Its now official, the proverbial goose that laid the golden eggs for heavy metal’s glory years is now dead. Murdered by the narrow minded bigotry of those who claim to love the genre the most. The pursuit of “metal purity” that began in earnest in the wake of grunge’s successful overthrow of the “Hollywood Hair Metal Club,” is now complete. As with all puritanical cleansings that came along, heavy metal’s pious arbiters of purity have killed the genre in the name of “true metal.”
THE ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF SHAM
“Kiss is not a great band, Kiss was never a great band, Kiss never will be a great band, and I have done my share to keep them off the ballot.” Dave Marsh; Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame historian and pompous ass.
Another year, another induction ceremony for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Another opportunity to deride KISS by refusing to even nominate them for this fraternity of Rock and Roll elitism. Yet again the most popular and influential band not already in the hall has been passed over for reasons that actually reinforce the validity of their claim to join the status of the so called “rock elite.”
HEAVY METAL: UNDERGROUND OR FRATERNITY
A lot has been written, primarily over the internet but also through many traditional and independent publications, regarding heavy metal as an “underground” music genre.. To be sure it no longer holds a dominant status in the sales figures of major record labels, nor does it dominate the touring market as it once did in it’s 80’s heyday. The question I present is: How did it come to this? At one time metal music was a prominent, even dominant, commercial force.. It is the opinion of this writer that it boils down to two factors: definition and fraternity.
The Prophet Of Wrath 