GENE SIMMONS CALLS TRENT REZNOR “A STUPID HEAD.” SO THERE!
Thursday, August 6th, 2009 at 2:30pm by Axl Rosenberg
When I was a teenager, if my father ever insulted me (and when he did, it was usually because I was being a little asshole and totally had it coming), he would immediately thereafter look at his watch. He was timing me to see how fast I could come up with a witty retort. That probably sounds fucked up, but I’m actually really glad my dad did that – it’s definitely one of the reasons I grew up to be such a prick, but, without tooting my own horn, I am very good at being a prick (you’re reading this website, after all) in no small part because of my old man’s insistence that I learn to properly defend myself in a verbal battle.
If only young Chaim Witz’s father had been as determined as Poppa Rosenberg to whip his son into mental shape. ‘Cause grown-up Witz (that’s “Gene Simmons” to you) is like the fat bully in the school yard – he’s way too dumb to trade barbs at an adult level, so he just says something sophmoric and unfunny and tries to claim said comment as a victory.
For example, look at this video of Simmons “debating” with music-biz guru Bob Lefsetz. Lefsetz criticized Simmons’ understanding of the way the music industry works today, and all Simmons can come up with by way of retort is to make fun of Lefsetz’s name. Forget, for a second, that’s not entertaining; it’s not even on-subject. It’s like watching Chris Farley tell David Spade “You’re a thick… candy…” in Tommy Boy. I mean, I almost feel bad for Simmons.
And now Simmons is losing a verbal war in the press with Trent Reznor, for the same reason: he just cannot hold his own in a debate.
What happened is this: a little while back, Reznor did what Reznor does, which is talk shit in the press, but still seem incredibly cool because, frankly, he’s right. He called Simmons “an old man who puts on makeup to entertain kids, like a clown going to work” and said one of the reasons he’s putting an end to Nine Inch Nails as a live act is because “in my paranoia, I fear that if I don’t stop this, it could become that.”
So how did Simmons reply?
“No worries. Trent grew up on KISS and cut his teeth on our toons. When he was recording ‘Downward Spiral’, he had two action figures on his mix console — Jesus and Gene Simmons.
“Once you’re a self confessed heroin addict, who used the stuff for years, you don’t look at life the way the rest of us do… I’m told.
“We all wish him well.”
Theoretically, Simmons is just as correct as Reznor – Reznor did once idolize Simmons, and Reznor was a heroin addict.
Okay. But Reznor is saying that Simmons is an old sell-out, and he’s clean now, and his heroin addiction has nothing to do with anything. Seriously. It would be like telling someone they’re wrong about something specifically because they’re a cancer survivor. It’s mean-spirited, sure, but neither intelligent nor funny. And so the conversation basically devolved into this:
Reznor: You’ve really let me down, Gene. I mean, you’re just a shadow of your former self.
Simmons: Yeah, well you’re a stupid head! Ppppffffftttt!
So, in short: Reznor 1, Simmons 0.
Looking forward to the next round…
-AR
They can both go suck a cock.
Axl is your father dying? youve been talking about him alot lately
I fail to see how either of these people had anything intelligent to say in their criticisms of the other…
what the fuck, I just typed a long smart ass comment and it didn’t post. Heres the jist of it:
Where do you get off comparing a cancer survivor to a heroin addict??? I don’t think I need to explain to you why that was a horrible,horrible anology. I thought your dad taught you to be witty? Seriously,”Cancer survivor”……. that’s what came into your head when you heard the words “herion addict”….
Both of them fucking suck and play dress up for children. I hope Simmons swallows and chokes on his fucking tongue and Reznor finally gets arrested for fucking one of his 14 year old Uber-Fans.
Whoa, chill. I think you missed his point, but peace to your country anyway.
are you also of the opinion that people who survived cancer are one and the same with heroin addicts????
No, I’m not. Maybe it WAS a bad analogy, but I still think you’re getting too caught up on that. More generally, I was just taken aback at the vitriol of your post. Honestly, Biff, there’s nothing that gets posted on THIS site that should upset you that much. That’s all. Peace, brother.
YOU GUYS ARE SO RIGHT! i mean seriously, what do herion and cancer have in common!? They can both kill you. Holy fucking shit. Maybe thats what he was saying. It just cant be that fucking simple.
Yeah, I’m with you Biff.
Heoin addicts have no-one to blame but themselves. Do cancer victims “deserve” their affliction?
Bad call Axl…
You guys are the type of people that make me want to learn how to do vasectomys, and silently go around every night gassing you with ether and removing you from the gene pool.
I’m reposting this from below. I can’t believe this same discussion is happening twice on the same page:
You are both dumb fucks; the blog author isn’t saying that cancer survivors and heroin addicts are the same, he’s saying that dismissing someone’s opinion because they used to do heroin has as much intellectual merit as dismissing someone’s opinion because they once had cancer.
Both of those arguments are retarded. He’s not drawing parallels between cancer survivors and heroin addicts, he’s using those as props to compare two arguments that come to similar conclusions.
Get a fucking brain. If you’re going to choose something to get enraged about without thinking about it, unplug your fucking internet and go watch fox news you fucking imbeciles.
I’m gonna go smoke some weed. Look what you’ve done, you’ve driven me to drugs.
I’m pretty sure he was more concerned with David Bowie than Gene when he was recording TDS. And David Bowie isn’t quite a giant sellout like Mr. Simmons.
“way too dumb to trade barbs at an adult level, so he just says something sophmoric and unfunny and tries to claim said comment as a victory.”
This, oddly enough, applies to a lot of people who comment on this site as well and I’ll be the first to admit guilt to this.
ur teh gayz!!!@!@!!!!
pwned
Yeah, it’s pretty hard to mess with Reznor. I don’t care who you are, the dude is likely cooler than you. I, for one, am not surprised at Simmons’ behavior, but that doesn’t make it any less embarassing to have to hear about.
As a fan of both (though a much bigger fan of NIN) this is a grand source of amusment for me. When did everyone become such a pussy? Can’t anyone let anything slide anymore? For a guy claims he’s “too rich to care what people think of him” Gene certainly got uber butthurt about this. BTW, Trent, I’m 15 years younger then you, but I’ve figured out something you might wanna know… Your heros WILL let you down at some point. Take the last 3 NIN records for exaple. I don’t mind waiting 5 years for a new NIN record if the best you can do in 2 is The Slip. Which, by the way, is worth only slightly more then I paid for it.
I quite liked The Slip. At least it’s better than With Teeth.
I haven’t enjoyed anything since The Fragile.
I haven’t enjoyed anything since Broken.
I liked Year Zero and With Teeth, The Slip was pushing it.
Actually, I didn’t download it, I bought it when it came out one those things we used to call COMPACT DISC…remember those?
Anyway, The Slip was a decent enough album but some of the instrumental tracks sounded like they should have been on the GHOSTS album, and it just seemed like leftover material.
That’ funny because you DIDN’T pay for…I get it. That makes the Slip worth very little indeed. I’m pickin up what you’re puttin down.
Gene Simmons sucks. But how can you fault the guy for lashing out with some underhanded comments after he gets dragged through the mud by Reznor in an interview?
Gene Simmons is a complete joke. Go Trent.
I suppose Trent Reznor has a bit of an unfair advantage, engaging in a battle of wits with an unarmed man, but hey, he’s absolutely right. Let’s be quite honest… Gene Simmons didn’t invent selling out, but he certainly elevated it to something of an art form.
Simmons is a gigantic tool. I actually have a lot of respect for Reznor and his music.
I guess being a metalhead has its advantage in the simple fact that you have the ability to view art through an insecure, arrogant perspective of misguided hate and aggression and can dismiss incredible amounts of vision, talent, and execution by moralizing “selling out” or “fucking 14 year olds” in your own hypocritical way from behind the desk of your marketing job, hiding your dragon and eightball tattoos under starched polos or sectioning your life into moments of ego driven reflection, self-destruction, greed, and dreams of raping teenage girls. Especially the editors of this site. Do you know how many times you’ve called someone “God” or called something “evil”? Did you ever bother to read Nietzsche, Crowley, Leary–any of these people your “gods” read?
Tool is fucking awesome.
Tool IS fucking awesome
My dad had prostate cancer. And survived. He must’ve had it coming, because after all, it’s the same as purposely sticking a needle full of heroin into your veins.
And my father-in-law with his fatal pancreatic cancer, what was HE thinking?
Same for my friend’s wife, who died of breast cancer. She just shouldn’t have had mammary glands.
As for the argument/debate, I’d say in Simmons’ crack about heroin addicts and their skewed perspective, he was actually pretty witty with the little “…I’m told”.
“My dad had prostate cancer. And survived. He must’ve had it coming, because after all, it’s the same as purposely sticking a needle full of heroin into your veins.
And my father-in-law with his fatal pancreatic cancer, what was HE thinking?
Same for my friend’s wife, who died of breast cancer. She just shouldn’t have had mammary glands”.
EXACTLY.
You are both dumb fucks; the blog author isn’t saying that cancer survivors and heroin addicts are the same, he’s saying that dismissing someone’s opinion because they used to do heroin has as much intellectual merit as dismissing someone’s opinion because they once had cancer.
Both of those arguments are retarded. He’s not drawing parallels between cancer survivors and heroin addicts, he’s using those as props to compare two arguments that come to similar conclusions.
Get a fucking brain. If you’re going to choose something to get enraged about without thinking about it, unplug your fucking internet and go watch fox news you fucking imbeciles.
I’m gonna go smoke some weed. Look what you’ve done, you’ve driven me to drugs.
And with this, my faith in metal and the people who love it is restored…well, mostly….
\m/
Read books!
Axl, are there days when you wonder why you try? Does there come a point when you just stop reading the comments, or are you truly so sick and twisted as to be amused by us? *pause* Is it possible to learn this power? (Not from a Jedi…)
Lots of fucking morons in here who evidently have no reading comprehension. Nowhere in the article was a cancer survivor compared to a heroin addict. Go back to your coloring books, halfwits.
And Simmons is a fucking douche. I’m sure he’s NEVER touched any illegal substance in his life.
And I quote, “It would be like…because they’re a cancer survivor”, in a direct reference to Reznor’s heroin addiction. It may not have been Axl’s intent to make a connection between the two, but when you put those two sentences back to back, you’re making an inference. Analogies, by their very nature, are comparisons. I’m a lot of things, but half-wit is not one of them.
Hahaha you are an intellectual midget. Go die.
Dave Mustaine wouldn’t stand for this – so neither should I.
Are you Artie Fufkin from Polymer Records???? I’ve had a bone to pick with you since 82′ when you over saturated the market before Spinal Taps in store appearance.
ohh sure, k, hahah how on earth could i saturate the market with a medical procedure ???hUH
—-the joke—–>
your head
I hear that Simmons is a bit of a dickhead, but then, I’ve never met him.
But look at their closing remarks – perhaps Simmons thought “Well, this guy doesn’t warrant anyhting wittier than ‘you’re a stupid head’”. And maybe he’s right.
If you were insulted by a child, would you bother coming up with some of your best material to use in a comeback?
Shock rock is easily the “rock bottom” of music period.
All intelligence aside, they both sacrificed musical integrity for an “image” at some point in time.
and guess what…they sold a lot of records and made a lot of money.
because little rebelious teens want and need this sort of image to portray.
and it seems that this is all they both set out for.
good job guys.
Marilyn manson is in the same boat by the way.
scum of the earth.
It amazes me that I was a big NIN fan for so long, Im almost sick to my stomach with the way Trent Reznor has acted recently. He has always made fun of other musicians like Courtney Love, MM, Gene Simmons, Fred Durst, Prince , Rivers Cuomo, Billy Corgan etc… the list is a mile long. It’s so unfair that he can talk shit about everyone else but when someone else retorts back he gets upset and angry. Gene Simmons does at least have respect for other musicians and has made himself into a multi multi millionaire. What is Gene supposed to do , curl up and die because hes 60 years old ?Come on Gene can do what the fuck he pleases! I promise you Trent if you are blessed at being able to be a older man you will 60 one day too! He’s such a hypocrite! He talked about how he didn’t want his personal life to be exposed but then you and your girl expose personal sexual details nobody wants to know and then you get mad when people talk shit about it. I’ll be glad when you retire one day and another word of advice ” Please get you a PR person” because this shit your doing yourseld and is killing your career faster than you think because 5 years from now you will still want your fans to keep paying for your lavish lifestyle… I sure wont be one of them.