Thursday, 4 August 2011

My simple thoughts on "The 50 Greatest Rockstars in the World Today"

 It seems that this week's issue, Kerrang! stirred some controversy in publishing a list known as "The 50 Greatest Rockstars in the World Today". A reason for this was due to the fact that the figure who made the Number 1 title was someone completely unexpected, who is not exactly an iconic figure, as many were expecting. I did some thinking while waiting for the issue to arrive at my doorstep (admittedly there wasn't a whole lot thought since my higher exam results arrived on the same day) and came to a conclusion that K! would surely pick some kind of rock icon to receive number one position, an individual who is viewed as a legend and loved by all. Someone like Slash, Dave Grohl, Ozzy Osbourne, maybe Bruce Dickinson or even one of my icons, Corey Taylor, since he's certainly led a rockstar life. Others thought Kerrang! would give the title to one of the many figures who make frequent appearances in the pages of the magazines, to appeal to the kind of people who's messages often appear on the Feedback page. Basically, they thought the title would go to someone like Gerard Way of My Chemical Romance, Jared Leto of 30 Seconds to Mars, Hayley Williams of Paramore or Josh Franceschi of You Me At Six.
 However, Kerrang! did what essentially was the right thing. They picked someone who creates a truly unique sound, who is incredibly hard-working, and puts his heart and soul into his music. And with that, they have picked the frontman of a band who are not known to everyone in the world. A band that admittedly, I only started listening to after discovering about this list and who had topped it. The band in question is a LA hardcore group called letlive., and their frontman Jason Aalon Butler, has been named The Greatest Rockstar in the World Today by Kerrang!.
 Unsurprisingly, the reaction by many was negative with remarks like "Who the fuck is letlive?" spreading around the place, as many were demanding more iconic figures. Though I wasn't too aware of the band, I think it's great that K! has chosen to feature Butler as Number 1, as bands like letlive. are some of the most hard-working and passionate in the music scene today and really deserve more recognition and this is a great sign for these bands.
 Needless to say, many iconic figures who I imagined would make Number 1 were featured throughout the list including Dave Grohl and Corey Taylor, as well as Angus Young, Gene Simmons, Lemmy, Josh Homme, Nikki Sixx and Marilyn Manson. Similarly, various figures that would appeal to Kerrang!'s frequent pop-rock loving readers were featured, including Jared Leto, Hayley Williams, Josh Franceschi, as well as Alex Gaskarth of All Time Low and Matt Bellamy of Muse.
 Surprisingly, Gerard Way made no appearance in the list, which must have really pissed of loads of readers. Instead, MCR guitarist Frank Iero, who often has often had less to say than his fellow bandmates, made an appearance on the list. This was great to see, as Frank really is the heart and talent of My Chemical Romance. For me I particularly enjoyed this as MCR are a band I have looked up to for a long time now, plus I've only very recently started learning to play rhythm guitar, so Frank is someone who I genuinely look up to amongst several other guitarists.
 Well, that's all I really have to say on the feature. I think the people on the list have been well picked though I may perhaps do some re-arranging. if you're reading this and haven't read the issue yet, I'm sorry if I've given some things away, but go read it anyway. It's really worth a look at and I can only hope they do it again this time next year.

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