I had posted this in another thread, and thought it deserved it own thread. I also wanted other folks who don't wander into political threads often to read it.
A friend of mine looked at Presidents and music. For us metalheads, it is better to have a Republican in office. Going back to the 60's, it started with Kennedy being shot in '63. LBJ took over at the end of '63. the Beatles landed in '64. Along with the Rolling Stones and the hippie movement, music took a big leap, talking about more important things, things that touch and effect the lives of people. Whether you like the music or not,(I am not a big Beatles fan) it was a pivotal time in music.
Moving to the 70's, With Tricky Dick at the helm, Black Sabbath appeared. The godfathers of all metal, bringing power chords to the fore. Of course, there were other bands that had an edge to them, but Black Sabbath were bringing some dark imagery and scaring the normals. Personally, I also dig 3 Dog Night, but that is probably cause my Dad would occasionally wake me up with Jeremiah Was A Bullfrog blaring.
Enter Jimmy Carter. And bring on disco. Nuff said.
However, towards the end of his term, and the beginning of Reagan stint, punk exploded. Both here and across the pond. Punk rose in popularity, along with bands like Iron Maiden. The longer Reagan was in office, the more metal came out. Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, Anthrax, the list goes on. You also get hair metal, death metal, and it just keeps branching off from there.
As G.H.W Bush takes over, metal hits a Peak. Also, grunge and alternative music are introduce.Pearl Jam, Nirvana, and Alice in Chains take over. Some don't agree, but I feel they are part of metal. They have all the elements anyway. Interestingly at the same time, Machine Head and Fear Factory start to form. Machine head takes metal and brings it down. The down tune their guitars, and use baritone instruments to reach new sonic depths. Fear Factory took that industrial sound Nine Inch Nails brought to your ears and makes it truly a mechanized, driving force.
Enter Bill Clinton. During his term, America experienced arguably the best economic times in its history. However, it also drudged through some of the shittiest music, in my opinion. I couldn't stand Oasis. And the best metal to arrive at that time was Limp Bizkit. Ewwwwww.
A new millennium arrives, and so does a new leader of the Free world. With Bush in office, we see a proliferation of some of the heaviest, hardest metal yet. Couple that with technology, where people can record a professional sounding record at home, and internet file sharing, metal proliferates like it did in the 80's. Limewire, Napster, and other file sharing site are the new millenniums version of mix tapes. Killswitch Engage. Mastodon, Lamb of God, all just bring it to a new level. Hell, Gojira, from France of all places, take eco concerns and things that would please a hippie and and makes it cacophony to make you ears bleed.
With Obama in office, I haven't really been impressed with any new band. Would that change with Romney in the oval office? History says yes.
Can anyone add to this theory? Do you have your own music theory?
