In a controversial blog post, exclusively on HardTimes.ca, WHITE WIZZARD bassist, Jon Leon goes into great detail on why he believes that the legendary acts, METALLICA and QUEENSRYCHE were instrumental in the decline of heavy metal in the early 1990's. Jon puts the era into context and elaborates on why both bands, once symbols for the anti-establishment fell prey to the powers that be and ultimately, along with the help of other contributing factors would help bring the downfall of heavy metal music at that time:
"Metallica's track 6..."Don't tread on me" was a track lyrically that actually called upon peoples patriotism and glorified support of the US government and the blind devotion of patriotism without questioning.... It was an odd 180 to say the least.....lines like "Love it or Leave it" were a sharp contrast to the lines on Justice...so much it was hard to believe more did not see it....To have such a strong lyrical stance on the justice album that was so anti system and exposing the lies and inspiring heavily to question it......it seemed odd that this album would be silent in this regard and then on top of it there was this patriotic song that encouraged a blind devotion to country......
Queensryche's track 6, "Empire" was equally head scratching from a band that had released the most lyrically sharp attack on the government and system in music history...this song seems to paint a PG rated picture of a call to have more cops on the street to avoid the kind of uprising the previous album had almost seemed to push for. There is a narration in the middle explaining that we do not pay enough for law enforcement....What a huge almost hypocritical contrast to put out an album and statement at the level of mindcrime, and then to basically say in this one song that we need more cops on the street and kind of a "hey, yeah we fucked up and we should not have wrote about a revolution or exposed all these truths....conform to the system-we are going to now and make alot of money".....I guess you could argue they got wise and cashed in...but it is just really interesting to me-always has been, so that is why I decided to write this....Now they are warning us that conforming and not rebelling and getting more cops on the street will save us from "Empire" ....thanks guys.."
Jon Leon's lengthy opinion piece can be read in full at http://hardtimes.ca/node/9719
WHITE WIZZARD's new album, OVER THE TOP will be released on March 9th in North America. Produced by Ralph Patlan (MEGADETH, UFO, MICHAEL SCHENKER), OVER THE TOP is a non stop traditional metal invasion of the senses that will rock you to your core. Songs like "40 Deuces," "Out of Control" and the title track, "Over The Top" will have you singing along like no other album in 2010. Pre-order it from the EARACHE US WEBSTORE: http://earache.com/uswebstore/advanced_search_result.php?keywords=white+wizzard&osCsid=gpo8p4mg8eq7hgf4b40ck171a3&x=0&y=0
Catch WHITE WIZZARD on tour with KORPIKLAANI, TYR and SWASHBUCKLE
Jan 19
Czar
Tampa, Florida
Jan 21
Emo's
Austin, Texas
Jan 22 2010
Ridgleo Theatre
Ft. Worth, Texas
Jan 23 2010
The Flytrap Music Hall
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Jan 24 2010
Launchpad
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Jan 25 2010
Club Red
Tempe, Arizona
Jan 26 2010
ULTRA VIOLET SOCIAL CLUB
Hollywood, California
Jan 27 2010
Ramona Main Stage
Ramona, California
Jan 28 2010
Thee Parkside
San Francisco, California
Jan 29 2010
Satyricon
Portland, Oregon
Jan 30 2010
Studio Seven
Seattle, Washington
Jan 31 2010
Rickshaw Theater
Vancouver, British Columbia
For more WHITE WIZZARD news and info, head to http://www.myspace.com/whitewizzard or follow the band on Twitter at http://twitter.com/whitewizzard
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6 comments:
What an Idiot.The music scene changed in the 90's.No one band killed Metal.Queensrÿche and Metallica contributed quiet a bit to the 80's and early 90's.
Never heard of White Wizzard and never will give them a listen after those comments.What a joke.
This guy is doing great at bad publicity! heres one guys that spews so much garbage, I would never think about even listening to anything White Wizzard plays! Ditto on the last comment! I dont see how Metallica contributed to the Death of metal. They are still hugely popular, and probably the most well known and liked bands in the universe! Queensryche was "Popular" for a short time, but has quite a following! music styles change, and popularity shifts from one style to another! Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, all had a part in the fall of 80's Metal. Grunge was the issue, not Queensryche, Metallica, or Poison, or anyone else from that era! so.... Mr White Wizzard... spew your garbage somewhere else!! hope your career fails miserably and we no longer have to hear your crap!
Thanks, CtRycher
While I don't necessarily agree with Jon, I value his opinions. It was a combination of various factors in my opinion, mainly the fact that the entire mainstream Metal scene had become stagnate and for the most part boring. While die hard fans stuck with it, most others grew out of it and of course the new generation of kids wanted something else to call their own.
White Wizzard kicks ass by the way.
I spent thousands of dollars travelling to see Queensryche last year (saw them 10 times) and spent hundreds of dollars on their CDs. I know many other metal heads who love their music enough to do the same. I have never spent money on White Wizzard bacause until this was brought to my attention, I never heard of them. So who is this guy that his opinion on the subject counts anyway? What killed metal (if it is even dead) are the bands that think cymbals and gravelly vocals so loud they drown out every other part (sound) of the band is good music.
I think he's either an idiot or just looking for publicity. I suppose everything is subjective, but I don't think he even comes close to interpreting the meaning of those songs right.
I don't know about Queensryche "killing" metal. But I do know that Metallica did NOTHING in the 90's to help it. No true metalhead can look me in the eye and say that '96 Metallica to current lives up to their '80 incarnations.
No, I blame the record industry for embracing one fad for the next. They're still doing it.
BTW, White Wizzard's music is pretty catchy. Don't boycott their music just because of the opinions of one of their members.
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