Why I choose Heavy Metal (why should you?)

I tried...technically! I can't say that I haven't. I tried to listen to popular music, when at the age of 9 or 10 (I don't really remember....

Ozzy: Rock Legend or Just a (Old) Man?

I have just watched the documentary "God Bless Ozzy Osbourne" which was apparently directed by his son Jack Osbourne. It has been characterised from monumental to insightful and generally received...

Brian Johnson Vs Bon Scott: A Scientific approach to an ongoing AC/DC debate

We have all been there. And by "there" I mean have been part of the oldest debate in AC/DC history and probably one of the biggest in Rock history in general. Who is better, Bon Scott or Brian Johnson?...

Religion Vs Rock N' Roll

I know, the title couldn't be more kitschy and lame. But here is what the world has come to! I have been avoiding to get into this debate (i.e. the religion, not the Rock N' Roll one) for obvious reasons...

Mind under training (Introduction)

I realised that while I have been writing my extremely influential (!) articles, I still haven’t introduced myself properly...

31 March 2012

Precious Rocks & Rare Heavy Metals: Chapter 2

The second of a series of fun articles aiming to explore the impact that Rock and Heavy Metal artists/bands had on the world and the impact the world had on them. This series will cover a number of artists so all favourites are presented. Read the first chapter here

Please note: There is no specific reason (e.g. greatness, preference etc) for the order bands are presented!


JUDAS PRIEST

The leading band of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal (NWBHM) music, with its frontman Rob Halford, a.k.a. the Metal God, introducing homosexuality to the once thought of as the “macho” music genre. Halford also defined the whole Heavy Metal image with the introduction of leather, denim, studs, and everything S & M. Priest’s history though has been stigmatised in the late 80s, with court battles where they had to defend their music. The Vance Vs Judas Priest trial made subliminal persuasion a trend in that era. One good thing came out of it though; society realised how stupid people can be when it comes to interpreting simple phenomena.

It’s sad that what comes to mind for many when they hear Judas Priest is the crazy court battles over subliminal messages. The act of playing a vinyl backwards showed that people had too much free time in their hands and nothing better to do. Parents should have been more focused on the rising pandemic of childhood obesity considering all the cleverly chosen logo colours by the McDonald’s empire and the more obvious, not that subliminal, increasing number of fat children! An informative article can be found here

MOTÖRHEAD

I don’t think I’m wrong when I say that Lemmy is Motörhead and the most versatile thing out there for that matter. So low profile as being able to walk amongst mortals undisturbed, yet so high volume as to make even the strongest eardrum “kneel” before his bass; this man needs no introduction. In the past he was invited to the Welsh Assembly by the conservative party of Wales to give his opinion on drugs and more specifically heroin. To everybody’s surprise he argued for the legalization of the drug he, himself, hates so much presenting some good arguments. Full story here.

In a world where all Rock stars sold their souls at some point, Lemmy still remains the only one true to himself and his fans. Sure he’s been high, wrong, broke, with hundreds of women, but he rose from the hippies, defined Heavy Metal, admired by Glam Metal, inspired Punk Rock, re-established Heavy Metal, and still surviving Nu Metal. Lemmy is immortal. If you haven’t done so, I highly recommend reading his book and watching his documentary.

METALLICA

The leaders of the thrash metal movement, this band has produced more controversy than good records in the past few decades. A favourite to pretty much everybody, from your average hardcore heavy metal fan to your, below standards, typical pop music lamb. Still, there is more to their music that we know about. Apparently, some songs by Metallica have the same effect on monkeys as the St. Anger album has on fans, i.e. general apathy! In an experimental study by psychologist Charles Snowdon (University of Wisconsin) and cellist David Teie (National Symphony Orchestra), the behaviour of 7 pairs of tamarin monkeys was compared after two listening conditions:
  1. Listening to two ballads and two more aggressive songs, one of these the "Of Wolf and Man," by Metallica. 
  2. Listening to two calming ballad-type songs and two more aggressive heavy metal-like ones but this time incorporating the pitches and sounds of the monkeys and matching them to their tempo (x8). 
It seems these mokeys are indifferent to the No 1 condition, i.e. human music. But condition No 2 did induce some strong emotions! You may read the full article here.

Now my purpose is not to ridicule Metallica (again). As most of us I am a big fan and we have a saying in the Cypriot dialect, i.e. “Απ’αγαπά παιδεύκει” which roughly translates to “he who loves, tortures” (let me know if there is anything equivalent in English!). So therefore my point is: yes the St. Anger album left me with that cow-like expression which really translates to the more pedestrian “What the fuck?”. I will not elaborate on the feelings of mass-destruction caused by listening half a song from LuLu! Oh, and did I mention they want to put their music in cereal boxes now? [link] Aaaaaanyway, if you wish to read the lay-person summary of the above study, it can be found here.

Watch this space for the next chapter of this series.
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Image Credits:
http://www.fanpop.com/

16 March 2012

Precious Rocks & Rare Heavy Metals: Chapter 1

The first of a series of fun articles aiming to explore the impact that Rock and Heavy Metal artists/bands had on the world and the impact the world had on them. This series will cover a number of artists so all favourites will be presented.

Please note: There is no specific reason (e.g. greatness, preference etc) for the order bands are presented!


AC/DC 

The only band refusing to put their songs to be sold separately on iTunes and yet they have the lowest rates of music piracy. Coincidence? Don’t think so; traditional values is what defined AC/DC in the first place. But not only do they attract millions of fans, the Rock N’ Roll giants have a strange effect on the great white shark as well. According to a tour operator that organises cruises in Australia, after many attempts, he managed to find the secret in attracting the sharks close to the ship. These remarkable mammals are specifically fond of songs like “You shook me all night long” and “If you want blood”. Experts attribute this phenomenon to the sensitivity of the specific species to low sound frequencies, a characteristic of most of AC/DC’s music!

It’s not that this conclusion derived from rigorous research, yet no one can deny AC/DC’s awesomeness, even the animal kingdom. I wonder how the great white would react to Lady Gaga but all I know is that I wouldn’t want to be there when it happens...
Full shark story here.

IRON MAIDEN

Probably the band responsible for not so much as incorporating but establishing the intelligence factor in Heavy Metal. It’s frontman, Dr. Bruce Dickinson a.k.a. “The Air Raid Siren”, is the definition of a renaissance person. His talents range from piloting, fencing, writing, broadcasting, script-writing, acting, marketing, and some more which I am sure he doesn’t care sharing. He has a history degree from Queen Mary, University of London (for those that don’t know already, one of the best in the UK and worldwide) and has recently been awarded an honorary doctorate of music from the same University. The University’s announcement can be found here.

In an ingorant society like ours where people consider Heavy Metal as the caveman’s music, bands like Iron Maiden step in to show us otherwise. It is a fact that lyrics as much as music in Heavy Metal do require a bit of homework if bands are to be taken seriously by fans. In addition, the once-thought uncultured genre, is now followed by more intelligent fans than any other. Although some good research still needs to be done on this subject here is an interesting outline of a study from Warwick University which found that gifted students prefer Heavy Metal.

BLACK SABBATH

Widely famous, not just for being the godfathers of Heavy Metal but for other oddities as well. We all know about their obsession with the occult and have heard a thing or two of Ozzy’s mischief. But the most distinctive characteristic that defined what Black Sabbath came to be during the past decades is Iommi’s re-invention of the “Devil’s chord” or the tritone. The tritone was also evident in Wagner’s compositions and represented evil (i.e. devil, sex, and lust), for which it was banned during the Middle Ages. When asked how he came up with it, Tony said that it simply felt right.

Imagine how differently Heavy Metal would have evolved if Iommi hadn’t “discovered” the specific musical interval. For those of you that do know a bit more about music here is a piece on how to play like Tony. I’d like to see you try!

AEROSMITH

Admittedly, the most remarkable thing about Aerosmith is Steven Tyler’s wide vocal range and technique. Steven featured in National Geographic’s documentary “The Incredible Human Machine”, where you can literally see his vocal chords vibrating at up to 170 times per second during his famous scream falsetto on “Dream On” whilst performing live! Some say he’s falling into the category of a low tenor. You can catch the clip from the documentary here.

There are very few vocalists that have amazing vocal abilities and it’s no surprise that many come from the Rock and Heavy Metal genre. I came across this interesting blog post where a voice teacher with no prior knowledge of them, analyses the vocals of 5 great Heavy Metal singers, amongst them, the great Rob Halford. Although the title is a bit patronising for its purpose, it is still worth a read. Read it here.   


Watch this space for the next chapter of this series.
Chapter 2 can now be found here.
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Image Credits:

07 March 2012

Review of Rammstein (Made in Germany 1995-2011 Tour 2012)

Review of Rammstein (Made in Germany 1995-2011 Tour 2012, The Capital FM Arena, Nottingham, UK):


Venue: Small arena, good acoustics, and very good seating 9/10

Quality: What is there to say, Rammstein are pure quality 10/10



Passion: The show itself shows how much these guys love what they do 10/10

Running Time: Good 2 hours set for the show offered 9.5/10


Set List: All one would expect were played (Mein Teil, Du Hast, Amerika, Ich Will, Engel etc) 10/10


Crowd: Good but not good enough, I guess everyone was stunned by the show 7.5/10


Show: Unbelievable! I have never seen so much pyro, stage equipment, and leather pants in a single gig before. Show included: moving stage, fire, smaller centre stage, fire cauldron, fire, sparks shower, fire, bow, fire, moving penis, fire, wings, fire, wearable penis, fire, propellers, fire, boat, and did I mention fire? 100/10


Overall Experience: Everybody needs to experience at least one Rammstein show in their lives. As many have said before, it is a great value for money and at the end we were left wondering if they actually make money out of their gigs considering ticket prices. Oh well, the important thing is "Zee Krazy Germans" did it again! 10/10

Videos can be seen here: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLF0B5807D75D72CB5&feature=view_all
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