Hit Parader=poser

I think I'm going to start refering to posers as Hit Paraders after the magazine. We recognize posers when we see them, they think that by wearing a Maiden shirt and listening to Slipknot that that automatically makes them metal heads. They think that just because they know some of the bands from the 80s (even though they own no CDs by them) then that make them old school. When I am at work and have nothing to read then I go look at the magazines when I'm on break. Unfortunatly, Metal Edge has stopped comming and they never had Metal Maniacs nor Metal Hammer so I will sometimes look through Hit Parader. Now I will comend them for covering some of the legends that people have unfortunatly forgotten but how many times can someone put Slipknot on the cover. Also they seem not to be able to tell the difference between power and thrash (they call Slayer, Testament, and others power metal) or death metal and black metal (they call bands like Morbid Angel as black metal). Also the readers make me sick. Every issue there are two or three people writing letters to the editor complaining that they focus too much on "washed up old fogees" like Maiden, Priest, Dio, Sabbath, etc., bands that "nobody cares about anymore" and not enough on the new breed of heavy music. Old school metal gets about 25% of coverage while the rest is devoted to bands that weren't formed until the early 2000s. Am I being too harsh on Hit Parader, or do you agree with me, or do you not care (normally I wouldn't but because these guys do cover some of the music we know and love and I think that they should at least be accurate)?

Oh in the most recent issue they have top 10 metal performers over 50 and they don't mention Dio but they do mention guys who haven't done any performing or performed new material in over five years.

I totally agree with you! I HATE Hit Parader and other fluff like that. The Rolling Stone is also a load of garbage. Did you see their "top 100 greatest guitarists of all time" list? They put Kurt Cobain (who, in my opinion, is THE most overrated guitar player to ever walk the face of the earth) in FOURTEENTH place, and legends like Tony Iommi in 51st, or something like that. It's OUTRAGEOUS!!

It's all a big gimmick. Totally agree with you!

It's always been a magazine about whatever is most popular in hard rock. After all it is called HIT Parader.
At least they cover some good bands, even if they do put Slipknot on
the cover every month. In the 70's, they put KISS on the cover every
month because that is what sold then. In the 80's it was Bon Jovi and
Def Leppard. Now it's Slipknot. It's a magazine that basically caters
to teens and young adults into popular music. Thankfully they do cover
some other bands so perhaps that Slipknot fan will read about some of
the other bands covered and discover some new music.

Haven't looked at Hit Parader in many years. It was always one that I just looked at the 7-11 and never bought. Can't really blame them for riding the trends on what they think will sell - though do kids today even buy magazines?

But as Ult said, hopefully it can be a gateway to other things.

Did Rolling Stone actually put Cobain that far ahead of Iommi? Man they have clearly gotten even worse than they once were.

I used to pickup Hit Parader back in the day. I loved the magazine. You could almost guarantee that Van Halen, Motley Crue, Ratt, and Quiet Riot were going to be featured somewhere in the magazine each month. Can't remember when I stopped reading, but it was right about the time that Bon Jovi and Metallica were the new hottest thing.

Hey I also read Kerrang, Circus, Metal Edge, Guitar World, Guitar Player, and Guitar for the Practicing Musician.

These magazines keep up with the times, that's all.

Every Friday I would go to the mall and stop by Record World (a local music shop) and Barnes and Noble for the magazines. I always bought 2 albums (maybe more if I could) and sometimes a magazine. Oh the memories....

The only magazine worth reading is Kerrang!. Yes, Kerrang!. Sure, lots of mainstream stuff in there, but it comes out weekly. Every other magazine is monthy, bi-monthly, or quarterly, and by the time they're published they're full of old news. The interviews are exclusive of course, but let's be honest here, 99% of the reviewers out there ask the same tired questions over and over again; read one interview and you'll pretty much have read most.

And what Ult said is 100% true. Hit Parader is supposed to be the way it is. And Rolling Stone has never been any better.

I've always seen the fagazine but have never ever picked it up to read!

Wargod48

NP: Masterstroke - Sleep

I still have a copy from the 1980's with Stryper on the cover.

BWBK is the best metal mag out there!

Back when I worked in a supermarket, I used to read all those "metal" magazines when I was on break or goofing off and occasionaly they would come home with me, courtesy of the old five-finger discount (stealing is wrong, kids), but the only one that I thought that was worth paying for was RIP. All the rest seemed like fluff as far as interviews and actual news was concerned. Pretty pictures though.

Anyone remember GROOVES magazine in the 70's? That was a killer
magazine if you were into bands like Kiss, Aerosmith, Queen, or Ted
Nugent. They would put out entire magazines dedicated to bands like
that. I still have the Aerosmith/Queen issue.

70s? Nope. I was still playing with toys back then. Haha.

i don't read it, but let the kids enjoy their mag. it still has a purpose i suppose.

Oh I understand the fact that they cover the mainstream. That is not my problem with them. My problem is the fact that they do cover quite a bit of old school metal but they are totally off base on a lot of it. If you're going to do articles and top lists of metal then you at least have to know what your talking about (I mean calling Slayer power metal!?). As for Rolling Stone, that is just expensive toilet paper and makes no claim to metal so I expect them to be off base, I just think HP needs to be better than that.

DallasBlack wrote:

Oh I understand the fact that they cover the mainstream. That is not my problem with them. My problem is the fact that they do cover quite a bit of old school metal but they are totally off base on a lot of it. If you're going to do articles and top lists of metal then you at least have to know what your talking about (I mean calling Slayer power metal!?). As for Rolling Stone, that is just expensive toilet paper and makes no claim to metal so I expect them to be off base, I just think HP needs to be better than that.

But they don't employ 40-something writers. Their writers are these little turdly pricks that post on Blabbermouth. They're never going to get it right. The nature of journalism (quasi- or psuedo-) has just become what you see on Blabbermouth.

candlemass wrote:

BWBK is the best metal mag out there!

I concur. They have a free cd with each issue. I've discovered many bands this way. They also cover the 'whole' spectrum of metal (including everything from AOR/Glam Metal up thru Black and Death stuff). Their reviews are the best. And they don't really care what's popular. They cover what 'should' be covered.

BWBK is hands DOWN - the best metal mag out there currently.

Terrorizer and Metal Maniacs would be the next best.

Hit Parader sux.

I haven't looked or even wanted to look at an issue of Hit Parader in years.

Hit Parader is still AROUND? Good grief. I thought that mag went away ages ago.
Hell, even back in the 80s we used to call that rag "Sh*t Parader." Yea, it had good bands in it back then but the articles were always pure fluff. Half the time an "interview" was maybe one page of simple Q&A full of stuff that any casual fan of the band being interviewed already knew. Any non-Q&A articles were usually just re-written press releases. Waste of paper!!

I agree with MetalGuy, the only U.S. mag that was worth a damn back in the day was RIP. Although my fave mags even back then came from the UK, I never missed an issue of Metal Hammer and especially the mighty Metal Forces. Metal Hammer is still around but MF, sadly, folded many years ago. (A few of its writers started up Terrorizer, which is still going strong, however.)

I still miss Metal Forces...that was the BEST... metal magazine... EVER!!!

DallasBlack wrote:

We recognize posers when we see them, they think that by wearing a Maiden shirt and listening to Slipknot that that automatically makes them metal heads.

Listen to Slipknot make you looking like a fag...They are totally wrong!

Metal Maniacs is the best mag out there.

Required Fields wrote:

Metal Maniacs is the best mag out there.

That magazine is largely redundant crap that's already two months old by the time it comes out.

I used to read Hit Parader all the time. I haven't really read it years (except for the occasional perusing while the missus does the grocery shopping). It has gotten rather lame but like what was said,they gotta stay current to keep selling (the almighty dollar,you know). As for Rolling Stone, what do you expect from a bunch of aging hippies ? They were always lame.

I'm a big fan of rock 'rags', but you all know by now their mercenary bastards. Heres a run down on one's i read:

I don't really bother with the metal mags but Kerrang is still a good one, although it covers alot of stuff i'm not interested in it still has a few cool writers that hip me to some great bands.
Classic Rock magazine is by far the best one going around, not only does it focus on the big names of yesteryear but also on up and coming superstars and also the great lost bands that slipped through the cracks over the years.
I read the NME as well, mainly for a laugh at its continued fruitless attempt at finding the 'next big thing' but also for its coverage on certain indie bands i like.
Q Magazine is alright too because it focuses on releases by older artists ignored by the mainstream press because their percieved as 'over the hill' despite some of these guys making some of the most vital music of their careers.
Record Collector is a cool one, mainly because of its contributions by some of my favourite rock writers.
And of course Rolling Stone. Okay so Rolling Stone hasn't been vital for 20 years now but they weren't always lame they used to cover music and good music at that its just when they started chasing trends that was when it went down hill. Nowadays it is less and less about music but i still read it because it still has contributions by a handful of writers i like mainly David Fricke.

Also alot of the amatuer (i mean not for profit, but of high quality) fanzines that dedicated fans put out are great, they generally concentrate on a small genre of music that doesn't get much coverage. Their are some great fanzines on garage rock,power pop and glam trashy rock n' roll that i read.

DallasBlack wrote:

I think I'm going to start refering to posers as Hit Paraders after the magazine. We recognize posers when we see them, they think that by wearing a Maiden shirt and listening to Slipknot that that automatically makes them metal heads. They think that just because they know some of the bands from the 80s (even though they own no CDs by them) then that make them old school.

Hmmm people who have attitudes like that are as bad as the posers they mock, snobs=posers perhaps.

DallasBlack wrote:

Also they seem not to be able to tell the difference between power and thrash (they call Slayer, Testament, and others power metal)

Terms change over time. Slayer, Metallica etc. were called Power Metal in the early to mid 80's. the term power metal was a broad term applied to mainly US bands from Savatage to Anthrax and musically considered to be a faster heavier and generally over the top take on classic british metal. Thrash hadn't been an established term at the time. And of course what is considered power metal now used to be called gothic metal in the 80's which nowadays has a completely different meaning. So maybe Hit Parader are more steeped in the old school then you think!

Mglaffas81 wrote:

I totally agree with you! I HATE Hit Parader and other fluff like that. The Rolling Stone is also a load of garbage. Did you see their "top 100 greatest guitarists of all time" list? They put Kurt Cobain (who, in my opinion, is THE most overrated guitar player to ever walk the face of the earth) in FOURTEENTH place, and legends like Tony Iommi in 51st, or something like that.

Kurt Cobain is one of the most influential guitarists of the last 20 years. The guy had a such great unique tone and sound to his guitar playing and he wrote some of the hookiest guitar riffs ever. Just because he's not some dorky shredder who can play a million notes per second doesn't make him lesser of a guitar player. Tony probably should have been a bit higher up but not much more, as i say heavy metal is a small fish in the big pond of music.
Here's the list if you wan't to see it, its all subjective i like some choices and disagree with others. But what also makes a great guitarist is the impact or influence someone has.
http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/5937559/the_100_greatest_guitarists_of_all_time/

rattpoison wrote:

DallasBlack wrote:

I think I'm going to start refering to posers as Hit Paraders after the magazine. We recognize posers when we see them, they think that by wearing a Maiden shirt and listening to Slipknot that that automatically makes them metal heads. They think that just because they know some of the bands from the 80s (even though they own no CDs by them) then that make them old school.

Hmmm people who have attitudes like that are as bad as the posers they mock, snobs=posers perhaps.

DallasBlack wrote:

Also they seem not to be able to tell the difference between power and thrash (they call Slayer, Testament, and others power metal)

Terms change over time. Slayer, Metallica etc. were called Power Metal in the early to mid 80's. the term power metal was a broad term applied to mainly US bands from Savatage to Anthrax and musically considered to be a faster heavier and generally over the top take on classic british metal. Thrash hadn't been an established term at the time. And of course what is considered power metal now used to be called gothic metal in the 80's which nowadays has a completely different meaning. So maybe Hit Parader are more steeped in the old school then you think!

Mglaffas81 wrote:

I totally agree with you! I HATE Hit Parader and other fluff like that. The Rolling Stone is also a load of garbage. Did you see their "top 100 greatest guitarists of all time" list? They put Kurt Cobain (who, in my opinion, is THE most overrated guitar player to ever walk the face of the earth) in FOURTEENTH place, and legends like Tony Iommi in 51st, or something like that.

Kurt Cobain is one of the most influential guitarists of the last 20 years. The guy had a such great unique tone and sound to his guitar playing and he wrote some of the hookiest guitar riffs ever. Just because he's not some dorky shredder who can play a million notes per second doesn't make him lesser of a guitar player. Tony probably should have been a bit higher up but not much more, as i say heavy metal is a small fish in the big pond of music.
Here's the list if you wan't to see it, its all subjective i like some choices and disagree with others. But what also makes a great guitarist is the impact or influence someone has.
http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/5937559/the_100_greatest_guitarists_of_all_time/

- Uhm...he wrote some of the hookiest guitar riffs ever? Are you deaf, or have you been living under a rock your whole life, with only Slipknot and Nirvana cd's to compare? Hm...what great riffs has that little faggott written...hm..."Smells Like Teen Spirit"? HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! One of the worst songs ever, some of the worst lyrics ever, LESS than casual main riff. Lithium? You have got to be kidding me! "Nevermind" ...hmmmm

You are up against Legendary "Riff-Writers", such as Toni Iommi, Kirk Hammett, James Hetfield, Scott Ian, and thousands of others! How can you even COMPARE Kurt's Crap to legendary riffs like "Iron Man", "Paranoid", "Into the Void", "Master of Reality", "Children of the Grave", "Master of Puppets", "Creeping Death", "Smoke on the Water", THOUSANDS!!