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The idea of admiring a new release as a complete work, including the artwork, is totally outdated in the eyes of many.”
by Felipe Godoy
There has been much discussion regarding the new generation of Heavy Metal fans and how many older fans frown upon their behavior in certain aspects. The question is: to what extent is this feeling based on reality and not just preconceived notions?
I'm 33 years old and I've been going to Galeria do Rock since I was 4, when I used to stroll through there with my older brother before our Saturday morning trips to the old Woodstock Discos, like every good headbanger used to do in the 80s. And since then, more than a second home, that place has become a great source of field research to understand the mindset of these kids who are starting to embrace the style. Not to mention the internet, which daily establishes new behavioral parameters and ends up serving as a true showcase for diverse lines of reasoning.
A few weeks ago, I was standing in front of one of the record stores I frequent in the mall when two young men approached the window and started discussing the Iron Maiden CDs on display. One of them mentioned that he had the band's entire discography, which he had downloaded from the internet. "And since when does downloading mean owning?", I thought to myself. I immediately started remembering when I was their age, I couldn't afford some of the imported LPs I wanted and had to make do with cassette tapes. Back then, a guy asked me if I had the Mercyful Fate albums (still unreleased in Brazil at the time). I replied that I did… on cassette. To which the guy – older – replied: "And since when is having a cassette tape recording the same as owning the album?".
Was it that, now that I was older, I was starting to play the same role of "Executioner of the Metal God" that they had made me play years before? I continued listening to the conversation. One of them continued: "Yeah... I also downloaded it a little while ago, but I needed more hard drive space and deleted it. I'll download it again later." That's when it really hit me.
The records were passed from hand to hand, bands promoted by word of mouth or through the ever-present cassette tapes.”
One of the things that most repulses older generations is perhaps the inability of a large part of the younger generation to value things and their tendency to spread assumptions as absolute truth. Thanks to the internet, everything has become extremely easy. If an album is released in Europe today, someone can download it without any problems within half an hour as soon as it hits the web. When a music video premieres, it's possible to watch it whenever we want, repeatedly. If a news story is released, it becomes very easy to check the veracity of the facts almost immediately. A band starts its new tour tonight in the middle of nowhere? No problem. By the end of the night you'll know not only the setlist of the show but also see videos made by a fan on YouTube.
Back in the day, things were very different. Records were released in Brazil months or even years later than in the rest of the world. There was no YouTube, and we had to cross our fingers hoping to catch that music video we wanted on the few television music programs of the time that gave space to Heavy Metal. Lucky were the few who owned VCRs and could record those ghost-filled images onto their top-of-the-line VHS tapes.
Records were passed from hand to hand, bands promoted by word of mouth or through the ever-present cassette tapes. Historic blunders were committed by specialized magazines of the time, which occasionally went so far as to invent interviews. Who followed the defunct Metal magazine in the 80s and doesn't remember the uproar when Dio announced a prodigious "female" guitarist for his new solo band, named Vivian Campbell? Or the ranking of the best solos by KISS guitarist Ace Frehley, including those from the tracks "A World Without Heroes," "I Still Love You," and "Larger Than Life," even though NONE of the three were played by him?
Amidst all this misinformation and various difficulties, fans placed extreme value on what little they had. Having a new LP in their collection was already quite an achievement, imagine if it was a bootleg (or pirate record, as we called them back then)? I lost count of how many people left their homes and walked long distances just because magazine X or Y had published a tiny photo of KISS in their new, unmasked phase, or because Valcir had posted a black and white A4 photocopy of what would become the cover of Iron Maiden's Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son on one of the walls of Woodstock Discos. There was a thirst to live, feel, and learn more about the scene. To separate the wheat from the chaff, the fact from the lie, their point of view from mine.
"The number of fans who don't even know the name of the song they're listening to or which album it's from is growing."
We're back to the present day. Kids are completely immersed in information and have access to practically everything. Everything is easy, at their fingertips. And yet, things have never been so superficial. Everyone has an opinion, but few seem to know the reason for it. A few dedicated members of the new generation still buy records, but the number of fans who don't even know the name of the track they're listening to or which album it's from is growing. Their cell phones simply indicate "Track 12" or "Track 5." The concept of admiring a new release as a complete work, including the artwork, is totally obsolete in the eyes of many. Didn't like it, didn't have time to listen, no more space on the hard drive? Delete it. We'll get it again later, no problem. Spend money buying a CD? Never.
Aside from the many absolute truths that rear their heads. If someone thinks Black Sabbath is only worthwhile with Ozzy and doesn't even know who Dio, Gillan, Hughes, Gillen, or Martin were, it has less to do with musical taste and more to do with what TV or someone on the internet said was right. If someone opines that Iron Maiden's new release leaves something to be desired, it's a virtual massacre for sure; after all, I've been told that some bands are absolutely incapable of making mistakes, and I believe it. There's no reason to check for yourself if so many people think the same way, right? The bands I know because they came to me are the best, and I'm content with them.
Point in question: technology is absolutely wonderful, and I don't miss the difficulties of the old days at all. I also think there are always exceptions to everything, and much of what was said above may not even apply to the reader, especially younger people. Generalizing is never good. But it seems that we are increasingly living in the age of "guesswork," connected to the mentality of a large part of a generation that had everything handed to them so easily that they largely gave up on thinking for themselves and going after what was "beyond." A group that forgot that valuing what they like and getting to know it more deeply goes far beyond what the media brings to us, and has more to do with our own thirst for knowledge.
What does the future hold for Heavy Metal and its world? In my view, something like wine culture. Many are content with the cheapest wine that quenches their thirst, but few prefer to savor the liquid calmly and study the subtleties contained in its flavor and history.
*This text was written by a Wikimate and does not necessarily represent the opinions of the site's authors.
