Vote Maiden for Brits glory!

Is anyone still reading this? I suppose I ought to post here a bit more as I'm going to see Metallica in twenty four days' time.
Anyway, Iron Maiden have been nominated for the Best British Live act at this year's Brit awards. Now I know the Brits is just a huge back-slapping exercise by the record industry, but it would be most excellent if Iron Maiden actually won something. They've been releasing records for twenty nine years and it'd be great if they were recognised by the music industry. While people,bang on about Coldplay and Duffy selling records overseas, Iron Maiden have been quietly (or not, as the case may be) going about their business being a huge live draw in the Americas, Asia and Europe.
No doubt the Iron Maiden massive already have a huge online thing going on for votes (rather like the 'get Steve Harris a knighthood' online No. 10 petition a couple of years ago), but just in case anyone's reading this who isn't aware, register to vote here. And hurry!

Fuck Keith Richards

I can't wait for this. I only hope it's better that his, slightly disappointing, autobiography. This and the film about Anvil, plus AC/DC and Metallica selling out tours could make 2009 a great year for metal.

Metal saves the day!

Reports of whether he screamed, over the captain's intercom, his in-concert rallying cry of "Scream for me flight 405 from Sharm el Sheikh!!!" remain unfounded.

The 'leading singer of Iron Zeppelin looks quite respectable' remarked my mother after his appearance in BBC Breakfast.

No Remorse Video Jukebox: Megadeth - Peace Sells (But Who's Buying?)

Megadeth do love a good set of brackets. This video was originally banned for fear that it could induce epileptic fits, which, in my book, is the sign of a great metal video.
I love the interlude; 'This is the news'. Yeah, get over it, Dad, you're such a square. Dave Mustaine and his band of LA thrashers piss all over BBC News 24 any day of the week.

Now this...

... is a proper TV ad.

In Vertigo You Will Be

My first proper, bombastic, overblown gig was Metallica at the Birmingham NEC in May 1990. I was so looking forward to it, to see my new heroes in the flesh for the first time. There was four of us that went: me, Al, Al's brother and a guy from work called Gary (more on Gary later).
We went on a coach as part of a ticket 'n' travel deal. I'll never forget striding purposely into the confines of the NEC arena... and promptly got my studded leather belt confiscated, to be picked up later. The t-shirt stands were doing swift business; metal fans love their merchandise. I bought one which featured a design by the band's illustrator, Pushead. It was the design which had been used on the posters for the tour, which was called, weirdly, In Vertigo You Will Be.
Warrior Soul were the support act. They were a four-piece from the USA who listed Joy Division and Killing Joke as their influences (indeed, ex-KJ drummer 'Big' Paul Ferguson was on the kit). They were pretty good, for the time. Mind you, I was so excited I'd have creamed my kecks if Bobby Crush was supporting.

Then it was time for the main event: Me-fuckin'-tallica. I can't remember anything about the set list, only the favourites of mine that they played: One, Welcome Home (Sanitarium), Creeping Death, For Whom the Bell Tolls. When they played crowd-pleaser Search and Destroy, the place went nuts. James Hetfield did his usual shtick of getting the crowd to chant 'search and destroy' louder and louder each time. Of course we all obeyed, resistance was futile.
The gig had everything: energy, great songs, pyrotechnics (oh yeah) and, er, a bass solo. But who gave a fuck, we even loved the bass solo. I remember that they kept getting called back for encores. On the last one Hetfield had to tell the crowd that after the cover of Diamond Head's Am I Evil? There would be no more, they'd run out of rehearsed songs. Brilliant.
I read later that they regarded that gig as one of the best they'd ever done. And I was there.

Metallica were definitely my band now.

Metal Thrashing Mad

So we'd got the first record bought, and the first gig gone to, now it was time to consolidate. The trouble with metal in those days was that it was segregated; if you liked thrash you couldn't like glam, if you liked glam you couldn't like hardcore. Perhaps I ought to explain these different areas:

• Straight metal - just ordinary heavy metal, stuff like Whitesnake, AC/DC, Black Sabbath, Dio
• New Wave of British Heavy Metal - bands like Iron Maiden, Def Leppard, Saxon, Samson, Holocaust, Diamond Head and White Spirit who, in the late 70s, energised by the DIY attitude of punk, mixed that with the riffs of heavy metal, building up a live following in small venues around Britain. Strongholds were London, the Midlands and the North East. Short-lived. Not many made it past 1983.
• Thrash metal - combining the riffs and work ethic of the NWOBHM with the speed of hardcore/skater punk. Bands include the so-called 'big four' of Metallica, Megadeth, Anthrax and Slayer. Lesser known but popular bands were Testament, Kreator, Overkill, Nuclear Assault and Exodus. Strongholds were the Bay Area of California, New York and Germany. Songs usually about war, social issues or politics.
• Glam metal - taking cues off early punks like The New York Dolls, The Stooges and The Ramones it was a brand of metal that was very flamboyant. Songs usually about sex and/or drug-taking. Bands include Faster Pussycat!, Dogs D'Amour, LA Guns, Tigertailz and Poison. Popular with 'the ladies'. Involved men wearing make-up.
• Funk metal - Opened itself up to a wider range of influences, namely funk and soul. Inspired by early practitioners of funk and rock like Parliament, Funkadelic and Bad Brains. Popular with both indie rock and thrash fans, bands include Red Hot Chili Peppers, Faith No More, Primus, Mordred and *huge fanfare* the all black Living Color.

So, as you can see, I was too late for the NWOBHM, everyone likes a bit of straight metal, I didn't like dressing like a girl, so the only option left for me was thrash. Besides, Al was into thrash as was our expanding band of friends. Here, have a look at this fellow from the 1989 Arena documentary on heavy metal explain it in more detail, stick with it, I know one of the blokes in the Rock City scene (this documentary was roundly slagged off by metal fans when it was first shown). Take it away Mitch Hale and Penny Rushin:

I love watching that "You can't play Iron Maiden at 500 mile an hour" became an ironic catchphrase amongst our circle of friends. And dear old Penny is obviously struggling to find something to say. I'd love to see them today. Actually Mitch makes a valid point there: "The more the merrier...if you like it stand up for it"

So, first decent heavy metal record I owned was the 12" single to One by Metallica (being nine minutes long, I don't think a 7" was available). I first saw the song as part of the Top 40 Breakers on Top of the Pops and thought it sounded good. I then saw most of the video the following Saturday on the chart show and knew I must have it. So that afternoon I rushed down to R and K Records in Newark and got my hands on it. I couldn't wait to get it home and listen to it in all its glory. It was class. A nine minute story of a WW1 soldier dying in hospital (happy days!), based on a book called Johnny Got His Gun. The video to the song featured clips from the film adaptation. Then I flipped it over and found two live tracks on the b-side: For Whom the Bell Tolls and Welcome Home (Sanitarium). This was the music for me. They didn't sing about girls, of which I had very little experience at the time, and they encouraged the growing of facial hair. Fucking A! I was hooked.