Youth and Metal

Youth and Metal

The Dictators and the Runaways represented the youthfulness of rock’n’roll.  They talked about things that teenagers or young people can relate too, like being late to class and midnight joy rides.  The themes of their music appealed to teenage angst.  The feeling young people have when they are growing up, they don’t quite feel like they fit in, but when they listen to this style of music they can forget it all and become a part of something.  They walk a fine line between individuality, being different than the “status quo,” being a part of the “teenagers in hate” that Waksman describes, and giving up the “status quo” to be a part of this rebellious style of music, heavy metal.  These bands add another level of re-enchantment to the equation.  Alice Cooper brought the theatrical element, now there is the element of no-holds-barred teenage rebellion, a powerful concept throughout history.  Kids during this period had heavy metal to hold onto, something that their parents couldn’t rip from their grasp even if they tried.  Something fierce, unpredictable, uncontrollable.  Heavy metal was not about being a virtuoso.  It was the kind of music that was forged in the garage.  It was about being low-tech but in an “in your face” kind of way, unlike the remnants of rock from the ‘60’s.  I feel this is at the core of rock music.  Young people always feel alienated in some way or another while growing up, but music is such a visceral form of communication.  It has such a powerful physical component, being at the concert hearing the booming bass wave over your body.  It is an all-encompassing experience that takes the teenage angst and channels it into raw, distorted guitars.  The Runaways also added that extra appeal of sex, theme that runs throughout music and especially heavy metal.  As seen here, they advertised that they were rebellious through sex.  This also relates to teenage angst.  They looked and acted like teenage runaways, and this made their music real.  It made kids believe in them, and want to be a part of this movement of heavy metal.