I remember the old days back in the early nineties. I had a massive amount of hair on my head, nearly touching the ground, which didn`t make my parents too happy. But the girls back then liked it and I felt somehow cooler that way. Don`t forget that this was the time before Nirvana made all cool stuff seem un-cool.

Monday was the hardest day at school. Not because I hated going there (which I really did) but because I was tired as hell. The reason? Well, every Sunday night my favourite show was running at 23:50. It was Headbanger`s Ball and Vanessa Warwick was the hottest VJ in the world.

(Vanessa Warick, MTV VJ and Metal-hottie)

I was a Metal head and I guess I would still consider myself as one of the people who are into that kind of “Mucke” (that`s the German slang-term for music). I didn`t listen to Metal just for the sake of it. In fact I was very picky about the bands I liked. I remember the first time I listened to Ozzy`s masterpiece “No more tears” or my very first experience with a then total unknown band called “Dream Theater”. That was in 1991. God, I really get old.

Take the time, Dream Theaters first video on MTV Europe

Well, lets come to the point. What I really want to tell you about was what I liked about Headbanger`s Ball most. It was not about seeing videos from my favourite bands. It was the complete difference. What I most enjoyed was seeing so many videos and interviews of bands that I didn`t know and would`t even think about checking out. If you were Metal and you had a proper video you were on that show. And that was really cool. No, it was really the best thing that could happen to a narrow minded teenager as I was. By waiting for my favourite bands I was somehow forced to watch all that other music. And soon I discovered that there was so much more out there than just those 10 bands that I liked.

In 1996 Headbanger`s Ball was cancelled by MTV. By that time I had already moved out of my parents house and started my studying at university. I had better things to do then watching TV.

Today I discovered something very interesting. I found out that over the years I have go a new medium that delivers me fresh music and new bands. Like Headbanger`s Ball most of them I would never buy. But it is really cool to listen to them and to discover new territory. I`m talking about the infamous Blabbermouth. Yes, it`s the Metal gossip blog somehow sponsored by the metal label Roadrunner. Many people like it, a lot more (especially bands) hate it. They are fast, they are mean and they let their users speak out loudly.

Nothing of this is of any interest to me. What I really care about are the videos that are posted at the end of almost every blog entry. What I find the coolest is that every day I can surf through 20-30 new post. That means A LOT of new bands to discover.

Blabbermouth, the most useless blog in the world (with the best videos to discover)

Forget about all the shitty rumours that are being distributed on Blabbermouth. Cherish the sheer ability to have a new and completely independent Headbanger`s Ball.  Wait, independent? Yes. The reason is so simple: Showing videos is not their basic idea. It just something they think is cool to deliver. There is no interest in selecting bands because their label is paying a few bucks for it. This part is really completely independent.

I like Blabbermouth. And if you are into Metal you should too. Forget about the gossip and NEVER read the user comments. Just watch those great videos!

PS: No, I`m not paid to write this. I just had a bottle of excelent Italian wine and I felt like sharing it