As I was browsing through the metal forums on Myspace, I came across a post that really got my back up! As a fan of metal for over 10 years now, I despise when people misinturrperate the music I love because they've heard one metal band, and from there have closed their minds to the whole genre!
This is the original post:
"Hey, you all.
My name is Clifford Rafferty and I would like your opinions on something.
Is this 'Metal' music actually taken seriously by anyone?
I have listened to some of these 'Metal' tunes, and they all sounded horribly loud and abrasive. The lead singer was simply yelling in a decidedly rage filled tone and I found the whole thing laughable.
I for one enjoy a wide range of musical genres, everything from good old Rock & Roll to Showtunes to Americana, but the idea of listening to a full LP of this 'Metal' junk makes me cringe. My suggestion to any 'Metal' groups who try to make music again in the future is this: Turn down your equipment, lay off the drums and sing properly instead of just shouting. Writing intelligible lyrics would also help.
For example, I imagine the typical 'Metal' lyricist would write something along these lines.
"Help, I am angry
What should I do
I am cursing and yelling
At all of you
I dispose of smiles and create frowns
I really hope you all die
Don't tell me to calm down
I'm not even going to try"
The problem with these sorts of lyrics is that they are not positive. The message expressed is that the young man is confused and desperate for help, and decides to take his anger out on innocent bystanders, causing their moods to be affected by his rage. That is the wrong message to be sending.
Why don't you 'Metal' lyricists write something more positive and uplifting once in a while?
If I was the lead singer and lyricist in a 'Metal' group, I would write happier and much less morbid lyrics, as displayed below.
This is an excerpt from a 'Metal' piece I wrote, as I like to dabble in all genres.
"Life really gets me down sometimes
But gosh, the world is an amazing place
Filled with natural beauty and wonder
We all train for the human race
Anger is not productive
I'm grateful for my happiness
I sing and dance and laugh
I don't complain like activists
Other 'Metal' groups should follow our lead
Stop being angry
For there is no need
To express such rage
You must keep all your positive emotions
In a metaphorical cage
I wish you fellows would stop yelling
I can't understand what you say"
Notice how I present my thoughts in a clear manner and I don't dwell on negatives.
I show that problems can be conquered as long as you want them to be. I don't yell about Satan and killing children or anything lewd.
I'm sure there will be detractors on this forum who will disagree with me, and that's fine. You're allowed to have an opinion as well. Just don't pretend that I'm incorrect because we all know the truth.
Until next time
The People's Lifeline,
Clifford Rafferty."
This sheer ignorance for a genre of music that the writer has clearly no idea about, got me worked up, so I had to respond to this:
"Is metal taken seriously by people? Yes it certainly is, else there wouldn't have been so many replies to this thread.
I think what you are having a problem understanding is that metal is a very large genre of music, with many different subgenres. Some of the lyrics can be "Argh, I hate my mom and dad", that's usually the metal aimed at teenagers (the likes of Slipknot you can tie in here). But there are bands who have more postive messages, perhaps the ones who aren't so mainstream, and don't get the media out there talking about them and scapegoating them into whatever bad things happen to be going on in the world.
Yes you do get the bands who like to go out and burn down churches and sing about how great Satan is, you also get the bands who go to church every Sunday and sing about how great being a Christian is.
You can't really swipe at a genre because you've only heard what the media say about it. You can't taint all metal with the same brush. As I say, it's a very big genre with a lot of different subgenres, not all will appeal to each individual metal fan though. The fans are equally as diverse as the bands are.
Personally, I listen to a whole range of music, from Opeth to Beethoven, Johnny Cash to Frank Sinatra, Black Sabbath to Alphabeat, Terror 2000 to Kelly Clarkson, Little Richard to Andrew Lloyd Webber. I am very open in my musical tastes, but I would prefer to listen to metal if I had the choice.
Lyrics vary from band to band. There is a lot of angst from some bands, there are also some bands who write the funniest lyrics that will have you in stitches. Some bands put a lot of effort into writing about things they have a passion for, for example Rage Against The Machine have a lot of political lyrics which highlight problems that people may not have had any idea about before. Or Deadlock who sing about animal rights, and saving the seals. It's not all hatred in the lyrics!
People can relate to some metal, because there are lyrics that you feel tie in with how you're feeling at a certain point. They don't sugarcoat the lyrics just to make people blind to what's going on around them, they sing from the heart, and if that's singing about despair, then that's their choice. And people will relate to it and take something from it, I know I've personally pulled myself out from a dark place knowing I'm not alone in how I feel.
Yes it can be a therapy. People need something they can feel relates to them. It's also a great way of letting go of your anger without smashing someone's face in for the hell of it. I'd much rather head into a mosh pit and release my anger without injuring anyone, than going down to the local park and beating the sh*t out of someone for no reason.
I heard in the news lately about how different people who listen to different music are related. It said that there isn't a lot of difference between people who listen to metal and people who listen to classical music. Don't believe me? Here is a newspaper artical about the study:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/2680987/Heavy-metal-and-c lassical-music-fans-share-personality-traits.html
"Professor Adrian North, of Edinburgh's Heriot-Watt University who carried out the study, said he was surprised by the results.
"I was struck by how similar fans of heavy metal and classical music really are," he said.
"Apart from the age differences, they were virtually identical. Both were more creative than other people, both were not terribly outgoing and they were also quite at ease.""
We are not all a bunch of mindless idiots! We listen to metal because it speaks something to us (or perhaps yells something to us) that we can relate to. Plus, it's not all about the lyrics, the music is what appeals to me a lot more. The sheer complicity you hear in how the music is written is mindblowing. The likes of Opeth and Tool who write music in different time signatures, that push the boundries on how music is meant to sound. You can hear the influences from old 70s progressive rock bands, who in-turn were highly influenced by the great classical composers.
Open your eyes, open your ears, and open your mind. We have listened to what you have said, and sure you got the odd "f*ck off", but there are some serious responses from people who HAVE listened to what you said, and HAVE responded. The metal fans are very protective of their tastes, which you must have noticed. So why not take on board what has been said, and respect our views on why we listen to metal, and stop bitching about why you don't like it. That's your choice, and this is ours!"
The original post can be found here:
http://forums.myspace.com/t/4303706.aspx?fuseaction=forums.viewthread
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P.S. I just read his profile. He listens to CREED for fuck's sake! I think this tells us everything we need to know about Clifford...save that he has very, very, bad taste in wigs.
Oh dear. That moron was looking for a reaction, which you gave him. Best just to ignore intellectually bereft specimens like that in the future.
If he doesn't understand metal then he's obviously not intelligent to understand any reply you gave him :P.
To be honest, it may just all be a wind up, but it still gets my back up! I think bringing in all the information on the studies into people who listen to different music, has shut them up for a little while.
"According to Professor North, both heavy metal and classical fans are united by a shared "love of the grandiose", which means that a Metallica fan is far more likely to listen to Mahler than an indie kid is to give reggae a try.
"Aside from their age difference, they're basically the same kind of person," he said. "Lots of heavy metal fans will tell you that they also like Wagner, because it's big, loud and brash. There's also a sense of theatre in both heavy rock and classical music, and I suspect that this is what they're really trying to get at when they listen."
John Gregson, 23, a classically-trained musician with a passion for heavy metal, agrees. "As an instrumentalist, out of all of the main genres of music heavy metal and classical are the ones which require the most discipline to play – they're technically very difficult and involve playing at inhumanly fast speeds," he said.
"You feel like you're in on a secret – you identify with it personally. It also feels like you know something that other people don't, because you appreciate a style of music which is often vilified.""
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