“Every once in a while the metal scene collectively pisses on a band or record and someone needs to step up and defend why they like it. We normally don’t spend a lot of time defending shitty records, but sometimes genuinely interesting or good records get lampooned by an overly conservative heavy metal scene and that calls for a professional contrarian to defend it! If ever there were professional contrarians, it would be the staff of AMG.” Cold Lake would be easier to defend!
I understand that you loved Guns ‘N Roses. I mean, really, it must have been the greatest experience of your entire life. It was a time when you were on top of the world. The drummer for an up-and-coming band that owned every venue they played and that got signed and sold millions of records. You had friends, chicks, cash and all the drugs you could sniff, chew on, inject, stick up your ass, and so forth to your little heart’s desire. It’s hard not to imagine that this was the high point of your life, and dude. I get that.
It’s been a long time since a sort of standard modern rock or traditional metal band really showed off anything that this Angry Metal Guy appreciated. For the most part, modern rock has been rehashed BS and overrated post-Seattle scene leftovers. The bands that have tried to convert their sounds (see: the remnants of Guns N’ Roses meets STP or Europe’s latest incarnation) have really failed at it because the sound is, at its root, boring as hell. Rehashing rock again with thicker guitar tone and a vocalist who will never live up to the classics is pretty much a good way to guarantee that your vocalist buddy goes to rehab, but not much more. Whatever happened to Buckcherry again? Oh right. Flash in the effing pan.
