You Aren't A REAL Fan!!!

I think we've all seen the fan police around somewhere, even if they weren't at our side. You get a lot of people going "You aren't a real fan if..."

I'm going to create a set of fan rules.

1) To be a fan of a band doesn't mean you have to like the members. For instance, I've always thought Metallica were brilliant and extremely talented, but I don't like Lars Ulrich as a person. That doesn't detract from the fact that he is talented as fuck, though.

2) To be a fan of a band doesn't mean you have to like every album. I like Asking Alexandria, but I think their first album sucked.

3) To be a fan of a band doesn't mean you have to like their fanbase. I mean, there are a lot of 5SOS fans that hate the 5SOS fandom. 

4) To be a fan of a band doesn't mean you have to hate on people who aren't. E.G, I bought 'The Black Parade' by My Chemical Romance and my friend told me she couldn't stand them because they were too emo. We're still friends. I don't give a fuck- I like MCR, and that's all that matters.

5) To be a fan of a band doesn't mean you have to justify everything they do, or constantly be at their defense. When Justin Bieber was arrested for being under the influence, a load of Beliebers were like "It's only a DUI, it's only a DUI!"
He could have fucking killed someone. That's not OK. Get your shit together.

6) To be a fan of a band doesn't mean you can't have a favourite song by them. I like (the old) Panic! at the Disco, but I like The Ballad of Mona Lisa more than any of their other songs.

7) To be a fan of a band doesn't mean your favourite song of theirs can't be their most famous song. I love Of Mice and Men, but my favourite song is Second and Sebring, their most famous song. It's still a good song. 

8) To be a fan of a band doesn't mean you want them to be globally famous. Sometimes its nice to be a fan of a band that isn't famous enough to attract poser fans or fake fans.

9) To be a fan of a band doesn't mean you can't think that any of the members are attractive.

FURTHERMORE

1) You are not a fan of a band if you like their looks more than you do their music.

2) You are not a fan of a band if you send hate mail to their friends/girlfriends/boyfriends that you don't like.

3) You are not a fan of a band if you say- "You can't like them, I like them.", I've done this before, and then realised I was being a fucking twat and apologised.

4) You are not a fan of a band if you only know one song. If someone asks you "Do you like (Paramore) you simply reply "I only know (Misery Business) but I really like it."

I realise this was a kind of petty article. Oh well, comment your opinions.

I thought this Danny Worsnop/ Ben Bruce/ Justin Bieber meme was topical and necessary.

Stray Away A Little, Chad!

There are always going to be bands that aren't like every other, that bring something new to the table, who almost always are treated with respect- Nirvana's raspy, lyrically brilliant brand of grunge, Queens of the Stone Age's softly spoken songs filled to the brim with metaphor and endless intelligence, Metallica's... everything. These are all bands who didn't follow the crowd, and changed music for the long-term. Not to mention that with every successful band there are a series of bands that follow with a similar style yet a few brilliant twists, and some who are almost exact copies. For instance, when Fall Out Boy made a splash in the pop-punk scene, out came Panic! at the Disco who took what Fall Out Boy did and give it a personal twist. Once Panic! gathered speed, out came All Time Low, who took what Panic! did, who took what Fall Out Boy did, who took what Blink-182 did, and gave it their own splash of personality. Then, All Time Low gathered recognition, out came 5 Seconds of Summer, in their attempt to be exactly like ATL except with far less moral principles on selling out.

Anyway, after Nirvana's grand splash, out came Canadian Nickelback, who weren't from the Seattle grunge scene, yet repeatedly declared they were in fact, grunge rock. Perhaps they aren't. Perhaps they are. Despite the genre argument, they haven't brought anything new to the table either. I don't hate Nickelback. Their music is perfectly fine. They seem like nice blokes.
But there's been a thousand and one Nickelback's before and they'll be a billion and one after.


ALSO.

I'm sure you've heard all about Avril Lavigne's supposedly racist antics, but you haven't heard that her husband, Nickelback frontman Chad Kroeger co-wrote that song!

Core Bands- Your Best Bet

Pantera. Metallica. Slipknot.

I think we can all agree they're brilliant bands. However, as brilliant as they are, there will only be one of them. There will never be another Pantera, another Metallica, another Slipknot- that generation of metal is over. Yet there are perfectly good metalcore bands that are talented all the same.

I cannot count the amount of times I've been watching the likes of Asking Alexandria, August Burns Red, or Of Mice and Men and read a YouTube comment that goes along the lines of "Noooooooooo, this isn't reeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaal metal! Go listen to Slipknot."
Slipknot is fucking brilliant. However, Slipknot will not last forever. Metallica will not last forever. (Jesus, with the amount of hatred they have between themselves, it's a shock they've lasted this long. Props to them.)
What I would recommend to quench your need for a good headbanging (sounded slightly dodgy, just ignore that) are bands like Avenged Sevenfold, Blessthefall, and old Bring Me The Horizon. (I actually love the new BMTH, but someone who wants some heavy metal would prefer their old stuff like I Made Out With Medusa and Alligator Blood.)

I can kind of suspect why a lot of metalheads don't like the new wave of metalcore, though. It's the fans. There are a lot of scene girls who pose as fans of core bands, that I am forced to engage in conversations with that usually go a bit like;

Them: "Do you like (Of Mice and Men)?"

Me: "Yeah, they're really good. I absolutely love You're Not Alone."
Them: "Yeah... How hot is Austin?!"

I'm not gonna lie, people. I feel your pain. It's really annoying. But perhaps, if you ignored the fanbases and concentrated on the music, you'd enjoy the bands a bit more. Just a suggestion.

I mean, Asking Alexandria have brilliant basslines, BMTH have a brilliant (massively underrated) drummer, OM&M always have great anthem like clean vocals. (I must say I prefer Shayley Bourget to Aaron Pauley, but whatever.)

Lyrics wise?

Don't say I'm better off dead,

'Cause heaven's full and hell won't have me.

Won't you make some room in your bed?

Oh, well you could lock me up in your heart,

And throw away the key.

Won't you take me out of my head?

(Taken from And The Snakes Start To Sing by Bring Me The Horizon.)

Rescue the beauty that's left.

Restore the character that's long since gone,

Because these colors must never fade.

The beat must carry on.

(Taken from Creative Capacity by August Burns Red.)

I stand firm in my solidarity

The path I walk, I walk it with my own resolve

When darkness falls we are reborn

Our dream since the fall of man

We are reborn.

(Taken from When Darkness Falls by Killswitch Engage.)

One day all the old metal will be gone, and what are you gonna listen to? 5SOS? Leave your reservations behind you. Listen to some core bands.