Charles, Great choices all. War Pigs makes a very important point, it's easy to send other people to war. But, i also always looked at Iron Man as a protest song, but from the soldier's perspective.
Thanks Russell. I think Summertime Blues was their biggest hit, wasn't it? Great song in any case. It's funny that they were once considered the loudest band in the world. I went to a Deep Purple concert some years later that resulted in Boston Garden shutting down for a couple of days afterward to check for structural damage. I have no idea what it did to my brain cells.
I learned so much from it, so thanks for being interested in looking at the intersection of metal and protest. It's really helping me arrive at a better understanding of both.
Interesting essay here. I always thought of The Kinks as more social commentary than one protest.
I was surprised to see you include Queensryche. They never make lists like that. The protest continued with their fourth album, Empire. I did contracted with them about that time and ran their tour security, so know a bit about their music after watching many shows.
Rammstein is another band I enjoy. I know they don’t have much love for this country so don’t tour here much., although one of the guitar players is married to an American and has a place in NYC.
I haven’t been able to get into Jinjer at all. I’ve tried. I just watched their Summer Breeze set.
Thanks as always for stopping by and taking the time to comment. Glad you like the variety--that was a very deliberate intention. Cool that you have worked with some of these bands, and in general have first-hand contact with the industry. I'm sure you have a lot of interesting stories! I sense that the era of rock bands behaving really badly peaked some 20-30 years ago, but you'd probably know the real story.
Re. Jinjer, we can't all like the same things, but I have to say I love the band. Their compositions are beautiful, and they use dissonance the way modern classical composers do. I think Vlad is one of the best drummers I've ever seen. He plays metal on a jazz kit, which is amazing And I adore Tatiana, though she's also terrifying. It's really like there are two entities living inside her, one of them not human.
Great piece, Charles. I love Ellen's protest series and was thrilled to be included in it (like you)!
I agree that heavy metal gets short-shrift when it comes to its impact on protest and political resistance. Lots of great stuff here. Rammstein is a great example. They friggin' scared the shit out of me back in the '80s/'90s (still do, actually), but challenged me to look beyond the narrow views I had. And VOB, just by their existence, is a protest band. I am still thinking about the show we saw last year.
What came to mind on this topic is Scorpions' "Wind of Change" and the collapse of the Soviet Union. Considering the state of the world (and especially that region) today, it shows how quickly the winds can change. It would pair well on a compilation with Jinjer. I wonder if there are any Russian metal bands subversively releasing protest music right now.
Thank You Steve! Great comment. Re. Russia, the band Otyken walks a fine line. They are all members of Siberian tribes that have been decimated by the Russians. They sing a lot about the loss of their land and heritage, and about the environmental catastrophe happening in Siberia. But they are careful to cloak the messages under an appealing and non-threatening popular image. How overtly transgressive does art need to be to qualify as protest?
The Russian band I like is Imperial Age…a Russian Theron if you will. I think they moved to Turkey when the Ukrainian conflict started but I think they live in the UK now. Check them out if you like symphonic rock.
I like Imperial Age. I think they've struggled to find a Western label, so they self-funded their last couple of releases. Their stuff is delightfully bombastic and over-the-top. Your Therion reference is spot-on--Therion actually produced and played on some of their stuff, though I think IA take things to a higher cheese-factor than Therion itself. There is a Ukrainian group called Ignea which also does this sort of thing. In fact, their biggest single, "Alga" is a legitimate protest song--also addressed to the Russians.
I was just going to say that several members of the band have been imprisoned at various times and others exiled. Not clear if they are still trying to keep it going as Pussy Riot but would not be surprised if they pop up again.
Found this on Wikipedia: "During the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Maria Alyokhina and Lucy Shtein, who are in a relationship, were able to escape house arrest in Russia, and each of them fled the country disguised as delivery drivers, a month apart, to Lithuania.[40] They were proposed for fast-track citizenship in Iceland by parliament decree in May 2023.[41] Shtein was later sentenced in absentia to six years in prison for her online anti-war posts"
Charles, Great choices all. War Pigs makes a very important point, it's easy to send other people to war. But, i also always looked at Iron Man as a protest song, but from the soldier's perspective.
Another protest song, although probably more teen angst, that you may also want to consider is Blue Cheer, which was an early experimenter in metal sounds https://www.bing.com/videos/riverview/relatedvideo?&q=blue+cheer&&mid=1EDCC100BBB527BA0DAE1EDCC100BBB527BA0DAE&&FORM=VRDGAR
Russell
Thanks Russell. I think Summertime Blues was their biggest hit, wasn't it? Great song in any case. It's funny that they were once considered the loudest band in the world. I went to a Deep Purple concert some years later that resulted in Boston Garden shutting down for a couple of days afterward to check for structural damage. I have no idea what it did to my brain cells.
Yes you do
Ellen, thank you for cross-posting and for inspiring me to write this piece in the first place!
I learned so much from it, so thanks for being interested in looking at the intersection of metal and protest. It's really helping me arrive at a better understanding of both.
Well, as you know, writing one of these is as educational, if not more so, as reading it. You always put in the work, so I had a high bar to jump!
Interesting essay here. I always thought of The Kinks as more social commentary than one protest.
I was surprised to see you include Queensryche. They never make lists like that. The protest continued with their fourth album, Empire. I did contracted with them about that time and ran their tour security, so know a bit about their music after watching many shows.
Rammstein is another band I enjoy. I know they don’t have much love for this country so don’t tour here much., although one of the guitar players is married to an American and has a place in NYC.
I haven’t been able to get into Jinjer at all. I’ve tried. I just watched their Summer Breeze set.
I enjoy the variety you present.
Thanks as always for stopping by and taking the time to comment. Glad you like the variety--that was a very deliberate intention. Cool that you have worked with some of these bands, and in general have first-hand contact with the industry. I'm sure you have a lot of interesting stories! I sense that the era of rock bands behaving really badly peaked some 20-30 years ago, but you'd probably know the real story.
Re. Jinjer, we can't all like the same things, but I have to say I love the band. Their compositions are beautiful, and they use dissonance the way modern classical composers do. I think Vlad is one of the best drummers I've ever seen. He plays metal on a jazz kit, which is amazing And I adore Tatiana, though she's also terrifying. It's really like there are two entities living inside her, one of them not human.
Thanks again!
Great piece, Charles. I love Ellen's protest series and was thrilled to be included in it (like you)!
I agree that heavy metal gets short-shrift when it comes to its impact on protest and political resistance. Lots of great stuff here. Rammstein is a great example. They friggin' scared the shit out of me back in the '80s/'90s (still do, actually), but challenged me to look beyond the narrow views I had. And VOB, just by their existence, is a protest band. I am still thinking about the show we saw last year.
What came to mind on this topic is Scorpions' "Wind of Change" and the collapse of the Soviet Union. Considering the state of the world (and especially that region) today, it shows how quickly the winds can change. It would pair well on a compilation with Jinjer. I wonder if there are any Russian metal bands subversively releasing protest music right now.
Thanks again!
Thank You Steve! Great comment. Re. Russia, the band Otyken walks a fine line. They are all members of Siberian tribes that have been decimated by the Russians. They sing a lot about the loss of their land and heritage, and about the environmental catastrophe happening in Siberia. But they are careful to cloak the messages under an appealing and non-threatening popular image. How overtly transgressive does art need to be to qualify as protest?
I was limiting my wonder to metal since that was the topic of your piece. I would include Otyken as connected but not metal.
Look up Pussy Riot if you’re interested in Russian protest bands.
Yes- of course. They are brilliant. But are they currently doing it? I haven't kept up.
The Russian band I like is Imperial Age…a Russian Theron if you will. I think they moved to Turkey when the Ukrainian conflict started but I think they live in the UK now. Check them out if you like symphonic rock.
I like Imperial Age. I think they've struggled to find a Western label, so they self-funded their last couple of releases. Their stuff is delightfully bombastic and over-the-top. Your Therion reference is spot-on--Therion actually produced and played on some of their stuff, though I think IA take things to a higher cheese-factor than Therion itself. There is a Ukrainian group called Ignea which also does this sort of thing. In fact, their biggest single, "Alga" is a legitimate protest song--also addressed to the Russians.
Yes. They are a Therion wannabe, not coming that close to the real thing.
Therion…stupid spell check.
I was just going to say that several members of the band have been imprisoned at various times and others exiled. Not clear if they are still trying to keep it going as Pussy Riot but would not be surprised if they pop up again.
Found this on Wikipedia: "During the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Maria Alyokhina and Lucy Shtein, who are in a relationship, were able to escape house arrest in Russia, and each of them fled the country disguised as delivery drivers, a month apart, to Lithuania.[40] They were proposed for fast-track citizenship in Iceland by parliament decree in May 2023.[41] Shtein was later sentenced in absentia to six years in prison for her online anti-war posts"