Metal Forever

True, but the rockstar image is also associated with the hordes of indie and emo bands, and they are the ones that are actually shifting the records in mainstream volumes.

Then why not kill off punk in its infancy, and all those indie and emo bands will draw from metal roots instead of punk ones?
 
Then why not kill off punk in its infancy, and all those indie and emo bands will draw from metal roots instead of punk ones?

Well from punk came hardcore and the actual proper emo bands, get rid of that and the current metal genre is a very, very different place. And most likely not in a good way either.

You could probably butterfly away the mainstream emo bands of today and turn them into something else without much trouble. But indie as a genre has been around a long time, I don't think you can kill off indie rock to be honest.
 
This timeline is definitely down my alley. Here's what I think would have to happen...

- Metallica puts out And Justice For All as critics praise the album with Cliff Burton's innovative bass playing alongside James Hetfield's epic lyric writing.

Also, on the note of Metallica, they end up winning the grammys for best hard rock act as opposed to getting "robbed" by Jethro Tull.

- Diamond Darrell and Vinnie Paul quit Megadeth citing "extreme creative and personal differences" with Dave Mustaine. The Abbott brothers go on to reform Pantera and Cowboys From Hell sells more units as the Abbott brothers are more well known in this TL. The experience with Dave Mustaine also helps the Abbott brothers in learning how to deal with drug-addicted band members (Applies later on).

- Despite the Seattle Grunge movement, Anthrax does NOT get kicked from their label and therefore continues to produce good but not incredible selling albums throughout the 90's.

- A relatively new metal band in the early 90's from Seattle known as Alice in Chains decides to stay with a more traditional heavy metal sound as opposed to jumping on the Grunge bandwagon.

- For some reason, American record companies start focusing on the music coming out of Europe in the mid 90's, specifically in Scandinavia. Therefore, bands like Mayhem, Dimmu Borgir, In Flames, Darkthrone, Hammerfall, and Blind Guardian become more prominent earlier on in North America.

- A little known band from California known as Death Angel is able to perform on the Clash of the Titans tour as in this TL, their drummer Andy Galeon is not seriously injured in a car accident. Although in OTL, they were replaced by AIC, the result of Death Angel doing the tour is a delayed awareness and perhaps lessened impact of the Seattle movement. (Perhaps this would be what inspires AIC to stay with a more metal sound and image)

- Nirvana is never picked up by any major labels, and as a result, they are seen as a respectable indie band but nothing more. Nirvana eventually breaks up later in the 90's and fades into music trivia obscurity.

(OK, so I know that my timeline format isn't exactly the most coherent but maybe somebody can piggyback off of these ideas.)

- Oh, and Cradle of Filth fill the niche that normally Marilyn Manson would.

Jethro Tull is awesome
 
Why not have punk become and metal mix and have emo and indie butterflied away?

Punk meeting the NWOBHM is what got us thrash metal.

In my opinion, metal was indeed on the verge. It had sex appeal and was definitely a mainstream success due to bands receiving airplay on MTV. Unfortunately for them, Nirvana hit it big and essentially stopped the movement in the cradle. You had the more mainstream acts like Bon Jovi and Motley Crue making a killing in album sales and even the edgier bands like Metallica, Megadeth, Anthrax and Slayer gaining acceptance. Considering many of the metal acts have survived in some form or another, the culprit lies not with the lack of sex appeal (Dimebag actually lacked the facial hair back during Pantera's glam days) or catchy lyrics (many bands had them) but with record companies going with the Seattle movement.

The best solution would be to kill the Seattle movement in the grave. It didn't last long anyway, but it had enough of an impact that it drove popular music away from the more complicated metal. Early Nirvana was a lot angrier than what it eventually became, but they could easily have disbanded in the 1980's. Without Nirvana to throw a wrench in the works, bands like Alice in Chains and Soundgarden (these guys were simply too talented and could have adjusted) probably still make it. I'd say Pearl Jam becomes a footnote.

It would also be important to prevent a few key band breakups. Rob Halford left Judas Priest and Bruce Dickinson left Iron Maiden, which didn't help. You could also probably keep Ronnie James Dio in Black Sabbath for a few more years before 1970's nostalgia (the same that helped reunite Kiss) gets them to reunite with Ozzy Osbourne in the late 1990's. Many bands were trending heavier as well, like Pantera and Skid Row did. Music festivals could definitely help the situation, which could perhaps be a proto-Ozzfest of sorts.

I honestly think the underground thrash metal scene would still implode in favor of death metal. The bands coming out of Florida help form a new underground scene while a band like Iced Earth, also out of Florida but not death metal, might find more commercial success with the addition of Matt Barlow. Meanwhile, a new wave of metal coming out of Europe and the United States, consisting of progressive of power metal acts, would inject new life into the metal scene.

Or that's just how I see it.
 
You'd also have to perhaps tone down the more "occult" lyrics of certain bands. After all, most people will freely admit that slayer's best work is the south of heaven/seasons in the abyss era where they started dealing less with occult themes and more songs about society like expendable youth or silent scream (as well as the subtle addition of melody in some songs).
 
Some things to consider about music in that timeframe:

The 80's was filled with dance-friendly, synthesizer-heavy pop music. I can definitely see MTV and radio programmers looking to embrace something different, as they did. In OTL, that was grunge. The pendulum will likely swing back, as seen in the late 90's, no matter what becomes the trend.

1991 saw the introduction of Nielsen SoundScan, which accurately tracked album sales at point of sale, rather than relying on reports from stores. The old system tended to boost the rankings of popular artists.

At the same time, there was the rise of rap and pop-leaning country (Garth Brooks). I suspect most country fans were older, and wouldn't listen to metal, but perhaps metal can be what all those disaffected suburban youths embrace instead of rap or grunge.

What influence does the modern rock format have? I think a fair number of the grunge bands were first embraced by college stations and then modern rock. What would make college tastemakers embrace metal? I think it would be perceived as a tired throwback to the 80s and 70s.
 
Punk meeting the NWOBHM is what got us thrash metal.

In my opinion, metal was indeed on the verge. It had sex appeal and was definitely a mainstream success due to bands receiving airplay on MTV. Unfortunately for them, Nirvana hit it big and essentially stopped the movement in the cradle. You had the more mainstream acts like Bon Jovi and Motley Crue making a killing in album sales and even the edgier bands like Metallica, Megadeth, Anthrax and Slayer gaining acceptance. Considering many of the metal acts have survived in some form or another, the culprit lies not with the lack of sex appeal (Dimebag actually lacked the facial hair back during Pantera's glam days) or catchy lyrics (many bands had them) but with record companies going with the Seattle movement.

The best solution would be to kill the Seattle movement in the grave. It didn't last long anyway, but it had enough of an impact that it drove popular music away from the more complicated metal. Early Nirvana was a lot angrier than what it eventually became, but they could easily have disbanded in the 1980's. Without Nirvana to throw a wrench in the works, bands like Alice in Chains and Soundgarden (these guys were simply too talented and could have adjusted) probably still make it. I'd say Pearl Jam becomes a footnote.

It would also be important to prevent a few key band breakups. Rob Halford left Judas Priest and Bruce Dickinson left Iron Maiden, which didn't help. You could also probably keep Ronnie James Dio in Black Sabbath for a few more years before 1970's nostalgia (the same that helped reunite Kiss) gets them to reunite with Ozzy Osbourne in the late 1990's. Many bands were trending heavier as well, like Pantera and Skid Row did. Music festivals could definitely help the situation, which could perhaps be a proto-Ozzfest of sorts.

I honestly think the underground thrash metal scene would still implode in favor of death metal. The bands coming out of Florida help form a new underground scene while a band like Iced Earth, also out of Florida but not death metal, might find more commercial success with the addition of Matt Barlow. Meanwhile, a new wave of metal coming out of Europe and the United States, consisting of progressive of power metal acts, would inject new life into the metal scene.

Or that's just how I see it.

I don't think you have to kill the Seattle movement. Seattle actually had a lot of good bands and musicians coming out of there in the late 80's and early 90's. Of course, the record labels felt that they had to sign Nirvana along with their horrible copycat bands because of their semi-success in the Pacific Northwest. Simply keep Nirvana on an indie label throughout the 90's and have Alice in Chains be the face of the Seattle movement. AIC were much better lyric writers and musicians than Nirvana. Now that I think about, do sign Nirvana but have Kurt Cobain not kill himself. As a result, this average at best songwriter doesn't become a martyr to the music media and all these teenage girls who think he's "hot".
 
The thing about grunge is that half of its success was a reaction to hair metal. So for no grunge movement, the hair metal scene either is butterflied away, or the bands stay heavier like in 81-85 (w.a.s.p., quiet riot, twisted sister, ratt, early crue, early lep). Maybe have bon jovi quit before slippery when wet, poisons debut to flop, somehow prevent rick allen's accident and have lep get a different producer for the follow-up to pyromania (which would now come out in 85-86 since theres no rick allen car crash) as opposed to mutt lange, and a heavier hair metal scene could thrive (gnr and skid row could also be in as they were heavier, though gnr would have to make a less bombastic version of the illusion albums).
 
The big misconception is that a lot of bands were grouped into the glam metal scene, but some of them definitely didn't belong in that category. There's also a fact that a lot of the major players in that scene imploded. Vince Neil left Motley Crue and Ratt practically disintegrated. They didn't need the image and you certainly don't see the same image of the 1980's with most of those bands today. The scene fit the 1980's, but was left out to dry in the early 1990's. Obviously the demand for metal never ceased, but there was simply a severe lack of it being delivered to the hungry American audience.
 
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