Column

Opinion

No diplomacy. No hedge. Just what I think. This is the bar after a show ; beer in hand, volume still ringing in your ears, saying exactly what you mean.

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What is the forbidden riff?
22 June 2026

What is the forbidden riff?

The forbidden riff is the opening of Led Zeppelin's 'Stairway to Heaven' — informally banned in guitar shops since the early 1990s because beginners learn it first, play it badly, and play it constantly. The term broadened to cover any overplayed guitar riff that shop staff dread hearing on a loop, including Enter Sandman, Smoke on the Water, Sweet Child O' Mine, and Wonderwall.

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Past opinions

AC/DC at Oakland 1979. With Bon Scott, this is what a rock band looks like.
Opinion

AC/DC at Oakland 1979. With Bon Scott, this is what a rock band looks like.

I have always been an AC/DC fan. The 1979 Oakland Coliseum performance of Highway to Hell is the thirty-three-minute proof. Bon Scott on vocals, the Young brothers in their prime, less than a year before Bon would be gone. Forty-six years later, nobody has written a better three-chord rock song.

10 May 2026
UFO. The Band That Time Forgot.
Opinion

UFO. The Band That Time Forgot.

They influenced Tom Morello, Slash, Stone Gossard and Steve Harris. They made one of the greatest live albums in rock. And nobody talks about UFO anymore. That's a crime.

25 April 2026
Support Acts Deserve Better Sound. Always.
Opinion

Support Acts Deserve Better Sound. Always.

The headliner sounds like god and the support sounds like a tin bucket. That's a choice, not a budget. And it's time we stopped pretending otherwise.

9 April 2026
This Week in Metal: April 7-13, 1987
Opinion

This Week in Metal: April 7-13, 1987

Helloween dropped Future World, Headbangers Ball was days away, and a kid in Belgium packed his cassettes for university.

6 April 2026
7 Forgotten Metal Bands From the 1980s
Opinion

7 Forgotten Metal Bands From the 1980s

Seven 80s metal bands that had the riffs, the attitude, and the talent. They just didn't have the timing. Or the MTV budget.

17 December 2025
The Strange Case of Draugveil
Opinion

The Strange Case of Draugveil

Black metal, Reddit drama, and a band nobody can agree on. The internet did its thing again. Here's why none of it matters.

13 July 2025
10 Rock Songs That Were BRUTALLY Banned
Opinion

10 Rock Songs That Were BRUTALLY Banned

The PMRC's Filthy Fifteen. AC/DC, Judas Priest, Venom, all blacklisted in the '80s. Today's lyrics are ten times worse and nobody cares. What changed?

31 May 2025
Belgium's Metal Bands That Deserve Your Attention
Opinion

Belgium's Metal Bands That Deserve Your Attention

Belgium punches way above its weight in metal. From 80s speed metal pioneers to the H8000 hardcore scene. Here's why you should care.

6 August 2023
Heavy Metal and Aggression
Opinion

Heavy Metal and Aggression

Does heavy metal make you aggressive? Science says no. A study in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience actually found the opposite.

5 July 2023