6/29: PRIEST, DICKINSON, METALLICA, PANTHER, MUCH MORE.
Two big stories this week swirling around the metal scene and they both revolve around Judas Priest. First the item on Bruce Dickinson and his comments on Halford and Metallica (see the story in the news section on this site). I don’t agree with Bruce and his criticism of Halford for using a prompter if indeed he does. Honestly who cares? If it doesn’t impact the show what’s the difference? Most artists that use prompters (and many do), rarely use them. They are there as a safety in case they lose their place in the song. Axl, Steven Tyler and many others use them. But I have stood on stage while both of these guys perform and they run all over the place and rarely look at it unless they forget where they are for a second. Not a huge deal. As for Bruce’s feeling that Maiden is better than Metallica that is simply opinion, and what would you expect him to say about his own band? Of course he will think that! But this all speaks to a bigger issue that is a huge problem I think in today’s world. You see Bruce has always been an outspoken guy. In this super PC hyper sensitive world we are in where everyone is looking to pounce over an opinion or wrong choice of words I like people that speak their mind even if I don’t agree with it. I am a fan of Bill O’Reily and Bill Maher. Don’t agree with all that they both say but damn it is nice these days to have at least some people that aren’t afraid to say what they feel and not give answers from some pre prepped PR rep one sheet! It always amazes me when people hammer me non stop for my opinion on an album or band on Twitter and then when I give it honestly they start the hate campaign because it’s not the answer they wanted. Almost impossible to win these days. But honest opinions when asked are refreshing to me, even if I don’t agree with them. Doesn’t mean you hate the person or band or subject. It is just your opinion and if given in a respectful way everyone should be entitled to that. So as a result when anyone says anything remotely opinionated it gets blown up and becomes news, and I think that sucks. It will continue to discourage open dialogue and debate and make the media world we are in even more boring and predictable.
Along these same lines much debate about the announcement that Steel Panther will be opening act for Priest. Contrary to what many think I have no hate for Panther. I know the guys, nice people, talented, good at what they do. But what they do is parody. That can not be argued. Want proof? The bands albums chart on the comedy charts! It is an act that is a spoof on 80’s hard rock. It is stunning to me how many people don’t see that! They have had amazing success, especially in the UK and Europe. Good for them. They have worked hard to build this from their roots as a cover band playing weekly gigs in LA. But I will admit for me I would have much rather seen Priest take a “traditional” metal band. A new or old band with the same real core commitment and values to metal they have had. Think of how many bands are out there that could use the help? Last tour Priest had BLS and Thin Lizzy. When so many bands are out there looking to package up it feels like a bit of a lost opportunity to give an hour slot to a band that for the most part goofs on a scene that Priest was not really a part of, but had a huge amount of success during. I’m going to see Priest regardless of who is opening, and I wish both bands well on the tour, but I do feel that there were so many bands that would have been a better fit and compliment to the metal Gods. It just feels like a disconnect for me to see icons like Priest taking what is basically the modern day Spinal Tap on tour. I mean who knows how many tours they have left in them at this stage of the game? The up side? Maybe Halford comes out and jams a Fight song with Russ AKA Satchel during the Panther set!? “Nailed To The Gun” anyone?
More on this plus Blitz from Overkill and members of Night Ranger in studio tomorrow live on SiriusXM 39 6-10P ET. TrunkNation!
I’d prefer a Judas Priest/Queensryche double-bill myself. It was a PERFECT pairing in 2005 and it would be in 2014 as well. Only this time it would give much deserved exposure to the current incarnation of the band with Todd La Torre on vocals. A dream tour indeed!
My problem with Steel Panther was when their singer started berating this 16 year old girl that she had stretch marks on her face from….yep, that’s what he said to her…you laugh, then you cringe, and that poor girl…I wasn’t the only one in the crowd who felt queasy. How do I know she was 16? her friend saw my reaction and then told me.
Their stage act can be pretty crude at times, especially for younger fans. Be interesting to see how that goes down with Priest crowd if they go that over the top..
I would like to see them take Doro or Helloween on tour as opening acts. Both are Priest fans too. Armored Saint would be awesome, but don’t think their doing anything at the moment. Judas Priest is one of the best–they have a truly amazing legacy. We don’t often see bands like this anymore.
I said what I wanted to say in an earlier post about how I wish Priest would take a band like Overkill or Accept or even Kyng out with them instead of Steel Panther. But since thinking about Steel Panther’s music, which I never do, something popped into my head that is driving me crazy: I remember seeing a video on Headbangers Ball something like 20-25 years and it was by a total joke band that for the life of me I can’t remember the name of. I just remember me and my friends being drunk and laughing our asses off at this dumb song that band had called “Down with the ship” or “I’m not gonna go down with the ship” or something like that. Does anyone know what the name of that stupid band is? That’s who Steel Panther remind me of.
James,
The name of the band was Scatterbrain.
Cheers,
Dana from EddieTrunk.com 🙂
That’s right, it’s Scatterbrain! I only heard the song a couple of times back all those years ago but I remember that in the song they broke out with the main riff from Seek And Destroy and that’s probably why practically nobody knows about them: Lars probably sued them and had them banned for life from the music industry.
LOL!!!
D 🙂
Eddie I don’t think anyone would argue that there is a “spoof” element to what SP does with their take on 80’s metal. This is a true statement you are making and they do chart on Comedy charts due to the profane humor in their songs. That’s all true what you are saying but where you go wrong with your position on SP over the years is that I think people do “get it” contrary to what you may think. They just don’t care. Its comedy metal and there’s nothing wrong with that. As the one commenter pointed out, it’s not as if they aren’t musicians. They are gifted players they just choose to sing and write songs in a profane way. It’s probably more accurate that they are both a comedy act and a metal act. This isn’t a Weird Al level of musicianship here. Russ is a beast and Ralph can sing is but off in a David Lee Roth kind of way. Who cares what they sing about. They have original songs as well as songs that are clearly modeled off of other hits of the 80’s. They have evolved. I think you diminish their metal playing abilities too quickly by just sticking with the parody band spoof stuff. Maybe they do spoof on the music of the 80’s but as long as the musicianship is tight and the guitars are awesome, does it matter if they are singing to be funny? I don’t think so. It’s an uptight way of looking at it. Your point of taking a more hard core band out on the road is a fair one. I take the contrary position though. That’s been a retreaded formula for 30 years or more. How about doing something different? Something new? Add a little fun to the experience. I’ve seen SP and I think it will inject something new and fun into the shows. If they stunk as musicians I think your point would be a better one. They can play and their sound is certainly metal enough even if their lyrics are what they are. You write them off too quickly in an almost minimizing way by just driving home the “comedy” and “paraody” part of what they do. If you don’t like what they sing about that’s one thing but listen to the instrumentation, that’s metal . They are comedy metal how about that. Overall I think people do get it. I know I do but they sound great, the guitars are loud, and the music is catchy. I could care less what they sing about…
Bruce, thanks for your opinion. I have acknowledged many times the bands history as players. Even the fact that Russ was in Fight, who were amazing. I get all that. But the segment of the fan base that does not get the joke are the ones that say they are the greatest metal band ever and saving the genre. That stuff blows my mind. So they are saving it while making fun of it? There are so many I hear from that simply aren’t in on the joke. That’s all I ever said. I personally have never been into parody bands. Never was into Fozzy when that was their trip. Never went to see Spinal Tap live even though I loved the film. I like the guys, I know the guys. Some people pay no attention to what I actually say and just attack. But in my view when metal needs all the help it can get, I would have preferred a band like Priest to have a bill of new or established bands who need the shot instead of a band goofing on it. There are actually people that get upset when you say they are goofing on it. If that isn’t what it is then please enlighten me. That is what I mean by people that don’t get the joke and it’s pretty stunning!