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C O L U M N S
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The Necrofile
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What to talk about in the latest metal happenings? There's always a little "dead,
jail or rock-n-roll".
Contents
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--Motley Troubles and Reunion Rumors
--New Maiden Cover Sucks
--Ripper And Iced Earth
--War on File Sharing Cont.
--Anthrax Down On US Metal?
--Random Thoughts
--Column Question
--Closing
MOTLEY TROUBLES AND REUNION RUMORS
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Vince Neil is in trouble again. This time for supposedly assaulting Trixxxie Blue who
works for the legendary Bunny Ranch brothel. Back in early April, Neil, 42, entered a no
contest plea to misdemeanor battery in an assault involving a record producer outside a
Sunset Strip nightclub last year. Did he do it this time? An insider told that paragon of
news, The Globe Magazine that regular VIP celebs get free action and Trixxxie wanted to
charge him, so he passed on the deal and pissed her off. <sarcasm> What's the matter
with that dumb woman? She should feel honored to have a chance to slobber all over Vince's
sweaty, rock star knob.</sarcasm>
Not knowing the facts and given his prior arrest, I'm still leaning towards no. Who has
the most to lose--Vince--jail time. Who has the most to gain--Trixxxie--money. That's a
pretty unbalanced scale there, y'know.
I don't know why Vince would even bother with that stuff because the last woman I seen him
with (wife?) on TV was hot as hell. I suppose when you're on the road, you get lonely and
his woman gives him permission to get a little something-something on the side or maybe
he was just there at the Ranch to sign autographs for the locals. 80's hair band rockers
are known for their philanthropy work, y'know.
Will The Crue have a reunion tour in 2004?
There's a bunch of bickering from the band in the press lately that they will or won't get
back together. Rumors are circulating that Nikki's band "Brides of Destruction"
is having trouble getting a record deal other than in Japan, so that could provide the
incentive for him. I'm leaning towards "they will" because as negative as it
gets, the guys are still talking to each other and given their past together, I'm sure
they'll kiss and make up. (KISS and make up...get it)
A full-scale Motley Crue reunion could be in the works...coming to a jail near you.
NEW MAIDEN COVER SUCKS
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Plenty of noise on forums about the supposed cover of the new Maiden CD, "Dance of Death". Lots of people hate it and
personally, I think it sucks balls. It looks like a computer generated, Eyes Wide Shut
freakshow. I, personally, would like to see a cool-ass, intricate drawing that my stick figure abilities could never
duplicate. I don't want Photoshop realism on a Maiden cover cause I could cut-and-paste
that shit myself.
The Maiden Cover Art Equation--Crappy cover=crappy CD
RIPPER AND ICED EARTH
-----------------------
Should be interesting to hear how Tim "Ripper" Owens will fit in with the next
Iced Earth CD "The Glorious Burden" replacing the enormous talent of Matthew
Barlow. With his Halford-esque pipes, I think it will be a great fit with the power sound
of I.E. as long as he has some passion for songs he didn't have much of a hand in
creating. Shit, it's been that way with Priest, so all should be good to go.
WAR ON FILE SHARING CONT.
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In recent months, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has issued more
than 1,000 subpoenas to Internet Service Providers demanding the names and addresses of
people who share copyrighted music online with the aim of suing them for copyright
infringement.
Lawyers representing a Verizon customer woman calling herself "Jane Doe"
Thursday filed a motion to keep her privacy so she could pursue the case herself with her
own lawyers. This would prevent the RIAA from publicly trying to embarrass her and soil
her name before any trial or discussion.
A Massachusetts federal court has already invalidated a bunch subpoenas, submitted to the
MIT and Boston College, for not following the correct legal process, but they can just
refile properly.
The courts aren't going to put up with thousands of cases clogging the system so they
threaten people with hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines and settle the case for a
lot less. A $10,000 judgment may not cover the RIAA lawyer fees, but they use the win for
its promotional value and legal precedents. The federal government is stepping in now,
though, to take a look at all this heavy handedness as well they should. Taxpayers, like
me, who pay for the court system, aren't gonna put up with that shit and Congress will
listen when votes are involved.
The band Tungsten has offered up 49 songs for free download at www.tungstenmusic.com. I'd
like to talk to these guys about this.
ANTHRAX DOWN ON US METAL?
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What's up with the guys from Anthrax being so down on metal these days? They've been
talking a good bit lately and felt the need to comment on a few things.
Scott Ian also told Canada's Chart Attack "We didn't have a studio album for five
years, so they put a 'comeback album' spin on it?" he said. "There are bands
that take longer than that to record, but everyone latched onto it. If we'd said that we
were done and eventually might come back after a hiatus, then it's a comeback. But we've
been constantly working since 1998."..."[The music scene is] not like it used to
be where people were more clued-in with what was going on in the small world of heavy
metal," Scott explained. "People have gotten lost in the past decade. There's so
much more now to take your attention with video games and… well, I'd just say video
games. Music isn't the number one focus in people's lives anymore."
--Five years is way to long to put out a CD these day. Metallica should get their asses kicked for the St. Anger wait.
2 1/2 to 3 years is acceptable, but 5 to 6 years!? X-Men plots resolve quicker than that.
At least they didn't call you a "comeback BAND".
--Slipknot, Godsmack, Metallica, Disturbed, System of a Down and many more don't seem to
be affected by video game sales, so why should you really think you are?
Charlie Benante recently told BoulderWeekly.com: "I just think music, in general, is
at an all-time low," he said. "The past five years have been the worst time for
music. There's not one bit of originality. I don't want to come down on all that stuff,
because some good bands came out of all of that. But for the most part, no one had any
identity. All they were doing was just taking the exact same thing, even down to the stage
moves… It's just so unoriginal and uninspiring."
--As much as old-schoolers may dislike it, the past 5 years has seen Nu metal expand the
boundaries of what metal is, not only in sound, but in fashion. Bands like Slipknot,
System of a Down and Drowning Pool put out some pretty good records and sold millions to
plenty of metal fans that passionately love that style. Sure, all the bands look alike,
but there are always a few leaders and a lot of followers. Back around '87 there were
plenty of thrash bands that imitated the big four of the time--Metallica, Megadeth,
Anthrax and Slayer.
Scott Ian told spoke to Schwegweb.com "I think people in Europe are more passionate
about music," he said. "Maybe it has to do with the kids not being so bombarded
with the media over there like they are here. It's not as radio driven as it is
here."..."Things are definitely more categorized over there," Ian added.
"Over there metal has always been huge and has never gone away. Look at bands like
MANOWAR, which really in the States mean nothing but in Europe are huge. Their fans remain
loyal and will stay with them forever."
--Europeans aren't anymore passionate than the rest of us. I would say that they have a
different climate going on. It seems like melodic power metal and some of the more gothic
stylings are popular over there, whereas, over here in the States, it's more
groove-oriented and rap-influenced metal. A band like Nightwish with its highly operatic
playing may not find an audience in the States right now, but I'd guess that many Nu metal
bands would have a hard time over there also.
--Many old-schoolers are hitting the road here and are doing respectable venue numbers.
Poison's last package tour pulled in 10,000 people per venue (how many actually paid, I
don't know). KISS and Aerosmith are packing them in right now and nobody is bigger than
Metallica.
When asked why he thinks ANTHRAX wasn't approached for the Ozzfest this year, Ian said,
"I can't tell you why. You would have to interview Sharon Osbourne about that. The
problem over here in the States is that it is so fucking closed-minded. We were really
hoping on getting on Ozzfest in the second-stage headlining slot and it looked like it was
going to happen but then it fell through. We know how great it would be for us but it's
like this fucking door we can't get past."
Maybe it's not the doors that people keep shutting in their face, but the gun they keep
shooting themselves in the foot with. It's like the person who gets into relationships
that always end up going down in flames and then they complain that everyone they meet has
too many problems. The problem could be in the mirror. I don't know Anthrax's inner
workings or what they expect money wise. I'm just suggesting it.
Maybe Jack Osbourne just doesn't like Anthrax, so they didn't make it. Ozzfest
second-stage is supposed to showcase new talent and highlight bands that haven't had a
heyday in America, so I can see why Cradle of Filth made it and not Anthrax. Now, Anthrax
joining with the current Maiden tour would have been a nice fit.
I'm not trying to dog the guys in Anthrax cause I've got most of their CDs and I like both
singers, Joey and John, but in five years, there was a pretty big stylistic shift in the
American metal palette and the taste of thrashier stuff just got a bit stale for people.
I'm not even sure why I haven't picked up the new one. I suppose that since the last few
have been hit & miss in quality, I've developed a preclusion against buying.
RANDOM THOUGHTS
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--See you in Hell, John Geoghan!
--Mega conglomerates are the new imperialists. Do governments matter much anymore? The
only thing AOL-Time Warner and News Corp. are missing is an Army.
--In these days of electronic voting, a President will one day be 'elected' by a hacker.
--The big pharmaceuticals are rolling out new impotence drugs to compete with Viagra. The
same old white guys that are so against recreational marijuana use sure don't have a
problem popping a recreational drug to get their shriveled dicks stiff. Breath deep the
hypocrisy, folks.
--Girls jeans are so low nowadays that I wouldn't be surprised if pubic hair will one day
be a fashion statement....a little line or point poking up from the top. Clevage and
buttcracks have been used, so it's only a matter of time till the trend starts.
COLUMN QUESTION
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Do rock stars really get off easier when they break the law?
Send your suggestions to me here at Maximum Metal or open up some
discussion about my .
CLOSING
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Somebody with the BBC said hard rock is coming back. It never went away, fucker.
"Metal ain't dead"
John Pardon
08.26.2003
SITE PICK: For the comic
book fanboys.
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