Friday, September 3, 2010: Metallica - Master Of Puppets (Live in Seattle, 1989) NSFW

There has been a distinct lack of metal here in CSOTD. Let's deal with that glaring omission.

With a vengeance.

I can also use this Friday Song as a teachable moment for my gentle readers.

The name of my blog is "Cool Song Of The Day". So, what is cool?

I've said this before, and I'll repeat; when someone asks me to tell them what's cool, I would point them straight to Miles Davis.  There was never anyone cooler than Miles.  Don't question me on this.

Past Miles Davis, it's up for grabs.

Unfortunately, there is a very widespread false assumption about coolness.  And that is, if something is popular, well known, crowd-pleasing and well received, it somehow cannot be cool.

Often, this is true. One just needs to look to Justin Beiber, The Jonas Brothers, Hanna Montana, or whatever the current crop of crap that the MIGHTY GODS OF DISNEY bestow upon the masses for their own gain*. Obviously, nothing like that is cool. Or will ever be cool.

However, this does not mean that the corollary is true: That just because something is unknown, obscure or inaccessible, it is automatically cool.

Often unknown bands are unknown for a reason.   Sometimes they have personnel or personality issues.  Sometimes they make bad management decisions.  Rarely, a band just peaks at the wrong time, vis a vis, their music is great but it's just not understood or appreciated in their time.  Ask No Doubt about trying to get gigs for their energetic ska/pop band at the height of the grunge movement.

But, friends, the cold, hard reality is that most bands are unknown because they suck.  Pure.  Simple.  They suck.  And no amount indie street cred will change that.

Metallica is one of the greatest, if not the, greatest rock band precisely because they are the polar opposite of suck.  In fact, to paraphrase Star Wars, if there's a centre of suckage in the universe, Metallica is the band that it's furthest from.

And yet they are world renowned, respected and are still kicking ass to this day. Even as I write this. Through the ups, downs, tragedies and triumphs, Metallica still draws in massive numbers. Against the charge of selling out, former bassist Jason Newsted said it best on Behind The Music; "Yes, We Sell Out --- Every Seat In The House."

And they still get the respect. And they are still massively, unimaginably, eternally cool.

So here endeth the lesson. Which was for me, too. I struggle with this daily.

Often times I'll get an idea for a song for CSOTD, and pause thinking, "Well, everyone knows that song, therefore it can't be cool".   Wrong.

I chose Master of Puppets precisely because it is one of Metallica's best known, best loved songs.

And what is cooler than this?  Miles Davis, definitely.  But, past that, nothing much at all.




*(I would include Taylor Swift in that list as well, but I'm currently suffering a embarrassing bout of obsession with Ms. Swift, dreaming that she is 20 feet tall, wears a corset and beats me to a pulp with her acoustic guitar in some dark medieval castle...........don't even start.)