Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} Riff Kills Man! 25 Years Of Recorded Hard Rock & Heavy Metal by Martin Popoff Martin Popoff. Born in Castlegar, British Columbia, Popoff's interest in heavy metal began as a youth in Trail, British Columbia, in the early 1970s, when bands such as and were in the collections of the older brothers and cousins of Popoff and his friends. played even heavier music, and became the group his circle of friends thought of as "our band, not the domain of our elders". [3] Other heavy rock albums of the era, such as Nazareth's Razamanaz and Kiss' Hotter Than Hell , further shaped his emerging musical tastes. Angel City and were among Popoff's favourite bands as a teenager. [4] Of popular music magazines around at the time, Popoff recalls being a regular reader of Circus , Hit Parader , and later, Kerrang! blew our minds." Popoff does not identify any specific writers as being particularly influential on his own writing style, saying "it never registered who wrote what." [4] Popoff received a B.A in English from the University of Victoria in 1984 and an MBA in marketing at McMaster University in 1987, working for Xerox before co-owning a print brokering company. [1] For a while in the 1980s he also played drums in a bar band called Torque. In 1993 he released his first book, the independently published Riff Kills Man!: 25 Years Of Recorded Hard Rock and Heavy Metal , a collection of 1,942 critical reviews of heavy metal records. Shortly after its publication he co-founded Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles , which released its first issue in 1994. He soon returned to his reviews book, releasing a revised and expanded version in 1997 titled The Collector's Guide To Heavy Metal , which almost doubled the original book's number of reviews to 3,700. In the book he identifies three major stages in the early development of heavy metal. The first stage, "invention", took place in 1970 with the release of in Rock coinciding with debut albums from Black Sabbath and Uriah Heep. Stage two, "re-invention", occurred in 1976 with 's . The third stage, "re- intensification", happened in 1984 with the release of 's . [5] In the 2000s Popoff revised and expanded his Collector's Guide one more time, splitting it up by decade into three separate volumes comprising a total of 6,763 albums spanning three decades of heavy metal. [6] Volume 3: The Nineties was published in 2007. Popoff has stated that he considers the greatest record of all time to be Led Zeppelin's Physical Graffiti , followed by Black Sabbath's Sabotage . [7] He has also named Queen's self-titled debut as his personal favourite record of all time, [8] and often regards Max Webster as his all-time favourite band. [9] Newer groups that Popoff has spoken highly of include Mastodon, , Lamb of God and Dark Tranquillity. [10] [11] His Collector's Guide became rather notorious in some circles of rock fans for a particularly scathing review of 's worldwide smash hit glam metal album Hysteria , to which he awarded a score of zero (out of ten). Popoff continues to defend his opinion of it years later, citing "just awful production, lyrics, singing, clichés of every musical and lyrical sort." [12] A number of Popoff's other books are biographies of notable metal bands, including Black Sabbath in Doom Let Loose and Dio in Light Beyond The Black . While the biographies are usually not officially authorized, a large amount of research consists of interviews between Popoff and members of each band. Popoff has said of his relationship with his subjects: "I censor myself because I don't want to write something to hurt people. You write a book on Sabbath and you don’t want to write something to hurt (their) families - I love those guys." [13] A Judas Priest biography, Heavy Metal Painkillers , was published in 2007. In 2014 Popoff stated that he is working on a new book, entitled Who Invented Heavy Metal? [14] On March 6, 2015 Popoff told Metal Shock Finland's Chief Editor, Mohsen Fayyazi that he had finished writing the book and it will be published in approximately a month's time. [15] Popoff is a reviewer for BangerTV [16] and also appears frequently on the many shows featured on the YouTube channel of music publication Sea of Tranquility. Partial bibliography. Collector's Guide series. 20th Century Rock and Roll: Heavy Metal . Burlington: Collector's Guide Publishing. 2000. ISBN 1-896522-47-5. Southern Rock Review . Burlington: Collector's Guide Publishing. 2001. ISBN 1-896522-73-4. The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal - Volume 1: The Seventies . Burlington: Collector's Guide Publishing. 2003. ISBN 1-894959-02-7. The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal - Volume 2: The Eighties . Burlington: Collector's Guide Publishing. 2005. ISBN 1-894959-31-0. The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal - Volume 3: The Nineties . Burlington: Collector's Guide Publishing. 2007. ISBN 1-894959-62-0. The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal - Volume 4: the 00s (with David Perri). Burlington: Collector's Guide Publishing. 2011. ISBN 1-926592-20-4. Ye Olde Metal series. Ye Olde Metal: 1968 to 1972 . Power Chord Press. 2007. ISBN 0-9697707-2-3. Ye Olde Metal: 1973 to 1975 . Power Chord Press. 2007. ISBN 0-9697707-3-1. Ye Olde Metal: 1976 . Power Chord Press. 2008. ISBN 0-9697707-4-X. Ye Olde Metal: 1977 . Power Chord Press. 2008. ISBN 0-9697707-5-8. Ye Olde Metal: 1978 . Power Chord Press. 2009. ISBN 0-9697707-6-6. Rock biographies. Contents Under Pressure: 30 Years of Rush at Home and Away . Toronto: ECW Press. 2004. ISBN 1-55022-678-9. UFO: Shoot Out the Lights . Los Angeles: Metal Blade Records. 2005. ISBN 0-9752807-2-4. Rainbow: English Castle Magic . Los Angeles: Metal Blade Records. 2005. ISBN B-00-13FZP6-U. Dio: Light Beyond the Black . Los Angeles: Metal Blade Records. 2006. ISBN 0-9752807-4-0. Black Sabbath: Doom Let Loose - An Illustrated History . Toronto: ECW Press. 2006. ISBN 1-55022-731-9. Judas Priest: Heavy Metal Painkillers - An Illustrated History . Toronto: ECW Press. 2007. ISBN 1-55022-784-X. Gettin' Tighter: Deep Purple '68-76 . Power Chord Press. 2008. ISBN 0-9811057-1-8. Blue Öyster Cult: Secrets Revealed! . Power Chord Press. 2009. ISBN 0-9752807-0-8. A Castle Full of Rascals: Deep Purple '83-'09 . Power Chord Press. 2009. ISBN 0-9811057-2-6. Time and a Word: The Yes Story . Soundcheck Books. 2016. ISBN 0993212026. "AC/DC: Album By Album". Quarto Publishing Group. 2017 ISBN 978-0-7858-3754-1. Miscellaneous. Goldmine Heavy Metal Price Guide . Iola: Krause Publications. 2000. ISBN 0-87341-811-5. The Top 500 Heavy Metal Songs of All Time . Toronto: ECW Press. 2003. ISBN 1-55022-530-8. The Top 500 Heavy Metal Albums of All Time . Toronto: ECW Press. 2004. ISBN 1- 55022-600-2. The New Wave Of Heavy Metal Singles . Scrap Metal Records. 2005. ISBN 0-9762133-0-3. Run for Cover: The Art of Derek Riggs . Aardvark Publishing. 2006. ISBN 1-4276-0538-6. All Access: The Art and History of the Backstage Pass . Los Angeles: Cleopatra Records. 2009. ISBN 0-9636193-7-3. Worlds Away: Voivod and the Art of Michel Langevin . Spider Press. 2009. ISBN 1-4276-3788-1. Related Research Articles. Headless Cross is the fourteenth studio album by English heavy metal band Black Sabbath. Released on 24 April 1989, it was the group's second album to feature singer Tony Martin and the first of three to feature drummer Cozy Powell, along with Tyr and Forbidden . " " is a song by English heavy metal band Black Sabbath. It is the opening track from their 1970 album Paranoid . Born Again is the eleventh studio album by English heavy metal band Black Sabbath. Released in August 1983, it is the only album the group recorded with lead vocalist Ian Gillan, best known for his work with Deep Purple. It was also the last Black Sabbath album for nine years to feature original bassist Geezer Butler and the last to feature original drummer Bill Ward, though Ward did record a studio track with the band fifteen years later on their 1998 live album Reunion . The album has received mixed reviews from critics, but was a commercial success upon its 1983 release, reaching No. 4 in the UK charts. The album also hit the top 40 in the United States. Rock in a Hard Place is the seventh studio album by American hard rock band Aerosmith, released in August 1982 by Columbia Records. It was certified gold on November 10, 1989. It is the only Aerosmith album not to feature lead guitarist Joe Perry, following his departure from the band in 1979. Rhythm guitarist Brad Whitford also left during the recording in 1981. The band spent $1.5 million on the recording of this album, which saw them reunited with producer Jack Douglas. Fire of Unknown Origin is the eighth album by the American hard rock band Blue Öyster Cult, released in June 1981. It was produced by . Wings of Tomorrow is the second studio album by the Swedish heavy metal band Europe. It was released on 24 February 1984, by Hot Records. Wings of Tomorrow is the last album to feature drummer Tony Reno. Europe is the debut studio album by Swedish heavy metal band Europe, released on 14 March 1983 by Hot Records. The Bell Witch is a short, promotional EP released by Mercyful Fate to herald the band's reunion album. It features two tracks off In the Shadows , of which one is based on the American legend of the Bell Witch, plus four live tracks. The EP was released in 1994. It was re-released in 2004 on Metal Blade Records. The Revölution by Night is the ninth studio album by American hard rock band Blue Öyster Cult, released in October 1983. The album was intended to capitalize on the success of Fire of Unknown Origin two years prior, hence the blend of straight-ahead rock and pop elements. This was the first BÖC album not to feature all of the band's classic members, drummer Albert Bouchard having been fired during the previous tour and replaced by roadie Rick Downey. Club Ninja is the tenth studio album by American hard rock group Blue Öyster Cult, released December 10, 1985 in the United Kingdom and on February 11, 1986 in the United States. The album was intended as a comeback for the band, whose previous album The Revölution by Night failed to attain Gold status following the success of 1981's Fire of Unknown Origin and 1982's Extraterrestrial Live . Club Ninja sold more than 175,000 copies, falling well short of gold status again, and because of its high cost, Columbia Records executives deemed it a commercial failure. The album was re-issued on compact disc on March 10, 2009, by Sony-owned reissue label American Beat Records, which had also reissued the band's 1988 album, . The Great Radio Controversy is the second album by American glam metal band Tesla, released in 1989. The songs combine 1980s metal with some blues-influenced elements, as well as the occasional love ballad. The record features many two-part counterpoints provided by guitarists Frank Hannon and Tommy Skeoch, on both electric and acoustic guitars. Ancient Dreams is the third album of Swedish doom metal band Candlemass, released in 1988 and reissued in 2001 by Powerline Records with a bonus CD. The cover art of the album is a painting made by Thomas Cole, second in his series, "The Voyage of Life", entitled "Youth". Ancient Dreams was the first Candlemass album to chart in the US, debuting at No. 174 on the Billboard 200 album chart. From the 13th Sun is the seventh studio album by Swedish doom metal band Candlemass, released in 1999. The CD liner notes say it is "dedicated to the greatest band of all time: Black Sabbath". Inferno: Last in Live is a live album released by the American heavy metal band Dio. It was recorded on their Angry Machines tour in 1996/97. Released in 1998 on Mayhem Records, it consists of tracks from the Ronnie James Dio eras of Rainbow and Black Sabbath, as well as Dio's own material plus a cover of the Deep Purple track Mistreated. Act III is the third studio album by the thrash metal band Death Angel, released in 1990 on Geffen Records. Regarded by many critics and fans as the band's finest effort, the album was produced by famed metal producer Max Norman, and marked the first major label release by Death Angel. The album is listed as number 328 in the 2010 reference book, The Top 500 Heavy Metal Albums of All Time . The album spawned the singles "Seemingly Endless Time" and "A Room with a View", with both songs receiving music videos and airplay on MTV's Headbangers Ball . This is the final Death Angel studio album to feature guitarist Gus Pepa. The Ultra-Violence is the debut studio album by American thrash metal band Death Angel, released in 1987. The album was recorded while all members were under 20, with drummer Andy Galeon just 14 years old. The album is considered a classic in the thrash metal genre, listed as number 370 in the 2010 reference book, The Top 500 Heavy Metal Albums of All Time . Contraband was a short-lived supergroup/side project that included members of several famous rock bands from the 1980s, such as Shark Island, McAuley Schenker Group, Ratt, L.A. Guns, and Vixen. Live is the first live album by Swedish doom metal band Candlemass released in 1990. " Victim of Changes " is a song by English heavy metal band Judas Priest, featured on their 1976 studio album Sad Wings of Destiny . Adrien Begrand, writing for PopMatters , claimed the song changed the course of metal history. Vocalist Rob Halford's performance is considered one of his finest ever. The guitar work is noted as well; Bob Gendron praised the song's "landslide riffs" in the Chicago Tribune . The song has come to be regarded as one of the band's classics, and Martin Popoff listed it at No. 17 in his "Top 500 Heavy Metal Songs of All Time". Absolutely No Alternative is the eighth studio album by Canadian heavy metal band Anvil, released in 1997. Riff Kills Man!: 25 Years Of Recorded Hard Rock & Heavy Metal by Martin Popoff. BLUE OYSTER CULT: Secrets Revealed! Blue Oyster Cult: Secrets Revealed! By Martin Popoff (200p., Metal Blade Records, ISBN 022334435-4) Blue Oyster Cult: 35 years in the biz, six gold and platinum U.S. albums, classic trax like (Don't Fear) The Reaper, Godzilla, Burnin' For You, Astronomy and E.T.I. Indeed, Donald "Buck Dharma" Roeser, Eric Bloom, Allen Lanier, Albert Bouchard and Joe Bouchard comprised one of the great stadium acts of the '70s and '80s. BOC were heavy metal enough to duke it out with Kiss, Rush, Aerosmith, Ted Nugent and Black Sabbath, yet smart, funny, ironic and jaded enough to please the tough New York critics, of which more than a couple mingled within their ranks. Martin Popoff: has written seven books on heavy metal and one on southern rock. He is the Senior Editor of Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles, and also contributes to Guitar World, Lollipop, Goldmine, Record Collector, Classic Rock, Chart, Brazil's Roadie Crew, bravewords.com, chartattack.com and hardradio.com. Born and raised in Trail, British Columbia, Martin went on to complete an MBA, work for Xerox, then co- own a graphic design and print brokering firm, before becoming a full-time rock critic in 1998, part time since 1994. He currently resides in Toronto. Blue Oyster Cult: Secrets Revealed!: This 200-page book is not a biography as such, but a biography of the band's albums, a canon of work Martin calls one of the finest in rock, and truly superlative on the lyrical front. Indeed, Martin, in radio, print and TV interviews, has consistently called the band's lyrics the best in the business, tied with those of Captain Beefheart and Pye Dubois (Max Webster, Kim Mitchell). The book examines the complicated early days of the band, graphically demonstrating the show biz sweat that goes into making an act an act. The majority of the book however is centred around the peerless intellectual quality of the songs, a quality made entertaining by the band's psychotropic and ghoulish humor, and by its interest in all manner of conspiracy theories, cults, monsters, vampires, UFO tales, foul play, arcane spiritualism, alchemy, love lost and love buried, science fiction and science friction. Along the way, Martin talks (in some cases numerous times) with Buck, Eric, Albert and Joe, along with new drummer Bobby Rondinelli, legendary producer of the band Murray Krugman and BOC expert Bolle Gregmar. For insight into the band's fantastic lyrical world, Martin went right to the source, the penners of BOC classics. Some of the best insights into creativity Martin's ever heard - through 900 interviews as metal's most widely recognized journalist - came from Sandy Pearlman (also the band's manager during the golden years), Richard Meltzer, Helen Wheels, David Roter and John Shirley, along with cover artists Greg Scott and Ioannis. Helen Wheels and David Roter are since deceased; Martin's chats with them are among their last interviews. The result is a "biography" pointedly about what matters the most - the recorded documents, the works, the masterwerks. Indeed, each chapter bears the title of a BOC record, because that's what you get in the chapter - detailed, track by track analysis about the music and the lyrics (not to mention some of the personal stuff swirling around the sessions). Blue Oyster Cult: Secrets Revealed! zestfully fulfills the mandate set out by Martin at the onset, a mandate that Martin has always felt to be the mark of a good rock bio - it sends you scampering back to your CDs and LPs for a second and third and fourth, very detailed, listen, one that results in new appreciation for the genius of the artist examined. Martin Popoff Bibliography: Riff Kills Man! 25 Years Of Recorded Hard Rock & Heavy Metal (1993) The Collector1s Guide To Heavy Metal (1997) Goldmine Heavy Metal Records Price Guide (2000) Heavy Metal: 20th Century Rock And Roll (2000) Southern Rock Review (2001) The Top 500 Heavy Metal Songs Of All Time (2003) The Collector1s Guide To Heavy Metal - Volume 1: The Seventies (2003) The Top 500 Heavy Metal Albums Of All Time (2004) Riff Kills Man!: 25 Years Of Recorded Hard Rock & Heavy Metal by Martin Popoff. Martin Popoff is heavy metal's most widely recognized journalist. He is the Editor In Chief of Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles, and also contributes to Guitar World, Lollipop, Goldmine, Record Collector, bravewords.com, lollipop.com and hardradio.com, with many record label band bios and liner notes to his credit as well. Raised in Trail, British Columbia, Canada, Martin went on to complete an MBA, work for Xerox, then co-own a graphic design and print brokering firm, before becoming a full-time rock critic in 1998. Gillan, Max Webster, Deep Purple, ZZ Top and Black Sabbath are his favourite five bands of all time. Martin is the author of 33 books of music criticism: Riff Kills Man! 25 Years Of Recorded Hard Rock & Heavy Metal (1993) The Collector�s Guide To Heavy Metal (1997) The Goldmine Price Guide To Heavy Metal Records (2000) Heavy Metal: 20th Century Rock And Roll (2000) Southern Rock Review (2001) The Top 500 Heavy Metal Songs Of All Time (2003) The Collector�s Guide To Heavy Metal: Volume 1: The Seventies (2003) The Top 500 Heavy Metal Albums Of All Time (2004) Contents Under Pressure: 30 Years Of Rush At Home & Away (2004) Blue Oyster Cult: Secrets Revealed! (2004) The New Wave Of British Heavy Metal Singles (2005) UFO: Shoot Out The Lights (2005) Rainbow: English Castle Magic (2005) The Collector�s Guide To Heavy Metal: Volume 2: The Eighties (2005) Dio: Light Beyond The Black (2006) Black Sabbath: Doom Let Loose (2006) Run For Cover: The Art Of Derek Riggs (2006) Ye Olde Metal: 1968 To 1972 (2007) The Collector�s Guide To Heavy Metal: Volume 3: The Nineties (2007) Ye Olde Metal: 1973 To 1975 (2007) Judas Priest: Heavy Metal Painkillers (2007) Ye Olde Metal: 1976 (2008) Ye Olde Metal: 1977 (2008) All Access: The Art And History Of The Backstage Pass (2008) Gettin� Tighter: Deep Purple: �68 - �76 (2008) Ye Olde Metal: 1978 (2009) Blue Oyster Cult! Secrets Revealed! (2009) Worlds Away: Voivod & The Art Of Michel Langevin (2009) Goldmine Price Guide To 45 RPM Records, 7th. Ed. (2009) Goldmine Record Album Price Guide, 6th. Ed. (2009) A Castle Full Of Rascals: Deep Purple '83 - '09 (2009) Goldmine Standard Catalogue of American Records, 7th Ed. (2010) The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metail: Volume 4: The 00s (2011) Martin has also written liner notes for approximately 25 releases, as well as record label bios for dozens more. He is thanked in over 100 CDs and is on personal terms with dozens of bands, management contacts and label executives. His approximately 7500 album reviews written since 1989 has recently prompted an application for a Guinness World Record. Martin would like to spend his last working years painting full time, hopefully as a gallery artist as well as an active album cover artist. His ultimate career goal in life is to paint a cover for a ZZ Top album. Riff Kills Man!: 25 Years Of Recorded Hard Rock & Heavy Metal by Martin Popoff. Interview With Martin Popoff - Author. So, Martin, now that we�re near the end of the year, what are some of you favorite album releases for 2004? I'd say first off, I like the Clutch album a lot. Definately the new Mastodon CD. I've been playing that a lot. The new and Shadows Fall are pretty cool. I was into the Unleashed album. A few months ago, I loved the new Motorhead--to me the recent ones are as good as the classic ones. Dark Tranquility is one of my favorite new bands. There was the Wolf album. Evil Star which is NWOBHM-ish. Evergrey. I like a lot of Finnish bands. they do a good melodic thrash. There was Insomnium. Disillusion off of Metal Blade they're a good band. Dismember. Jizzy Pearl from Love/Hate put out a solo album I thought was great. Unearth--that's good stuff. The new Van Halen--that's a band that I don't even think about how heavy or fast a song is, there's just the personal chemistry of those guys playing together that is incredible. They're just such distinctive players that to hear them bang off each other is great no matter how loopy or stupid a song is. I love their 3 new songs. About how many CDs are you spinning per week? I receive about 250 CDs a week being a rock critic dude and I go through what I can go through. Is your ear tuned enough to be able to accept, reject and grade in one spin? I'd say so, in less than a spin. In most cases 30 seconds is more than enough. There are certain genres that you feel your grip loosening on what you can do and for our magazine there is just some stuff where we have to throw our hands up and say we can't review this intelligently, say, an avant-garde or really brutal black metal album or run-of-the-mill death metal album. You have to be a generalist with your hand in a bunch of pies and you also have to start specializing. There just too many genres and sub-genres out there. Have you ever been bribed or threatened based on a positive/negative review? Neither, although I've had relations "cool" with a few guys after negative reviews. Frank Marino, Kim Mitchell, and I suspect, April Wine. Bribery takes many forms - i.e. the infamous press junket to some exotic city, hotel, food and booze included, to hear a new album in the studio, or do interviews at some listening session. I've always turned those down, although moreso because traveling is a waste of time. What's on your playlist right now? Something that isn't even heavy--Porcupine Tree. Black Field is awesome. I played the new Nightwish and the Helix compilation that just came out. Playing a lot of Dio cause of his new one. Marillion. I've jogged to some U.D.O. and Motorhead. even some old Night Ranger. Cataract, Impious on Metal Blade. Some Victory stuff and the new Saxon is good, I've played that a few times lately. What are you looking forward to? AC\DC--it's always a happy time in the world when a new one from them comes out even though I think the last three have declined in value. In terms of what's coming out and who's releasing what, I'm not one of those guys who has to follow close and get something a month before it comes out. Usually, I buy a few things, but it's not usually metal. Have you been disappointed in anything lately? For that, I'm at a loss because it's just so competitive now that there are few bad productions and people put a lot more into their CDs now because they have to. I didn't like the last W.A.S.P. and Queensryche albums. I've been pretty disappointed in Maiden recently even though I've written good things about them when they first came out. Since you listen to so much metal, what direction do you see metal going here in the mid 00's? Well, the big thing is this New Wave of American Heavy Metal (NWOAHM)--these thrash bands who are very technical, mixing hardcore with some singing. It's fairly extreme and some of them are hitting 100,000 in sales and the tours are doing good. Even though they are smaller places, they pack them in. Black metal never hit the way many thought it would. There are always the big monster bands that always do well. You've had a chance to be there when metal started. Can you recall the first time you heard a truely metal album? Wow, well metal kind of starts at different times even in a general sense that people agree on and at different times depending on how old you are and where you think it started because of the different sort of tolerance level of what you see metal as. Even people who think it started with Metallica have a point because it's like, how heavy do you need your metal to be to define it as "heavy metal". To me, metal really started in 1970, but I wasn't there for that. For me, the first metal stuff that I was conscious of hearing was probably something off of KISS 'Hotter Than Hell', Led Zeppelin 4, or Black Sabbath 'Vol. 4' and also Nazareth's 'Razamanaz'. I would have been about 10. Also, all throughout the '70s, heavy metal was this hazy term with hard rock. It was with NWOBHM where the bands really meant it--we want to be this way, we're proud to be this way in jean jackets with no ballads and every song is fast. just being about metal, you really didn't have that in the '70s. They stopped apologizing for it. There were tons and tons of indy bands putting out stuff on small labels. There was tapes going around and 45s with really heavy bands. Did Sabbath still have that scary mystique about them back then? Yeah, they were the scariest until Judas Priest's 'Sad Wings of Destiny' which I had as a new release. That one blew my mind because it was so fast and technical and had all that weird religious imagery. It was timeless and there was no press at all on the band that it seemed like they were aliens dropped in on the metal world. To me, metal started in '70, it really kicked up a notch in '76, it kicked up a notch again for the NWOBHM. They even had some scary bands too like Venom and the first album. What do you say to those who question aren't you too old to listen to heavy metal? You always get those jokes about how you will outgrow it, but to me it's just this thing that keeps you young plus when you have an anchor to the bands you grew up with and they're still going, well there's a scene you can keep following. Some of these guys are older than I am and still making great music. But, there is also the thing where I have some trouble listening to bands half my age. You do sort of outgrow certain things and maybe there are certain types of metal that are so beyond me now cause I'm way too old. But then again there's still power, great playing, volume, bombastic and literary things going on and even more reasons to still be into it--it can get you up to achieve, exercise or help you get your work done for the day. It's a good shot in the arm, like coffee coming out of your speakers. How do we get over that misguided image of the metal fan generally seen as angry males who sit in their bedrooms all day with headphones on? I don't think you get over that image and I don't think it matters anymore, since it isn't the big type of music right now. Most people don't look like they did in the '80s and there's like 25 different kinds of metal out there. It's just artwork and if you want to consume this artwork you do. Of, course you don't want bad things to come about like violence. I don't think it'll ever live down it's image cause you do have pretty hateful and ugly and ghoulish stuff out there. It's not like metal is changing or apologizing for being what it is. You may not get rid of the image 'til you get rid of the imagry. All of us owners here at MM have a copy of the older Collector's Guide (usually sitting in our bathroom; some have beer stains and been puked on, but standing up great). Tell us more about how you're supplanting them with a new set. We took The Collector�s Guide To Heavy Metal ('97) and are splitting it into three decades--70s, 80s and 90s--and the 70s book is out currently with brand new text. I really feel that most of the writing was lousy throughout that '97 book. For The Collector's Guide To Heavy Metal - Volume 1: The Seventies, we basically added a ton of 70's rarities and totally rewrote all those reviews. The new 70s book has about 3Xs the 70s stuff that was in the '97 book and the 80s will be triple as big as so will the 90s. The cool thing we did is the Top 500 Heavy Metal Singles ('03) and Albums ('04) of all time which was taking a big public poll and me writing all- new reviews for the winners and adding quotes from the artists. I've done about 1000 interviews and I would ask them for a few words on one of their albums and the songs that made it. The interesting thing about the Album list is that it came out much heavier than the Singles list, I think because extreme metal is more centered around the album than the single, so you had a lot of death metal and thrash. Megadeth, Anthrax and Testament, Opeth, Meshuggah. where the song book was about singles and say, a death song usually doesn't come to mind when you think of your favorite songs. There may even have been a discrepancy between what is considered hard rock and what's heavy metal which could be why Led Zeppelin wasn't so high. I also had a Blue Oyster Cult book 'Blue Oyster Cult: Secrets Revealed' just come out through Metal Blade Records which was the first they've ever done. It's just selling like crazy; the fastest selling book I've ever done maybe cause they're a really interesting band, lyrically and musically. Had a Rush book 'Contents Under Pressure: 30 Year of Rush At Home & Away' come out on ECW Press that was an authorized book for the band that they will sell on tour. There was the Goldmine Heavy Metal Price Guide ('00) which is for vinyl records and the Southern Rock Review ('01). there's detail on them all at my site at www.martinpopoff.com with instructions on how to order. What do you think about a Heavy Metal Hall of Fame? Yeah, we've talked about it, me and some guys, and it's a pie-in-the-sky idea, but it's something that could happen and should happen somewhere and chances are there will be a virtual one first. Somebody could run one with strict voting and similarities to how the regular Hall of Fame works. It's a good idea and I think it should happen. It's said that each writer is working on the Great American, or in your case Canadian, Novel? Are you? Not really, but I agree with you that I would love to. This doesn't always feel like a goal in itself being a "rock critic dude". I paint as well and I love it, but for me to really reach the pinnacle of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, it's like 50-50. I could be a writer or a painter. I've talked to Jizzy Pearl who writes books himself and I've told him people would like to see you write on rock-n-roll and he says, yeah, but if you want to move away from this stuff, you have to move in more rapid, deliberate, accelerated steps. If I wrote a novel the easy thing for me to do would be for it to have a RnR angle to it. Let's switch gears a little. ANTHRAX guitarist Scott Ian said that he and the rest of his band firmly believe "Chicago is the heavy metal capital of the United States!" Do you agree or disagree and why? I can tell you in Canada, the place for metal is Montreal where every band that goes there gets double the size crowds of Toronto which is twice the size. People record their live DVDs there. Quebec has a killer metal scene. Having said that, though, people say Detroit is good, Pine Knob is also. Texas esp. San Antonio has a good rep. Anthrax would probably be as qualified as anybody to answer that. It would be interesting to ask them all. Let's start that--ask every dude what the metal capital is and compare notes. Have you seen 'Some Kind of Monster' yet? No, I haven't. I would definately like to see that but it may take me months to watch it once it comes out on DVD since I deal with metal all day I don't like to deal with it at night. If you could only listen to metal from one country, which would it be? Right now, I'd say Finland. I love those bands. Amorphis, Children of Bodom is cool. Omnium Gatherum, Rapture. it's a great, trendy scene. If you could only listen to metal from one decade, which would it be? I'd say the 70's even though it brands me as an old fogey, but everybodys's favorite is the stuff they grew up with. That was the magical time for me. Who's your favorite Spinal Tap character? I think the guy with the dark hair--Nigel. Really, what's the big deal about Thin Lizzy? Thin Lizzy is incredible musically, vocally. the chemistry of the band. they have a drummer who is amazing. they invented the twin leads that sounded so good. never called themselves heavy metal, so they had a healthy approach to music with all kinds of different styles on each album. great production, choruses. that's enough right there. Ever drop acid or anything mind-altering with Lemmy? Nope, never tried acid or coke, just a little pot and hash/hash oil in my youth. Lemmy--I'm scared of that guy. Never even had a beer with him even though he offers every time I see him. At this point do you really care about a new Guns'n Roses album? Probably as much as than I care about 300 other things that come out each year. I am curious, but again I didn't grow up with them. I'm more interested in a new AC\DC or a new Deep Purple or Rush. Do you have any idea who might be the richest man in metal? Ozzy? Gene Simmons? Robert Plant? Good question. Definately, not Gene , there's way too much talk there. Robert and Jimmy, Malcolm and Angus, Ozzy. the top of the list I'd say is Robert and Jimmy. I think they've sold the most records and had the monster tours. Those Iron Maiden guys are probably getting pretty rich also. Do you ever visit metal sites and read the news and gossip or other peoples reviews? I do, but not too much. I'm a Metal Sludge (link: metalsludge.tv) regular and our own site Brave Words and Bloody Knuckles (link: bravewords.com) is my favorite for news and the forum is very active. I go to your guys' site (link: maximummetal.com) and I go to MelodicRock.com and Blabbermouth.net and that's about it. What other reviewers do you respect and where can we read them? David Perry for our magazine is a young guy who knows a lot of different kinds of music and is a good writer. The guys at Lollipop magazine-- Scott Hefflon and Tim Den are awesome also. Underground or big label--which is better for metal? I happen to think that if you end up on a major label that you're probably pretty good and you deserve to be there. More of the bands I've listened to over the years have been on major labels and I think the cream does rise to the top. For a metal band these days you'd probably do as well on a medium-sized label though. How do you feel about females in metal and who's been some of your favorites in metal over the years? I've never been a big fan; I just don't take it seriously. I do love female singers in non-metal like various soft rock or prog. I guess I like Arch Enemy and Synergy--Kim Goss is pretty cool. Lullacry, from Finland, is cool. Do you think with the current Admin we're in there is a similar atmosphere to the PMRC days/Reagan years giving rise to thrash again? I don't think they have their eye on it as much. If they're paying attention it's probably on Rap or video games. Metal--swearing and off-color covers--isn't on the radar as much nowadays. Are there any relatively unknown bands out there that you would like to throw out a plug to? There's a really cool band on The End Records called Lillitu. Lyzanxia, that was good. There's tons of stuff; we just shake our heads at stuff that is independent, but so well-done in production and sound. There's so much great competition out there it's amazing. Who is the real Rock and Roll Messiah, the real Eternal Idol, the real Undisputed Champion of Heavy Metal? Ronnie James Dio--that guy's first recording was in 1958. He still makes records regularly, he tours regularly. He may actually be, it would be cool to research, the most active rock performer on the planet and he's in heavy metal which is real cool. If you think about it, the only guys that could be close would probably be Blues guys. Rock n Roll really didn't start till around '56, so who's from back then who's still making RnR records regularly? He put out singles all through those years and the guy has been a musical performer on record since '58. He may be the Last Man Standing. He's the King. From the Archives: Martin Popoff (2000) From July 2000, Steven Ward interviews metal/hard rock critic, and Toronto native, Martin Popoff. Some kind of prolific writer when this interview was first published, Popoff is a veritable publishing industry unto himself these days (c heck out his website for more current information about his many projects). Given his success as a writer and self-publisher, I trust (and hope) Martin was able to deal with the carpal tunnel syndrome that was causing him severe pain at the time of this interview. Enduring the noise: Martin Popoff Pops Off on Heavy Metal, Rock Criticism, and Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. An E-Mail Interview by Steven Ward (July 2000) If Chuck Eddy is heavy metal’s bastard child, Martin Popoff is its favourite son. Popoff, 37, has been writing about metal for more than a decade and listening to it for twice that long. Regardless of what other writers say about the best books on heavy metal, Popoff, a Toronto resident, wrote THE BIBLE on the genre: The Collector’s Guide to Heavy Metal. The book is crammed with 3,700 sharp and detailed reviews of metal albums and (almost) full discographies. It features top ten lists, lists of everything from the most overrated performers (Eric Clapton and drummer Carmine Appice) to a breakdown of the different metal genres (what is the difference between Gothic metal and Viking metal anyway?). One of the best things about Popoff’s observations is the intelligence, honesty and straight forwardness of his reviews. You won’t find any Teena Marie reviews in Popoff’s book (sorry, Chuck Eddy. No Offence). You are likely to find details about Witchfinder General’s debut, though. In other words, Popoff is the true guru for headbangers everywhere. He’s a senior editor at Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles , probably the best magazine/fanzine on metal from this side of the Atlantic; he can also be found occasionally in magazines as diverse as Guitar World and Lollipop . Steven : What the hell is it that attracts you so much to ? Martin : It’s the only music from my youth I’m not embarrassed about any more, except, that is, for classic rock, mainly prog. R.E.M, The Cure, even fIREHOSE, Joe Ely, Kate Bush and The Replacements, for me it’s all inextricably linked to university (you folks call it college), weepy, vulnerable, girl problem stuff. Metal just is. It rarely contains irony, and when it does, we all get it and laugh at the joke bouncing around, with, and at us. It’s never changed, or, at least the general power chord, power personality aspect of it still courses, plows, blunders, chops away. It keeps you young, it makes you get up in the morning and methodically vanquish your action points, it staves off the dozy mid-afternoon, gotta-take-a- breaks. It can occasionally brainwash you into jogging. It basically jars you out of a number of potential funks, losing situations, surrenders. These metal makers, if they have problems, they rarely show it, and in the many cases where all they seem to do is growl about problems, by session’s close, you are quite sure said quandaries will be stomped shortly. Plus, it’s a vibrant, growing genre. Tons of new artworks every month, most of it from destitute Swedes still living with their parents. The camaraderie? Forget it. That’s for young folks, of which there are many at these sorry 150-attendance shows. Please stop trying to talk to me about the merits of various Stratovarius albums while Destruction is pasting us to the back wall and I’m busy putting a cigarette filters in my ears because I forgot my ear plugs. Steven : Was there a song, band, or album that you remember first hearing years ago that sparked your interest in heavy metal? Martin : Yes. The first inkling of a trace of a clue that my randomly stumbled over CCR and Three Dog Night records were lame, came from Hotter Than Hell , Zep IV , Vol 4 , Toys In The Attic , Razamanaz and then in ’76 on an earth-shattering plane, Priest’s Sad Wings Of Destiny , an album over which sadly, the band themselves deal glassy unknowing stares when informed of its Richter importance with respect to the advancement of the form. I’m 37, so I guess this all happened when I was 12. My cousin Lawrence accelerated the education, as did my buddy Forrest’s older brother Mark. We were in Trail, B.C., a town of 10,000 in Canada, on the border two hours above Spokane. Spokane was our record Mecca. Sounds , Melody Maker and later Kerrang! blew our minds and the imports at $7.95 (one buck more than a domestic) began to flow on road trips blasting Angel City and April Wine. Steven : Your main print gig is Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles . What is it you do there and how did the magazine start and how is it different than most metal/rock mags out today? Martin : I edit the whole thing, write to ten to 12 reviews, and usually four to six stories of various sizes. The only difference between our magazine and others out there is its slightly tweaked focus. Our particular idiosyncrasy is that we will chuck in a fair bit of hair metal and old fart metal with the usual progressive, power, death, and black stuff. Our layout and design is nice. We have tons of small-print news. We do a cool thing where we forecast, over two pages, all the metal albums that are coming out in the next year. But other than that, it’s just the usual reviews and interviews with the same bands everybody else talks to, with, like I say, our own minor flavoured differences. We have good writers and bad writers, probably less of a concentration of good writers than Terrorizer or most definitely the big, general rock mags. We include no hardcore or rap-core acts, but pretty much everything else is game. For whatever reason, we are one of the most respected magazines in the industry. We’ll occasionally sling mud, but I wouldn’t call us completely courageous. Nobody is, but we seem to speak out, complain, slag, a shade more than most. Steven : Back in the 70s, magazines like Hit Parader and Circus actually did a decent job of covering hard rock music (and other genres). What do you think of those two mags today and are there any mainstream rock mags out there that you like? Martin : My favourite metal magazines, aside from ours, which I guess is in a tie with these, would be Terrorizer and Metal Maniacs . I loved Creem in its heyday, and nothing made me happier as a kid when I would come home from lunch and find the new issue of Circus in my mail box, except when Lindsay Wagner was on the cover. I bought Hit Parader regularly but I guess even in the late seventies, it was never taken as seriously as Circus . But of course Creem was the vessel of good rock criticism, and they even tolerated hard rock, which was nice. Hit Parader today? Looks the same, haven’t bought one. Circus : one of those situations where a bunch of really inept people have acquired a respected name and turned out trash. Steven : I think it’s interesting that heavy metal is mostly loved by white, male nerdy types and white, male nerdy types are the ones who, many times, turn into rock critics. Yet rock critics scoff at heavy metal and rarely write about it seriously. Why do you think that is? Martin : There’s no serious poetry. The practitioners look ridiculous. And nerdy pasty pencil-armed white males that turn into critics are still worried about getting the girl well into their late twenties, something which new wave, alternative, and watery pop has always gone on about. These people don’t solve their teenage and college years problems. The nerdy, pastly, pencil-armed white males that are metalheads either physically bulk up or, through the encouragement of metal lyrics, develop psychic armour that shields them against life’s inconveniences. Low pay? Doesn’t everybody get low pay? One arm? The other one works just fine in the pit, plus Chuck Billy says it looks cool. Steven : Tell me about your favourite rock critics and rock writers. Who would you say influenced your music writing? Martin : I’ve only actually started looking at the by-lines in the last two years. I don’t think I’m influenced by anybody. When I wrote the self- published version of my reviews book ( Riff Kills Man! in ’93; The Collector’s Guide To Heavy Metal is a double-size ’97 update through a publisher), I was a casual buyer of metal mags, but I certainly had only sporadically seen the work of any of the top tenners through the odd Rolling Stone and Spin . And like I say, it never registered who wrote what. Steven : You may disagree, but I find your writing to be somewhat influenced by Chuck Eddy. In fact, the first time I read something in your Collector’s Guide to Heavy Metal it struck me that you were doing a good imitation of Chuck Eddy doing a good imitation of Robert Christgau. Martin : Well, OK, I forgot something. The first version of that book was based in format on Robert Christgau’s. Simple: this guy hates metal and knows dick about it anyway. Why can’t there be one of these on metal? But the writing, man, if I picked anything up it was sub-subconsciously. Chuck, I love the man, but I can’t say when I started that thing, that I had much clue who he was. Stairway To Hell came out before mine was done, and it actually spurred me on because even though it purported to be about metal, it was yet another filmy, scurrilous, blasphemous attack from upon high, irony being the only poofy abstractism that allowed the man to enjoy any of this stuff at all. I was the straight man, the fanboy. My book sucked bad, and now three years after the ’97 edition, I’m again embarrassed by my ignorance (although the writing is at least tolerable) of various sub-genres, most notably black and death, which I’ve got figured now. Rock crit is taking shape for me now: read the Bangs bio, got the Meltzer anthology, re-reading Bangs anthology, check the by-lines in mags, reading way too many band bios. The Mick Wall was a blast. But then again, he runs a mag now that lacks the courage he used to have. Steven : Who are your all-time favourite heavy metal bands and if you could come up with a Martin Popoff all-time top ten list of greatest HM albums, what would they be? Martin : All music appreciation is so hopelessly wrapped up, clouded, shrouded, bagged and tagged in your own youth-bisecting jaded age demographic, it’s pretty much meaningless asking one’s faves. But me, fore-stamped with a big 37 years of age, I’d have to go with Lizzy, UFO, Sabbath and BOC, and then sidling into modernity, Pantera, Amorphis, Soundgarden, COC, King’s X, Love/Hate, Trouble, and in the mid, I dunno, old Maiden, definitely Priest, old Metallica, Savatage, Ozzy, Faith No More, Sepultura. The rightwnowsies, look how right hip I am’s: Opeth, Dark Tranquillity, In Flames, Hypocrisy, Witchery. The Top Ten Albums: again, even worse rose-clouding broken glasses can’t see objectively but OK: hey, this’ll be fun, in my Goldmine Heavy Metal Records Price Guide , as an appendix, I list my Top Ten’s for each of the 30 years from ’70 to 99. Skimming the roofs of those lists, I spy… IN QUASI-ORDER… Queen 1 , Sab’s Sabotage , Dictators’ Bloodbrothers , Rainbow’s Down To Earth , Metallica – Ride The Lightning , Deep Purple – Purpendicular , Love/Hate – Wasted In America , OK, let’s veer off a bit, Entombed – Uprising , In Flames – Clay Man , (back on) Badlands – Badlands , Zep – Physical Graffitti (OK, thazz higher), King’s X – Dogman . How many’s that? Steven : One of the great things about your HM writing is how you acknowledge bands that are not really HM, but are kind of connected to it (things like BOC, Rush, Iggy Pop, King’s X). Is HM more than people actually think it is? Martin : No, it’s less. The only definition that does me any good is mostly bass/guitar/drums/vocals with lots of fuzz pedal on the guitar, lotsa power chords, plus as a grave marker, a widdly guitar solo. Plus recording wherewithal that only came into effect about 1970. Hey, people, artists, folks all exist on a pinwheel of greyscales. Overlap a thousand of them and there will be a preponderance of pinpricks somewherez and those ones splotch up to mean metal. Iggy makes two more reflective remembrance albums, he falls off the list through bald-faced stats. Same with any other poor sod. That Everclear single points to them leaving any quizzy-in-or-out. Gotta get the album and find out. Rush has worked there way off of many’s Santa-roll. Plus age: Metallica ain’t metal to handfuls of church-burning Norwegian devilmutts. Life gets more extreme allatime. Two dozen not-metals to a 15 year old might strip flesh off of a stillborn pup of a mere 25 years of age. The only reason I have a clue at 37 is I unfortunately study the stuff. Steven : I like British metal mags like Kerrang! and Metal Hammer . Much better than Hit Parader and Circus , I think. What do you think? Who wins the metal mag fight, us or the red coats? Martin : Oh, they do, undoubtedly. Brits just like language, and they like toppling and prodding their stars. They are truly humorous people. But having said that, metal is dead over there. London is worse than Toronto, and that’s big whoop. These mags are all alt.metal’ed these days and the writing has gone downhill since the ’80s. Steven : Do you think fanzines and webzines are helping HM fans by giving them a stage to write about and read about their favourite bands and HM bands they might not of heard about other wise? Martin : Fer sure. Metal’s always been written and mulled over extensively. Many ‘zines and quite fortunately, much net action, I dare say, out of and way above proportion to its Soundscans. Metal has taken to the net like that geek question above would predict. And I think the bands in general have had a healthy attitude about talking to ‘zines. We are a chatty bunch, this three ring circus that we are. Steven : Echoing the punk attitude of bands at the time, Lester Bangs once said that anybody can and should write record reviews. Do you agree with that? Martin : No way. Or if they do, please keep it to yourself. From a purely selfish standpoint, I let art into my world to enhance and elevate the quality of my life. I don’t mind it being somewhat pre-screened so I don’t have to wade through the dishwater. I’d rather minimize the time I spend considering and rejecting, by having a mid or large record label deem something worthy, or have a critic I respect pontificate its glories. Steven : Do you think rock journalism sucks today and if so, why? Martin : Yeah, it’s certainly worse. Maybe because there’s no time and space to navel-gaze. Too much product to glance and gloss over, too many stimulants competing from outside rock, with rock. Any one record was a big deal to (metal-haters) Rolling Stone in 1972. Now, a couple grand can cover a pretty crisp slab o’ tin, so there’s a lot of couple grands getting spent. Steven : Are there any newer HM bands that are coming out today that make you feel like Black Sabbath and Pantera once did in days gone by? Martin : Yeah, Entombed (shoot ’em up alcoholica), Witchery (ditto), American Dog (ditto, redneck). Steven : What kind of future writing projects are you working on? Martin : I gotta do a cut and paste here. I got some potentially big trouble. I’m actually answering these questions in voice recognition software, but I get lazy and don’t use it and keep typing. I’m really worried about carpal tunnel syndrome. I may have to quit this business or really dive into finding the right software so voice recognition can be used more efficiently (I’m on a three year old version of ViaVoice Gold and frankly it sucks in about a dozen buggy ways). If I seem to be really drunkie-economizing my words in these answers, it’s because I’m cringing with every tap of the keyboard. There’ll be mistakes, maybe even odd nonsensicals that are a direct result of me missing a voice recognition correction. But yeah, damn. In fact soon as I finish, I’m running down to the clinic to see a physiotherapist. I’m quite concerned. May have to go get a record label job. But right, you asked something. Here is a cut and paste from my bio: Riff Kills Man! 25 Years Of Recorded Hard Rock & Heavy Metal (1993)–1,945 album reviews, 440 p. The Collector’s Guide To Heavy Metal (1997)–Update of Riff Kills Man! : 3750 album reviews, 540 p., 600,000 words, full-length CD sampler, in fourth printing The Goldmine Price Guide To Heavy Metal Records (2000) –11,800 entries, 300 photos, 368 p., best of list, essays, full-length CD sampler Heavy Metal: 20th Century Rock And Roll (2000)–Part of series, themed as The Fifty Most Influential Bands In Heavy Metal , essays, interview segments, discographies, best of lists, 190p. Books Currently In Writing Stage (publishing secured and scheduled): Southern Rock Review (Q4 2000) The Collector’s Guide to ’70s Metal (Q2 2001) The NWOBHM Singles (est. Q4 2000: self-publishing) Blue Oyster Cult Explained (est. Q4 2000: self-publishing) Yesviews: The Yes Albums and Solo Works Reviewed (est. 2001) The Collector’s Guide To ’80s Metal (2001) The Collector’s Guide To ’90s Metal (2002) The Collector’s Guide To Heavy Metal 197 0 – 2000 Box Set (2002) Steven : Why do you write about HM and why do you think it makes you so happy?