Heavy Metal Campaign '10!

Post #113
Your Heavy Metal 107 Candidates:


James Hetfield (Metallica)


James runs for re-election because Metallica is still one of the most successful metal bands in the world. The successful Death Magnetic album may only be a sign of what's to come from this band over the next two years. Voting for him wouldn't hurt the chances for a State-side Big-4 tour either! Re-elect James Hetfield!







Bruce Dickinson (Iron Maiden)


After finishing a close second in the 2008 election, Bruce is again seeking your vote for president of this blog. Iron Maiden's latest album, The Final Frontier, stands as the latest testament to their iconic legacy in heavy metal. Does the title suggest the band might be hanging it up soon? Or are they just toying with us? Either way, they still have it after 30 years. Scream for me blog readers! Vote for Bruce!









Dave Mustaine (Megadeth)



Having directed Megadeth's music back to the speed-driven thrash style that was their trademark in their early years, Mustaine's band has been on plateau over the last couple years, recapturing the metal hearts of their faithful fans. Megadeth have also been honoring the 20th anniversary of their landmark Rust In Peace album by playing it live on tour this year. Dave himself has even released his own autobiography earlier this year, giving fans a chance to hear his life story in greater detail than ever before. Calling all Droogies! Vote for Mustaine!



David Draiman (Disturbed)


David Draiman contends for president this term behind the strength of Disturbed's latest album, Asylum. Here again, we see Disturbed both maintaining their strengths, and stretching their talents of songcraft in heavy metal. Asylum touches on several issues relevant in the world today, in the midst of all it's changes. Stop corruption and vote for David Draiman!


Ozzy Osbourne (Black Sabbath)


Ozzy has long been associated with the earliest days of heavy metal, having been a founding member of the legendary Black Sabbath. Now, with his new album Scream showing that he still has some fight left in him, Ozzy makes another run for this blog's symbolic president. Ozzy also has a recent autobiography out at bookstores everywhere, inviting fans to hear the story of his unparalleled career, complete with every controversy! Ozzy wants to hear you SCREAM! Vote OZZY!









Corey Taylor (Stone Sour/Slipknot)



Corey Taylor also returns to challenge all candidates this term. He has proven repeatedly that he can front some of the best metal bands, either extreme (Slipknot), or more mainstream (StoneSour). Though the tragic loss of their bassist, Paul Gray, may leave some questions of how Slipknot will continue their career, Stone Sour are back with a new album, Audiosecrecy, and are ready to take it to the metal masses. Here's another Mission Statement: Vote for Corey Taylor!

Heavy Metal Campaign '08!

Post #41
Feeling anxious about the '08 Presidential Election? Relieve some of that stress by casting your vote for your favorite Heavy Metal vocalist right here on this blog! This election is purely for the fun of it, and has no consequences. The winner of this "election" will serve a 2-year term (December '08-November '10) as a symbolic "President" of this blog. Now, here are your candidates and their reasons they want your vote:

Ozzy Osbourne (Birmingham, England) Often referred to as the Godfather of modern Heavy Metal, other times called "The Prince of F***ing Darkness", Ozzy has always been at the top of the list of true Heavy Metal Icons. From his days in Black Sabbath, to his solo career, to consistently holding his own with all of metal's new bands at Ozzfest, to entertaining reality-show viewers with "The Osbournes"; Ozzy has always made the entertainment of his fans a top priority. Though he may owe a great deal of his success to the top-notch management by his wife Sharon, perhaps not enough of us ask where Sharon might be if there were no Ozzy? Ozzy asks for your vote because without him, where would heavy metal be?

James Hetfield of Metallica (San Francisco, California) James has been the leader of Metallica since its inception in the early 80's. In their prime, Hetfield's voice & Metallica's sound became almost synonymous with Heavy Metal itself. When the 90's came around, Metallica were brave enough to experiment with new styles of metal. After perservering through line-up changes and rehab, Hetfield & Metallica have re-emerged with a new album that harkens to their thrash metal roots, and are once again on top in the world of metal music. James asks for your vote, because right now there is no heavy metal band as big as Metallica!


Rob Halford of Judas Priest (Birmingham, England) With his band, Judas Priest, Halford has endured much controversay in his Heavy Metal career. In their early years Priest followed in the footsteps of Black Sabbath and quietly forged a unique Heavy Metal sound for themselves that has proven to be among the most classic of Heavy Metal. In the mid 90's, Halford left Judas Priest after going public about his homosexuality. He launched many solo projects (Fight, Two, and Halford) before at last returning to Priest in '04. Halford is know as "The Metal God" to his die-hard fans. He asks for your vote to support the enduring metal style of both Judas Priest and his solo efforts. He also has perhaps the widest vocal range in Heavy Metal.


Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden (Nottinghamshire, England) Bruce joined the ranks of British metal titan Iron Maiden for their 3rd album, The Number of the Beast. He quickly won over the band's fans and helped Maiden achieve major international success. You can argue there was no Heavy Metal band as consistent throughout the 80's than Iron Maiden. In the early 90's Bruce left the band over creative differences and started a solo career. After some success in this vein, Bruce eventually reunited with Maiden in 2000 (and brought one of his guitarists with him). Bruce is asking for your vote because Iron Maiden still write some of the most significant Heavy Metal music after nearly 30 years.

James LaBrie of Dream Theater (Ontario, Canada) Dream Theater was started by a group of students at Berkley College of Music. They had an ambitious musical vision, and after their first album, began looking for a new lead singer. James LaBrie answered the call and has proven ever since that he has the pipes these guys were looking for. Often composing progressive-metal songs in excess of 10, 20, or even 40 minutes in length, Dream Theater endeavor to prove they are the best at what they do; blending thrash metal with progressive rock. James wants your vote to prove this band's ambition is worth your while.

Corey Taylor of Slipknot and Stone Sour (Des Moines, Iowa) Whether he's fronting the shockingly horrific Slipknot, or the more down-to-earth but still hard & heavy Stone Sour, Corey Taylor takes being a Heavy Metal singer very seriously. By listening to the 2 extremes of his vocal style in each of his respective bands, you can easily hear the versatility of his voice. Corey has also proven to be open-minded and helpful to several other acts in metal music, having appeared as a guest vocalist on Apocalyptica's "I'm Not Jesus", as well as working closely with Anthrax on their up-coming album. Corey asks for your vote as he carries ever-onward in the world of Heavy Metal.

(British candidates in red, North American candidates in blue)

Stone Sour

Post #5
In today's Heavy Metal scene Stone Sour started up as a side project for a couple of the guys in Slipknot. The primary reason being that the material they wrote for this new band was such a departure from the blistering & brutal over-the-top heavy sound that Slipknot had become known for. Personally, I think this was a brilliant move: StoneSour is much more main-stream than any previous Slipknot material, and because of that they have opened themselves up to a whole new audience without the worry of preconceptions deterring those who may not prefer to listen to anything Slipknot are associated with.

Stone Sour first caught my ear with "Through Glass" from their 2nd album, Come What(ever) May. This song has gotten plenty of air-time on hard rock radio stations across the country, and probably represents the softest side of Stone Sour. Don't be mistaken, they can still thrash out some heavy tunes, although even these have a bit higher vocal quality than most of Slipknot's music. Corey Taylor really taps his vocal potential in this "side-project", which I hope sticks around for many years to come.

My only regret with this band is that I didn't discover them sooner. The song "Bother" from their debut album, has since caught my attention, & I plan to add that CD to my collection soon. For now I'll recommend some of my favorite songs from Come What(ever) May...
-30/30-150
-Come What(ever) May*
-Through Glass
-Cardiff
-Zzyzx Rd.

* I especially recommend this song due to its STRONG ANTI-BUSH Political theme! There need to be more songs like this out there... maybe I should do a post dedicated entirely to anti-Bush rock music?...

(Image from http://www.stonesour.com/)

Dated January '09: I must correct myself! Thanks to the November '08 issue of Revolver magazine, which featured a cover-story on Slipknot & their new album "All Hope Is Gone", I stand corrected on Stone Sour's origin. It turns out that Corey Taylor was in Stone Sour originally, before either band had a record deal. The members of Slipknot invited Corey to join the band when they competed against each other in a local "Battle of the Bands" contest. When Taylor agreed, they gave their old singer the boot and landed a record deal shortly after. Once Slipknot had established themselves, Corey Taylor got back together with Stone Sour during one of Slipknot's breaks. Having the work from Slipknot under his belt, a record deal now came much easier.

I hope both bands can continue their careers for quite some time. My apologies for getting these details wrong on my initial post. I'll leave the original content as proof that I don't know everything about heavy metal (too many sometimes claim they do!). A little humbling does us all some good every now & then. I'll try to keep up on my facts in the future, but correct myself when I do find errors. Happy headbanging!