By Ian Liberman
INFERNO OF ROCK NEWS
IN MEMORIAM
John Berry, founder of the Beastie Boys, died of dementia on May 19th. He integrated the rap/rock/punk genre, with songs like “No Sleep till Brooklyn” and “Fight for your Right.”
Former Megadeth drummer Nick Menza died on May 21st at the age of 51.
CLASSIC ROCKERS
Within the next few months, Pink Floyd is preparing to make available to the public, in vinyl, 1967’s The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn and 1968’s A Saucerful Of Secrets. I can hardly wait to hear those scratches.
ROCKERS UNITED AGAINST HUMAN TRAFFICKING
Nikki Sixx and the late Lemmy Kilmister are featured in a PSA for Rockers United, an organization that is fighting against human trafficking. Sixx warns…
“One million children a year in the US are kidnapped and forced into a life of sex slavery.” Click here to watch the PSA.
In other Lemmy news, he will be honored at the British Golden God Awards on June 13th, and Motorhead has just released a live CD/DVD entitled Clean Your Clock. Click here for details.
RISKY BUSINESS
Some bands like to take chances with their sound, while others like to play it safe and stay the same (their signature sound). Bands that break away from their signature sound run the risk alienating fans.
Bring Me the Horizon, a fairly hard alternative rock band, has introduced a more synthesizer sound into their recent release. The risk appears to be paying off at radio, but how do long-time fans feel about the change?
Bullet For My Valentine has stated that BMTH’s musical shift was wrought with risk and danger. They’re glad that it worked out for the band, but they subscribe to the motto…“if it ain’t broke, don’t try and fix it!” Needless to say, BFMV has no plans to break away from their signature sound.
HOLLYWOOD SPOTIFY?
Spotify announced it is going into the land of video expressionism, hoping to increase it`s now 300 million signed listenership (a figure that places them first in the world of streaming). Spotify is going to be doing thematic video specials about the histories of bands (including Metallica).
TRENDS / OPINIONS
Are Metal Fans Brighter than the General Population?
There is a controversial hypothesis that states that metal music fans are brighter than the general population.
A study by Prof. Adrian North (Heriot-Watt University) found that rockers seem to be similar to classical musical listeners in both creativity and intelligence, exhibiting a higher-than-normal level of productivity in those areas compared to the average pop listener.
Click here to read the article in Science Daily.
A study from The National Academy of Gifted and Talented Youth (University of Warwick) elicited data that the majority of the brightest minds listened to metal. Could this possibly be true or is it an aberration?
In order to get some scientific input, I interviewed two thought-provoking science experts in this area.
Dr. Virgil Griffith – a scientist with a PhD at the California Institute of Technology in Computation and Neural Systems – was the subject a 2008 New York Times article entitled, “Internet Man of Mystery.” He has created this amazing site called Music That Makes You Dumb, which correlates musical genre tastes to SAT scores. He published the evidence and allows you to derive your own conclusions.
When we discussed the hypothesis of music or metal having any effect on intelligence, he stated…
“Causation is almost assuredly not there, and yet, the correlation is hilarious enough.”
He did say something that was very interesting…
“I can imagine music reinforcing low-IQ interests.”
Dr. Griffith is a very intelligent individual who is also linked to many other universities in studies. He wanted to give a shout-out to Immortal Technique – a creative and controversial musical influence, who started as a MTV rapper…
“Immortal Technique actively challenges me. If nothing else, he rhymes with words not in my vernacular.”
I also interviewed Neil Bates, an illustrious science writer and 30-year Mensa member, who has also been a Mensa proctor for 20 years. Bates shared his insight on the subject…
“I think that intelligent, but anti-authoritarian young people, do have a certain attraction to hard rock/metal music and intense art. I think that pop music is more favored by conventional people, who may be smart, and can get good grades, but not as likely to figure out a way to hack something or write their own code, etc. “
INFERNO OF ROCK TRIVIA QUESTIONS:
If trivia is up your alley, make sure to check out the Inferno of Rock Trivia Card Game available on Amazon or worldwide from Rock From Hell.
JUNE 2016 TRIVIA QUESTIONS
- What band is being sued (as of May 2016), and has been called “The greatest cover band in all history” by the lawyer doing the suit? What is the classic tune causing the controversy?
- What was the name of the rock band that Johnny Depp put together for the 2016 Grammy Awards?
- What was special about the video for “Before I Forget” by Slipknot?
ANSWERS TO MAY 2016 TRIVIA QUESTIONS
- Which 2011 Academy Award Winner for Best Actor loves drumming to metal music since his last movie, which included Pantera, Metallica and Mastodon? Christian Bale
- Who pilots the Ed Force One? Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden
- Led Zeppelin, Korn, and Metallica are the favourite bands of which pop artist:
- Taylor Swift
- Bruno Mars
- Justin Bieber
- What is the common thread between Bad Company and Led Zeppelin? Both bands were signed to Led Zeppelin’s Swan Song Records.
NOTE: Answers to May trivia questions will appear in the June Inferno of Rock Report. If you think that you know the answers, e-mail us at info@hardrockdaddy.com. You may just win something pretty cool!
LOOKING AHEAD…
Coming in July – Is the rock collectible market expanding or dying?
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