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The (badly) aging metaler

HeavyJazz

HeavyJazz

Supporting Member
Jan 26, 2013
3,597
6,150
Central Virginia
#1
I'll swing by Blabbermouth from time to time and once in a blue moon spot something of interest, but the biggest takeaway I have is a growing sympathy for so many of these guys that should just stop already. So many just look to be on death's door all tattoed and pierced up with skin as grey as last week's fried chicken. Like that bloated, hairy perv from across the street who keeps the JD next to the his shotgun and spaghetti-O stash .

At some point I would just think they'd look in the mirror and make some adjustments in direction - "Am I still really this angry all these years later?" I'm not denying there are some good acts out there in the vintage class of heavier music, but the vast majority have just turned sad and silly.

HEEEAAAAVYYY-Metal-heavy-metal-1335142-636-544.gif
 
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#5
shawshank72 said:
That goes for any genre.
Although if you can still bring it and are doing it for the right reasons then i have no issue with it.
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doesn't seem to work with blues or jazz though. A lot of those guys just keep getting better and better the older they get.
 
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#6
What are their alternatives? They don't hang it up for the same reason the average person doesn't hang up their job. And if they have day jobs anyway, more power to them for still rocking out and entertaining their true fans. I don't view it any differently than an aging 50s rock & roll act or a big band catering to fans of that generation. The growing number of metal-themed cruises are just one example. Maybe some day there'll be metal-themed retirement homes.
 
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#8
Maybe I've known 'metal' to be a younger man's game (with rare exception) by the themes that carry the genre - broad defiance and a self-granted immortality. Just one man's view. And that's not to say we all don't age, but given the levels of energy required to pull off some of these acts, I just feel bad for some of the guys who have really beaten themselves up over a long period of time.
 
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#11
I'm middle-aged & overweight. I started growing my hair out a year ago. On Saturday the guy at the liquor store said "Thank you Maam.". I rubbed the prominent stubble on my face & said "Thanks MAN!".
I don't have man-boobs, so I don't know where people get off thinking I'm female.

I will be a metalhead until my dying breath. There is no quitting.
 
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#12
I grew my facial hair out & then shaved it to match Lemmy's, & had a few friends over to a Motorhead party. We played nothing but Motorhead for about 6 hours & some new fans were born.
A few would joke later that I'm a fat Lemmy clone, greatest compliment I've heard since someone said my singing voice sounds like Ozzy.
 
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#13
Killed_by_Death said:
I grew my facial hair out & then shaved it to match Lemmy's, & had a few friends over to a Motorhead party. We played nothing but Motorhead for about 6 hours & some new fans were born.
A few would joke later that I'm a fat Lemmy clone, greatest compliment I've heard since someone said my singing voice sounds like Ozzy.
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If your voice sounds like Ozzy, you've got quite a talent. I love Motorhead, too, but let's face it, Ozzy is a better singer. Not only that, but strictly in my opinion, he's one of the best rock singers, period.
 
#16
I agree that tight jeans don't look very appealing if you're overweight. But I also think that a tattoo/piercing free dude old enough to be on death's door is definitely not anymore better looking than one with them at the same age. If you shave, dress up 'nicely' and play metal, it would look more silly.
 
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#17
MYLOWFREQ said:
If you shave, dress up 'nicely' and play metal, it would look more silly.
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I've got that one under control then, because my appearance is something I've never really worried about. Of course I did where it was required, like for a job interview, but never out in public when I'm just bouncing around doing my own thing.
I was frankly kind of put off to find out the Ramones cared so much about how they looked back in the 70s. The Pistols took it even further.

There are stark differences in the sub-genres of metal. Some of that hair metal was all about the look.

I look the way I want to look & screw everyone else.
I'm actually due for a shave. I think it's been over a week. I only shave because it's uncomfortable in the Summer. Once it gets cool, back to having a beard.
 
#18
A proportion of the metal music experience is music, and another portion is image. It's the digital age, and unfortunately, no matter how ferocious your chops, you're still expected to look the part. Somehow, despite playing with a few image-conscious acts (a Queen tribute band!), I have managed to make it to today without a tattoo, a piercing, face paint, spandex, or artfully ripped shirt & jeans. (Although I did have an incident where the BL had a makeup person put a ton of gunk in my hair to make it stand up straight--didn't work out so great).
 
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#20
If you pigeonhole yourself into an image that counts on youthfulness, you will have this problem. 80s hair metal, for example was all about image and youthful masculinity. The industry bears a lot of blame for this, of course, but so do you if, as a 19-year-old, you went along with it thinking you'd never grow old or have to grow out of your image as a musician.

Blues musicians don't really have this problem because blues was never the glamorous MTV youth scene to begin. In the beginning it was dirt poor black guys who were either old, or who already looked old because of hard living, and in any case none of them ever got any publicity and few photo ops. So to this day it's okay for Steve Winwood and Eric Clapton to get old as long as they still play badass guitar.

If you're into metal or prog, the key is to focus on music and not get caught up in image in the first place I think. Think Rush or Yes. Those guys were goofy-looking when they were young, but they weren't singing about picking up chicks anyway.

It also helps if you don't get fat. Black Sabbath is old but they aren't (too) fat. Iommi had cancer and still looks good in a leather jacket with an SG hanging off his shoulder.

You can't control how old you get, but you do have some control over how fat you get.
 
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