Animal

I still remember how Korn pissed off the fundies in Zeeland, Michigan, back in 1998. The local high school suspended some kid for wearing a Korn t shirt with just the band's name, because the principal thought the band and its lyrics were "an insult". If the shirt had had something graphic on it, I could've seen where the school might've had a point, but just the band's name? Going by that criteria, they could've just as easily decided that Garth Brooks was offensive- after all, "Friends In Low Places" sure as Hell isn't about drinking lemonade(Zeeland in fact was a dry town until just a couple of years ago)! Anyway, MTV and the ACLU got in on the act, and the band got the principal issued a "cease and desist" order.

Hey! Nice meeting you!

Been a Deep Purple fan ever since my brother brought home Who Do We Think We Are back around 1974.

Maybe, if she had more cleavage.

ME TOO!!!! I guess that rules out Ace Of Base as well! They used to play on the radio at work all the time in the early 90's, and drove me within a few inches of becoming a homicidal, axe-wielding maniac!!

Shitty music has always been around, unfortunately. When I was a kid, the Osmonds, the Carpenters, and Bobby Sherman were all over the radio. By the time I got to high school in 1978, you couldn't go 5 feet an any direction without hearing, or hearing about disco, and how it was gonna take over the world. "Lil Wayne, Kesha, Justin Bieber, Rebbeca Black" - One good thing about them is that crap music like that has no doubt propelled many toward metal, like disco propelled me towards it 35 years ago. It's kind of like what Beavis and Butthead said, "If it wasn't for stuff that sucks, we wouldn't know what stuff was cool".

I've lived in several cities in my life- Born in Saint Mary's, PA, Grew up in East Peoria, IL, Went to college in Normal, IL, then moved to Grand Haven, MI, then Tempe, AZ, and finally back to East Peoria, IL. In Saint Mary's, where I still go back occaisonally to visit relatives, the only decent stations are Megarock, a classic rock station which occaisonally plays Zeppelin and AC/DC, and does a 2 hour show called Rock Hard Saturday Night, and a classic hits station, WQKY 98.9, the River, based in nearby Emporium, which plays Dee Snider's House Of Hair on Thursdays. There was also another station in the 1990s call the Revoltion, an alternative/modern rock station coming out of State College, which occasionally played metal, usually the mallcore variety, until it changed formats sometime around 2005. In Normal, the main rock station, WIHN plays mostly alternative music(It's a college town), emo, and mallcore, though they do occaisonally play some old Metallica or Priest or Maiden in addition to airing House Of Hair on Sunday mornings(when most people who'd listen in are either sleeping off the night before or in church!). The Illinois State University(Where I went to school) station, WZND, though does have a heavy metal show on Thursdays, though it's only available thru cable radio or online. WESN, the college station for Illinois Wesleyan University in next-door Bloomington(Franklin Street, running thru both towns, is the ONLY street in the entire world with a university on both ends), which was available over the open airwaves, did have Death by Volume on Mondays and Saturdays, which included Metallica, Anthrax, Slayer, Metal Church, Helloween, Mercyful Fate, Megadeth, and Manowar. In Grand Haven, the best station available was WKLQ in Grand Rapids, which had Out of Control Saturday Night(Which admittedly played a lot of mallcore), Rock Hard Sunday(Featuring 80's hair bands), and New Metal Monday(whichSOMEHOW saw fit to include Insane Clown Posse!!). Sadly, WKLQ got rid of those shows and went downhill and finally changed formats. WMMR in nearby Muskegon plays House Of Hair on Sundays. In Tempe, the best station is KUPD, which every Sunday has Into The Pit, a 2-hour metal show with some pretty raw stuff. Another station, KDKB, plays House Of Hair on Saturday nights. Back in East Peoria, until 2006 the best local station, WIXO, really doesn't have a metal show, although they do play metal, although most of it's more like mallcore and nu-metal bands like Saliva, Papa Roach, etc. A new station, WDQX 102.3, MAXfm, which is at least not corporate owned, plays some pre-sellout Metallica, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Pat Travers, Rainbow, etc. And last but not least, the local album rock station, WWCT, which I grew up listening to, and was the best local station at the time, and played Sabbath, Priest, Riot, etc., had taken a nose dive from the early 1990's until about 2003 when they switched to an all-request format, playing requests from Suicidal Tendencies, Slayer, Megadeth, to Johnny Cash(!!), and also had House of Hair on Sunday mornings, until it changed formats in October 2006 to adult hits and finally 2 years later to alternative rock.

My favs, not in any order, include, but are not limited to, AC/DC, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Saxon, Motorhead, Black Sabbath, (pre-1992)Ozzy Osbourne, Dio, Rainbow, Slayer, (pre-1991)Metallica, Slayer, Kreator, Sodom, Manowar, Iced Earth, Sabaton, Stormwarrior, Raven, KISS, UFO, Alice Cooper, Overkill, Scorpions, Accept, ....

I'd have to say that the internet has been a mixed blessing for metal. True, people are now able to hear a band's material without having to buy their CD, but on the other hand, bands have gotten a whole lot of exposure and publicity that they likely never would've had without the net. I mean, how many of us outside Europe would've ever heard of Varg Vikernes or Burzum, if not for the net? Ditto for Sabaton, Stormwarrior, Agent Steel, and no doubt thousands of other bands that otherwise might never have been known outside their home areas.

Hey everyone! Been a member for some time here, and am finally getting around to posting. Anyway, I'm a 49 year old male in Peoria, Illinois, about 3 hours sw of Chicago. Been listening to metal for about 35-40 years now, ever since hearing my older brothers' Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Rush, KISS, Alice Cooper, Montrose, Uriah Heep, Bad Company, Ted Nugent, Black Sabbath, Foghat, Ted Nugent, etc, albums. Anyway, greetings and salutations!!