[67726e]

This brought to mind the documentary series Metal Evolution[0] and the episode on shock rock. The episode progressed from the origins of the genre to what we have today, from Alice Cooper to Marilyn Manson and to Rammstein. What would probably be the money quotes come from Alice Cooper and Till Lindemann, of Rammstein. Everyone was asked the question "what would it take to shock an audience today" - Cooper said something along the lines of eating your own arm. Lindemann said killing oneself on stage might do it. Something that struck me when I started writing this comment is how I don't even consider Rammstein's schtick one bit shocking, and considering the finale of the last concert I attended involved Till riding a giant phallus cannon spraying white foam on the audience while singing a song titled "Pussy". Seeing that in an arena with 15,000 other people would probably have been inconceivable just a generation ago, and makes some of Manson's tearing up a bible look innocent, which in turn made Cooper's guillotine routine and boa constrictor look quite quaint.

It seems each generation has become "desensitized" and it would take an act more shocking than ever before to provoke a reaction. But in an age where you can pull up the most depraved acts of sex and violence at will, people are finding themselves (acting?) shocked at something so laughable it seems unbelievable.

[0] - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metal_Evolution

[dagw]

If Rammstein really where dedicated to shocking their audience they would, without any warning, open their next world tour by having Till walk on to an empty stage lit by a single spotlight, sit on a stool and do a 1 hour, non-ironic solo acoustic guitar set, and then get up and leave. End of show.

[67726e]

What really made me think though, is that I never once thought of them as "shock rock" and even found their presence on the show, ironically shocking and misplaced. I'm in my early twenties, so I was a little late to the whole Marilyn Manson/Columbine show, and Cooper has always been a relic to me, but seeing a contemporary band I enjoy labelled shocking was rather odd to me. Of course I'm an American and Rammstein, though popular, was never in the spotlight so I was also never in a situation to have my parents question my choice in that particular band so that may factor into my lack of perspective.

The term is really just something for the previous generation to apply to something they find distasteful or scary. Sitting here writing about it really made me comprehend that term. I suppose +1 for rubber ducking.