Friday
Sep052008
Out With the Old, In With the... Old?
Friday, September 5, 2008 at 12:01AM
Motley Crue are set to reissue their catalog - again. The remastered discs will hit stores on September 30. Of course, these albums will be a giant waste of money if you already own the Crucial Crue collection. After hearing of plans to remaster the back catalog, which includes Shout at the Devil and Too Fast for Love among others - I couldn't help but think maybe Glam fans are closed minded.
I've been working on Bring Back Glam! for well over two years now. In that time, I've brought you show reviews, breaking news, interviews, rare videos and CD reviews. Of those CD reviews, some have been on classic discs but most are on new releases. Some of those new releases are from emerging bands. I've noticed an interesting pattern with my CD reviews.
When I review a classic album by, say, Def Leppard, a whole lot of you chime in and tell me stories of your childhood or when you saw the band with friends. The memories are warm and tangible. Yes, we deal in nostalgia here. We also deal in happiness.
Sometimes you listen when I mention a new favorite band. Most of you know I love Alabama's own Lynam. Some of you agree, a lot of you don't and that is ok - as long as you give them a shot. On the days I post reviews by new or obscure bands, I notice the number of comments go way down. I wonder if this is because you don't have anything to add - or because you don't care about new music?
Think about this: when a classic Glam band makes new music, a lot of us in our special community here get really excited. Sure, a lot of people were interested in hearing the new Motley Crue disc - but how many can say that about the new Dokken or White Lion? I can point to 15 websites where people just like you and me leave comments begging a favorite band for new music. When that band finally breaks down and brings us a few new tunes - no one buys the release! What gives?
For ages now, all of us (and yes, I'm including myself here) have been begging for a Poison record of all new material. Most of us are sick of the same old set list and we basically agree that a few new tunes could breathe new life into one of our favorite summer tours. Problem is, when the band in question makes a new record - no one wants to hear the songs in concert. You might recall I recently saw Def Leppard here in Dayton. The show was not good by any means, but I did feel a little twinge of guilt when the band performed some Songs from the Sparkle Lounge. The crowd was basically dead from the get go - but imagine what happened when Joe Elliot and company added in new songs that very few people recognized. Disaster.
So, I ask again: are Glam fans close minded? Do we honestly want new Glam? I sure as hell support both new and old bands. I'll get on a plane and fly halfway around the world to do it, too. I also realize I'm in the lucky minority that is fortunate enough to be able to travel to see shows.
Few of us are actually scared of new music. Instead, we would rather embrace those fond memories of days past. I mean, why else would I create a website called Bring Back Glam!? The bands we talk about everyday here had a major impact on my life. Music was always a big part of my childhood. I mean, when your mom gives you a Bon Jovi 45 at age nine, you know you're destined to be a rock n' roll queen.
This is why I'm worried: if more of us don't start supporting the new Glam bands, I fear the genre is going to die. Are we closed minded? Maybe a little - but unintentionally. I think on some subconscious level, we don't want to replace our favorites. After all, this music is just about the second love of my life. I wouldn't be the same person without a childhood filled with Aerosmith videos and Metal Edge magazines. I hope the next generation of Glam fans has the same fond memories that I've enjoyed. Thoughts?
I've been working on Bring Back Glam! for well over two years now. In that time, I've brought you show reviews, breaking news, interviews, rare videos and CD reviews. Of those CD reviews, some have been on classic discs but most are on new releases. Some of those new releases are from emerging bands. I've noticed an interesting pattern with my CD reviews.
When I review a classic album by, say, Def Leppard, a whole lot of you chime in and tell me stories of your childhood or when you saw the band with friends. The memories are warm and tangible. Yes, we deal in nostalgia here. We also deal in happiness.
Sometimes you listen when I mention a new favorite band. Most of you know I love Alabama's own Lynam. Some of you agree, a lot of you don't and that is ok - as long as you give them a shot. On the days I post reviews by new or obscure bands, I notice the number of comments go way down. I wonder if this is because you don't have anything to add - or because you don't care about new music?
Think about this: when a classic Glam band makes new music, a lot of us in our special community here get really excited. Sure, a lot of people were interested in hearing the new Motley Crue disc - but how many can say that about the new Dokken or White Lion? I can point to 15 websites where people just like you and me leave comments begging a favorite band for new music. When that band finally breaks down and brings us a few new tunes - no one buys the release! What gives?
For ages now, all of us (and yes, I'm including myself here) have been begging for a Poison record of all new material. Most of us are sick of the same old set list and we basically agree that a few new tunes could breathe new life into one of our favorite summer tours. Problem is, when the band in question makes a new record - no one wants to hear the songs in concert. You might recall I recently saw Def Leppard here in Dayton. The show was not good by any means, but I did feel a little twinge of guilt when the band performed some Songs from the Sparkle Lounge. The crowd was basically dead from the get go - but imagine what happened when Joe Elliot and company added in new songs that very few people recognized. Disaster.
So, I ask again: are Glam fans close minded? Do we honestly want new Glam? I sure as hell support both new and old bands. I'll get on a plane and fly halfway around the world to do it, too. I also realize I'm in the lucky minority that is fortunate enough to be able to travel to see shows.
Few of us are actually scared of new music. Instead, we would rather embrace those fond memories of days past. I mean, why else would I create a website called Bring Back Glam!? The bands we talk about everyday here had a major impact on my life. Music was always a big part of my childhood. I mean, when your mom gives you a Bon Jovi 45 at age nine, you know you're destined to be a rock n' roll queen.
This is why I'm worried: if more of us don't start supporting the new Glam bands, I fear the genre is going to die. Are we closed minded? Maybe a little - but unintentionally. I think on some subconscious level, we don't want to replace our favorites. After all, this music is just about the second love of my life. I wouldn't be the same person without a childhood filled with Aerosmith videos and Metal Edge magazines. I hope the next generation of Glam fans has the same fond memories that I've enjoyed. Thoughts?
Reader Comments (24)
How many people knew that Poison was still around when the 'scene' was dead in terms of the mainstream? How many people fought tooth and nail to grab the Japanese edition of Black Label Society's first release cause that was the only way to get the bonus track for the first year it was out? And that the small runs of that album always seemed to be selling out at import stores outside the US?
Those are the people that give a damn about the new material and the new bands because they didn't stop the hunt for new, good music. And for them, hard rock and glam isn't about the 80's, it's about good tunes 'today'... period.
As cool as it is that glam bands can do festival tours and arena gigs again, it's not thanks to the people that go for nostalgia, it's thanks to the hardcore crowd that saw them when they were playing scaled down shows in the 90's and early 2000's. Those are the fans that kept the bands alive, literally.
It's not too many years ago that glam was still considered an embarrassing joke. And the nostalgia crowd... it's great that they're coming to the shows again, and it's even better that those extra ticket and t-shirt sales benefit the bands, but it's a catch 22 for the bands themselves... they ain't there cause they support the band, they're there for a heart thumping flashback.
KISS is the best example of all this because they did the big mainstream comeback first (not that they were suffering before that), and they dealt with the big "don't spoil our memory with new material" backlash when they did a new album infront of nostalgia fans that hadn't a clue that KISS had kept putting out new material when THEY stopped being active fans.
And that really defines the true fanbase of any scene... whoever runs away when it becomes unpopular was there just to be 'cool' and 'hip'. They were the portion of the crowd whose opinions didn't matter... and their voice has no value now because they're back for the exact same reasons, with a little wistfulness thrown into the mix.
And if that upset any of the folk that have returned from glam exile I can tell ya. I was there back when glam was big, I was still there when it was ultra uncool... the music, the scene... it never died, YOU were the one that walked out on it!
So throw a few dollars at these new bands... remember that bands like Motley Crue and Poison didn't magically get big, they started from nothing too. And there are always gems that never get big... remember Badlands? Lynch Mob? Phenomenal music, better than many of the bands that did make it huge. They just didn't win playing the corporate poker machine that was "the music industry" back then.