

Parsley wrote:

Ditto. I'd say the second group are called "metallers" or "metalheads". :v:

Normies?

Karl Hungus

Steoob wrote:

this is a very good explaination...

i would call the first group goths and the second... well i cant think of a name.. but i fall into the second group and when people who dont like metal call me a goth it enrages me so....:mad:

Goth is a totally different thing to Metal entirely. Do not confuse the two.

Steoob

Karl Hungus wrote:

Goth is a totally different thing to Metal entirely. Do not confuse the two.

well we were kindof talking in generalised terms... when it comes to metal theres two goups... that was what i was getting at..

interesting read tho...

Doctor J

TBH I didn't realise there was a uniform. Two groups? I know loads of people who love Metal music and have nothing in common, appearance or otherwise, other than a love for a particular style of music. Everybody I know who listens to Metal listens to more than just Metal. That's like eating one kind of food every day. I don't know anybody who eats the same thing every day. FFS lighten up people, there is so much more to life than categorisation and adhering to some bull**** marketing dream.

As for saying Al Di Meola not having soul, FFS :rolleyes:

Civilian_Target

Sarky wrote:

And occasionally, yes, I do look for meaning in a Chuck Berry or Satriani tune. Sometimes I even find it.

What would you be under the influence of to look for meaning in a Satriani tune exactly?

Sarky

These days? Sleep deprivation + Beer = FUN!

Pinhead

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heavy_metal_music

If in doubt, Wiki it.

John

Metal has no soul because it sold it for rock and roll. Passion, emotion, power and pure energy? It's got it by the bucket full.

Rustar

Doctor J wrote:

As for saying Al Di Meola not having soul, FFS :rolleyes:

Heheh, I must admit, even at my advanced age, to having missed the meanings of many email-speak acronyms, such as FFS and AFAIK.
Fulla Feckin Sh!te?
For Frank's (Zappa's) Sake? :v: