Remember the good old days of metal, before the internet? They were tough times for some concert goers because we never knew when our favorite bands were coming to town unless we read about it in a magazine. Release dates for new albums, especially lesser known bands were a crap shoot. Sure the internet makes a lot of things easier on us fans as far as those things goes, but I feel that it has ruined some things for use as well.

Before the internet, people never really gave much thought about the personality of a band member, especially if they were part of your favorite band. Sure you might read about a certain person like Axl Rose being a dick to someone during a show or jumping in the crowd to break someone’s camera, but other than that it was rarely an issue. These days the entire internet is like TMZ and shit media types like that, that have nothing better to do than slag a band member. Hell, I’m guilty as much as the next guy for slagging Lars every chance I get. I however have tried to bring the negativity to a bare minimum. I got tired of being a dick for no specific reason and tried to look at some things differently, especially after looking back at some of the things I’ve written in the past 2 years.

It’s easy to get on a site and comment negatively about someone you don’t know and will never be confronted by. It’s almost a way of life on some sites. We all have our vices and skeletons, so why do we feel it necessary to talk shit about someone? Human nature I guess.

It seems that back in the day, even if you heard about someone being a dick to a fan or perhaps having issues with another band, you would blow it off most of the time. You would say “who gives a shit” and move on and not hold some kind of personal grudge against that band member that you never really knew.

I guess it’s much easier and almost viral to read and pass on an interview where someone’s words may have been taken out of context, or the entire interview wasn’t posted, making it look as if a musician that you held pretty high is a total asshole. I’m sure sometimes they are but I’m also sure that maybe they aren’t. Perhaps the interviewer asked a provoking question or the musicians was just having a bad day. Maybe they just tell it like it is and don’t try to paint shit pretty.

I feel as if you just can’t take a person for face value the first time. It’s also a matter of perception. You really don’t know what a persons personality is like by only meeting them once or reading about them in some shitty metal magazine like Hit Parader. Even if Axl Rose is a dick, he made a good point about the media in the Guns n Roses song “Get In the Ring”. Sometimes you have to give them the benefit of the doubt and blow off all of the internet bullshit. You have to take some things for what they are, and that’s entertainment value. It’s like watching porn and then expecting sex to really be like that. It’s fun to watch but that’s n0t how shit really goes down. You catch my drift?

I don’t really know where I’m going with this, but it’s just something to think about next time you read some jerk-off slagging a musician, simply for reader feedback and pageviews. let’s be honest though, some musicians are always fair game.