Heavy metal: Why is old material better

Shawn Of Fire wrote:

There are so many factors involved...it's never any one thing...it's a combo of nostalgia, bands changing, fans changing, times changing, inspiration changing, circumstances changing...everything affects everything...

Count me as another who agrees.

I agree with what Shawn wrote, I also think sometimes the rock press and classic rock radio help foster this false impression that older material is better than what ever the lastest was by veteran artist. Radio does not support new studio recordings from older artists from Alice Cooper, The Who, The Rolling Stones etc, other than AC/DC and Aerosmith, the rest of tclassic rock acts newer material is dismissed as being inferior which is usually not the case.

Also critics are always quick to dismiss a veteran bands newer material, or even when a CD gets a postive review, it also starts out as "This is their best album in 20 years.." than begin to tell you why the last 20 years of band's career they have released terrible albums, when I doubt the critics have bothered listening to me and are just following the standard party line.

Like Ult said, nostalgia

MetalRob331 wrote:

Overall I think we just hold our expectations too high. We hear a killer record and I guess we expect them to put out another stellar one after that.

Thats how I feel as well. You can't expect a band to hit it out of the ballpark every time. I rarely (if ever) stop listening to a band based on an album I don't like. One example is Kamelot. While I could never really get into Ghost Opera, I'm not ready to give up on them yet.

There's something about the 70's and 80's metal that can't be recaptured and that certain feeling that first attracted me to the music. Todays music is rehashed at best but that's not to say it's bad.

I agree with both Ult and Shawn and want to say kudos for great responses and expressing them so eloquently. Also, as someone else stated, the first album is usually heavier and the band is hungrier. The material is audience tested and the songs honed and perfected. When the band hits it big , there is the pressure to stay at that point and keep being the labels top draw/ top earner (especially if they really hit it big like Metallica, Bon Jovi, Vanhalen, or Kiss). There is also the possibility that a band, much like a pro athlete, has only so many good songs, albums, or years. For a lot of the Sunset Strip bands of the 1980's it was style over substance. A great debut got them signed and then their style (mass appeal) kept them around for the next decade or so. I think it's a case by case basis. Another possibility is that a band, after a few albums, has completed contractual obligations to a record company and made enough money to afford them the opportunity to go sign with another label and make an album that is more experimental and indulge themselves.
Someone else mentioned the fact that classic rock radio and their disc jockeys perpetuate the myth that old is good and new is bad. They don't give any play to new material from Kiss, Whitesnake, Motley Crue; but they will run their "hits" into the ground. I believe Deep Purple has a song about this exact topic. They also won't play anthing out of the ordinary and branch out a bit; what's wrong with Out On The Tiles or Achiles Last Stand? Why do they always play Black Dog or Rock And Roll?Or Spread Your Wings or Dragon Attack instead of We Will Rock You?
I would add that there is a lot of sentimentality at play. We have all spun yarns on this board about walking two miles uphill (both ways) to get a new release from a favorite band and we will defend that album to the death. This is also tied in with, as someone else said, our formative years. For many of us, music, metal in particular, was or is an escape from the harsh realities of everday life and we remember those albums fondly as we grow older. So, when a new album from a longtime favorite comes out, it's new to our ears and therefore just different. I have read on this very board many times how someone bought an album and didn't care for it. Then a few years later after repeated spins it is now a favorite and in heavy rotation in their playlists. There are still more elements at play like the band taking advice from managers and trying to stay current and sound modern; producers taking the band in a new and different direction; mastering and production value; or, as TOB stated, the band just phoning it in and being uninspired and it showing through on the finished product. Great thread by the way. Peace.

Excellent response sentinel, agree with your points and you are correct about radio who act like alot of the classic rock acts only recorded 3 or 4 songs and avoid play some deep cut gems.

Thanks, manny. I don't know why rock radio continues to operate this way. I understand the fact that they have a particular playlist of songs from newer bands that they have to push; but when it comes to an older band like Led Zep or Queen, these bands are Hall Of Fame and/or very well established so why not throw in a gem every now and again. I get that satellite radio stations are purchased and that's what the consumer wants to hear, I just feel that regular FM radio could vary their playlists a bit and still survive.
Also, I have heard of some of the bigger hits from a bands catalogue being originally B- Sides. These songs were played by the DJ and became huge for the band. I guess it was less strict years ago. Peace.

manny wrote:

Excellent response sentinel, agree with your points and you are correct about radio who act like alot of the classic rock acts only recorded 3 or 4 songs and avoid play some deep cut gems.

Because most music "fans" are not like us here on this board. Most only like the hits and only want to hear the hits. These people aren't music fans, they are fans of a song or of a time period. The song reminds them of something else.

Music fans like us here, who post everyday about bands and who have massive CD collections and who have entire websites dedicated TO our collections, WE are music fans...IMO. Everyone else is a Pop Culture fan...whether it's Pop Culture from 20 years ago or from now.

I suppose that is true Shawn, and the fact that on this board we tend to listen to an entire CD from beginning to end, and the fact that everyone on this board even a young cat like Schobo are aware of the history of the bands they listen to, even the history of metal/hard rock and even are aware of the importance of certain bands even if they personally do not care for the artist.