Military References in Heavy Metal
By Will Stroock There has never been anything like Heavy Metal. Featuring thundering power chords, lightning strike guitar solos, and ear splitting lyricists, by the mid 1980’s metal conquered rock and roll, dominating the airwaves and MTV. Some bands employed life sized dummies and sung before giant murals depicting great battles. Many bands used pyrotechnics to add to the impact of a live performance. Some even recorded cannon...
Choose Your Leppard
By Will Stroock Generation X is usually viewed as a monolith but there are major differences. If you were born in 1968, like my older sister, or 1973, like me, the cultural feel of your formative years is very different. This difference can be illustrated by the heavy metal band, Def Leppard. In many ways, Gen X can be divided into two groups with one simple question: which was your Def Leppard Album, Pyromania or Hysteria? Both were...
The Importance of Metal
By Will Stroock In that dark, dark winter of 1988, when I was 14 years old and simultaneously failing most of my classes, on permanent lunch detention (no joke) and was unable to get any girl to go out with me, I found a movement that knew my pain. It was heavy metal. These guys had the solution for those teachers who hated me and preps that cared about grades; the finger. We all know the songs and videos and no recapping should be...
Influential 80s New Wave Bands
The New Wave music genre gave us many amazing bands. One of the most interesting aspects of New Wave was the fact that it was so open-ended in terms of style. This meant that a wide range of groups were able to contribute to the genre thanks to it lacking a certain musical homogeneity. The most important aspects of New Wave weren’t a strict adherence to specific songwriting rules but rather an attitude and spirit that combined aspects...
Artist Highlight: Music’s a-ha Moment
I love a-ha. I love their sophisticated, uber-catchy pop songs. I love their iconic “Take on Me” video and lead singer Morten Harket’s bold & unforgettable falsetto. And I love, love that their farewell world-tour is called “Ending On a High Note.” These guys have a sense of humor to rival their musical chops. Mention a-ha to a thirty-something in the US, and the likely response will be a slow smile of recognition. Their fame...
