Kerrang Readers 50 Best Albums Of The 21st Century

http://open.spotify.com/user/starsandheroes/playlist/3msgWIrSfCQg9SNWzEbQXb [the best i could do with limited resources]

Kerrang's like the UK Alternative Press, right, where they used to be vaguely credible in a scuzzy way and now are just kinda eyeliner metal and gelled hair emo?

(Of course, the defining factor could be the shift from my tastes at 14-17 when I used to browse these mags, and my taste at 30. No doubt someone in the future will say that they remember when these mags used to cover real music, like My Chemical Romance and American Idiot.)

Metal Hammer used to be like Kerrang and didn't cover any metal for about 10 years (they were even going to drop the Metal from their name in the 90s) Now they call themselves the defenders of the faith and pretend they were a metal mag all along. I wonder if Metal will one day replace emo and whatever kiddy stuff they cover now and Kerrang will try to pretend they supported it all along too.

No doubt someone in the future will say that they remember when these mags used to cover real music, like My Chemical Romance and American Idiot.

Insert Onion story about Pennywise fan grousing about Sum 41 here

ugh pennywise

Can I point out that the lead singer of 30 Seconds to Mars is Jared Leto?

Fourth-best album of the 21st century.

Just sayin'.

Actually I think the biggest surprise here, for me anyway, is Machine Head at #8!

we all used to read Kerrang at school
first thought when looking at this list was: "no Korn no credibility"
but then a google reveals that Korn's real contributions to the nu-metal canon were in the 90s. jesus!

limp bizkit took their mantle

watching Kerrang TV makes me feel like an old man what with all these bands who sound the same and look silly and whose names I forget once the video's done, but I've heard all but one of the bands on that list (Down?), so am now feeling delightfully with it again.

Quite a number of "what, *insert band here*, really?" moments on that list. What, The Darkness, really?

You havent heard down?

i dont care for them but im sure you mustve heard em. Its phil anselmo and friends

oh right, yeah I guess I have. I recommend they get a less innocuous name.

I would have picked the one that came out last year for Down. Pretty kickass.

from wkipedia

Down is an American heavy metal supergroup formed in 1991 in New Orleans, Louisiana. In 2009, the band consists of vocalist Phil Anselmo, guitarists Pepper Keenan and Kirk Windstein, bassist Rex Brown, and drummer Jimmy Bower.

Since its inception, Down has released three studio albums, NOLA (1995), certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, Down II: A Bustle in Your Hedgerow (2002) and Down III: Over the Under (2007). Down is currently working on their upcoming fourth album entitled Down IV.

One of the few Metal bands Kerrang covers. Phil Anselmo is still big business to them.

Any chance of emo dying off and trad metal making a return and being the biggest seller to kids so that kerrang will have to cover it again after an absence of 15 years?

Do you mean like NWOBHM/Priestian type trad metal? Not that they're either huge or especially great but that band Cauldron, on Earache, seem to be doing OK... realistically though I think shit (as in shit) like Bullet For My Valentine or Trivium are as trad as it's gonna get in terms of what teenagers are gonna buy in this day and age

Mastodon as well I guess but they're not million-sellers are they? They're not changing the game on an especially visible level

any sort of metal really (that isnt nu metal or emo or glam). I suppose trivium or job for a cowboy could count as thats the shit thats most likely to sell and both bands would be happy to fly the flag for metal.

Kerrang didnt even cover metalcore did it? as shit as metalcore is, im surprised it got ignored and emo got the coverage instead.

yeah Mastodon and High On Fire dont seem likely to sell millions of albums. They're too good for the public to like them sadly.

I think like Hatebreed and, I dunno, Bleeding Through got covered pretty well... again though there are (almost?) no metalcore bands selling in seven-figure sums, point being that Kerrang (like most mags) are adapting to the public's taste a lot more than they're influencing it

do you think the writers at Kerrang like other stuff but are getting forced to cover what is selling? or do you think that they are hiring writers who do actually like it?

as for bands that arent selling seven-figure sums, they do nmestyle hype some shitty emo bands who either dont have an album out or have just released one
Mr Passion
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/46151000/jpg/_46151847_pa_passion203.jpg

so they could cover bands that dont sell shitloads. Or do you mean they will cover a genre that produces million sellers so they will cover the latest trend of emo as thats more likely to produce a big seller than some other form of metal?

Kerrang didnt even cover Nightwish and all those type bands that were huge in Europe did they?

I don't personally know anyone who listens to that faff but I feel like it's mainly ppl in their 20s/30s? Could be wrong

I don't think I've heard My Passion (lawl Mr Passion is a much better name) but they seem like a band who might stumble into some sort of success a la all the Funeral For A Friend type bands from round my way - so yeah in terms of 'getting in on the ground level' and that it's still basically market-led, I think

I don't personally know anyone who listens to that faff but I feel like it's mainly ppl in their 20s/30s? Could be wrong

So Kerrang's readership is mainly under 18s now? (i know there was a survey result that more than 50% of Kerrangs readership are teenage females)

I think the proof's in the pudding don't you?

Does stevie chick still write for Kerrang?

I don't *think* so but I only power-read it in WHSmiths...

With terrorizer been crap since the new editor took over, Metal Hammer being a lot of shit, and Kerrang being awful there's no good monthly/weekly metal mag. I don't care for Zero Tolerance at all.
Rock-a-Rolla is ok but its not for everyone.

I don't think metal has ever been well represented in the music press, in terms of quality writing... Kerrang 15-20 years ago might have had better bands to give big features to but it didn't exactly breed great journalism. Conversely, I know you think Terrorizer is covering some sucky bands ATM (I wouldn't disagree too much) but I honestly think the quality of the writing is pretty high still. Basically I feel like that at this stage, good print journalism about interesting music is a luxury more than an expectation

Nice to see Opeth on this list.

rock-a-rolla gets criticized for its writing but it at least covers good bands that get ignored elsewhere.

does anyone here write for rockarolla?

I think the dude who posts as 'm the g' does but he's hardly ever here

oh yeah ive seen him.Hes scottish isnt he?

i'll never understand why people like Muse. One of the worst british bands ever.