Memories of Kerrang/Scuzz/MTV2 etc

Xertz · 26-01-2020 01:48AM

M2 / MTV2 was the pinnacle of music television. It was just so slick, genuinely alternative and really well curated. It just made it into existence before the dawn of broadband, streaming and MTV turning into a pile of reality TV garbage.

To me, M2 / MTV2 and the earlier days of MTV Europe were the only the best days of that genre of TV. I don't think we'll ever see anything quite like it again due to the whole shift to streaming technologies but they were great memories.

I found once MTV Europe went off air on Sky/Cable here and got replaced with MTV UK and Ireland it really was the start of the downhill slide towards trashy manufactured pop on TV and inserting more and more reality programming. It just became another entertainment channel and, frankly, not a particularly good one. There was something magical about that pure music nerd, slightly geeky vibe that MTV Europe had back in its hay-day.

RicketyCricket · 26-01-2020 01:55AM

A side note to my post earlier, I really miss watching bands play live on TV and radio. The excitement of hearing anything live has been replaced by finding everything live online now. Ah ****, I'm so old and impatient now. As for modern radio, thats just ****e. No one, and I mean no one needs to hear Taylor Swift or Ed Sheeran ten times a day. No one is requesting that song Ed released 2 years ago. We've all heard it 5000 times this year.

Zwillinge · 27-01-2020 08:53AM

Mushy wrote: »

Saw the setlist from last night...Does This Look Infected in full would be class. I remember the first time I saw Still Waiting on Kerrang.

It's my favourite album by them, so I was delighted!
Derek even said "Ok guy, lets just pretend its 2003 and go nuts"

On a similar Kerrang note- I collect the odd Vinyl but since blink182 were (F it, still are) my favourites I go out of my way to collect all their albums on vinyl

Church on Tuesday · 27-01-2020 03:51PM

briany wrote: »

The early 2000s were probably one of the worst times for heavy music in my opinion. Bands like Staind, Static-X, Fear Factory, Korn, Linkin Park, Limp Bizkit, Godsmack, Mudvayne..... still don't have much time for it. There are a few bright spots here and there. System of a Down bucked the trend and kept their musicality at a time when downtuned, over-processed slop was being passed off as music. As the poster above said, Limp Bizkit had some neat ideas, but which were unfortunately negated by Durst's fly in the ointment singing. Nu Metal was to the late 90s and early 2000s what Glam Metal was to the late 80s. A scourge.

And unfortunately, this is much of what Kerrang/Scuzz/P-Rock were showing. But there was some good stuff when you got away from that, like Tenacious D and Rage Against the Machine. Scuzz also gave us this gem...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESCipvfVKno

Static were a great band and FF were pioneers and relevant long before the 00's nu metal ****e

briany · 27-01-2020 05:36PM

Church on Tuesday wrote: »

Static were a great band and FF were pioneers and relevant long before the 00's nu metal ****e

Most of the bands listed began some time in the early to mid 90s and were doing their thing before Nu-Metal exploded, but that still doesn't mean I had to enjoy the proliferation of their type of music (or, at the very least, what they were doing at the time) on the airwaves around the late 90s to early/mid 2000s.

I can see many parallels between Nu-Metal and Glam Metal, such as when it became apparent that musical trends were shifting, a few bands made a bid to disavow themselves from the scene (that's when you know the music's bad). And also, many of those albums from '99 to '03 have aged really badly.

LoughNeagh2017 · 27-01-2020 05:45PM

We got sky in house in 2005 when i was 12/13, that was what introduced me to rock music. Trivium were just releasing Ascendancy and they were the first band that interested me along with the Slipknot Before I Forget video. I also enjoyed Velvet Revolver, Guns N Roses and Metallica though I lost interest in these bands. I grew out of metal until i was 18, I was a big Oasis fan prior to that, however I started to watch these channels again in 2010 when I was 18, they were still quite good in the early 2010s, Scuzz used to interview bands when they were on tour.

I occasionally buy Kerrang magazine when they have a nice cover, I like the paper they use for the cover, they are obsessed with Linkin Park and Slipknot.

Church on Tuesday · 27-01-2020 06:08PM

briany wrote: »

Most of the bands listed began some time in the early to mid 90s and were doing their thing before Nu-Metal exploded, but that still doesn't mean I had to enjoy the proliferation of their type of music (or, at the very least, what they were doing at the time) on the airwaves around the late 90s to early/mid 2000s.

I can see many parallels between Nu-Metal and Glam Metal, such as when it became apparent that musical trends were shifting, a few bands made a bid to disavow themselves from the scene (that's when you know the music's bad). And also, many of those albums from '99 to '03 have aged really badly.

Static and FF were not nu metal though. It's unfair to lump them in with that movement.

Granadino · 27-01-2020 09:25PM

Scuzz, around 7 or 8 years ago or so used to play a British groove metal band. kind of a cross between Pantera, Helmet and Machine Head, but can't remember the name. Twas a bloody brilliant song and video.
Remember the bloke on Scuzz with the big peaked hat who used to interview bands? A real fan boy.

briany · 27-01-2020 10:01PM

Church on Tuesday wrote: »

Static and FF were not nu metal though. It's unfair to lump them in with that movement.

It's not really unfair because, like Grunge, Nu Metal was something of a catch-all term to describe most of the bands who found mainstream popularity at the time. Some bands embraced the term more than others, for sure, just like with Grunge, but all these bands were adopting similar enough approaches to playing heavy music at the time like de-emphasising guitar solos, downtuning their Ibanez seven-string guitars, loads of gain, lack of melody in the riffs and screaming vocals. Yes, you could delineate the bands into Rap-Metal, or Industrial Metal, or whatever, but all those bands who were popular at the time, whatever subgenre you want to put them in, don't make it much into my Spotify playlists.

Arghus · 27-01-2020 11:10PM

FF don't deserve to be lumped in with the nu-metallers. Maybe Digimortal had elements of that sound, but they're more industrial than nu-metal.

Church on Tuesday · 27-01-2020 11:52PM

briany wrote: »

It's not really unfair because, like Grunge, Nu Metal was something of a catch-all term to describe most of the bands who found mainstream popularity at the time. Some bands embraced the term more than others, for sure, just like with Grunge, but all these bands were adopting similar enough approaches to playing heavy music at the time like de-emphasising guitar solos, downtuning their Ibanez seven-string guitars, loads of gain, lack of melody in the riffs and screaming vocals. Yes, you could delineate the bands into Rap-Metal, or Industrial Metal, or whatever, but all those bands who were popular at the time, whatever subgenre you want to put them in, don't make it much into my Spotify playlists.

FF and Static X aren't remotely nu metal. Sure FF experimented with nu metal with Digimortal but so did Machine Head and even Slayer; you wouldn't call Machine Head or Slayer nu metal would you?

As for Static X, they had a sound entirely of their own heavily influenced by industrial metal.

I mean, even System started off as a nu metal band with masks and face paint aesthetic.

Arghus · 28-01-2020 12:55AM

Sagats_knee wrote: »

Foo Fighters Nu Metal? Not in the slightest. Foo Fighters were post grunge alt rock/heavy rock with punk pop elements making them widely appealing despite being quite heavy at times.

FF refers to Fear Factory mate.

Sagats_knee · 28-01-2020 12:56AM

Arghus wrote: »

FF refers to Fear Factory mate.

LOL that makes a lot more sense!

In that case still not Nu metal though! Industrial/ post trash maybe.

I agree with what an earlier poster that said they flirted with Nu metal, like a lot of other older metal bands trying to stay relevant.

mean gene · 28-01-2020 08:27AM

headbangers ball sunday nights class -remember the ramones were guest presenters also lemmy was presenting one night

highlights were the donningtons 94 standout ,megadeth behind the scenes tour,clash of titans tour, also a nice piece on sepultura visiting uk for first time

metal collection at the end where someones favourite 5 videos would play was always good-bruce dickinson played don henley i was like wtf

vanessa warwick presenting not bad when i think of it

emm the rest of the sh1t op is on abt is was and always will be horrendous crap kerrang mtv2 etc rubbish

S.M.B. · 28-01-2020 10:00AM

My formative years revolved more around stuff like Headbangers Ball and then buying Kerrang every week throughout my teens. By the time I had access to MTV2 and Kerrang channel I had little interest in what was been shown apart from maybe the stuff on Gonzo.

I'd be curious to see how things would have played our if the rise of TRL and niche-ish music channels coincided with the late 80s or the early 90s and whether we'd have ended up in a similar place.

I still have fond memories of the late 90s amidst the dawn of nu-metal (and I wouldn't be lumping FF into that category) but it didn't take long for it to wear thin.

RayCon · 28-01-2020 02:04PM

I always associate Kerrang/Scuzz/MTV2 with the worst of Rock/Metal .... Nu-Metal, Pop Punk, EMO crap. Can't say I like anything from that era

briany · 28-01-2020 08:37PM

Church on Tuesday wrote: »

FF and Static X aren't remotely nu metal. Sure FF experimented with nu metal with Digimortal but so did Machine Head and even Slayer; you wouldn't call Machine Head or Slayer nu metal would you?

As for Static X, they had a sound entirely of their own heavily influenced by industrial metal.

I mean, even System started off as a nu metal band with masks and face paint aesthetic.

My point, here, is that I didn't enjoy the prevailing trends in heavy music at the time, and it's not as if bands like Static-X and FF were exactly bucking them. Even Metallica did a record with angsty vocals, downtuned guitars and no solos, but, no, I wouldn't call the band Nu-Metal. I would, however, say that they were undoubtedly influenced by what was popular at the time, and were bandwagoning a bit.

Church on Tuesday · 28-01-2020 09:09PM

briany wrote: »

My point, here, is that I didn't enjoy the prevailing trends in heavy music at the time, and it's not as if bands like Static-X and FF were exactly bucking them. Even Metallica did a record with angsty vocals, downtuned guitars and no solos, but, no, I wouldn't call the band Nu-Metal. I would, however, say that they were undoubtedly influenced by what was popular at the time, and were bandwagoning a bit.

Static wasn't even part of it.

There's a big difference between heritage bands who dabbled in nu metal versus the acts that actually made it a thing in the first place.

I take your general point though.

briany · 28-01-2020 10:40PM

I remember for a while MTV2 were playing JJ72 on heavy rotation. They had the lead singles, they had the attractive-and-mysterious female bass player and they had the youth. You had to think the band was going places, but the band fell to pieces before they even had a chance to develop serious drug problems.

This warrants its own thread, really, but an accompanying memory of those heady 2000/01 days watching Scuzz and Kerrang is going to The Blast in Temple Bar to watch some pretty forgettable bands. All I can remember is it being very dark and loud. Also, there was one decent enough metal band I saw there once called Corrupted.

Arghus · 29-01-2020 12:51AM

I remember JJ72 being hyped a lot at the time of their debut. But then absolutely disappearing off the face of the earth.

S.M.B. · 29-01-2020 08:04AM

Veering well off topic now but Hillary Woods, JJ72s 'attractive-and-mysterious female bass player' is producing decent music at the moment. Wouldn't categorise it in the Rock & Metal genre but it's got more bite and intensity to it than any JJ72 song (who I actually liked back at the turn of the century).

nyarlothothep · 29-01-2020 09:38PM

I liked Trivium when they first came out with Pull Harder...and then Sliptknot with Before I Forget. Also there was this metal band with a kind of fantasy apocalyptic video and this dude with a beard singing "victory", the time signatures were a little unusual. There were lots of good songs at that time, QOTSA, The Mars Volta, even Foo Fighters with Times Like These. I also fondly remember Phantom FM, the metal show with Ray McGowan, discovered Trial by Fire by Testament on his show. There was a guitar teaching channel on Sky too. Actually Freeview was a great way to get your music out there including for yours truly. In 2009 you had Metal Tuune on Propeller and it was awesome because you had fun songs from underdogs like this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIv43FcM37k

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlj_qW8058I

this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRLygJjEC5g

and this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=po3XdK1DuJY

You basically had a mix of bands like someone you knew down the road and obscure Swedish metal bands, it's the last time I remember of alternative music being aired on TV.

briany · 30-01-2020 08:34PM

I seem to remember there was this solo British multi-instrumentalist who MTV 2 were pushing for back in the mid-2000s, big style, for a month, if that. I can't remember his name, but I think he only had one song/album and was never on it again. All I can remember is that the video and his own look was very minimalist, i.e. dark background, black t-shirt job.

Granadino · 31-01-2020 02:31PM

@briany Vex Red?

briany · 31-01-2020 10:22PM

Granadino wrote: »

@briany Vex Red?

Hmm, I don't think so. Vex Red were a band, weren't they? I remember this as being a single guy. Just one of those vague memories I have from MTV2 that's been on the tip of my tongue for years.

PTH2009 · 21-02-2020 05:18PM

AFI girls not grey

Another classic Kerrang era hit and band

https://youtu.be/1Yzu-4kJg6g

Smart Bug · 24-02-2020 07:48AM

Think it was Scuzz ha Dimmu Borgir Progenies... & Arch Enemy We will rise on round the same time. Splendid.

PTH2009 · 08-04-2020 12:08AM

https://youtu.be/kc3Za3jfvJg

This was always played on Kerrang. Real fall from grace for these 2 men/bands

ILikeBoats · 08-04-2020 06:56AM

Aaron still going as a country singer

charlietheminxx · 08-04-2020 08:50AM

Limp Bizkit are amazing live, they still tour fairly regularly. Not sure how that's a fall from grace? People love to make fun of them, but they don't seem to do too badly out of it.

Memories of Kerrang/Scuzz/MTV2 etc

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