2008 was a pretty big year for so-called “legacy” rock and metal releases. Metallica, AC/DC and Guns N’ Roses — arguably three of the biggest rock/metal acts of all time — all released new albums to varying fanfare. So now that you’ve had some time to brew on how these records stack up against the bands’ older material and against each other… which is your favorite? Vote, then weigh in with your thoughts in the comments.

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Concert etiquette — Helping a fallen bro in the pit to his feet. Not standing too close to the person in front of you. Letting chicks stand in front of you so they can see. Not being that dickhead who pushes his way to the front. And that eternal question of the concert-going experience, reminded to us by MetalSucks reader Keith G… to wear the band’s t-shirt you’re going to see live or not? And the closely-related issue of bands wearing their own t-shirts on stage; cool or egotistical? As usual, we bring it to you, the people. Tell us.

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We are beyond spoiled; every day tons of packages arrive at the gates of the MetalSucks Mansion full of CDs from superstar and local bands alike. On top of that, net-savvy publicists regularly send us links to download full albums well before their release date. Needless to say we don’t ever pay for music. I can’t speak for Axl, but I feel pretty out of touch with how people actually acquire music — physical or digital? buy or steal? what medium/method? So I figured we’d just ask ya’ll. Given, this is a website, so the results will probably be somewhat skewed — but you never know. Presumably some people actually still go to the store and buy CDs, ’cause record labels still make ‘em. So you tell us: how do you get your new music?

Trivium are one of those bands that seem to divide metal fans like Moses divided the Red Sea. Some see the band as leaders in the New Wave of American Heavy Metal (maybe not so new anymore) while some claim they’re wannabes posing in the name of false metal. Their latest album Shogun hits stores this coming Tuesday, September 30th, but the album hit the leak wire some time ago and it’s currently streaming on their MySpace page. No matter what you’ve thought of the band in the past (and we’ve always been supporters here at MS), there’s no denying that Shogun represents a huge step up for the band; or does it? Tell us what you think.

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So, we spoke. And spoke. And spoke. And spoke. For an entire f’n day — about the new Metallica album, Death Magnetic.

Now it’s your turn.

Love it? Hate it? In between?

Go!

Hey, it ain’t no secret — metalheads are a bunch of rowdy motherfuckers who like to party hard and make the most of the live show experience. Some booze it up, some get high, some do both, and some do God knows what — and I’m sure there are a percentage that go the straight edge route, too. So what’s your preferred method of intoxication for the live metal experience? Share your crazy metal party stories in the comments.

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Since the readers of this site (and metalheads in general) are predominantly dudes, the illustrious MetalGF suggested an interesting poll on the matter. How do your significant others feel about your love for metal? I am genuinely curious. Girls and gays should feel free to chime in on the matter as well, as we’d love to hear your side of the story.

Since we all seem to be in agreement that the new Chris Cornell / Timbaland joint is a steaming pile of dog turds, let’s harken back to better times, shall we? Are you a fan of the early, raw Soundgarden featuring Mr. Cornell running around in combat boots with his shirt off, or the proggier, trippier Soundgarden of the mid ’90s? You tell us.

Well THIS should be interesting. Ever since the backlash that resulted from my post last week about the Nickelback / Live Nation deal in which I declared that Roadrunner “sits atop the metal throne” (I really just meant financially / sales wise), I’ve been wondering… What metal record labels DO you like?

If I’ve left any labels off (which I’m sure I have), kindly email me (or post it in the comments) and I’ll rectum-fry the situation if I deem it worthy. Your buddy’s band’s basement record label does NOT count. This should prove better than the “allow users to add choices” cluster-fuck.  Mmmkay?

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For so long I consistently turned to AllMusic.com as my source for the nitty-gritty details of music. Band histories and discographies, member changes, who played tuba on song X, producer and mixer credits, etc etc etc. These days, due to literally years of unacceptably slow servers and a wide breadth of other websites that have cropped up, I find myself looking in other places to research info for articles I’m writing or just to satisfy my own curiosity. What websites do you visit to get your music info?

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Even with the proliferation of hundreds of online outlets (ahem!), the industry for metal print magazines continues to thrive with more choices than ever before. Each magazine has a unique spin and differs in the kind of acts it covers, the writing style, and editorial coverage. What’s your favorite metal mag? Feel free to chime in in the comments with what you like / don’t like about each.

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There’s lots of talk about thrash these days. Amidst killer “comeback” records by the likes of old-schoolers Testament, Exodus, and Death Angel, there’s been a spate of signings of young up and comers who hawk the thrash sound. Muncipal Waste, Warbringer, Bonded By Blood, Evile, etc are all young bands that ape the classic thrash sound to some degree. Not to take anything away from these bands, because they’re certainly talented — but the mass signing of old-school sounding thrash bands begs the question: is this a true revival, or a passing trend?

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So the new Motley Crue album has a release date; Saints of Los Angeles (listen to the title track and first single at Motley’s MySpace and watch the video here) will hit the shelves on June 17th on the band’s own Motley Records. As expected, the band announced in a press conference yesterday that they will embark on a 40-date U.S. Amphitheater tour dubbed Cruefest, also featuring Buckcherry, Papa Roach, Trapt and Sixx A.M. Two of those bands make me puke; you decide which.

From what I can tell there was no mention of the rumors that Crue signed a $100-$150 million all-encompassing deal with touring giants Live Nation.

The new album is supposedly a concept piece following the same storyline as the band’s best-selling memoir The Dirt, a book which probably ranks among my Top 5 reads ever (seriously!). Will Sixx be able to strike lightning twice, having already released a concept album in 2007 about his own struggles with addiction, or is the new album just an excuse to tour that will suck and be completely irrelevant?

The results of our latest poll, asking our readers political alignment, are in. As I suspected, most of our U.S. readers are Democrats, outnumbering Republicans by a ratio of more than 2 to 1. Independents also made a strong showing, beating out Republicans by almost 1.5 to 1. Disturbingly, almost as many of you “don’t give a shit about U.S. politics” as those who are Democrats; hopefully this is our International readership chiming in.

• Republican: 80 votes (15%)
• Democrat: 173 votes (33%)
• Independent: 112 votes (22%)
• “Who gives a shit about U.S. politics?”: 167 votes (31%)

Do these numbers represent the metal community at large? Do they represent America at large? I think the answer to both is “no,” but a man can hope.

-VN

A recent survey over at The Rock Radio found that “fans of Led Zeppelin and The Who are more likely to vote for Republican John McCain, while Nirvana and the Red Hot Chili Peppers devotees will tend to cast their votes for the Democratic candidate.” While polls like this are always suspect due to biased polling techniques and the examples used in this one are a bit dated, I got to thinking… what does the political makeup of metalheads look like? Are the politics of your average metalhead different than those of MetalSucks readers? Are there any weird sub-genre differences, i.e. Do black metal fans tend to lean Democratic while death metal fans go Republican?

So… where do you stand? International readers, feel free to chime in with your opinions in the comments.

It’s been quite a shit-storm in the media lately for Velvet Revolver. First Scott Weiland declared on-stage during a show that “You’re watching something special… the last tour by Velvet Revolver,” catching his band-mates off-guard. Matt Sorum then took a thinly-veiled swipe at Weiland, Weiland retorted, and Slash came back with his usual, “let’s all just play rock n’ roll, dude!” rhetoric.

It would seem that a breakup is inevitable whatwith all this crap and the Stone Temple Pilot’s reunion, though Slash insists he’s looking forward to the next record. So whose fault is it?

Metal trends go in approximately 7-8 year cycles. Ten years ago we had nu-metal coming up, and by 2000 dozens of rap-metal mooks roamed the planet. That trend has seen its day, and the current vogue in the metal scene is the combination of NWOBHM, thrash and hardcore affectionately known as “metalcore” (read Dallas Coyle’s thoughts on the subject). 2008 might be the peak of that trend; so what’s next? There are certainly a few options of underground metal scenes bubbling at the moment; which one is going to catch on and spawn hordes of bad imitators?

What’s the next annoying trend in metal?

MySpace seems to have hit some tough times. Since the site hit its popularity peak some time in late 2005, it seems like people are abandoning the social networking elements in favor of Facebook (and others), and are only using MySpace for its music-listening capabilities. In other words, the coolness factor seems to have worn off. What do you think?

These are crazy for times for the record industry (note: I said the “record” industry, not the music industry). CD Sales were down 15% in 2007 from the year prior, and a slew of retail outlets have already closed or cut shelf space, with more to follow by year’s end. Whether CDs go the way of the dodo or become a niche market, one thing is clear: more and more, consumers are opting to download digital tracks for which the profit margin is way lower (if consumers opt to pay for music at all), threatening the very labels that pay for said recorded music and hence the artists as well.

So what does the future hold for recorded music? You tell us. Feel free to post your thoughts in the comments section.

With a Death psuedo-reunion in the works — guitarist Shannon Hamm, bassist Scott Clendenin, and guitarist Bobby Koelbe and Death drum roadie (and Autumn Offering drummer) Jonathan Lee have teamed up and are in search of a vocalist (aspiring vocalists may email beyondunknown67@gmail.com with demo material) — will this mish-mash of musicians from different eras of Death be “revolutionary” as the press release declares? Will the legend of Chuck Schuldiner live on or will his legacy be shat upon, even though the group will presumably not perform under the Death moniker?

-VN