Critical Review #5

Walser, Robert. 1993. Running with the Devil: Power, Gender, and Madness in Heavy Metal Music. Hanover, NH: University Press of New England.

In Robert Walser's essay, he takes a look at Heavy Metal Music by interviewing some fo the biggest names in Metal such as Ozzy Osbourne and Iron Maiden. When talking about some of the bands that pioneered Metal, Walser mentions some of the same bands mentioned in the documentary that we watched in class (ie. Black Sabbath, Kiss, Metallica, etc.) Walser notes that one of, if not the important part of Metal music itself is the Power chord, found in almost if not every metal song. In the US, metal found its peak in the US making up 40% of all of the songs that were recorded. Interestingly enough, in his studies, Walser found that people who listen to Metal tend not to believe that metal is "pissed-off" music, which is one of the main arguments of its critics. I find it very interesting that on several occassions, Walser parallels Metal with Hip-Hop as they are both somewhat the "outcasts of music genres". Walser makes mention of Deena Weinstein in a not so positive light stating that "her book has all of the virtues and faults of most strictly sociological studies of popular culture." [23]

Discussion Question: In his essay, Walser made several parallels between Hip-Hop and Metal being sort of neglected in academic circles. Are there any similarities in the music itself (and lyrics), between "outcast" genres such as Metal, Hip Hop, Punk, etc. ?