I reviewed the Collection of Heavy Metal Music Material, 1964-2016. The material that was collected in this historical narrative were books and DVDs, show fliers, photographs, ephemera, fanzines, magazines, recordings, etc. I feel that from these platforms, there are many different useful observations that we can make about the culture of Heavy Metal Music during this time. For example, through photographs, we can understand what the Heavy Metal scene looked like during concerts and shows. Through autobiographies, we can understand the perspective of artists and bands during their time. In addition, through fan letters and scrapbooks, we can understand more about the fans and what they liked about Heavy Metal Music and the bands that they followed. I feel that from this, we can gather a lot of useful information. However, even with such vast information, I feel that there are a lot of factors that might be lacking in these narratives.
There may be facts about those times that may not be addressed within these narratives. I feel that the material that is gathered is represents Heavy Metal fans. There is a lot of information from the outside perspective of Heavy Metal Music. Although there are a selection of autobiographies and biographies, I feel that even in that, there is limited information. We do not have information about individuals who were not fans of heavy metal music. I think one thing that I am curious to know is what were people’s perspective of heavy metal when it began to become popular. Especially for those who did not enjoy this type of music, what did they think about it? I feel that there are “stereotypes” and different themes that are associated with heavy metal, what did people think of that, and when or why did that start to form. Those are just a few thoughts that I personally had for myself, but with that I feel that historical narratives such as this cannot provide answers to my questions. To address this, it would be helpful to include articles from people from the “outside” point of view or even band members themselves who encountered resistance.
Overall, I feel that having historical narratives is such a great way to document important moments from the past. I feel that it is a useful tool to have but in order for it to truly become a reliable tool, I feel that there are additional information that needs to be included.
I found the same issues with this collection: wondering what the outside perspectives were. It seemed that the views expressed on the collection were largely positive, and didn’t reflect any opposition to the movement/genre. It would be very interesting to have that be considered along with the materials here.
I did not look into this collection before, but I definitely want to after reading this post! I also agree that we should also look into opposing opinions in order to get a grasp of the whole narrative instead of from just one perspective. I really liked how you pointed that out and also said we shouldn’t rely on just facts and information.
I have zero experience with heavy metal so I was very curious to check your blog post out! I’m sorry to hear that the collection seemed extremely skewed and biased. I think you did a great job describing and analyzing the material!
Haha I liked that you wanted the collection to have information on people who were not fans of Heavy Metal. Which is true! I think that would’ve been valuable to document the historic backlash it may have had and people who were in opposition to the scene.
I really enjoyed how you delved into each one of the different types of specific material. I liked how you outlined what each medium could communicate to the viewer; for example photographs could show what an actual concert at the time looked like. I do agree that all the material presented would solely come from heavy metal fans and not the general public. In this aspect, I do agree that the narrative could be one-sided.