I’m a retarded music fan, so that means that whenever I get to use the television remote it’s usually on VH1 Classic if it ain’t on HBO. Since it’s on VH1 Classic a lot (read: Friday nights after the kids and my wife go to sleep) I get to get a concert film and a shitty little show that the channel premiered late last fall called That Metal Show.Hosted by Eddie Trunk, the dude that did prank phone calls on Crank Yankers and some other guy I never heard of, the trio talks about very little, barely interviews the one-guest-per show allotment they get, gives away free cut-out cds to the crowd (the new Winger cd, anyone) and acts like Metal stopped after 1987. And when they do get around to mentioning something post ’87, it’s usually by a band whose career ended ’87 or before.
I’m being harsh of course, because some of the bands that are discussed/featured I do enjoy. But I think it’s a little presumptuous to call it That Metal Show and not acknowledge the last two decades of the genre and to pull out Lita Fucking Ford and pretend that she’s fucking metal.
On the slim occasion that the discussions do heat up, the three hosts do absolutely nothing to facilitate it or provide interactive dialogue. One episode featured two members of Twisted Sister, a band I’m not fond of by any means, who actually began to rail on Kiss. Jay Jay French honestly and accurately badmouthed Gene Simmons, stating that he had almost singlehandedly run the “brand” into the ground. All three hosts looked at French, neither agreeing or disagreeing with him and doing little to add to the tirade, even though it was the most entertaining part of the evening. It was almost like the three (or the producers) were too afraid to go on the record to say that Gene was a douche because he might get offended to the point that one day he’d refuse to be a guest.
The dialogue is weak, the jokes are lame, the fact that there are three fucking hosts to contend with is just confusing, and particularly considering that none of them really has much to say. If the idea was to create some makeshift den of three metal dudes, what VH1 got instead were three dudes that came off looking like the most important thing in metal was wearing a cool black t-shirt. Some of the shirts were cool, but since the others (besides Trunk) didn’t seem to know jack shit about anything, you came off thinking that they didn’t even deserve them.
They just finished airing a “best of” episode, which is stupid particularly considering there were under ten episodes to choose from anyway. And judging by the vague ending the Trunk gave, it doesn’t appear that VH1 picked up another season of this hastily put-together talk show.
If it is indeed cancelled, it’s probably because VH1 green-lighted a project that was too tame and too segmented to appeal to anyone that may have caught it. And those that may have been one of the show’s targeted audience probably would have gotten more enjoyment by staring at the cover of Stay Hungry than anything that was discussed on That Metal Show.
If it is cancelled, metalheads won’t shed a tear. True metalheads already know the real That Metal Show is called Metalocolypse.
5 comments:
Did you see the one where they made it appear that Eddie Trunk got a UFO logo tattoo? Of course he didn't really do it, who would want that?
I agree that they don't seem to talk about anything post 80s and seem scared to piss off the big boys of that era. Like everyone doesn't know that Gene Simmons is only in it for the money (ok, maybe for all the sex he allegedly gets). You know how I love KISS. "Cedar Rapids!"
Not even sure how Eddie Trunk is even relevant anymore. I mean he had a popular NYC metal radio show in the 80's and helped launch the thrash scene, that I'll give him. But his claim to fame really has been getting consistent train wreck interviews with ACE post-KISS! Did you see the one where they debated who was better, Sabbath or Zeppelin? Didn't one of the no name guys try to 'argue' that Zeppelin had no influence on anyone? The show had potential though. Have one host and change the name to 'That 80's Metal Show' and I'll give it another spin.
That UFO episode was a chore to watch. You knew from 10 seconds after seeing his reaction that he didn't get inked, no matter how long they prolonged it.
I listened to Trunk's show a few times on XM and it was ok, but yeah, how he gets his own show and how he's still relevant is beyond me too. Radio is dead and half of the bands he pimps are reaching the end of their own careers. It's like a shout on his show will ensure their shit will sell 10,000 copies and he treats them like they're still selling hundreds of thousands of units.
That being said, if he was the only host, identified it as 80's only and spent the entire time geeking out on shit then they'd have a regular view in me.
Yeah the show is arduous to sit through and sometimes terrible but the show is designed for the "Old School" Hard Rocker more than today's active Metal supporter. That makes me question the title of course. Trunk doesn't play any of the genres majors of the day on his shows and surely will not discuss them on this VH1 vehicle that is instead choosing to play it safe. I agree with most of the comments here about the lack of relevance of the shows hosts and even question a couple of their guest choices. Love Lita, but she's not Metal. Doro Pesch for that matter is.
I like seeing Metal shows on the airwaves but have to think that this program brings nothing to the table that true fans will learn from. Based on that it will probably run for years. Good for the hosts, bad for the genre. Oh well. I will stick to the real Metal live shows and those blogs and websites devoted to today's scene that also offer up light homage to that which has passed and remains important to the genre. I dont need Eddie to tell me that UFO or Thin Lizzy were important, thats common knowledge to any music fan worth their salt.
I think 'TMS' is an entertaining melding of casual humor and classic hard rock/metal! The 3 host approach is perfect. These guys essentially discuss arguably the most important and influential era in hard rock/metal... mainly the 70's through 80's. I wouldn't change a thing on that show!
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