Intermezzo Sales

[blackjack]

Hey Michael,
I'm curious. How are the sales for Intermezzo going? Is it selling as well as Hands Without Shadows did? Has Intermezzo broken the 10,000 copies mark yet? I read an article this morning about how rock album sales are at an all-time low. They blame the economy and piracy. I don't know how much economy or piracy have affected your album sales over the years but I can tell you I bought the MAB and Nitro CDs I own!!! And they were well worth the money!

I really wish Headbangers' Ball or something similar still existed as it would be nice to turn on the TV and see a show devoted to heavy metal that would play your 8 Pillars Of Steel video. Not since the Hear 'n Aid Project led by Ronnie James Dio have I heard a song with solos from so many guitarists!

I'm disheartened at how ugly many of the newer metal bands are. So few have vocalists who actually sing melodies or have instrumentals with powerful melodies and interesting guitar parts. It seems that black metal and death metal are really taking over and I miss the more melodic style of metal. Sure, there is still some around such as the Todd La Torre fromtd Queensryche, Fates Warning, Dream Theater, Black Label Society and the Arch/Matheos band, but bands like those seem greatly outnumbered these days by the black metal and death metal bands. When the true metal legends such as Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Metallica, Queensryche, KISS, Megadeth, and Black Sabbath get too old to tour anymore, who is going to take their place as the heavy metal bands that can actually fill arenas? Going to heavy metal concerts at big arenas has been a very important part of my life ever since I was 15 years old and went to see Judas Priest on their Defenders Of The Faith Tour with opening band Great White sell out The Baltimore Civic Center! Then they came back on the second leg of their tour and sold out The 18,000 seat Capital Center in Landover, Maryland. Is there a way that this wonderful tradition can be saved for the generations to come or are we living in the final days of when a heavy metal band can go on tour with just one opening band and sell out 18,000 seat arenas?

Heavy metal in happier days:

[Cybersquatch]

Thanks for posting this, man it has been a very long time since I have seen this video one of the better ones from MTV. As far as songs go with the exception of some instrumental songs this song probably has more guitar playing in it than any other video MTV would allow to be broadcast, it has all the usual suspects from back then, mostly the mainstream Metal acts. I'm sure none of the great "Underground Metal bands" were ever considered or invited to this I don't think that was Ronnie's decision, more than likely he had to listen to the the suits for the invitation list IMO and all these bands/artists were regular contributors to Headbangers Ball they all got plenty of promotion courtesy of MTV. Naturally this video suffers from lack of MAB as well as some NON mainstream Metal vocalists that would have been great additions to the project but overall it still is one of the best songs/videos MTV ever allowed to air. P.S. whatever happened to "MUSIC TELEVISION?" A great concept idea ruined by the creators themselves! Once again $$$$$$ and greed destroyed a great entertainment median! MTV still exists but we have no REAL Music Television! I still prefer live concert footage, but videos had (have) their own appeal as well. I hope MAB's sales on everything new and old are and continue to grow extravagantly! He works hard at this! While I must admit it would be "reluctantly" cool to see MAB working in a local burger joint It's much cooler seeing him play 2 guitars at the same time versus him flipping 2 burgers at the same time! Rock on Michael! And Keep Assuming The Shred Position! It's the only POSITION you're qualified for anyway!

[blackjack]

I agree wholeheartedly that MTV destroyed Music Television. Maybe it was for dollars and greed but I really wonder if they make more money showing what they show now compared to what they made when they showed music videos almost 24 hours a day (except for a few episodes of Beavis and Butthead). The music industry really needs a network like MTV used to be - something showing the newest videos by mostly relatively new bands. Not only would it be good for the industry and the new bands but I think they'd gain viewers. I don't know anybody who watches MTV now!

Back when MTV was showing this video, we had 3 major networks and maybe 10 or 20 cable channels. It's amazing to think that now even though we have literally hundreds of channels to choose from, we don't have even one that plays the 8 Pillars Of Steel video or other new metal videos. Out of hundreds of channels is it too much to ask for at least one to be dedicated to heavy metal?

The reason Hear 'n Aid had established metal artists in their project is the whole reason for doing it was to generate as much money as they could to donate to help combat world hunger. Obviously established artists generate more money than underground artists who have far fewer fans. I think it was a great combination of musicians whose styles blended together very well for this song and I don't see how there would have been room for more anyway.

Anyway I posted it because when I saw MAB's 8 Pillars Of Steel video I thought "I haven't seen this many guitarists playing solos on one song since the Hear 'n Aid Project"!

[Cybersquatch]

Yes it is sad isn't it? We have four digit numbers for cable channels now!!!!! and we still can't get one with the Music Television format? what gives?! We even have movie channels that separate from genre to genre! Nothing with guitar oriented music be it Metal, Shred, or even Jazz, or Blues.

[blackjack]

Considering there was MTV which played music videos almost 24 hours per day in the 80's and early 90's and that was when we had just a tiny fraction of the number of cable TV channels that exist now, we should not only have a real MTV (meaning a real Music Television channel) but we should also have the equivalent of a Heavy Metal Network. AS you pointed out, we have four digit numbers for cable channels now. Do any of you honestly believe that all those cable channels are making more money than a Heavy Metal Network would? There is so much material available for programming. Interviews, concerts, classic metal videos, and new videos make by metal bands. With 24 hours a day I think there would certainly be room for a one hour program dedicated to the shred guitar genre. Heavy metal has been around since at least 1970 when Black Sabbath's debut album was released. That was 44 years ago. Heavy metal has been around for almost half a century! Grunge on the other hand, which is credited for "killing" heavy metal has pretty much disappeared. People still listen to the original grunge bands of the 90's but how many new bands are part of the grunge genre? You could ask the same question about punk rock. The bottom line is fads in rock music come and go but heavy metal continues has never died. Heavy metal has certainly had its ups and downs, but even when it gets forced down to the underground, it always stays around and eventually breaks back into the mainstream.

[Cybersquatch]

Well said blackjack, I concur, and agree whole heartily!