Big Four Shows

One of the things that anyone that reads this blog will find out quickly is that my favorite gene of metal is thrash. So it comes as no surprize that I am very pump for the "big four of Thrash" shows happening at the Sonisphere Festivals over the summer featuring Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer, & Anthrax. While I am a little bummed that they are not going to play in the US, I have not let that get in the way from the history these shows will make.

Those four bands along with Exodus, Overkill, Testament and others in some ways helped save heavy metal during the 1980's. For those that don't remember that time, MTV and many big radio stations threw bands from the LA "glam" scene like Poison, Ratt, & Motley Crue in everyone's face and sold them as "metal". Why this was a problem was many of these bands did not really carry many of the traits that came from bands such as Black Sabbath, Motorhead, Judas Priest, or Iron Maiden. They took the look from bands like Kiss and Alice Cooper, and instead of building on it they added female characteristics to it. Many of these bands used the dream of getting laid by hundreds of women and groupies as one of the main reasons to be in a band. While that should be a dream for anybody in a band using it as one of the only reasons to start one is not right.

While all of that was going on you had a bunch of 20 year old kids listening to New Wave of British Heavy Metal records thinking about how to take that sound to the next level. These kids wanted to rule the world and started bands with that idea as the driving point. They used the love the media gave to the glam scene as a rallying cry to play faster, tighter,and heaver then anyone had before them. As the movement began to grow and the glam scene began to fade thanks to thrash, OD's on drugs, parodies, overexposer, the AIDS crisis, and the Seattle scene it became clear as to which bands where at the forefront of it.

Metallica was the first band to get noticed but soon after Megadeth, Anthrax, & Slayer followed. All four bands brought something different to the table. Metallica's songs where put together as anthems for the feelings about such things as drug abuse, nuclear warfare, or the crumbling Justice system. Megadeth was able to create a technical style of thrash that was about perfecting the songs and showing off their skills. Anthrax was able to bring in influences from hardcore, punk & the east cost to the thrash scene They also prove it was possible to have a singer in a thrash band that had chops and succeed. Slayer wanted to see just how fast a metal band could be and enjoyed when their image was able to get under people's skin and pissed them off .

While Megadeth, Slayer, & Anthrax did tour in 1991 on the "Clash of the Titans" tour with Alice in Chains, many people felt that an opportunity was missed on their side as while as Metallica's to include them on that tour as they decided to do that a tour with Faith No More & Guns N Roses in 1992. So it is very cool that this chance has come around in 2010 to see these four bands share the same stage even if they have all lost a step over the years. Who knows maybe the US & Canada will get their chance in 2011. All I do know is that four bands that made 20 of the greatest metal albums of all time will finally make the dreams of millions of heavy metal fans come true.