Ethan Sacks of the New York Daily News reports:
Heavy metal fans are left banging their heads … against the wall.
On Tuesday, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame unveiled its 2015 class of inductees, and once again iconic hard rock and metal bands like Deep Purple, Iron Maiden and Judas Priest were strummed off the list.
What really gets Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian’s goatee is the long-running omission of Deep Purple, a band the Queens-born rocker feels should get the same respect as Led Zeppelin.
“Just based on the intro riff to Smoke on the Water which came out in 1972, it’s safe to say that almost every guitar player in a band that did make the Hall of Fame, picked up a guitar because of that riff and learned how to play off that riff,” says the Queens-born rocker.
“That song alone should gets Deep Purple into the Hall of Fame. Just Ritchie Blackmore’s riff alone. That intro defines rock n’ roll.”
Ian wishes the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame operated more like Cooperstown. “When you talk about sports, you look at the stats, it’s all math,” says Ian. “Babe Ruth hit x average and x home runs and so he gets in. Numbers don’t lie. When it comes to music it comes strickly down to taste.”
In the case of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, relatively small selection committee comes up with a pool of nominees that are voted on by a group of more than 600 artists and music professionals. On average a group of five to seven acts make the final cut each year.
And judging by the results, not many of those 600-plus voters own a Metallica T-shirt.
“Iron Maiden goes to anywhere in the world and they play in front of 50,000 people by themselves and you telling me they don’t f— belong in there?,” Exodus lead singer Steve “Zetro” Souza complained to the Daily News.
“In our type of music, we don’t expect kudos,” added the thrash rocker, whose band’s latest album, Blood In, Blood Out, reached the Billboard’s Top 40 charts. “But it’s hard not to be disappointed by the voting.”
Radio host Eddie Trunk says he’s given up on any semblance of respect for the uneven way the Hall has honored certain bands and ignored others with longer track records of success.
“How can you have a Hall of Fame where it takes Kiss, Rush and Alice Cooper twenty years to get in,” he says, “but Green Day and Guns N’ Roses go in on first ballot and Deep Purple doesn’t get in.”
Last year, he attended the induction ceremony in Brooklyn as a guest of original Kiss guitarist Ace Frehley and had an epiphany: he’s not going to pull his hair out any more over the continuing snubs.
This is a symptom of the disrespect across the board toward hard rock and heavy metal,” says Trunk. “The Grammys haven’t gotten any better since they gave Jethro Tull a Grammy instead of Metallica (for the first ever Best Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Performance trophy in 1989).”
Exhibit A of that lack of respect: late, great Slayer guitarist Jeff Hanneman was a glaring omission from this year’s In Memoriam segment at the Grammy Awards.
While touring with Exodus in Cleveland last year, Souza got to visit the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum for himself for the first time. And his reviews are mixed.
“There was a Bruno Mars suit there, but he didn’t put in the time,” says Souza. “There’s a Katy Perry dress there, but she hasn’t put in the time.”
Still, it heartened him somewhat to see some of metal acts like Black Sabbath and Metallica have their own displays. It’s a start. But call him when Maiden and Priest, Saxon and Scorpions make the cut. He’s not expecting any love for his own band, which has been the soundtrack for moshpits since the mid-80s.
“For those of us who have been doing this for thirty years, we don’t care about or expect anything from the establishment,” Souza says.
source: nydailynews.com
12 Responses
So who’s next to be inducted into the R&RHOF? The Muppets? Hey you never know, Animal kicks a** on the drums, just ask Shannon Larkin from Godsmack, LOL. They might as well put The Muppets in, they’re just as funny as the R&RHOF, what a joke!
the day that deep purple finally get in will be when there all dead amd gone?don’t need 700 morons to tell me who are the ledgens becauas i know who they are
I first went to the RRHOF in 2002. As a music fan I was extremely excited to visit. If you’ve ever been you know that there is a film they show showcasing all of the inductees. At the time I was oblivious to their omission of several bands. While watching this film I realized what a joke the RRHOF was….some of the bands and artists that were inducted were just ridiculous. I really don’t know why they just didn’t call it a Music Hall of Fame? SO MANY that are not R n’ R!!! Madonna?
How can you have a ROCK n ROLL HOF without Deep Purple, Iron Maiden, or Judas Priest? How many AOR bands from the ’70’s and ’80’s still haven’t made it? Bands that have sold millions of albums (yes albums, not downloads). It’s a great place to see music items from several different genres. They really need to change the name and quit insulting the hard rock bands.
They know that snubbing bands like Deep Purple, Judas Priest and Iron Maiden causes us all to get upset and they don’t care. But we all know what’s right and the bands we love know we love them. That’s all that really matters, isn’t it? I was so pissed off when I first heard Deep Purple were once again looked over and Green Day were picked but now I’m just gonna let it go. I’ve been obsessed with, loved and defended hard rock and heavy metal ever since I first heard Kiss when I was a kid. So I don’t need an organization like the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame to remind ne how great bands like Deep Purple are.
Exactly James! 😉
Thanks Doug. Cheers buddy!
I think it’s time to marginalize the RRHOF, and not take it so seriously. I don’t really care who’s in it anymore. It’s quite obvious it’s somewhat of a joke and has been for decades.