The time we can't go back to (early 1990s metal)

Some stuff concerning music scenes and styles are timeless, while others get dated, stay dated and never return.

One of those "never-return" eras is that oh-so brief period in the very-early 1990s where metal ruled the day. And the best example of this is the video of Nothing Else Matters by Metallica because it basically shows everything that was perceived to be cool back then.

That video is a real time capsule and shows what every rock band back at that time wanted to be. A bunch of guys in a studio with gear everywhere just recording stuff, and then hanging out.

You get to see how music used to be recorded, as in on reel-to-reel tape where the machine is loaded and getting prepped for recording. Nobody records that way anymore because digital is just so much easier.

Because Metallica at the time had a ton of money to blow, you see a whole lot of ritzy, expensive guitars used, and other guitars you ordinarily never see the band play. In the video, a Gretsch White Falcon is seen as well as a butterscotch Fender Telecaster and even a Gibson 12-string double neck. And yeah, you also see your fair share of ESP guitars that the band favored at the time (and still does as far as I know), but a Gibson Flying V sneaks its way in there along with a Jackson Rhoads V.

Guitars are guitars are guitars and yeah we all get that. But as for the style, oh yeah, very dated.

The standard "trying to look like a badass" metalhead look of the early 90s was to wear a black t-shirt, blue or black jeans, black boots or running shoes and the heavy black leather coat with as many shiny bits on it as possible.

And yes, it was the biker's coat that completed the look. But at the same time it's what made metalheads of the early 1990s look so stupid.

Now as far as motorcycle-use purposes are concerned, yes, the biker's heavy leather coat does have legitimate reasons to exist. However, a bunch of kids bought leather biker coats back in the day just because they saw James Hetfield wearing one as seen in the video. But see, here's the thing: James actually rides and that's why he wore them. But kids didn't know that and just bought the coats because they thought they looked cool...

...and buying a leather biker's coat but not owning a motorcycle so you can use the coat for its intended purpose is just dumb.

Nobody wants a repeat of the bullshit that happened in the early 90s with metal

What happened in the early 90s with metal is something that at the time was just plain awful. You had to sound and dress a specific way to be "considered metal". Metalheads of the time were so unbelievably stuck-up that you'd think they were all participating in some warped beauty contest. Many metalheads back then were just as bad as the glam rockers in many respects.

Yes, there there is the threat of a brand new crop of stuck-up metalheads doing the same crap the last generation did where they want to do that warped beauty contest nonsense all over again, but fortunately those morons are called out for what they are.

And as far as the younger metalhead crowd that says you need $4,000 worth of guitar hardware (guitar + amp + effects, etc.) just to get a metal sound, my response to that would be a bird flipped in your face.

I've proven time and time again you don't need expensive guitars nor do you need expensive amps/effects/whatever to get metal tone. I can get metal tone on a bone stock Squier that sells for under $150 new, can do it easily and posted videos to prove it.

Early-90s metal is not a time you want to come back, trust me. "Fitting in to be a misfit" sounds stupid, right? That's because it is. Don't do that. Do your own thing instead. Dress how you want and sound how you want, because that's the only way to fly.

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Published 2013 May 17