"Metallica should call it a day"

I am 26. I lived 25 years of my life where Rock music is considered to be obscene and a menace to society. However, there are a few of us, who defy the rules and have dared to become obsessed with Rock and Heavy Metal.
I listened to Metallica before I heard Iron Maiden. I liked them a lot then. I even liked GNR and Aerosmith. I would fancy myself in the moshpit banging my had away to glory in front of a giant stage with Metallica brutally playing Enter Sandman on stage. Heck, I loved those days.
But my enchantment was short-lived. Somehow, the music never touched me. It was exciting all right, but never something that I could relate to. I told myself that maybe it was the thing that boys of my age did and was about to move on to stuff like Jazz.
Then one day, I discovered Iron Maiden. It was the best thing that happened to me. Listening to those songs which symbolize the purest form of Heavy Metal by one of the bands that invented the genre made me attain musical nirvana. I consider Sabbath, Ozzy, Maiden and Priest to be the inventors of Heavy Metal. The more I listen to Maiden, the more I love them. They have what it takes to become greatr musicians.
Iron Maiden fans are a queer lot (unlike the Metallica fan-boy who puked out those profanities). They worship Maiden, but they grind them in dirt when Maiden fails to create the musical masterpiece every time they write a song. They forget that, like all of us, Iron Maiden is aband made of human beings. No human being (or a bunch of them) can perform consistently for 20 years.
Considering the time Maiden have been around, their consistency amazes me. They are a great band. Except for Judas Priest, Ozzy and a few other peers, nobody ever comes close to Maiden-Not even Metallica. To even hold Metallica in the same level as Maiden would be a cardinal sin.
I don't know whether Maiden sold-out. I don't think they ever did. I don't know why people wanted Maiden to call it quits with 'X-Factor' and 'Vitual XI'. I love those albums.
Metallica however did sell out. They sold out after their black album. The worst was St. Anger. It just made me angry. Here they were-the present icons of Heavy Metal and they have to come out with a piece of crap like that.
About the guy who said DOD was as bad as St. Anger. I think DOD was a good album. It was not as great as BNW. It was definitely not bad.
Come on folks, accept it. Even if you don't like the Blaze Bailey albums, they still are good. None of today's bands can even dream of producing music even remotely comparable to what most fans consider to be Iron Maiden's worst albums.
Iron Maiden is one of the greatest Heavy Metal bands of all time. The day Iron Maiden, Ozzy and Judas Priest call it quits, I will go into mourning-for the sad demise of a great genre of music.
 
[!--QuoteBegin-Iron 'Ed+Aug 17 2004, 09:36 PM--][div class=\'quotetop\']QUOTE(Iron 'Ed @ Aug 17 2004, 09:36 PM)[/div][div class=\'quotemain\'][!--QuoteEBegin--]They forget that, like all of us, Iron Maiden is aband made of human beings. No human being (or a bunch of them) can perform consistently for 20 years.
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Proving the point that Maiden are gods on earth [!--emo&^_^--][img src=\'style_emoticons/[#EMO_DIR#]/happy.gif\' border=\'0\' style=\'vertical-align:middle\' alt=\'happy.gif\' /][!--endemo--]
 
[!--QuoteBegin-Iron 'Ed+Aug 17 2004, 09:36 PM--][div class=\'quotetop\']QUOTE(Iron 'Ed @ Aug 17 2004, 09:36 PM)[/div][div class=\'quotemain\'][!--QuoteEBegin--]Iron Maiden fans are a queer lot (unlike the Metallica fan-boy who puked out those profanities). They worship Maiden, but they grind them in dirt when Maiden fails to create the musical masterpiece every time they write a song. They forget that, like all of us, Iron Maiden is aband made of human beings. No human being (or a bunch of them) can perform consistently for 20 years.
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Here's the thing. We here generally appreciate the Bayley-era albums. In fact, The X-Factor is generally considered to be one of the top 3 Maiden albums of all time. When we "grind them in the dirt", it's usually for something like actual flaws. Sure, we're critical of Maiden, as all of them (save for Adrian Smith), are human.
 
[!--QuoteBegin-LooseCannon+Aug 17 2004, 09:45 PM--][div class=\'quotetop\']QUOTE(LooseCannon @ Aug 17 2004, 09:45 PM)[/div][div class=\'quotemain\'][!--QuoteEBegin--]In fact, The X-Factor is generally considered to be one of the top 3 Maiden albums of all time.
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While I agree that The X Factor is a very good album, I think you're wrong about saying it's in the top 3. Remember when we had a thread called "Top 20 Maiden Songs", and I was adding up all the lists to get the "consensus" top 20 list? Well, I also tracked which albums got the most favorable ratings. And The X Factor came out at #11 out of 13. (Look at the bottom of [a href=\'http://ouray.cudenver.edu/~pbarmstr/imtop20.html\' target=\'_blank\']this page[/a] to see what I mean.)

Now, I'll grant that sometimes an album is much more than the sum of it's parts. But in order for an album to be great, the songs on it have to be pretty damn good individually too. Before the top 20 songs thread vanished, I had collected data from around 35 different top 20 lists, and the only X Factor song to even get into the consensus top 50 was Sign Of The Cross. If X Factor was really "generally considered" to be a top 3 album, wouldn't you expect more songs to have been in people's top 20 lists?

Again, let me emphasize that I don't mean to bash The X Factor. I'll even admit there are some flaws in my argument. For example, when people posted the top 20 lists from which my data was derived, many said that their favorites change from day to day. Maybe everyone posted on days that they weren't into The X Factor. Maybe a lot of the posters didn't have the album, and didn't know the songs well enough to put them on their top 20 list. But I still think calling X Factor a top 3 album is going too far. For some Maiden fans, that's true - but for most, it's not.
 
Iron Maiden and Metallica are my two top favorite bands of all time. On some days, I like Maiden a little more, on other days I like Metallica a little more. I guess you would call it a tie between the two. That being said, I'll just toos out a few opinions about what has been said.

First of all, the hair. To hate a band because of the way they look doesn't make a lot of sense to me. I guess I can almost understand saying that getting a haircut is a symbol of larger things. I mean, a lot of metal bands have long hair, so when Metallica got theirs cut, it kind of shows that they don't play metal music anymore. I can almost understand that. But I think a better way of judging the music would be to pick up an album and listen to it, rather than just look at the sleeve.

Along the same lines is the commercial success argument. I don't understand hating something because it's popular. Again, I can almost relate to this. Let's face it, a lot of people are stupid and annoying, so when they like things, you can't help but feel annoyed by whatever it is that they like. If nothing else, you might dislike it out of pure spite. But then again, the sound of something doesn't change based on who likes it. Take for example, bands like Led Zeppelin, CCR, and the Eagles (regardless if you like them or not. I happen to, so I'm using them as examples). They were all very popular in theirown times, and they produced some of the best music I've ever heard. (That's obviously my opinion, but you could probably fill in that spot with any number of bands that are both commercially successful and good musicians.) I don't understand just dismissing a band or an album right away because it's popular. Make your own call based on how it sounds, not what other people think of it.

Now, to get more into Metallica. I personally like St Anger. Granted, I have to be in the right mood for it, and I don't listen to it very often, and I wouldn't say it's one of their best albums. But I don't consider it something Metallica should be ashamed of. Their goal wasn't to produce something that would make them a lot of money, or something that would be all over the radio. They wanted to do something different. In that sense, I think they met their goal. How many people have put on the album and said to themselves, "Well this sounds exactly the same as all their other stuff"? And when you think about it, if the album ends up repelling some of their less ardent fans, wouldn't that make them less of a sellout? (I know it also pushed away some long-time big-time supporters of the band, you don't need to point that out.) I don't think too many people started liking Metallica because of St Anger. Granted, by 2003, I think most people who listen to any decent-sized amount of music already had an opinion.

On a side note, I never use the term "sell out." It gets thrown around way too much, so I just say the hell with it. Besides, as soon as you become a full-time musician and play music to pay the bills, you've sold out, at least in one way. But anyway, it's too subjective to make a call on who sold out most of the time. What constitutes a legitimate change in musical style and how do you draw the line between that and selling out? If a change turns out to be commercially successful, does that make it a sellout? If so, doesn't that mean that there shouldn't be any changes other than the ones that make a band less popular? Is it really worth talking and thinking about it so much? Why not use that time to actually listen to the music and decide for yourself whether or not you like it?

Anyways, those are just some thoughts that came to me after reading all your opinions on my two favorite bands. Your entitled to them (as if you need to be told that, I know) and I don't expect to cause any massive changes in opinions and thoughts just because I took some time to type out some of what I think.

["Aruging with people on the Internet is like playing in the Special Olympics- even if you win, you're still retarded." There's a good thing to keep in mind, eh?]

-some guy
 
Forgive me, SMX. What I meant to post is that Steve Harris himself considers it one of the top albums. I was tired.
 
i jus love iron maiden, one can listen to any one of their songs without cringing, or getting put off unlike Metallica songs, which a re so alike each other..there remains no individuality within songs of an album.
but maiden jus renews faith in their songs..every single song is as different as the other..variety and very listenable [!--emo&:rock:--][img src=\'style_emoticons/[#EMO_DIR#]/headbang.gif\' border=\'0\' style=\'vertical-align:middle\' alt=\'headbang.gif\' /][!--endemo--]
 
[!--QuoteBegin-maiden maiden+Aug 26 2004, 07:03 PM--][div class=\'quotetop\']QUOTE(maiden maiden @ Aug 26 2004, 07:03 PM)[/div][div class=\'quotemain\'][!--QuoteEBegin--]i jus love iron maiden, one can listen to any one of their songs without cringing, or getting put off unlike Metallica songs, which a re so alike each other..there remains no individuality within songs of an album.
but maiden jus renews faith in their songs..every single song is as different as the other..variety and very listenable [!--emo&:rock:--][img src=\'style_emoticons/[#EMO_DIR#]/headbang.gif\' border=\'0\' style=\'vertical-align:middle\' alt=\'headbang.gif\' /][!--endemo--]
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you seroiusly gotta be kidding me
if you think metallica sounds all the same
you seriously need to lisetn to it more
in no way at all do they sound anyway the same or ALIKE
maybe a few songs, like the slow but heavy devil's dance and sad but true.
you want a band that sounds alike? slayer , well thats just of course my opinion, im not a full slayer fan and i only have around 7 of their albums, so i might not know them that well, but their earlly stuff, i reckon sounds pretty much alike, but metallica? seriously, you gotta be kidding, the songs do not sound alike
 
[!--QuoteBegin-kfretz+Aug 17 2004, 05:56 PM--][div class=\'quotetop\']QUOTE(kfretz @ Aug 17 2004, 05:56 PM)[/div][div class=\'quotemain\'][!--QuoteEBegin--]Jackal, god bless you for putting these Metallica sheep in their places.  Anyone who disagrees and says that Metallica is still making good metal music is not a metal fan at all, its all mainstream just like u said.
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Hell yeah! Metallica was a really great kick-ass dont give a fuck band until the mid-90's. I had to say something because i grew up worshipping bands like slayer, black sabbath and iron maiden. It really does blow that the whole fuckin' "grunge" scene happend in the 90's, but it did, and ultimately, this event seperated the pussy sell-outs from the true-to-their-fans hardcore thrashers. So its sad that Metallica cut their hair and went "alternative", but it sucks big time and the REAL thrashers, headbangers and metalheads will have to keep on fighting the good fight to keep metal alive and kickin' major ass! I just have to give a shout out to Jackal and Kfretz for realizing the truth. THE METAL REVOLUTION WILL GO ON! [!--emo&:rock:--][img src=\'style_emoticons/[#EMO_DIR#]/headbang.gif\' border=\'0\' style=\'vertical-align:middle\' alt=\'headbang.gif\' /][!--endemo--]
 
[!--QuoteBegin-wanton-wonton+Aug 27 2004, 12:57 PM--][div class=\'quotetop\']QUOTE(wanton-wonton @ Aug 27 2004, 12:57 PM)[/div][div class=\'quotemain\'][!--QuoteEBegin--]you seroiusly gotta be kidding me
if you think metallica sounds all the same
you seriously need to lisetn to it more
in no way at all do they sound anyway the same or ALIKE
maybe a few songs, like the slow but heavy devil's dance and sad but true.
you want a band that sounds alike? slayer , well thats just of course my opinion, im not a full slayer fan and i only have around 7 of their albums, so i might not know them that well, but their earlly stuff, i reckon sounds pretty much alike, but metallica? seriously, you gotta be kidding, the songs do not sound alike
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FUCK OFF U FAGGET! SLAYER IS ONE OF, IF NOT THE BEST THRASHING METAL BAND EVER!!! THEY ARE AND I BELIEVE WILL BE TRUE TO THEIR LEGIONS OF FANS FOR AS LONG AS THEY CAN BANG THEIR HEAD'S! SO DON'T SAY SHIT ABOUT A BAND THAT HAS SINGLE HANDEDLY REVOLUTIONED HEAVY METAL!!! [!--emo&:rock:--][img src=\'style_emoticons/[#EMO_DIR#]/headbang.gif\' border=\'0\' style=\'vertical-align:middle\' alt=\'headbang.gif\' /][!--endemo--]
 
He never said they sucked dipshit. He said they sounded the same. And do you honestly believe that someone with 7 album's of them would talk shit? Is it just me, or are you a moron?
 
[!--QuoteBegin-wanton-wonton+Aug 27 2004, 06:57 AM--][div class=\'quotetop\']QUOTE(wanton-wonton @ Aug 27 2004, 06:57 AM)[/div][div class=\'quotemain\'][!--QuoteEBegin--]you want a band that sounds alike? slayer , well thats just of course my opinion
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[!--QuoteBegin-Guest+Sep 10 2004, 09:24 PM--][div class=\'quotetop\']QUOTE(Guest @ Sep 10 2004, 09:24 PM)[/div][div class=\'quotemain\'][!--QuoteEBegin--]FUCK OFF U FAGGET! SLAYER IS ONE OF, IF NOT THE BEST THRASHING METAL BAND EVER!!!
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The following is addressed to the anonymous moron who made the latter of the posts quoted above:

First of all, consider the source. wanton-wonton has already proved himself to be an idiot earlier in this very thread. You have only yourself to blame if you take him seriously.

But let's be kind and assume that wanton-wonton has started using his brain. Let's look at his post on the merits. I have boldfaced the most important part: he was stating his personal opinion, which everyone is entitled to. He did not pretend that his opinion was an undisputed fact. If you are so insecure that you can't handle the idea of other people speaking their minds, then I hypothesize that you are probably unfit for any sort of social interaction whatsoever. So learn to read and have some tolerance, or get lost.

If I sound harsh, consider this hint: registration is free and easy. Those who sign their rants, even with a pseudonym, get more respect than anonymous morons.

Also remember that posting in all caps with misspelled words is indicative of a extremely subpar intelligence. It might therefore be appropriate for me to use small and simple words in speaking to an anonymous moron such as yourself. But then again, why should I stoop to your level?

Finally, I personally find anti-gay insults to be repugnant. As far as I'm concerned, it's on a par with unbridled racism. I initially hesitated in posting this response because I don't believe in feeding trolls. However, your bigotry disgusts me, and I wanted to make absolutely clear that I, for one, don't believe such behavior should be ignored. Silence = assent.

In summation: if you can both register here and post like an intelligent human, then your opinions are welcome here. If not: take your crap elsewhere, loser.
 
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