Are You An Avid Listener of the Glam Classics?

Let me say this first: I grew up in the 80s, and I love the music of that era. If "Kickstart My Heart" comes on the radio, I'll turn it up and sing my lungs out. For all that, I realized recently that I never, ever, get out a Ratt or Dokken or Motley Crue CD and put it on. I just don't have it in me to listen to the same songs for decades on end.

What do I listen to now? I love the new Lacuna Coil, Black Veil Brides, Avenged Sevenfold, the new Nightwish, bands like Electric Mary, Mastadon, older stuff like The Sweet (who I only recently discovered), Rodrigo y Gabriella and so on. Now, when a band from the 80s comes out with a new CD, I'll give it a go. I love the new Van Halen, for example.

I saw Motley Crue on the Carnival of Sins tour and loved it. I've seen them a few times since and I've seen Poison a few times and all these bands play the same set list every time. Does that mean the people who love to go over and over, are also listening to the same CD's over and over at home? I have to admit, Motley toured Australia late last year and I did not even consider it. It's not that I don't like it, it's that I've seen it and I don't see the point in spending a fortune to see it again. I want to keep adding to my music collection, and enjoying new music as well as continuing to like the music I grew up with.

I will say that Metallica are in a much better place. They are less of a "chart" band to start with, so they have a group of songs they do every night and then they change the rest of their set. As a result, fans follow them from city to city and they sell enough repeat tickets to easily do several shows in each city. Iron Maiden are the same in that they alternate between a "classics" tour and a new album tour, and they have a lot more scope for each tour to contain different material, which makes them worth seeing over and over. Surely bands that do the same set list are going to struggle to find new people to come to see them, and will lose more people on each touring cycle?

Am I alone in loving new rock music as much as I love the old stuff?

Comments

[Damnp78]

I am >that guy< that listens to the same music time after time. So much so, that regardless of how much the sound is the same. If it is not the same music from my youht then it lacks that nostalgic
"I can remember right where I was" feeling.

[brian L]

I, too, am 'that guy.' I listen to the 80's glam/hair bands all the time and it keeps me feeling young. However, it isnt just those bands from back in the day, it is the sound and attitude. For example, bands like Wildstreet, Wigwam, Reckless love, Airborne, etc keep that same sound and good time attitude. Yes..some of the new metal/rock is good, but it does not appeal to me over all. For example..Five Finger death punch's remake of Bad Company's song...Excellent. Volbeat's A Warriors Call...excellent.
Unfort for me, the rest of their stuff is not what I'd like to buy and listen to on a regular basis.
My daughter wants to go to the Warped Tour. I'll take her, but the music in my ears will blow.
M3, old Rocklahoma, Monster's of Rock Cruise.....That's were I still stand.
Either way...Music is awesome.

[Forge]

I still pull out Motley, but only the non-singles parts of the first two albums. As, for those others you mentioned, not so much. I still listen to Faster Pussycat and LA Guns, because they have a bit of a dirtier more r'n'r feel. Of course every once in a while I'll listen to my glam playlists on my iPod, but pulling out a full album is rare for me, unless you count Tesla or Guns and Ross, but they dont count to me. You mentioned Metallica, but all the Big 4 guys are in the same bpat. Still putting out legit stuff. I cn listen to any era of, say, Megade and greatly enjoy it.

[nc rocker]

Guilty here as well. Keep the sattelite radio on Hair Nation almost exclusively. I have all 80's rock on my I-Pod. And when I know that I am going to a concert, I will wear that CD out for the couple of weeks leading up to the show.

I know....it's a sickness.

[bryon]

My habits lean more towards Christian's. A good 75% of my listening time is with new stuff by bands like Avenged Sevenfold, Slipknot, Lamb of God, Volbeat and whatever else is kicking around in the current rock charts.

But I grew up on 80's metal, and I still love listening to it. When I do, I'll usually listen to a playlist of my favorites rather than play through a whole album. And when I'm listening to a random mix of my full collection, having an old favorite pop up is always great.

[GNR]

Its the same for all "generation" music... some albums you can listen to front to back, others you can't. But probably because that's just it, the band didn't put out a decent album. Just singles.

And yes, some of these bands are a rinse and repeat of shows or setlists, but some aren't. I think its not fair to compare GLAM to Metallica and Iron Maiden. They are just different. I'm sorry but a Motley show is just that... a show !!! Each time they come around, its different. Same music ? Mostly... but that's what most want to hear.
And playing multiple shows in the same city is cool. BUT it denies the band from hitting more cities and expanding to smaller venues and more fans.

[GNR]

As for new music ? Is screaming into a microphone considered music nowadays ? You may think its cool to like these types of bands, but fellow GLAMers can name a few screaming bands back in the day that our buddies thought was cool at the time, but had no staying power.

Give me rock n roll and something to relate or sing along to or like one of my pals say... give me some ASS Rock. I'd rather go to a show or enjoy music where its always not a weinerfest.

[bryon]

GNR - you sound like my parents did in the 80's when they complained about the "noise" I was listening to.

Music, like all art, is completely subjective. One man's noise is aural heaven to another. It's fun to debate why certain music is better than others, but ultimately it's a pointless exercise. People like what they like.

[Christian]

GNR, I mostly agree, I don't like much screamo. None of the bands I listed, scream, they all sing. If Black Veil Brides, for example, are not trying to channel Motley Crue, then I don't know who is. I do agree on the nostalgia element, that's why no new Motley CD will equal the old ones, b/c it lacks that and still is the same band.

[GNR]

I understand that people like what they like... but I was referring more to the staying power of the band. And sorry I wasn't referring to any of the bands, people were mentioning... more of the staying power of newer bands. Because that is kind of what the article is about... staying relevant.

I go to as many new bands as classic bands, because some of these guys will be calling it quits soon and I'll need my live fix from somewhere else, something relevant. I want a show, I want good music, I want to hear and relate to lyrics and good licks, solos, grooves, etc... And of course like I said a few ladies in the audience doesn't hurt.

And yeah my parents thought it was noise too. Silly, silly parents...

I'll have to check out the Black Veil Brides... you mentioned them twice so that's all I need. A lot of people recommend newer bands to me and I swear the song starts out killer, but then the singer decides to open his mouth and just kills it.

[Jack]

The old stuff I listen to most are the bands that never really made it big (or got overplayed), Vain, Shotgun Messiah, Electric Angels, etc. Motley, RATT, Skid Row, etc. I might pull out now and then, but since I can still hear them on the radio (satellite anyway) fairly often, and they were so saturated back then, I don't really feel an urge to bust one one of their old CD's too often (maybe a track here and there though).

I buy tons of new CD's all the time, from newer bands, or older bands I never got into originally, so don't really have time/inclination to go back to something I've heard hundreds (thousands?) of times already.

[Chessie >^..^<]

I'll try the new stuff, but most of the time I find myself sliding back into older music. But then again, my father, as a teenager, told his parents he wanted a record of Handel's Messiah for Christmas one year, returned to his room, where in a few minutes Elvis' "Hound Dog" was blaring. (It was the 1950's era, after all!) :)
So I come by it naturally. I have my iPod on shuffle almost all the time so I can go from Winger's latest CD to Tony O'Connor to the soundtrack from Thor in one drive to work. :)

[Christian]

GNR, I saw Black Veil Brides recently ( I posted a review here ). There was almost no guys there, it was more a taco fest than a sausage fest. They look just like Shout at the Devil era Motley, and I bet most of their fans think it's new. Their music is killer, highly recommended. I would agree that I tend to move through new CDs and only a few 'stick' ( I listened to A7X nightmare for over a year, for example ). But, was it different in the 80s ? I'm not sure it was.

[Christian]

Jack - yes, I agree, if I go to old stuff, it will be obscure, and therefore not played out. Shotgun Messiah are awesome !!

[BillyKiss]

I still listen to the OLD SHIT because nothing comes close to it for me. When I'm looking for a good mix of the old stuff I listen to the below online radio.

http://tunein.com/radio/HDRN---Big-80s-Metal-s129602/

Check it out you won't be disappointed it plays the BEST Well Aged Metal.

[Bryon]

GNR - I'm with you 100% about the live shows. For hair bands, putting on a huge, glitzy show was just as important as the music, and they were damn fun. Massive volume, pyro, lights, girls, etc. That was pretty much killed in the 90's, when the popular bands decided that over-the-top shows were uncool, but fortunately it's coming back. Bands like A7X (giant flaming bat skulls!), Green Day (every song is an event) and Slipknot (just a massive spectacle) make their shows larger than life. But as far as I'm concerned, Motley Crue & Metallica are still the masters of live performances.

I also get what you're saying about the singing, but just remember how our parents thought of Tom Kiefer, Mark Slaughter, Axl Rose or (early) James Hetfield. Compared to the vocals of the 60's and 70's, those guys all sounded like they were screaming.

I think people get used to something and it just becomes "normal". That explains why a bands like Slipknot, with Corey Taylor's guttural growling, is playing to 80,000 people at Download and selling millions of records. But I do totally get how it isn't for everybody.

[fletch]

No...Usually in this order...

Cathy
Van Halen
Howard Stern
Bill and Hillary Clinton
David Lee Roth
BMGSSWSR
DeSales
Cathy

Stay Frosty! Forget bringing back glam. Even Allyson doesn't do it.

[fletch]

then ironically, I could answer "yes" and refer the readers to my above post. Now THAT's Funny.

[scott whitt]

I listen to a lot of different music. They great thing about iTunes, or whatever you use, is the mash up you can get. Nothing makes me smile more than hearing Vain then Johnny Cash gospel then Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings and Gojira. When it ones to glam stuff I find myself listening to acts that I may have missed the first go round. Or new bands that are doing similar stuff. Wild Kitten is on heavy rotation right now.
Plus with the internet there are a plethora of acts out there just waiting to be discovered. Sleeze Roxx does a great job of reviews so you get exposed to a lot of bands you may not have heard of. I highly recommend checking Amazon at the beginning of every month. They will have 100 albums for $5. Plus March is Metal month so there a a ton marked down.

[snoot]

I'm with Jack, when I go back I usually put on an album with Love/Hate, Rock City Angels or Junkyard and stay clear of the overplayed stuff by Crüe and GnR. I still buy a lot of cd's with older bands (Motörhead, early Whitesnake) and newer stuff such as Airbourne, Red Fang and The Bronx.