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2010 was an amazing – I’d go as far as to say, classic – year for heavy music, with strong releases from both old bands and newcomers.
I am always on the lookout for fresh talent, the next generation...the bands that are going to take metal into the future, but that isn’t to say for a moment, that the old school don’t have their place. Far from it, judging by the recent releases from the likes of Iron Maiden, Motörhead, Ozzy, etc. It’s just that these bands are not going to be around for ever – Judas Priest are a case in point here, for as we all know, they are splitting after this coming summer’s world tour.
Bands such as Kvelertak, Devildriver, and Enforcer (to name just the first 3 that came to mind) are the bands that are going to be the future of metal, and the bands that will lure in the next generation of metalheads.
It does appear, however, as though a new wave of nostalgia is about to hit us. We’ve had the 80’s nostalgia thing for over a decade now – both in mainstream culture and in the world of metal – and it now appears as though it is the turn of the much (unfairly) maligned 90’s. Many people seem to forget just how important the 90’s were, and focus on the negatives, such as Nu-metal, rather than the cultural phenomenon that was grunge, and the rebirth of metal after grunge had killed it off, and then in turn, had died (in a mainstream sense, at least).
Bands such as Pantera, Sepultura and Machine Head led the charge in the early part of the decade with their more groove-infused take on the thrash metal template. As this isn’t actually a blog about the 90’s itself, I’ll leave that topic for another time – an in-depth look at the various styles and bands that dominated the decade of my teens, the one in which I discovered my love for the metal genre, would take more than one blog to properly explore.
No, this blog is about the approaching 90’s nostalgia trip that has already begun to gather momentum. In the last few years we have had the return of Alice In Chains, Faith No More (live, at least) and Rage Against The Machine among others (sadly Limp Bizkit being one of them), and and with 2011 bringing new music (?) and tours from Soundgarden and the aforementioned RATM, could this herald the beginnings of a fully fledged nostalgia movement?
I am actually not against this, as nostalgia certainly has its place in life. It is important and often warming to look back upon your formative years, or upon the “good old days” and music is a very powerful thing in the lives of many people. A song can bring memories flooding back like very little else. The danger with any “trip down memory lane”, however is that many people will then claim that music was better in (insert decade here). This obviously isn’t the case, it’s just that the decade you grew up in/were an adolescent, will obviously be the one that was most important in your life and has created memories and experiences that you will not ever have again. It was also a time that you were developing as a person and the things/people around you helped to shape you and therefore, forged strong imprints in your psyche.
How many of us could honestly say, hand on heart, that we wouldn’t want to hear a new album by a band that was important to us when we were, say, 15 years old? Of course we would, and that is why nostalgia has its place, and so long as the bands involved do themselves and our memories justice, what is the harm? As long as we keep looking forward to the future, and spend each day forging new “good old days”, and enjoying every single day we have with those important to us, then bring it on. It isn’t healthy or a good way to live your life, to focus on a time that has long gone.
Live for the day! - but throw in a bit of healthy reminiscing. One big concern for me, is that some of the bands involved are doing it again for all of the wrong reasons - yes, I mean money – and are not interesting in recapturing the feel or passion of the time, and certainly not in the fans who supported them first time round.
I can only hope this isn’t the case, and I will look forward to 2011 as a year that I can enjoy both old bands and new, and to share a few gigs/beers with the people close to me. Now, raise your glasses to 2011 (and the 90’s).
