Keith Watanabe * NET 2.0

read a metal magazine with priest and motley crue discussing their reformation. their reasons were different but the main theme has been the same: bringing back metal. what kind of metal? supposedly priest is bringing back the old school metal while the Crue is bringing back the Sunset Blvd mentality. my assessment of the situation is that this reformation is taking place as a result of the political economy. you basically see deadbeat kids fucked over by politicians with hopeless, decadent lives trying to escape the tyranny of an uber-conservative government and need a form of escape. music has always been that form of escape for people as it gave people ideals for rebelling against the system. it reminded me of the reading my professor gave on Kant where he talked about the rhyming couplets as a method for memorizing political stances. Music does the same thing. Take the old Twisted Sister anthems like "We're not gonna take it!" Dee Snyder mentioned in an interview long ago that his goal in lyric composition was to have things that people can chant to. Combine that with the aggressive roar of guitars and the thundering neanderthall beat of drums and you basically have a war march. one of the weird things is that they mentioned how music is cyclical. i don't think that's a fair nor good reading of what's going on. music is a reflection of the political-socio-economic being. the 80's and now 2000-current had been a time of uber-conservative values. go to Queensryche's Operation Mind Crime and listen to Revolution Calling. The lyrics apply ever moreso these days with the exception of changing one word which is communist to terrorist. if you examine that state of mind, then you realize that the parallels between the 80's and current period are drastically similar. so if that's the case, metal might be the thing to lead the next music revolution. but outside of the older generations, who will come forth to present the next banner?