Archive | Legacies
While the metal community has been paying tribute to the untimely death of Jeff Hanneman in their own way since it was announced that he’d passed away two weeks ago, plans have been announced for an actual gathering to celebrate the legacy of the Slayer guitarist. The Jeff Hanneman Memorial Celebration will take place on Thursday, May 23 at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles from 3:30 – 7:30pm. The all-ages event will be free and open to the public on a first-come, first-in basis.
There’s no word on who will be at Hanneman’s memorial. Also kept quiet has been any details about Hanneman’s actual funeral. The Westboro Baptist Church had announced plans to protest his funeral by picketing it and singing their awful parody of Ozzy Osbourne’s “Crazy Train,” which doesn’t make sense on any level. A press-hungry cult like the WBC would have made sure footage of that was available had it happened. We’ll let you know as more details start to trickle out about the Memorial Celebration.
It’s been exactly one month since Deftones bassist Chi Cheng passed away and about 4 1/2 years after a car accident left him in a coma. And while the band has continued forward, recruiting Quicksand’s Sergio Vega as bassist and releasing two albums, the band decided to scrap Eros, the album they’d been working on with Cheng. According to comments made by frontman Chino Moreno, the album may see the light of day after all.
Speaking on the red carpet at Revolver’s Golden Gods awards, Moreno told Artisan News that Eros may well be released. When askedabout the possibility, Moreno replied “I think moreseo now than ever. I actually went back and listed to some of it recently. I don’t know when, but it’s a little more appropriate now to think about it than in the last three years.” It would be both a fitting tribute to Cheng’s legacy and something that every Deftones fan would want to hear if the album was to come out. With Cheng now gone and two really solid albums out, it’s not like releasing Eros would be cashing in on tragedy.
As the metal world continues to grieve the loss of Jeff Hanneman, an official cause of death has been released. It’s been confirmed that though the guitarist had been sidelined for over two years due to a Necrotizing fasciitis infection cause by a spider bite, Hanneman reportedly died from alcohol related cirrhosis.
Some began to speculate that Hanneman had been on a transplant list at the time of his passing. However, Slayer’s official statement claims that neither Hanneman nor those close to him were aware of the true extent of his liver condition until the last days of his life. Hanneman had apparently even been showing signs of improvement and was supposedly excited to start work on a new Slayer record.
In the wake of this news, Kerry King and Tom Araya shared a few of their favorite memories of their fallen bandmate in an official statement (just a few hours after confirming plans to move forward with their European tour). Here’s what the two had to share: Read more »
Ever forget an important birthday? We were about to leave for the weekend, when we saw a post on Stereogum proclaiming that on June 8, 1992, Faith No More’s fourth album, Angel Dust, was released. The album, quite possibly Faith No More’s best, followed up on the massive platinum success of 1989′s The Real Thing in the best way possible. Instead of coming out with another version of their rap-metalish hit “Epic,” they made an accessible, yet still extremely weird, album.
Their last album with guitarist Jim Martin and second with versatile vocalist Mike Patton, Angel Dust had songs like “Midlife Crisis” and “A Small Victory” that were palatable hits, yet bizarre and heavy songs “Crack Hitler” and “Jizzlobber” that likely confused anyone that bought the album because they liked that “fish video” a few years prior. Throw in a catchy ode to oral sex (“Be Aggressive”) and a cover of the theme to the only X-Rated movie to ever win a Best Picture Academy Award (“Midnight Cowboy”) and you’ve got an aggressively weird, yet still commercial, album that solidified the band’s status as a favorite among metal, alternative, and funk fans alike. While the band would break up five years later, Patton has gone on to numerous other bands, and their reunion several years ago gives us hope that there may be some music in them yet. Check out the video for “A Small Victory” below.
25 years ago on this day, October 7, Slayer released the pivotal Reign In Blood. At the time, it was a huge risk for the band to release their third album through Def Jam Records (a mainly hip hop label). However, it ended up paying off big time. Not only did it mark the first time Slayer worked with producer Rick Rubin, but also produced one of the most influential metal albums of all time and made Slayer the metal icons they are now.
Armed with classics like “Angel Of Death” and “Raining Blood,” the album has become a must have for every metal fan. However, to celebrate Reign In Blood’s 25th anniversary, we decided to play a deeper cut off of the album. So pay you respect to the almighty Slayer by blasting “Postmortem” in the video above.
Today on this date in 1951, one of heavy metal’s most iconic and outspoken frontmen, Rob Halford, was born. Since joining Judas Priest in 1973, he quickly and deservedly earned the title ‘The Metal God,’ and was the voice of some of the most recognizable metal songs ever. After leaving the band in 1991, Halford went on to form Fight and an industrial solo project 2wo. He also released several solo albums, but the call of the Priest was too strong to ignore, and he rejoined the band in 2003. Halford’s influence on metal and culture is undeniable. His voice has inspired thousands of people to pick up the mic, while his fashion has been co-opted by everyone from black metal bands to Lady Gaga. While we could write more about him, Halford’s voice speaks for itself, and while there are more songs that exemplify Judas Priest, we’re going to go back to 1990′s Painkiller, with it’s amazing title track that finds the entire band firing on all cylinders. Happy Birthday, Rob!
Oh yeah, and it’s also Gene Simmons’ birthday today too, but he doesn’t get his own post.
It was 20 years ago today when Metallica released their self-titled record, better known as The Black Album. While the album has had its fair share of haters thanks to its more polished sound (remember, this was BEFORE Load and Reload), The Black Album still without question made Metallica into household names. Having spent four consecutive weeks at the top of the Billboard 200, The Black Album (Metallica’s first album with producer Bob Rock) has since been certified 15x platinum and is the best-selling album of the SoundScan era.
Songs like “Enter Sandman,” “Sad But True” and “Nothing Else Matters” not only attracted new fans to the band, but also to the genre of metal. To celebrate The Black Album’s 20th anniversary, though, we decided to highlight a lesser known track off the album (because chances are you’ve heard “Enter Sandman” on every radio station by now). Take a listen to the album’s ending track “The Struggle Within” up top.
Earlier this week, we pointed out that this week in history, Metallica released Kill ‘Em All (on July 25, 1983) and Ride the Lightning (on July 27, 1984). While at the Rockstar Energy Mayhem fest yesterday, we ran into a few musicians and asked them which of the two albums they preferred.
Matt Heafy, Trivium: Ride the Lightning of the two is my favorite. Kill ‘Em All, I mean, they’re both incredible records. Kill ‘Em All I feel like they were still finding what they were about to become and I think Ride the Lightning still showed where they were going. I mean every single record they’ve ever done has been amazing but Ride for me was a good indication of where they were to go.
Mark Heylmun, Suicide Silence: I definitely think Ride the Lightning means more to me. I guess it’s got more of a metal feel and less of a punk feel. I might be wearing a Pennywise shirt right now but I come from a metal fucking background and Ride the Lightning kind of abandoned that thrash punky feel and it really embraced the fucking metal. I mean even the songs that nobody really listens to like “Escape” and like “Trapped Under Ice” you know what I mean, even those songs are fucking metal as shit.
Derek Boyer, Suffocation: I play bass for Suffocation, and… I’m very proud to play the instrument I play. I had a white jean jacket with a fucking Ride the Lightning fucking back patch, I did! Cliff Burton was like my fucking god. I had honorable mention in Cliff Burton’s book (To Live Is to Die: The Life and Death of Metallica’s Cliff Burton) [talking about the influence of Burton]. When this idea came up and we started talking about Kill ‘Em All versus Ride the Lightning I was like ‘Trapped Under Ice!’
So there you have it – three out of three musicians surveyed picked Ride the Lightning. Granted, this wasn’t a very scientific survey, but the craft of Ride the Lightning beats the raw energy of Kill ‘Em All.
If we’re going to highlight the anniversary of Appetite For Destruction, then we also have to pay homage to two other pivotal metal releases. This week marks the anniversary of not one, but two Metallica classics. It was 27 years ago today when Metallica released Ride The Lightning, and it was 28 years ago this past Monday (July 25) when their debut album Kill Em’ All was released.
Featuring Metallica staples like “Seek & Destroy” and “Whiplash,” Kill Em’ All still remains as one of the strongest metal debuts of all time. Originally titled Metal Up Your Ass, the album was recorded only a month after Kirk Hammett replaced then guitarist Dave Mustaine (who went on to form another little band you may have heard of). Despite getting kicked out, Mustaine was still given co-writing credit on four songs (including “The Four Horsemen,” which Mustaine re-recorded with Megadeth as “The Mechanix” since he was pissed off by the changes Metallica made to the original version).
While Kill Em’ All showcased Metallica’s love of Motorhead and the NWOBHM movement, Ride The Lightning took the band’s sound to a new level. Songs like “For Whom The Bell Tolls” and “Fade To Black” showed the band experimenting with longer and more complex arrangements, while “Creeping Death” and “Fight Fire With Fire” maintained their aggressive sound. This album is also the last one to credit Mustaine (on the instrumental “Call To Ktulu”). Their sophomore album took Metallica one step closer to becoming the metal titans we know them as today (it was two years later when they released Master Of Puppets).
Both albums are considered “must haves” for any metal fan (that’s right, if you don’t have either album in your collection, we will judge you). As hard as it may be to choose which of these two albums you like the most, that’s exactly what we’re asking you to do. Let us know which one of these two classic Metallica albums is your favorite in the comment section below.
As big of a year 1986 was for thrash metal (Reign in Blood, Master of Puppets and Peace Sells… But Who’s Buying? Check, check and check!) one of the most influential and best debut albums ever came out on this day in 1987. Guns N’ Roses’ Appetite For Destruction was released to an unsuspecting public on July 21, 1987. The album didn’t take off immediately, for several reasons. First of all, this was pre-SoundScan, so actual sales weren’t reported then. Secondly, the original cover (pictured) wasn’t the most, um, store-friendly artwork (it was later replaced by the ubiquitous cross logo with the band members’ skulls). The album took over a month to debut on the Billboard chart, debuting at the relatively low position of 182. We know what happened after that. Thanks to MTV, radio, and the insane catchiness of the album, it went on to ascend the charts, reaching #1 about a year after that, and has gone on to sell over 18 million copies.
Appetite for Destruction captures the sound and attitude of a young, hungry L.A. band that not only wanted to make it, they needed to. It’s a legacy to hard rock/metal in the late ’80s, and set the tone for the next four years of popular hard rock. The members that made the album are another story, however. W. Axl Rose, Slash, Izzy Stradlin, Duff McKagan and Stephen Adler have gone on to varying degrees of success, so we thought we’d point out what they’re up to these days. Since Slash is ubiquitous, he’s how we’re going to rank the other members of the band: Read more »
While the metal community has been paying tribute to the untimely death of Jeff Hanneman in their own way since it was announced that he’d passed away two weeks ago, plans have been announced for an actual gathering to celebrate the legacy of the Slayer guitarist. The Jeff Hanneman Memorial Celebration will take place on Thursday, May 23 at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles from 3:30 – 7:30pm. The all-ages event will be free and open to the public on a first-come, first-in basis.
Posted by Bram Teitelman on Thu, May 16, 2013 at 11:03 am
Legacies