Selling Out

Hey Freddy, o master of the written word, certainly you can think back to a 1982 issue of Creem when Joe Elliott said the band was metal.....

SpectreFate wrote:

Hey Freddy, o master of the written word, certainly you can think back to a 1982 issue of Creem when Joe Elliott said the band was metal.....

You know me too well.

I do have an old issue of Circus mag around somewhere from the PYROMANIA era where Def Leppard's manager sez something about with the release of that album, they "were not a hardcore metal act anymore."

... I believe that was the first and only time I ever saw the term "hardcore" used in conjunction with Def Leppard.

manny wrote:

Shawn, while I do not disagree that Def Leppard wanted to be a huge band and become rock stars, that is not the problem I have with them at all, I actually like 'Pyromania' and 'Hysteria'. I do feel the material on 'X' and 'Europhia' was a let down, but that is neither here or there.

In early interviews and even in the book they co wrote with David Fricke they labeled themselves as a metal band, they never claimed to be Black Sabbath but that is what they labeled themselves as. That they longer view themselves as such or have very little in common with their roots or the scene that spawned them is natural. But I do feel they deny their roots and the scene that helped create them.

Neuropete, I disagree with your assement of the Stones post-Tattoo You albums. I still think the Stones put out solid material, while they may never match the glory days of 1967-1973 era, I still feel each of their albums have a lot of gems.

The Stones have had some good songs hidden in those albums, I agree. Heck, I own most of them! I guess their material during their classic era (which I also agree, centers around 67 and 73) was so strong, that they tend to pale in comparison for me.

manny wrote:

I remember Def Leppard calling themselves or maybe it was the writers labeling them as a metal band ( I used to read Circus and Hit Parader back in the day). As far as having anything in common with Madien, Saxon, etc, I agree they sound nothing like, nor is their image anything like any of thoses bands from that era.

I do know that Joe Elliot is a huuuuuuuuge Mott the Hopple fan and fan of glam rock in general, one listen to their 'Yeah!' album tells you that, look at the artist they covered.

Exactly...those bands we thier roots. It would be much more of a "sell out" and a denial of one's roots to actually have SAID "We're a Heavy Metal band!!! We hate Glam Rock!!" in 1980 just to get themselves included in NWOBHM and ride the wave.

I submit that they indeed rode the wave, but only after being swept out with it rather than jumping in voluntarily.

I like what Henry Rollins says about selling out,

"I'm sure you have had the experience of watching television and snapping to attention when you hear a familiar song by one of your favorite small of fame bands as the backdrop for an automobile commercial. Perhaps you have thought to yourself, "That is so smurfing weak, what a bunch of sellouts. I hate their guts!" I get letters from people expressing their outrage that they heard the music of The Stooges, The Ramones, The Buzzcocks, or The Fall in an ad and I understand their anger and sense of loss as they figure yet another one of their well-kept secrets has just become part of the corporate structure and the band is nothing more than the lap dogs of the man, the very man they were supposed to be sticking it to in every waking moment. These bands are not being co-opted or selling out at all.

Selling out is when you make the record you are told to make instead of the one you want to make. I wonder if it ever occurred to these people that the reason the music of these interesting and alternative bands is being recruited is because their fans are now the ones calling the shots. In other words, we have arrived! Of course the ad is trying to sell you something and by using a band you like, attempting to gain your confidence by exploiting the band's integrity for a commercial end. So what? You're not a fuckin' moron are ya? You see through that, don't ya? What would you rather hear, Iggy and The Teddybears doing "I'm A Punk Rocker" in a car ad or enduring some generic background music? I thought so. Do you have any idea what some of these bands went through to make that music? The fact that there might be some money for them all these years later is great. You think that paycheck is in any way a slight to their integrity? Are you smurfing kidding me? Pay them. Pay them double. Pay them now. It's about fuckin' time."

Not selling out:



Not selling out:



Selling out:

[insert every post Floored video/single/album]