NEW BOOK, “SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST: HEAVY METAL IN THE 1990’s,” TELLS THE STORY OF ONE OF THE GENRE’S MOST DIFFICULT DECADES
Since its inception in the late 1960’s, heavy metal has experienced quite a few ups and downs in popularity. But there was one specific decade that sticks out as the most troubling – the 1990’s. In what seemed like one fell swoop, a style of metal that had been popular for much of the 1980’s was rendered obsolete, and in its place, was a much more real, raw, and unique approach – detected in several new metal-based “sub-genres.” Add to it several changes in the music industry and media, and it appeared as if traditional metal may have met its expiration date…before several bands (and a certain traveling festival tour) helped put headbanging rock back on track.
Written by journalist/author Greg Prato, Survival of the Fittest: Heavy Metal in the 1990’s is the first book to focus entirely on this decade. Set in an oral history format, Survival features over 80 interviews conducted exclusively for this book, including current or past members of Pantera, Sepultura, Fear Factory, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Kiss, Def Leppard, Guns N’ Roses, Slayer, Megadeth, Anthrax, Exodus, Testament, Dream Theater, King’s X, Extreme, Winger, Cinderella, Living Color, Faith No More, Primus, Nirvana, Nine Inch Nails, White Zombie, Stone Temple Pilots, Kyuss, Danzig, Clutch, Life of Agony, Biohazard, Type O Negative, Within Temptation, Cradle of Filth, Death, Coal Chamber, and System of a Down (among many others), as well as Eddie Trunk, Riki Rachtman, and Lonn Friend. Also featured is a foreword penned by Pantera bassist Rex Brown.
Available as a paperback version [616 pages, $24.99], a Kindle download [$9.99], and a Nook download [$9.99], ‘Survival of the Fittest’ helps put the ’90s and heavy metal all into perspective.
Read an exclusive excerpt here.
Ordering info:
Greg Prato is a Long Island, New York-based journalist, who has written for Rolling Stone and Guitar Player, and has authored such books as Iron Maiden: ’80 ’81, The Faith No More & Mr. Bungle Companion, The Eric Carr Story, and Grunge is Dead: The Oral History of Seattle Rock Music. Survival of the Fittest is his 16th book overall.
Just got the book on my nook the 90s was hard era for me I liked the Rob Zombie and Danzig stuff
Yes I didn t like the blaze era of Iron Maiden only liked the first Ripper Priest album Nirvana Alice in Chains & Soundgarden other styles like Live & Collective Soul there was one of two albums
But couldn’t stand Limp Bizkit but Slayer Anthrax Motörhead and Megadeth were still good a wasp put out some decent stuff. I really didn’t get excited about music again till Dickenson returned to Maiden
Oh and the Kiss reunion tour!
My favorite year for rock and roll is 1982. Across the board, not just metal. There was so much optimism, and this equilibrium, I can’t think of another year when art was so effortlessly commercial. Not just albums, but songs. And sure, some great albums are missing: Diary, (it just makes me think of how great a real follow up to that would’ve been), and some of my favorite bands put out clunkers, hello Van Halen and Kiss. But, again, across the board, with the previous two years having new blood infusing the scene, along with an actual evolution of the the previous two years, gave this wonderful sort of Super Nova of a year: 1982.
Creatures Of The Night a clunker ? I have to totally disagree.
Agreed, while I admit that I am not a KISS fan, that is the only KISS album I own.
D from ET.com 🙂
Vinnie Vincent’s band Warrior: their demo is better than either record he did with Kiss, and he sings lead! It’s also better than the two VVI records.
Brian, would you happen to be a famous musician?
No . Why ?
I thought you might be someone I know.
Creatures a clunker??? Talk about a simpleton…not enough of a risk for you??
Sales wise Creatures was the worst selling Kiss album for a very long time, despite it being great
Compare Paul’s songs on Creatures with those on his solo album, which was the last time he engaged in full on hard rock before Creatures. Hard rock, for its own sake, doesn’t cut it, his songs on Creatures are weak. The engineering is out of whack, those drums were mic-ed, put through monitors, and mic-ed again! It just sounds like crap, the guitars are thin, and the drums sound like the USC marching band, except louder. As for the risk factor, going back to hard rock was the safest move they could’ve made, they did it because their previous record flopped so it has this aura of desperation all over it, look at how many outside writers, even Bryan Adams and Jim Vallance, that they brought in to save this ship from sinking. “Killer” is one of THE dumbest songs I’ve ever heard.
I was one of the few who bought it, the day it came out, the minute the record store opened, I plead guilty to being a simpleton in this case! , I am sitting there outside watching them unlock the door so i could go in and buy it. I took it home, I liked it at the time. They didn’t get this formula right, however, until Animalize, which is also when they got their swagger back. Vinnie, was so wrong for Kiss, he should’ve never joined, he was way over-qualified, his vocals for his songs work better than anyone else’s, and the structures of his songs, done his way, are the only way they should’ve been presented.
Understood and agreed, but I think it is one of their best…it really showed how much Eric Carrs drumming influenced the edgier Kiss sound…
Also, I Love It Loud, Saint And Sinner and War Machine, are all really great songs.
D 🙂
Dana, you picked the three good songs on the record, that leaves six….clunkers. : )
Well,
I think Rock N’ Roll Hell is acceptable, so I guess that takes your tally down to five clunkers? LOL!
It’s not quantity, it’s quality my friend. 🙂
D 🙂
Rock and Roll Hell is a Bryan Adams song pretty much, and he is a good writer. But, I will counter by saying that the quantity of bad songs does affect the quality of the experience, and the songs that are good aren’t that good so as to pull up the overall rating. You have, I guess five now? : ) clunkers with 4 decent songs, nothing great. Even an album like Double Vision, which has two great songs, this isn’t enough to salvage the rest of the record, when you are left with a couple of decent songs, and then nothing but filler. An album like Mob Rules, on the other hand, has songs where the guys are just relying on their ability and kind of coasting, but it has flashes of such blinding brilliance,it pulls up the rest of the record. There is nothing close to brilliance on that Creatures record. : )
Shannon, you forgot about “Blue Morning, Blue Day,” that makes 3 great songs on that album! And most of the others are really good as well.
We got two live Sabbath records in 1982 too, and they fit the landscape of what was happening perfectly, oddly enough.
“Pressure” by Billy Joel epitomizes 1982. It’s uncompromising, but it’s commercial as hell,
and it gets there almost by osmosis. There are songs and records like this across the spectrum of 1982…as “the 80s” went on, the whole operation started getting too self conscious which hastened its own demise.
1984, this was the year when you started seeing the copies of the copies, i.e. bands copying Leppard, and Quiet Riot, John Cougar, etc. etc…