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Flint · 02-19-2008, 01:10 PM

UG, are you stating that there is no possibility that any sophistication or mature musical interest can exist in any form of the "metal" genre?

Metal is, in my mind, the logical extension of classical music, in that it moved away from the "big-ass thumping rhythm" of other popular styles, and back to a more clinical European interpretation of the beat. And there's more to it than blazing 16ths or 32nd note double-bass runs. The envelope of broken, displaced rhythms, metric modulations, and intricate time-signatures is constantly being pushed, at breakneck speed. When you state "...less simplistic than metal usually is..." I strongly feel that you don't really know where metal has gone in the last 40 years.

I bought a Megadeth album a few years ago (and yes, this along with Slayer etc. are influential to, but not actually "death" metal) because Vinnie Colaiuta played drums on it. If you "...find yourself looking for more subtlety..." look no further. This guy played with everybody from Zappa to Steely Dan to Quincy Jones, Herbie Hancock, even Barbra Streisand. To hear his smoothly polyrhythmic constructions, applied to obstensibly aggressive metal patterns, it makes your head spin with the subtlety involved. Playing metal doesn't mean abandoning all but primal instincts, by far.

That being said, listen to whatever floats your boat. I'm right there at the Celtic fairs digging on that stuff to, but I don't close my mind to other forms of expression. And, regarding expression, the other thing about metal is that it isn't ashamed to call attention to the dark side of things, rather than sweeping it under the rug. The anger in the "metal" expression is often a righteous anger, often a political commentary, and rarely just a juvenile urge to make loud, meaningless noises. There are emotions to express besides sweet, pretty ones, and I don't think it's healthy to bottle them up. Metal is a release valve for the psyche.

Not that I'm a metal-head either. I may listen to Max Roach one minute and Slayer the next. I play country, I play "praise and worship" or whatever else anybody wants to do. Music is music, I don't discriminate. It all expresses something valid, to somebody.

02-19-2008, 01:10 PM	#7
Flint Snowflake Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Dystopia Posts: 13,136	UG, are you stating that there is no possibility that any sophistication or mature musical interest can exist in any form of the "metal" genre? Metal is, in my mind, the logical extension of classical music, in that it moved away from the "big-ass thumping rhythm" of other popular styles, and back to a more clinical European interpretation of the beat. And there's more to it than blazing 16ths or 32nd note double-bass runs. The envelope of broken, displaced rhythms, metric modulations, and intricate time-signatures is constantly being pushed, at breakneck speed. When you state "...less simplistic than metal usually is..." I strongly feel that you don't really know where metal has gone in the last 40 years. I bought a Megadeth album a few years ago (and yes, this along with Slayer etc. are influential to, but not actually "death" metal) because Vinnie Colaiuta played drums on it. If you "...find yourself looking for more subtlety..." look no further. This guy played with everybody from Zappa to Steely Dan to Quincy Jones, Herbie Hancock, even Barbra Streisand. To hear his smoothly polyrhythmic constructions, applied to obstensibly aggressive metal patterns, it makes your head spin with the subtlety involved. Playing metal doesn't mean abandoning all but primal instincts, by far. That being said, listen to whatever floats your boat. I'm right there at the Celtic fairs digging on that stuff to, but I don't close my mind to other forms of expression. And, regarding expression, the other thing about metal is that it isn't ashamed to call attention to the dark side of things, rather than sweeping it under the rug. The anger in the "metal" expression is often a righteous anger, often a political commentary, and rarely just a juvenile urge to make loud, meaningless noises. There are emotions to express besides sweet, pretty ones, and I don't think it's healthy to bottle them up. Metal is a release valve for the psyche. Not that I'm a metal-head either. I may listen to Max Roach one minute and Slayer the next. I play country, I play "praise and worship" or whatever else anybody wants to do. Music is music, I don't discriminate. It all expresses something valid, to somebody. __________________ **************** There's a level of facility that everyone needs to accomplish, and from there it's a matter of deciding for yourself how important ultra-facility is to your expression. ... I found, like Joseph Campbell said, if you just follow whatever gives you a little joy or excitement or awe, then you're on the right track. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Terry Bozzio**