The Candle Burned Out Before the Metal Ever Did

By Broadside Style Columnist Andy Minor

I was a little disconcerted a few weeks ago at the response I got when I was telling some people about how I used to listen to a lot of metal in high school but over time I sort of grew out of it. I mean, I still enjoy throwing my hair around and having a good time, but for the most part I find most heavy metal these days just sort of runs together and fails to discern itself from the other bands performing in the genre. One of the people involved in the aforementioned conversation couldn’t stop saying how “sad” it was that I had essentially lost my metal-enjoying ears.

This put me off a little bit; I don't think of myself as “sad” because I don't listen to that much metal anymore, I just simply don't enjoy it as much as I used to. And in no way had I lost my ear for it.

Obviously the person who thought this was a metal head, and I can see where he's coming from, as I would get mad if someone said they “grew out of” the Beatles or James Brown or John Coltrane, et cetera. But at the same time his comment made me think a lot about why people grow out of some styles of music and not others. In my case I seemed to grow out of the ideas that metal stood for and I lost interest in what these bands were trying to tell me. Still, there were many bands I enjoyed in my youth that, though I don't really listen to them regularly, I still revere as talented and still enjoy their music whenever I happen to come across it. For example, I don't listen to Led Zeppelin every day like I did when I was a bona fide Led-Hed in high school, but I still enjoy a good tune now and then and I won't turn off the radio if a Led song is on. At the same time, I listened to a lot of Metallica back in the day and now I can hardly stand them. Now why is this?

One of the reasons could be because Metallica is the only band I've ever seen get progressively worse with every album they record. I still have a lot of respect for the songs on “Kill ‘Em All”, but I heard their new song on the radio the other day and I couldn't stop laughing at how terrible it was. How could a true thrash metal band turn themselves into the most commercial, overrated musical act of their generation? Some blame the Napster fiasco, others blame the death of Cliff Burton. I blame the fact that the more metal you make, the worse it gets. Is there any metal head out there who would argue that Ozzy wrote better songs after the death of Randy Rhoads? Most ‘80s metal bands were all one-hit-wonders, and if they ever tried to branch out it showed how truly untalented they really were. Sure, you can down a pint of Jack Daniels and buy a white Ferrari, but if you try to live that life for too long you burn out.

Now, I’m not here to discredit the obvious exceptions to the rule. For every bad metal band out there you have your Megadeth, Iron Maiden and Judas Priest to carry the flame. But these three aforementioned bands (plus others, which I mentioned last year in my “Top Ten Metal Bands” article) found a sound and stuck to it; they realized the true extent of their music and stayed within its boundaries.

Every Iron Maiden song sounds exactly like every other Iron Maiden song, and they’re all great because you don’t expect too much from them. Motorhead barely ever changes keys, and they're one of the greatest metal bands ever. You can also look at a band like DragonForce, whom I have nothing but praise for, and recognize that with their face-melting guitar solos and mythical/fantastic subject matter, the entire band is a parody of the genre they play in. The only reason they aren't a novelty is because they pull it off to an extremely high degree.

I guess what I'm trying to get at here is that metal inherently grows out of itself, and that's why people—at least people who listen to as much music as I do—seem to grow out of it as well. The bands that have the most success don't try to do too much with it, and the bands that fail are the ones that see metal for more than what it really is. I'm also only really making the beginning of my case, as my article is hardly long enough to really express my true views on the subject. But let me close with saying that I do in fact love metal, it’s just different for me now. And if you want to be a metal head, then be my guest, I just want to point out how metal sets itself up for ultimate failure. At the same time, maybe that’s what it’s trying to do.