Bloody Good News: The Decade In Rock, Iron Maiden Returning, & Meat Loaf's Meat Head

Our Top Story: Billboard released a list of the top rock songs of the past decade, and there has perhaps not been any better indicator of the state of rock than the collection of songs that populated this list. Of the top ten songs, three were from Twenty-One Pilots, one was Panic At The Disco's ultimate sell-out song, and the top three were all from Imagine Dragons. The grating "Believer", and the truly horrendous "Thunder" were, according to the Billboard metrics, the top two rock songs of the last ten years. Seriously.

We all know that rock is not popular these days. It hasn't been in a long time, and since I don't derive my validation from outside reinforcement, I've never been one to mind this fact. If no rock songs make it onto the list of true hits, that's fine with me. What is less fine is the situation we're dealing with here, where we have songs that are not rock being categorized as such, if for no other purpose than to make it look like the genre is still popular. It's a cheap, shady way of trying to prop up rock in the mainstream, but all it does is dilute what rock means, and make rock fans who are already sore even more upset.

More than that, it serves as a reward for bands that have changed (for the worse) what rock is. There's a running joke online about various rock bands being eaten by the 'imagine dragon'. It's not entirely a joke, as this decade saw far too many rock bands turning down their guitars, adding electronic percussion, and play-acting as pop. Imagine Dragons wasn't the first, but they made it popular, and we have been suffering ever since. Maybe the reason rock can't get popular is because no one knows what it is anymore. When we have to throw Imagine Dragons and Tool into the same genre, perhaps its too unwieldy a term to use anymore. Our disappointment might only be a function of cross expectations.

In Other News: Rumors are now in the air that 2020 could see the release of a new Iron Maiden album. Longtime producer Kevin Shirley mentioned that he spent a portion of 2019 in France working on a secret project, while at the same time Bruce Dickinson had been spotted in the same place. And with 2020 marking five years since the release of "The Book Of Souls", the time is right for a new Iron Maiden album to grace our ears. The question is what direction the band is going to take, after going further down the progressive rabbit hole than ever before last time out.

I seemed to be one of the very, very few who thought this way, but "Empire Of The Clouds" was one of my least favorite Iron Maiden songs since their reunion. It seemed that everyone loved how epic it was, but eighteen minutes was just too much for me. So was two discs, but that's another matter. The band has been trending in that direction for two decades now, but when they finally reached the zenith, I didn't like the view. It's not that I don't want a new Iron Maiden album, but I'm worried what lessons they took from the critical acclaim their received.

I loved "Brave New World" and "Dance Of Death", despite their overly repetitive choruses, "A Matter Of Life And Death" was great, and "The Final Frontier" is my favorite of the lot. But I fear they have stretched things to the limits. I hope I'm wrong, but with Steve Harris having British Lion to (poorly) get out his other side, I'm apprehensive.

And Also: I've had it lucky when it comes to artists who have meant something to me not being total assholes. That has come to an end, with the news made when Meat Loaf said he feels bad for "brainwashed" climate activist Greta Thurnberg, as he does not believe climate change exists. I know it might be asking too much of someone who spent an entire season of a shitty reality show hanging out and palling around with Donald Trump, but it's sad to see that someone whose work is a part of you can so easily deny reality.

There's a difference between not thinking something is a crisis and denying that it's happening. We can disagree on whether climate change is something that needs to be addressed right now, and how we go about doing it, but facts on the ground can't be so easily swept under the rug. The world is changing. We can all see it. We can all feel it. Even where I live, weather patterns have changed from when I was a kid. It's blatantly obvious, and it's a sign of ignorance that someone would convince themselves that the truth is a lie.

And this is why people have long held the opinion that artists should shut up about politics. I'm not saying that, but they need to be careful. Anytime you say something on a controversial subject, you are bound to anger a large portion of your fans. And with the times being as polarized as they are, not everyone is going to be able to swallow hard and accept that their favorite artists are on the other side of the aisle. Artists need to know the risks when they speak, and make sure they are careful with their words. Being on the other side of an issue is far different than being a belligerent jerk about it, which is where Meat Loaf falls. There is simply no excuse for insulting a child who wants to save the planet that people of Meat Loaf's generation have spent their entire lives bringing to the brink of disaster.

At least Jim Steinman wrote most of the Meat Loaf songs I like, so I can still justify in my own head listening to the music as being a fan of his (not that I didn't say that before).