Monday, April 6, 2009

Congratulations are in order (Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Class of 2009)!

The Class of 2009 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame class was inducted this past Saturday.

Two of the largest artists of my generation were inducted: Metallica and Run-DMC.

If you read the introduction to the blog, you may know how much of a role Metallica plays in my hard rock listening.

Metallica is probably the most influential hard rock band of the last 20 years. 

I'd be hard pressed to find a hard rock artist...any artist for that matter to have a better run of critically acclaimed albums through the first five of their career (Kill 'Em All, Ride the Lightning, Master of Puppets, ...And Justice For All, Metallica).

And when you can say that your biggest critical failure still sold millions, you'd damn well better be in the Hall of Fame.

Run-DMC is only the second hip-hop act to be inducted, but their induction means more to rock than many will ever know.

The 1986 remake of Aerosmith's "Walk This Way" is one of the most successful collaborations in music history. Rap wouldn't be nearly as popular as it is today without that song. It made rap-rock possible. The genre has many great artists including Rage Against the Machine and earlier Linkin Park, but that song made it abundantly clear that no one would do it better.

And that makes it all the more tragic that Jason Mizell, otherwise known as Jam-Master Jay, could not participate in the festivities. He died tragically in a hail of bullets on October 30, 2002.

While Run-DMC may not have performed, their music has and will continue to stand the test of time. 

No comments: