Okay, I confess: I'm a metalhead. Which doesn't stop me from enjoying The Grateful Dead, or Beethoven, or Son Searls, or even John Denver. But there are days when what I really want is some "heathenous" (Flora's term) AC/DC, Black Sabbath, or whatever. The best concert I've ever attended was Black Sabbath's reunion tour with Ozzy... and in its aftermath, I composed the only free verse I've ever published.
Winds of Change has also dealt with the power of Rock N' Roll as a potent cultural weapon.
So it's no surprise that Andrew Iain Dodge is a Brit whose comments on metal music and culture rate highly with this Canadian rocker. He leads off with a series of essays about the link between Rock N' Roll and liberty:
* Sex, Drugs & Rock N' Roll Series
He probably should have kept them together for easier reading, because they aren't that long. But reception was very positive, and some prodding from InstaPundit led him to publish a pair of follow-up essays.
* The Heavy Metal Crowd
* Hard Rock's Softer Side: The Power Ballad
If you're a metalhead, or a tough chick - or would like to date/understand one - these essays are for you.
UPDATE: Catallaxy Files responds with a similar post about Jazz, another insidious Western vice with a proud history of driving haters and totalitarians crazy. But then, WoC readers already knew that.
FYI: The second best concert I've ever attended was The Grateful Dead at Copps Colliseum; #3 was George Thorogood at the Ottawa Civic Centre, a small venue that held only 2,000 or so. George is something else live, and in a small venue... it was impressive.
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