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Do you think metal could ever become massively popular again?


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again there is a distinction between popular and mainstream which needs to be considered here as whilst metal is no doubt popular it is far from mainstream and is still universally sterotyped' date=' condemned and ignored by the mainstream society at large[/quote'] I think that That Dude With The Shades did intend to discuss a return to mainstream popularity, hence the use of the words 'massively popular' and 'again'. As far as I can tell he wants to discuss whether metal needs to change in order to get popular, or whether a couple of cultural factors might contribute to its resurgence as a genre.
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it's unlikely that metal would become mainstream again unless there was a dramatic cultural shift again. Glam became popular because the themes it touched upon appealed to the mainstream culture of the day there simply weren't songs about partying hard outside of this relatively soft and "cute" version of metal. The less vicious side of thrash became popular briefly for it's harmless psuedo-aggressive tendencies before grunge took over this niche but now these niches are heavily saturated via pop and pop-punk acts like green day provide the pseudo-rebellious edge which may have also contributed to the mainstream appeal of metal. Essentially metal can not become mainstream without incorporating elements of mainstream music and in doing that it is no longer metal defeating the purpose entirely.

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Essentially metal can not become mainstream without incorporating elements of mainstream music and in doing that it is no longer metal defeating the purpose entirely.
I somewhat disagree on this point. TesseracT in particular come very close to making a credible pop-metal hybrid. Having the somewhat softer vocals accompanied by very heavy guitar and drifting, melodic keyboard could work very well. I think that if they had enlisted the services of a Tommy Karevik or a Michael Eriksen they could have done nicely. The group need not lose any complexity as long as they remain rhythmic and melodic, which I don't doubt they could do.
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I think that That Dude With The Shades did intend to discuss a return to mainstream popularity' date=' hence the use of the words 'massively popular' and 'again'. As far as I can tell he wants to discuss whether metal needs to change in order to get popular, or whether a couple of cultural factors might contribute to its resurgence as a genre.[/quote'] Metal does not need to change to become popular again. As an artform, it should evolve as it always has, at the behest of the artists playing it and their creativity to mold it and shape it in new and exciting ways. If this evolution somehow produces another kind of metal that will possess mainstream appeal, then I'm all for it. However, simply continuing to pick up pop/metal hybrid abortions is the way of the record companies because they sell well, and although I know that process will probably never cease, I can only hope that they will get less annoying over time.
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It sort of depends on what you mean by metal( I know that sounds weird). I think things like glam metal will never be popular again, thank you god 'cause that music is rubbish, but people are always trying to capitlize on a niche and pervet to make money again going back to the truly aweful glam metal. But then again this is sort of my observation when they do something like that it provokes more aggressive music, I mean if you go to youtube and type Lars Ulrich Talks About Motley Crue. GLAM vs Thrash, James Hetfield even says that they hated glam and it sorta helped them with creating their style because they just couldn't stand that music.

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I don't think this could ever happen. And I thank the gods for that, 'cause then Metal would be corrupted... Maybe it's just a matter of my ill thoughts, but I think society nowadays is full of superficial assholes, so if everybody listened to metal it'd become... how to describe it? Just something to pose, to say "hei, I'm metal, look at me!". I think metal is a matter of feeling, and just a little public does feel metal. I'd rather count just a few metalheads among my contacts than a world of false metalheads.

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Re: Do you think metal could ever become massively popular again?

I don't think this could ever happen. And I thank the gods for that' date=' 'cause then Metal would be corrupted... Maybe it's just a matter of my ill thoughts, but I think society nowadays is full of superficial assholes, so if everybody listened to metal it'd become... how to describe it? Just something to pose, to say "hei, I'm metal, look at me!". I think metal is a matter of feeling, and just a little public [i']does feel metal. I'd rather count just a few metalheads among my contacts than a world of false metalheads.
I don't think that metal would ever be perverted at its core, but you're right, society at large would use it for its image and create marketable bands stripped of substance as they always have. While I do feel that this misrepresents metal, I feel that way because bands like this are not metal, so the false idols put up by pop culture have no right to claim the label. I would love it if metal got the recognition it deserved, but you're absolutely right, the mainstream society types are assholes by and large and I would rather not have them associating with the music that helps me cope with their existence. Sent from my HTC PH39100 using Tapatalk 2
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I would rather not have them associating with the music that helps me cope with their existence.
Wait, you're a Super Moderator now? OK. This is more or less my problem. Like I said in another thread, I don't really even mind that much if a person listens to something like Abigail Williams or even older Slipknot, as long as they also listen to some other more credible material. I didn't care for Steve's taste much but he likes Quo Vadis and Dark Tranquillity, so I'm in no position to castigate him as a poser.
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Wait, you're a Super Moderator now? OK. This is more or less my problem. Like I said in another thread, I don't really even mind that much if a person listens to something like Abigail Williams or even older Slipknot, as long as they also listen to some other more credible material. I didn't care for Steve's taste much but he likes Quo Vadis and Dark Tranquillity, so I'm in no position to castigate him as a poser.
Yeah, I just found out yesterday, it sounds like Tait needs some help with the baby on the way. Hopefully I can more actively control the spam since I'm here almost every day. I've long said that people can listen to whatever they want, but if it's not metal, don't call it metal. I listen to stuff that's not metal, but I don't try to call it that just to maintain some sense of "metal credibility" or what have you. You're not less metal for listening to some non-metal bands, I just don't like the idea of non-metal bands representing metal and giving a false impression of what metal is.
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I just hope more people will play metal. We can have plenty of stations, there seem to be more online all the time - which is good. But what we also need is a steady supply of people who will go to the musical instrument place, pick up a guitar and drums, and play a lot in the garage. :) If that's healthy, then the rest will be healthy.

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I just hope more people will play metal. We can have plenty of stations' date=' there seem to be more online all the time - which is good. But what we also need is a steady supply of people who will go to the musical instrument place, pick up a guitar and drums, and play a lot in the garage. :) If that's healthy, then the rest will be healthy.[/quote'] There are plenty of bands out there, it's just that the exposure is limited. I would love to hear more metal on the radio too, but the problem is that the radio plays what people want to listen to, which by and large is not metal. The advent of internet radio and podcasts has been great for metal, but I don't think traditional radio will ever have large channels playing heavy metal in prime time slots, at least not in the US. The only metal around on broadcast radio right now is usually in the middle of the night on public radio and/or college radio, and even then our "metal show" plays mostly popular metalcore/deathcore stuff.
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There are plenty of bands out there' date=' it's just that the exposure is limited. I would love to hear more metal on the radio too, but the problem is that the radio plays what people want to listen to, which by and large is not metal. The advent of internet radio and podcasts has been great for metal, but I don't think traditional radio will ever have large channels playing heavy metal in prime time slots, at least not in the US. The only metal around on broadcast radio right now is usually in the middle of the night on public radio and/or college radio, and even then our "metal show" plays mostly popular metalcore/deathcore stuff.[/quote'] Bleh. I can vouch for that; when I was in new Jersey for Thanksgiving I found that there was one satellite radio station that played metal and it was pretty much straight metalcore and A7X clones all the way. I think that I might have heard one song by a band that sounded vaguely like Death, but that was about it. Funny thing is, my grandpa actually complained about it less than I did.
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That's...pretty awful. I will not sleep well tonight. I remember seeing another picture of Immortal that was pretty funny: invisible+sandwich.jpg At any rate, I think it's also possible for metal to become popular if its musicians become representative of a large group of people. Country music, rap and indie are popular mainly because they appeal to a particular kind of ethnic group and pander to their desires. Each one has an archetype. If somehow there arises a large group of intelligent people with a yen for personal freedom then metal could get popular by that route.

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