My Long Overdue WREKage Rant

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DarkWolfen
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My Long Overdue WREKage Rant

Post by DarkWolfen » Fri February 11th, 2005, 6:22 am

On WREKage the average I count is 92 bands that are played that I don't give a damn about. But the hosts hype them up when they all sound the same. After about the 2nd hour of Dan's fecal metal hour I started to think, after the band Cryptopsy, I thought jesus I really don't like music this damn much! I don't know how any intelligent person can't breakdown this bullshit. Makes me wonder if the typical WREKage fan is a bleeding moron that takes any band this show gives them. Here's a newsflash guys, this goes for all music in general but since there's this bravado to metal I think you guys need to open your ears.

Its the body of the song most times, 4 - 8 lines...a chorus...more body lines like another 4-8 lines again roughly rhyming ABAB, then the chorus again...then a solo then the chorus that is every Metallica song, its every Type O Negative song its in Opeth's songs its even in motown songs! Goddamn, and metal is so masculine and tough and all that bullshit but its got the same song structure as black motor city music? Opeth might as well be singing Tears of a clown or some other pop bullshit. But this isn't my main rant, just a sub-rant. :mrgreen:

These fuckin songs aren't original, the music for the melodic stuff, complicated and eccentric, but can be original. But like we have been through before with those bozo hosts, "its a metal show not a mellow song show" that is what gets the oldest about the show, you have one fuckin host that comes in at the end of the show that plays something that has some melody to it and the rest of you guys play shit that if I dropped a spoon down a garbage disposal it would sound like that. But I complained about this to BoB so this isn't anything new. Its just the hemophiliac on a bad day kind of show.

One thing I can say is Paul (and Bid when he existed) takes chances in some ways of playing "Changing gear" songs but the rest of you, your segments are all the same. If you looked back to a set you guys did in Summer of 2004, you are doing the same shit. It is rather comical that when Dan plays doom metal its like, 'I can't believe I just slowed this set down with that' :lol: This is a good example, god fuckin forbid the station play something that isn't bash your brains on the coffee table metal all the time! The hosts are deciding that the only music that they call "metal" is what they say it is, thus that is all you are ever playing. But you are here to promote the local market of sameness metal or the acts touring from outside of GA and alright that's what radio stations do, I have no problem with that. But once these acts leave the city or their new album isn't new anymore, you seem to lose the album or lose interest in the music or style. But I understand that, because the hosts (for the most part) are in their early 20's, so you are quickly burning out the old because you grew up listening to it or whatever. But this local market in Georgia hasn't had a single metal act that has been that original, that wasn't a sound-alike.

Hey and I'm not saying the whole goddamn show should be melodic Therion or prog stuff I am just saying that to keep the fans happy why not throw something in that your tendentious narrow playlist can hold to spice it up. Because goddamn this show has such a short duration that it must be geared to meatheads, jarheads, dishwashers and auto-mechanics.

This rant wasn't a personal attack on any one person (except maybe Danny-boy :P ) but I felt like my piece had to be spoken about a show that has been sliding into the gutter since maybe November of 2004.

I love this America...you can rant and rant. :mrgreen:

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Post by Greg » Fri February 11th, 2005, 2:32 pm

Would you like some cheese with that whine?

1. We have 8 hours to fill, hence a lot of the bands we think are better getting played more often. I'd say overall between everyone that hosts now you're gonna hear something you like over the course of that 8 hours no matter what kind of metal you're into. We play a much broader spectrum of metal than what you're giving us credit for.

2. If we had 6 Pauls in the studio inevitably someone else would complain about there not being enough death metal etc. on the air, maybe with all green letters or something.

3. Since you've done a lot of homework on our old playlists go back and take a look at all the Darkwolfen requests we've played the last year or so. You help contribute to some of the homogeneity of the playlists by requesting the same 5 bands over and over too, you know.

4. It's impossible to even try to please every single listener we have, all I can do is focus on bringing everyone stuff I like or stuff that hasn't been played in a while and hope that the audience likes it too. Whether they actually do or not, once I've put it out on the air that's all I can do.

In my playlists I make a conscious effort to include at least 1 song from pretty much every single sub-genre of metal. I can't say all the hosts do the same but all I'm worried about is that my time on the air is time well spent.

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Post by DarkWolfen » Fri February 11th, 2005, 6:12 pm

Greg wrote:2. If we had 6 Pauls in the studio inevitably someone else would complain about there not being enough death metal etc. on the air, maybe with all green letters or something.
That's true. If it ain't black metal, gothic metal or power metal then the rest is repetitve bullshit to me. Just like anyone that is into death metal/grindcore thinks that the styles I like are the same. :|
Greg wrote:3. Since you've done a lot of homework on our old playlists go back and take a look at all the DarkWolfen requests we've played the last year or so. You help contribute to some of the homogeneity of the playlists by requesting the same 5 bands over and over too, you know.
Its true I have requested alot of the same bands, last year, because this year in my last 5 requests this year they have been different material, Sirenia, Amorphis, The Vision Bleak, & Wizard. If I requested anything else it would be a stretch for me. I did one night in August I requested off the fuckin wall shit that I never request, maybe you remember, the Cannibal Corpse and the Emperor. But it is rare but I never said I liked the majority of metal as a whole. Though, I have lately been requesting new stuff from the 5 I used to. Because the WREkage archive tapes already have those songs of those bands that I want anyways, so no reason to duplicate them.

So hey, its all about opinions, and I have said my peace and I have heard yours. But like I told BoB one time, its best just to buy the album and instead of waiting for some bozos to play the songs. :D

You still leaving in the Spring or was that all bullshit from Danny-boy? :x :?
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Post by BoB » Sat February 12th, 2005, 1:02 am

Do a search - a lot of these topics have been discussed to death already.

I can see one of Darkwolfen's points that the tempo of the show remains very constant. It makes the show kinda monotonous and with 8 hours, well that's a whole bunch o monotony. I do admit, I haven't really been listening to much of the show lately. As you're airing, I'm listening to my ipod on shuffle mode. Why? Well, aside from the aforementioned monotony Tim is hosting and I know he's going to play the same songs that he plays every other week - my ipod has much more diveresity, even just the metal. I'm sure there will be a 'ton of requests' tonight for DevilDriver - I dreamed I died... [kill me now please] fwiw, 88.5 does a good job on monday's w/ We're Not Gonna Take It - that dude does a really good job of mixing it up.

another gripe of mine is the limited scope of bands played. I realize this is truely difficult because all the hosts are trying to do a good job and play "good music". That eventurally means the host plays what they like. I fell into the same trap when I was hosting so I know exactly how hard it is to play a really diverse, unbiased show that differs wildly from week to week.... but that sure would be a cool show!

I know that the hosts all love metal and put a lot into the show. I'm not knocking them I'm just trying to add some construcive criticism from the other side of the fence. The couple of tweaks I mentioned would make the show a lot more entertaining for me. Mileage may vary for others and the hosts ultimately get to call the shots.

time to prank call Tim :P

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Post by Greg » Mon February 14th, 2005, 11:59 am

I'm happy to hear all criticisms good or bad. Keep em coming if you got more.

I try my best to vary what I play, especially now that I'm pre-recording my stuff and don't have to deal with the hectic nature of the live aspect of the show. Once again, I can't speak for everyone but I try to do what I can to mix things up. I'll usually go death metal song/softer song/black metal or grindcore-type song/old-school thrash song, trying to mix up those 4 genres every 4 songs. It's certainly easier for me to do this since I don't have to worry about taking requests, and hopefully it keeps a broader audience listening since fans of all those genres have something to look forward to every couple of songs.

There are a few bands we student hosts play a lot of, mostly because it's a reflection of what we're fans of. It's our show now, so that's bound to happen. I try to keep it to a minimum of repeated bands from the week before (unless they're requested), but I agree that from time to time the show does get monotonous.

I also agree that Tim's playlists are repetitive as hell, but to be honest a lot of the songs he does play over and over are actual requests. From what I can tell he has a cult of listeners that wait for him to get on and request the same songs from him every week. I took a lot of calls back when I was in the studio either asking specifically when Tim was gonna be on, or requesting one of the 10 or so songs he seems to play every week. I've tried in the past to suggest stuff for him to play, even gone so far as to walk back in the vault and pick out stuff with him, only for him to wind up playing mostly the stuff he normally plays. From what I can tell though the majority of listeners are either happy with it or are willing to put up with it because Tim has been such a fixture of the show for years. So unless I get a bunch of complaints about it from listeners there's really nothing I can see doing about it for the time being.
DarkWolfen wrote: You still leaving in the Spring or was that all bullshit from Danny-boy? :x :?
Assuming I don't burn out from taking 21 hours this semester, yes, I'll be graduating this spring. At this point though I've got dropping a few classes definitely in the back of my mind... 21 hours is fuckng tough.

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Post by bid » Mon February 14th, 2005, 12:09 pm

Greg wrote:... 21 hours is fuckng tough.
Yeah I tried that once.. but ended up dropping down to 19.
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Post by BoB » Mon February 14th, 2005, 1:10 pm

just because someone calls up requesting the same song every week does not mean it needs to be played. The host should use some discretion for the overall sake of the show otherwise wrekage becomes the "Satan & Lucifer all Nevermore show", etc. The same bands week after week kinda sucks especially if you're not a fan of those bands. The same songs simply means I listen to something else. Consider this formal complaint #1...

21 course hours? that's insanity... good luck!

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Post by DarkWolfen » Tue February 15th, 2005, 4:32 am

BoB, what kind of IPod you got? I am thinking bout that for my birthday in 2 weeks. I have seen them on Amazon that you can put like 1000 songs on it. That would be great to have, because as some people say, "You need to get in with the technology" because when I workout I still have a tape player with a velcro strap. :lol:

One time in July I sent a request to Tim for Pantera-Domination and he said, "here's your request...Cowboys From Hell." That song is played fall too much.

Greg, you have always been the senesible on at the station, I figured of the people you would hear out my rants (for lack of a better word) and for me I think my tone for the whole rant was more hostile than I wanted it to come off as, but nonetheless I stick by my original thoughts. :mrgreen:

Here is my list of what he plays too much...a short list

Cowboys from hell
State of the art-S.O.T.A.
Slayer-well everything

Blitzkrieg and Diamond Head's Am I Evil (listening to on aol radio) two that don't get played with your absence, BoB. :?
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Post by WREKage-Paul » Tue February 15th, 2005, 6:15 am

You forgot Sworn Enemy, Killswitch Engage, Anthrax, CoC, Epicurean, Hatebreed, Sacred Reich and Testament. And, of course, Clutch and Slipknot. Hard to forget those.

I think Greg's done an excellent job with his comments on the 'rant.' The show -is- pretty diverse, and by your own admission, DarkWolfen, you just don't like that much of a range of metal. That's fine, but understand that during the course of an 8-hour show with several deejays, you are going to hear some things you don't like. If you really can't take it, set up a VCR and record the show onto a videotape. Or browse the archive afterwards, like I do. I don't need to hear "Surf Nicaragua" yet again, but I do want to hear Apocalyptic Visions' cover of "Dual [sic] of the Fates" again.......

Basically, for me, it's this simple: if I play a lot of melodic/lighter/power or prog-metal, I get shit for it. Not as much shit as I did when I first started back in '98 and '99, but still...... I'm sure I'd get a lot more calls complaining about my playlists, but let's face it; I'm seldom on before 4am anyway, and everyone just wants to hear Slayer and (seemingly) Slipknot and Clutch. So, more power to 'em.

Plus, my musical tastes have gotten a lot darker since I was formally brought on board back in 1998 to lighten the show's format from being almost "all death-metal, all the time".... A funny thing happened along the way; I started liking a lot of death-metal. It's still got to have something unusual going for it -- melody, orchestrations, something -- for me to really like it, but there ya go. If you want some real diversity, listen to my Internet radio show. :twisted:

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Post by holly » Tue February 15th, 2005, 10:09 am

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Post by AmoebicDysentery » Tue February 15th, 2005, 12:33 pm

Am I the only one here that thinks Mr. Wolfen needs a new hobby?

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Post by Death2all » Tue February 15th, 2005, 10:05 pm

Seems like without lables some of you would be lost I mean god damn what is up with all the frigging labels what about just metal I mean really does county music have that many genres but you people could go on and on with this shit I guess that just my 2 cents

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Post by bid » Wed February 16th, 2005, 3:52 pm

DarkWolfen wrote:One time in July I sent a request to Tim for Pantera-Domination and he said, "here's your request...Cowboys From Hell." That song is played fall too much.
Off the top of my head, I recall Damnation starting off with motherfucker. I know I played it on the air once and got shit for it. :evil:
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Post by DarkWolfen » Wed February 16th, 2005, 11:24 pm

Mr.Wolfen? Never had such a show of respect. :roll: I guess you never knew me when I was actually obsessed with this "hobby." Frankly I tired my gimmick out, and gave the show back to the hosts, but none seemed to even notice. :lol: :twisted: :mrgreen:

Funny no one was complaining when I was getting 3-4 requests per show in for like 4 months in 2004. That I was always the most surprised about when it was "The DarkWolfen power hour." :D :wink:
AmoebicDysentery wrote:Am I the only one here that thinks Mr. Wolfen needs a new hobby?
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Post by DarkWolfen » Wed February 16th, 2005, 11:28 pm

Oh yes, but I remember that era as being the time when he was playing some songs with cuss words in it. But yeah I had forgotten about that, but between Primal Concrete Sledge and the title track, Tim is burning out the last wick of that album. :mrgreen:
bid wrote:
DarkWolfen wrote:One time in July I sent a request to Tim for Pantera-Domination and he said, "here's your request...Cowboys From Hell." That song is played fall too much.
Off the top of my head, I recall Damnation starting off with motherfucker. I know I played it on the air once and got shit for it. :evil:
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