As a female, I would suppose, more women than not, would agree, that image matters.
Since I am one of those outlier females, the music is far more important, to me. If there is an attractive member in the band, that is just icing on the cake.
I know some may not believe me, but since my old neighborhood in Brooklyn, was one of the last, to get cable, I was a fan of John Sykes, sometime before, I even knew about his appearance. Then, when we finally got cable, and I saw the video for Slow N Easy on MTV, my mind was blow. I immediately wanted to acquire many posters/images of him, for my walls. š
Regarding image in general, I think some of the 80s “fashion,” were quite tacky and cheesy. I always reference Cinderella‘s Night Song, and Dokken‘s Under Lock And Key, covers as reference. Many times less is more. Luckily, both albums are great, so the music, more than makes up for, the less than stellar “image.”
36 Responses
It’s all about the music, it’s always been about the music, it’s like food, who really cares what it looks like?? It’s all about the taste! As long as it tastes good, does anybody really care what it looks like? Just like music, if it sounds good to your ears, that’s all that really matters!
Doug R.,
While I completely understand the metaphor, addressing it on a literal level, people pay big money, for chefs who plate beautiful food, it’s all part of a high end dining experience.
You would be surprised, at how many food snobs, would turn their noses up to a meal that tastes great, but looks awful on a plate.
A cool album cover can catch your eye and make you buy that album, but if the music isn’t good what happens to that album? Lost is the shuffle or trashed! My introduction to KIā”ļøā”ļø was by accident – walked by my brother’s room heard the music (’74) was hooked ever since! Hadn’t even seen the album cover yet and had known nothing about them except that I loved what I was hearing!
Yes, image is important. It is often the first hook that attracts the listener, but the music is what matters for longevity.
Gene $immon$ once said people listen to music with their eyes, or something similar to that. And I think he’s correct. MTV gave listeners a visual of the image while the music played. Iron Maiden put Eddie on their albums covers, and it sold albums on the covers alone. Without knowing anything about the band, I bought my first Judas Priest album, “Unleashed in the East”, based on the album cover alone cuz I thought it looked awesome.
But the music is what keeps the band alive, not the image. But what do I know….I think Poison’s music is awful and they are still going forty years strong! :o)
Going on that tangential premise, I have bought quite a few lemons, based on “cool” album covers. It’s like deceptive advertising-LOL!
The album cover of “Unleashed in the East” presented Judas Priest, “live”, in their leather and studs with Marshall amplifier stacks in background. It doesn’t get more ” heavy metal” than that image.
Any time I saw albums with the band members dressed in leather, studs, denim, bullet belts, etc….I would buy it, if I had the cash, cuz if they portrayed that heavy metal image, then it had to be a kick ass heavy metal album. Of course, that wasn’t always the case. But it did help me discover some obscure bands that I enjoyed.
Of course the music is all that matters, but if I am watching a video (be it back the day or even now) and the bands looks cool and the video looks cool, it hooks you in a little more. If I like a newer song, then see it’s a bunch of emo kids playing it I got to be honest, it’s a little bit of a turn off. But that is just me, being a kid of MTV…I remember loving Can U Deliver by Armored Saint, but in the video they looked like a band I would NEVER listen to, with the swords and stuff, so I was never a fan (until much later when i realized i am an idiot)…!! Did the same with Krokus, I thought they looked silly, the lead singer looked like the guy from Air Supply so I never gave them a chance!
Michael,
LOL!!! EMO is the worst, regardless of image-LOL! They should rename the genre “whiny,” because that is what all of the vocals are whiny. It seems they all took a page out of Blink-182‘s Tom DeLonge‘s “vocal” playbook.
Regarding Krokus, back in the 80s, lead singer Marc Storace, reminded me SO MUCH of this actor, who played the piano player, on the sitcom It’s A Living. The actor’s name was Paul Kreppel (click on his highlighted name to see a picture) and every time I saw Storace, all I thought about was that he Kreppel, were doppelgƤngers-LOL!
OMG, I know that actor and show, you win…he looks JUST LIKE the lead singer of Krokus!!
LOL!!! Michael, it used to drive me crazy, and it was hard to take Krokus seriously, after that.
After clicking on Dana’s link, I see a bit of Dennis DeYoung (Styx)
Image became important the day that MTV hit the airwaves. I’m glad I was a hard rock/metal fan before then because a band’s looks didn’t matter to me. It mattered to a lot of other people. How many bands made great music but didn’t have the MTV look? And some pretty boy bands with less solid material ruled the charts. Remember all the criticism Ann Wilson of Heart took for not being skinny? Would Halestorm and The Pretty Reckless be as popular if their lead singers weren’t as attractive? I love their music so I hope they would.
That’s a great questions MetalHead64, who knows?
I tend to believe, Halestrom, probably would have had success, regardless, because Lzzy Hale, can sing her ass off.
As for the Pretty Reckless, I must confess, that I know very little about their material. Although, Taylor Momsen, has a decent voice, I am uncertain that they would have been as popular, had she not been known, for her acting role on, Gossip Girl. Even though, I never watched the show (my mother did (lol)), I know it had a pretty large following. Finally, I am sure, Momsen‘s beauty, definitely had a hand, in their success.
Music is the most important but without image, no one is going to listen to you.
I disagree, especially for those who were raised on radio, see my story on KIā”ļøā”ļø, I listened to and loved their very first album even before I had any idea what they looked like, the music got my attention, not the image, because again I had no clue what the album cover/imagery looked like.