Back in the early/mid 90s I had just bought Death Spiritual Healing, Malevolent Creation Ten Commandments, and Nocturnus The Key from a video rental place in my home town.
Me and a buddy listened to all of the metal I just got and decided to see what else we could find. Then we saw it, it had to be the holy grail of heavy metal! There was a motorcycle blasting out of hell and this awesome bat in the background. The album was Bat Out of Hell and the band was so metal their name was Meatloaf! This was going to be soul crushingly heavy…
That's a good fucking album though. Bat Out of Hell II: Bat Back Into Hell fucking sucked, though I will admit liking his version of a particular song more than Celine Dion's version.
The incredible irony here is that there are so, so many death and black metal musicians that are genuinely better people than Gene Simmons could ever be. I would trust my kids (note: I do not have kids) around Cannibal Corpse and Cattle Decapitation. I would absolutely not trust Simmons around a teen daughter.
Oh for sure, metal heads are for real wholesome ppl. Metal concerts are probably the lowest in some stupid peer pressure things or macho competitions (who can to the most x stuff, who has the most money, etc), and I absolutely know how many people react to someone needing some help. Maybe because we are a more diverse group related to age? Or because we are everywhere yet nowhere mainstream?
I was the Metal Blade 25th anniversary show in Chicago--Cattle Decapitation with Goatwhore, Allegaeon, and Novembers Doom--and the lead of Goatwhore stopped the show to point out the guy that had his 10yo kid (with ear muffs!) at the edge of the pit, and told the crowd to be careful and friendly, because that kid was the future of the scene.
Late to the party, everything that needed to be said has been said. Still, let me add my voice to the choir: KISS has never been cool. KISS is the opposite of cool.
Then there's Steely Dan who goes the opposite direction. He looks and sounds middle of the road, but the lyrics are dark as fuck. Used to only know of him because of jokes about his music being soft as shit, and then I took the time to actually listen to it and I was blown away.
Steely Dan isn't a person, it's two main artists and a bunch of other session musicians. The band's name came from a steam-powered dildo named Steely Dan in a book from the early 60's I believe.
"My Rival" is my favorite jaunty funk-rock ditty about a guy stalking the man that stole his wife, cornering him in the middle of the desert, and kicking him to death in a strip mall parking lot. And that's not even in the 'Dan Top 10.
And you can't listen to "Godwhacker" and tell me that isn't the basic plot of half a dozen death metal songs, just with more jive and a sicker bassline.
He looks and sounds middle of the road, but the lyrics are dark as fuck
Have you ever listened to the lyrics for Simon and Garfunkel songs? They make the most beautiful and serene music, all about darkness, loneliness, and desperation.
The song about creepy Mister LaPage wanting to show kids dirty movies comes to mind, Everyone's Gone To the Movies. Also Third World Man, about a veteran suffering from PTSD, or Kid Charlemagne and the story it tells of a drug kingpin.
Nothing's average to you when you've barely listened to anything. Many of us started their musical journey with bands we don't enjoy anymore because we now know better ones.
They're more in the realm of like... Stoner Rock, Psychedelic Doom and Smooth rock tbh with a large emphasis on Satanist Imagery and gospel. I fuck with that. More like Candlemass type Doom metal than like Stormkeep Doom Metal.
KISS on the other hand was like "Hey kids, we heard you like corpse paint, crazy guitar riffs and meaningful lyrics so we made the opposite for your mothers to listen to."
don't usually say things like this to girls your age
But when I saw you coming out of school that day
That day I knew, I knew
I've got to have you, I've got to have you
I know for most people this seems like hair splitting but there is a stark contrast between beeing attracted to a 16 year old (which only based on physical appearance is very normal) and being attracted to prepubescent people.
My mom's rebellious rock band was Black Sabbath, so I never experienced that level of disappointment. The first time I listened to them I was like "holy shit, this is bad ass!". I still feel that way. I was just rocking out to Wasp/Behind the Wall of Sleep/Basically last night. But I thought the Stones were pretty badass the first time I heard them too. Paint it Black goes hard, and Gimme Shelter is a very cool song. I love the sound of Sympathy for the Devil.