Enough! It’s time for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame to recognize metal

Article originally published in Rolling Stone US on 5/2/2023, read the original article here.

In 2018, a journalist asked the lead singer of Iron Maiden how he felt about the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Was when Bruce Dickinson he responded:

“If we ever get nominated, I’m going to decline – they’re not going to have my dead body there.”

One year laterSteve Harris – the band’s bassist and only consistent member since the formation of maiden in 1975 – offered a more balanced opinion:

“It’s really nice when people give you awards and praise, but we wouldn’t go into Rock & Roll Hall of Fame for that kind of thing. … If it happens, that would be great, if not, great too.”

This year, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame considered for the second time the inclusion of the Iron Maidenwho have been eligible for the Hall since 2005. And once again, hall voters snubbed them – possibly because of dislike for the band or because they just don’t like metal.

But just like the black Sabbath, Sex Pistols and Axl Rose – artists who gave the organization the middle finger, and still got nominated (or are they “indicted”?) – the Iron Maiden deserves a place in Hall, whether they want it or not. . The continued rejections, after nearly two decades of eligibility, are emblematic of continued negativity towards heavy metal by the gatekeepers of musical taste.

Metal has been rock’s marginalized genre – often willingly – but after more than half a century, it’s time to recognize the contributions metal has made to popular music. It’s time to expand the canon. And although the introduction of Rage Against the Machine this year is a move in the right direction, even Tom Morellorevealed that Iron Maiden was a formative influence on him – a claim many musicians could make.

Almost immediately after the release of the group’s self-titled debut album in 1980, the Iron Maiden expanded the vocabulary of heavy metal and, by proxy, rock. in theRolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock & Rollthe critic Lester Bangs described metal as “the aural image of a battering ram (war machine used in the Middle Ages to open breaches in walls or gates of castles and fortified settlements)” and that “when the 70s approached the end, it seemed that heavy metal was over”, before directing readers to the nascent punk scene. But since the book was released in 1980, bangs haven’t had a chance to hear it yet Iron Maiden.

The ancestors of the genus such as Black Sabbath, Cream It is Judas Priest mid-1970s dealt with gloom and doom, the Iron Maiden introduced a charged (and overfed) sense of hope, resilience, and gender-measured abandon. They raced through the labyrinthine structures of songs by “Prowler”, “Phantom of the Opera” It is “Iron Maiden” with pure adrenaline, inspiring metallica, slayer and the rest of the thrash metal contingency playing faster and more complex.

In 1982, when they replaced Di’Anno per Dickinsona singer with dramatic talent that is equal to Shakespeare It is Doctor Who, its sound got even bigger. On the contrary sabbath,Zeppelin It is Priest, whose formative records were inspired by the blues, the landmark album of Iron Maiden from 1982, The Number of the Beast, it sounded grand like classical music.

The band’s most prolific songwriter, harriswrote galloping rhythms in the style of Rossini and harmonized guitar lines for Dave Murray It is Adrian Smith in “The Number of the Beast” It is “Run to the Hills” that obeyed the counterpoint rules of bach. Add the theatricality of Dickinson – similar to what Ronnie James Dio was doing in black Sabbath and in your own band, God – to a song like “Hallowed Be Thy Name” and she became an opera.

Very early in his career, the iron maiden found a balance between sophistication and aggression without losing its audience. They spent the next decade refining their sound to increase velocity. (“Aces High”)melody (“Wasted Years”, “Can I Play With Madness?”), texture (“The Troopers”) and, for lack of better compositions (“The Evil That Men do”), all while building a dedicated fan base eager to see them play in arenas in and around giant sets. They even took the epic poem from Samuel Taylor Coleridge,“Rime of the Ancient Mariner” and turned him into a headbanger that held spectators’ attention for 14 minutes.

O Iron Maiden he also took musical risks that would strike fear in the hearts of most mainstream rockers. In 2006, when they released their album A Matter of Life and Death , the band played the entire work in its entirety with just a few classic songs as an encore – in arenas – to a captivated audience. They never had a hit song on US radio and probably never wanted one. The best songs from their latest album, senjutsu of 2021 last more than 10 minutes each. However, as uncommercial as it sounds, that album and its three previous LPs made the Top 10 of billboard . Their music has already been played for the Pope at the Vatican.

The innovation of Iron Maidendedication to his craft, influence and utter refusal to compromise his craft should have been reason for nomination in the first year of the hall of fame. They are musical visionaries on a par with Pink Floyd, Queen, U2 and even of Beatles – just louder.

Disrespect is not exclusive to Iron Maiden. traditional institutions, Hall of Fame to the Grammy and to the magazine Rolling Stone (hello!) Traditionally, they have been slow to warm up to heavy metal, labeling the genre as raw, brash, and angry. Also, thanks to movies like This Is Spinal Tap It is Wayne’s World (which are hilarious), the genre has gained a reputation for being made by idiots for idiots, which is unfair as smart and talented people from all walks of life identify with metal.

So far, the only artists in the genre or adjacent to enter the Hall were the biggest: Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Metallica, AC/DC, Judas Priest, Kiss, Van Halen, Rush and Deep Purple. But so many other eligible and worthy acts (including the Maiden) were passed over, year after year: Slayer, Dio, Motörhead, Mötley Crüe, Ozzy Osbourne as a solo artist, Megadeth, Pantera, Thin Lizzy, Korn, Tool, Danzig, Anthrax and Celtic Frost, among many, many others. These are musicians who took the fundamental ideas of Rock & Roll and turned them into something new. They’re also responsible for a sizable chunk of physical records sold each year, as metalheads make up one of music’s most devoted fan bases.

O Rock & Roll Hall of Fame made great strides in recent years to expand the definition of Rock, recognizing how the hip hopO synth popO alternative rock and the Country music contributed to the spirit of the art form. O heavy metal should be included in the broad definition of rock & rolland few bands embody the basic tenets of the genre – individuality, rebellion, originality – as much as the Iron Maiden.

Therefore, if the opportunity arises again to drag Bruce Dickinson kicking and screaming for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame institution voters should seize the opportunity.