Heavy metal is a musical genre that's often maligned by critics and mainstream listeners as being stoopid and all flash, no substance. But hardcore fans -- even casual ones like me -- find music that's heavily layered, lyrically complex, physically complex, and ultimately, challenging.
VH1 Classic's "Metal Evolution" is an excellent series that documents heavy metal and hard rock, and well worth watching. Of particular worthiness is Episode 1, in which host Sam Dunn traces the roots of metal and hard rock to classical, blues, even opera music.
It's a fascinating study suggesting that in its base form, heavy metal isn't too disconnected from "heavy music," as classical music often strives to be.
The promise of cable TV -- and now the Internet -- is the ability to serve quality programming to niches.
One of the better examples is VH1 Classic's "That Metal Show," a weekly roundtable talk show that treats hard rock and metal with respect but still keeps a nice level of low brow. New York DJ Eddie Trunk is the ringleader, but co-hosts Jim Florentine and Don Jamieson are no slouches in adding humor, knowledge and tough questions of the weekly guest.
The number of star musicians interviewed over the course of five seasons is a who's who's of metal, both well-known and should-be-known.
A centerpiece of the show is "Stump the Trunk," an interactive element where audience members try to best Trunk's metal IQ with questions that are all over the metal map. It's amazing how often Trunk comes out on top, answering arcane questions from fans who are hardcore beyond belief. Trunk and the guest(s) often are the only people in the studio not wearing a metal T-shirt.
Whether you're a metalhead or just a fan of music, the show is a fun and informative 30 minutes (w/extras online).
I can't get enough of a VH1 Classic series called "Classic Albums." I haven't seen a bum episode yet but the study of The Sex Pistols' "Never Mind the Bollocks" is the only one that repeatedly pulls me back in whenever I run across it.
YouTube has the episode posted in seven separate clips, and I've posted Part 3 above. I singled out this third segment because its interviews with the original quartet, producer, engineer and manager capture the magic behind an album that still packs a wallop 35 years later.
There's a telling quote from singer Johnny (Rotten) Lydon, about midway in the clip: "We controlled the energy. Our songs are not raging fast, they're real slow-tempoed. But they come over blistering."
I've never heard a more apt description of the Pistols' sound. Engineer Bill Price, a punk legend, re-creates the tight layers of "Anarchy in the U.K" at about 1:20 into this clip, and it still gives me chills every time I hear the breakdown of the individual audio tracks. Give close attention to the bits about Lydon's diction, subtle tricks that gave his snarl a little extra bite.
Update on Wednesday, July 7, 2010 at 10:42 PM by
Logan Molen
Ran across this detailed piece from Sound On Sound that dissects the recording of "Anarchy in the UK."
Couple highlights:
Studio layout from Sound On SoundEngineer Bill Price worked with some of the biggest names in music before tackling the Pistols and other punk bands. I had thought he just kind of surfaced in the punk craze but he in fact was a staff engineer with serious chops, working with Eric Clapton, Pink Floyd, Elton John, Mott the Hoople, Stevie Wonder and Paul McCartney.
Much of "Never Mind the Bollocks" was recorded on a cash-first basis, despite all the money being tossed around by competing labels.
Paul Cook was still learning to play the drums, so many of the drum tracks were composites from repeated takes. And in a reverse of most live studio set-ups, the drums were placed in the center of the studio without isolation glass, allowing the sound to carry throughout the room, while the guitars were isolated behind sound walls.
Saturday, March 31, 2012 at 6:30 PM ;)
