Metal Mark’s post about the Rocklahoma nostalgia fest got me thinking about how so many of these bands continue on in name only with only one original member or proceed without a crucial member. One or both of two things can be true here:
- The latest version of the band is a disingenuous attempt to cash in on past success by fooling fans who are willing to be blinded by nostalgia. (I suspect Bang Tango and Faster Pussycat are good examples of this from the lineup Mark posted).
- The original version of the band wasn’t that good in the first place, because members are interchangeable with other musicians meaning there there was no real chemistry in the first place. (I’d think the Bulletboys are the best example from the lineup).
I suppose the fans who fall for the former get what they deserve. I’m not a big fan of laissez-faire economics, but at some point you do have to say, “Let the buyer beware.” That doesn’t let these bands off the hook, it just means that their fans might deserve them if they can’t tell the difference between real and fake when it’s that obvious.
The fans of the latter could be excused under the “guilty pleasure” rule. The bands will just have to live with the fact that they suck, which I’m sure many have been in denial about for years.
This trend seems to be a particular problem for hair metal. I suspect it’s because maybe more than any other genre, hair metal wasn’t about music and soul as much as it was about makeup and hairspray.