I Love Metal

One of my favorite Black Sabbath albums: Sabbath Bloody Sabbath

I'm referring to the music: not steel or aluminum.  I own many CDs, but against all common sense, I'm in the midst of shopping for even more, because there is a big sale going on at a website that sells metal CDs.  I really, and I mean really, shouldn't buy any more, but sometimes I can't help myself.
Ever since I was a kid, I've listened to hard-rock bands like AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, and Van Halen.  I was one of the last to switch from cassettes to CDs.  Similarly, I still listen to CDs, and I don't have an MP3 player.  I also don't own a cell phone, so I'm always at least a step behind.  Although, I don't own a cell phone because I hate them.  When it came time to buy my first CD, I chose a greatest hits album by Black Sabbath, because I had always liked Paranoid and Iron Man.  I wasn't very familiar with them beyond those two songs.  I was blown away by the CD I bought.  I now have 16 Sabbath albums.  I also had remembered liking a couple of Iron Maiden songs when I was younger.  So I bought their album Number of the Beast.  Again, I was blown away.  Now I have 12 of their albums.  There are many metal bands, and quite a few very different-sounding styles among them.  But, in my opinion, Sabbath and Maiden are the Beatles and the Stones of metal; they're the best.
It's a shame that people stereotype metal and their fans.  It's as wrong to stereotype a metal fan as it is to stereotype someone because of their race, creed, ethnicity, gender, or sexual orientation.  Some people assume that all metal bands and their fans are satanists.  That's ridiculous.  In my collection, there are satanic bands and christian bands.  It doesn't matter to me; all I care about is the music.  And I believe in neither God nor Satan.  Although, if I found out that a band went so far as to sacrifice humans or animals, then of course I would not buy their albums.
Metal is a worldwide phenomenon.  Metal fans exist in nearly every nation: even in countries where they might cut your hands off if they caught you playing metal.
Why do I like it so much?  I didn't really choose it; it chose me.  I love the energy and the power of it.  Even when I buy a metal album and it turns out that I don't like it very much, at least I can usually exercise to it.  I also find a lot of truth in metal.  Much of it is dark: just like life.  So many people happily bring people into this world, gleefully ignoring the fact that EVERYONE is going to die.  There is a whole sub-genre of metal called death metal, so, obviously, this sort of music isn't sweeping death under the carpet, which is something that so many people try to do.
Since I'm a vegan, this sometimes clashes with my tastes in metal.  For instance, I like Judas Priest.  They're a great band.  I just wish they hadn't fetishized leather as much as they have.  There's nothing cool or sexy about leather; it's just dead innocent animal skin.  At least the guys in Judas Priest admit that they are a metal band.  I've read that Ozzy Osbourne was irritated at the suggestion that he was a metal artist, claiming that he was "rock and roll."  If that's true, then he should be ashamed of himself.  Metal fans have made him a very rich man.  I won't buy anymore of his albums, because he has bitten the head off a dove and killed a bunch of cats, among other cruel things he's done to animals.  Of course, he was probably out of his mind on drugs when he did these things, but that's no excuse, and, even worse, he seems to think these things he did are funny; he doesn't seem to be apologetic about it at all.  In my opinion, Ozzy is the luckiest man in the history of metal. Right from the beginning, he's been surrounded by great musicians.  He, of course, established his name with Black Sabbath, which I think is a situation where the music clearly overshadowed his vocals.
I was watching TV one day, and they were talking about the video for Faith No More's "Epic," which ends with a fish out of water flopping around.  Then they mentioned that PETA had complained about that.  Scott Ian, of Anthrax, appeared on the show.  His response to all of that, to the best of my memory, was f--- the fish and f--- PETA.  My immediate thought was f--- Anthrax.  At that point, I already had an Anthrax greatest hits album, so not buying any more of their albums was a very easy thing for me to do.
I love metal, but I don't care how great you are, if you f--- with animals, I won't buy your records.