Basically that is the message that I have gotten from people everywhere when I start talking to them about the music I listen to.

Today at work I got into a conversation with some guy and it went something like this:

Me: I'm looking for a bassist so I can start playing the type of music I like, which is metal. It's extremely hard for me to find someone that I want, because I'm very particular about my sound...I'm into a specific style and it's my goal to achieve that sound (I was referring to a traditional, pure, classic sounding metal).

Him: You know you shouldn't be closed off to other forms of music. You should welcome in all forms of new sounds so your creativity can reach its full potential.

Me: I don't have anything against other forms of music, it's just that metal is the music that I feel passionate about. I'm looking to create a certain sound, and I would be against forming a band with a bassist who was into funk, or reggae, or something that would stand in the way of our goal.

Him: That is such a closed minded way of thinking. You need to broaden your horizons, branch out your tastes a little bit. You can't be 40 years old and still playing the same music you've been playing forever.

Me: I've been a metalhead for 10 years, and a musician for 15 years. I have an appreciation for music in general, but I just can't quite get into other genres of music passionately like I do with metal.

He continued to call me closed-minded, apparently for not liking other forms of music.

The thing that bothers me is this isn't the first time this has happened. Almost everyone I talk to who isn't in to metal will tell me pretty much the same thing. When someone tells me that I need to learn to get into other forms of music like I do with metal, I just think that it cannot and probably will not ever happen, not because I am prejudiced against anything that isn't metal (I like a good bit of music from other genres), but because heavy metal has consistently been the specific style of music that always seems to lift the hairs off my arms and give me goosebumps. Heavy metal is practically a religion for me. It would be like telling a Muslim or a Buddhist to start accepting and embracing all forms of religion instead of just one. For me, heavy metal is something that I live for and love with a passion. I want to play the type of music I truly like. I respect other people's taste in music; why can't they respect mine? How does it mean I'm closed minded if it's just a matter of taste? Am I right or what?

To me it sounds like you want to play a certain style of music and that you know the direction you want to take. This guy is really saying your closed minded for wanting to play metal and doesnt understand. Theres nothing wrong with knowing the style of music you want to play.

That guy is of the type called the Enlightened or Open-Minded (TM). Ignore.

Are you telling me to ignore that sentence or to ignore that guy? Cause I don't get if you're being serious or not.

Ignore the guy.

Or tell him that by imposing his views and not accepting your tastes, he is the one that is actually being close-minded.

And tell him that you want to focus your efforts on one type of music (since that is the most likely for you to get better results), and that if you played some other type of music, you would still be playing only one form of music anyway.

I get the same reaction too from people when I tell them I like metal. The first thing they ask when I tell them my main music of choice is metal is "Is that all you listen to?".

To be fair, I think the stereotype of the ignorant, closed-minded metalhead comes from the snobby "elite" who bash people for their tastes and consider them inferior based solely on their taste in music (not an exaggeration, I've encountered quite a few of these people on other forums, chats, shows, etc).

I've experienced this as well. I just feel that it's absurd, that when people say they like jazz, blues, classical, etc... no one accuses them of being closed-minded. However, if you mention Metal, you're automatically closed-minded and the oppressor doesn't even bother to ask what else you may like.

For instance, I'm a huge Al DiMeola fan. Whenever I say I listen to Metal, people call me closed-minded and say that I need to listen to different kinds of music. (Note: They don't bother to ask.) Whenever I bring up the fact that I listen to Al DiMeola, and other things like Eric Johnson, Jeff Beck, etc... they feel like the cretins they are.

Just tell these people to fuck off. You love heavy metal more than other genres, good for you because there's sure as hell nothing wrong about that. I've been accused of being close-minded because I dislike Opeth's fagressiveness, like I care. You like what you like and if they can't deal with that, don't bother with them. It's human nature to like and dislike certain things. Am I close-minded because I dislike eggplant? No, of course not and anybody insinuating that is an idiot. Unfortunately it has become someone trendy to force one's open-mindedness on others, us "evil cretins" if you will.

Bah, fuck them all.

I know this is totally random and completely off topic, but can we add Richard Wagner to the metal archives?

...What?

Would you like to elaborate, sir?

The guy you were talking to is, in essence, an ignorant person with an, ironically, narrow minded way of looking at things. I understand that you dig metal more than other types of music; it's a perfectly okay attitude. Your correct in saying that this guy is wrong. As long as you respect the musical tastes of others and other genres of music, you are more open minded than he is. Just best to ignore people who harbour these attitudes and don't get worked up over it. If you do, they have achieved something.

No.

I'd love to.

The sound of Wagner's HUGE orchestra of low strings produced a heavy bass sound that is the origin of all heavy music of today.

But Wagner didn't play heavy metal, even if that were true.

The request is most likely pertainting to his music's massive influence on metal, let alone classical music in general. Even so, he nor any classical composer will ever end up here. Unless some black metal musicians resurrected them using spells from the Necronomicon and said resurrected continued their music under the same names and each released a metal album.

Wagner in the archives? That is a classic request. It won't happen though.

HAHAHAHA OMG if that happened I think I'd be so happy I'd cry

Heh, my friend keeps calling me close minded even though I listen to NWA, Scissor Sisters and MC Hammer as well as Darkthrone and Inquisition. On a related note, he's a deathcore fan.

I don’t give a fuck what people think about the music I listen too, for one I can offer some opinion on other genres too. I wouldn’t bother arguing the point. You have an aim in the music you want to play.. So does every other band, well, you’d hope so.

I don't tend to get that sort of thing from anyone except Progressive or Math Metal fans.

People may assume I'm stupid, but never arrogant.

From my experience, many metalheads are extremely close minded, but will be open to some very obscure stuff, putting the idea in their head that they are somehow extremely open minded, when in reality they are far from it. However, wanting to play a certain kind of music and not settling for anything else is far from that, and is completely respectable - fuck anyone who tells you that you need to play anything but what you want.

Screw the term "close-minded". I like what I like and I don't feel the need to listen to other stuff just for the sake of being open-minded.

Also, Wager? Seriously? This is the Metal Archives, not the Metal (And Everything Slightly Related) Archives.

I mean, I actually go out of my way and try really hard to appreciate other forms of music. I just can't get into it, no matter how hard I try. I've been to school dances, wedding receptions, discos, nightclubs......but I don't feel any relationship with those styles. It just doesn't run in my blood. I'm just made of metal; I can't help the way I was born.

But I don't consider it something unfortunate, rather, it is a gift from Odin.

I get into the same argument often with my father. Although my dad is pretty laid back and accepting of all music genres... He tries to label myself as close minded just because I won't sit down and listen to a certain type of music, or sit down and watch a certain type of movie or read a certain type of book. I have the same problem with other people as well.

Whilst I respect everyone's preferences, no one seems to respect mine. It's fact that everyone is different so we all have different preferences. If I've tried something and I dislike it, why do I need to try it again? Just to blend in with the horde and make everyone else happy? How does that make me close minded?

If anything, those who label myself as close minded are hypocrites. Whenever I tell someone I prefer metal over rap, or metal over popular music... I'm told I'm close minded and arrogant. But when I ask people or suggest to them to try listening to metal, they make a remark similar to, "Oh, I'm not into that satanic evil devil stuff." They don't even give it a chance. Really, stating remarks like that makes them the arrogant, close minded people. If I were to say all blues and country music revolved around trains and heart break, that would make me arrogant.

You just have to separate yourself from the hordes of retards, who in fact, are elitists themselves if they can't respect that you have preferences.

There was a simple task while I was at college studying Music Technology and Sound Engineering, the studio, mixers, racks.. etc.

That task was: Music Appreciation. Members of the group brought in a track of music they liked, in the genre they liked and played it to the rest of the group and listen to it without objection and accept it for what it is.

It's of some importance if you work in a studio to be able to work with any genre. You might not like it, but you can have an appreciation regardless of opinion.. there are exceptions, I wouldn't expect every studio or engineer to appreciate brutal death metal, for that you may need a specialist studio.

I thought I'd mention this.. it's up to you what you do with it.. the way I see it, there is a lot of other music that has it's place.. it would be a really boring world otherwise. Don't expect everybody to bend to your way of thinking either, accept it and move on.

Someone here told me the perfect punishment for someone who knows naught about metal would be playing it so loud and forcing them to listen.
So a friend got me listening to Epica's "Consign To Oblivion" and he is like "What in hell is that?"
When I played Pantera though he ran for the doors.........

I've done something like that. I was staying in my Uncle's flat with 2 mates while my Uncle and room mate left for the weekend; leaving us just to chill on our own. Anyway, we were getting hungry and decided to go for a snack run. One of my mates was more than willing to accompany whilst the other was a lazy sod and refused to move. So I thought, "if he is adamant on sitting in that chair, lets see if he will move if there is black metal blasting from the computer to turn it off," (these aren't metal mates). So, I opened up a youtube video of "Lost Wisdom" by Burzum (just something I was looking at at the time) and played it loud. Unfortunately not as loud as I wanted 'cause of neighbours and all, yet still loud enough to hear it a couple houses down the street. When we got back, he hadn't moved and just looked at me blankly and said; "You actually enjoy that?". It was classic.

So basically by this guy's logic any band that doesn't play a million different genres is closed-minded?

He is the closed-minded and nonsensical one. Just ignore fools like that.

I hate it when people just assume that metal is the only genre I listen to but I have to put up with it. I just find refuge in the knowledge that if they ever got to know me then their preconceptions about me would be blown from their heads.

You know, this reminds me of how my dad used to comment on my music. He hated pretty much anything with non-clean vocals, though he admitted to thinking the music was pretty good.

Interestingly, his sister, that would be my aunt, who is devoutly Christian, dropped by once when I was listening to Psycroptic and actually defended it, saying to dad that it's similar to when they were children and my grandparents would say much the same sorts of things about rock and roll.

Simple yet effective comparison. Hails to your Aunt.

I've had people tell me that before. The way I figure it, liking one genre of music or all of them, either one is fine. It's all about enjoyment. It only gets asinine and agitating when you try to act like you have authority over others due to this, and that's with any music style, not just metal.



Very true indeed.

Don't you believe it... I know people who are complete snobs when it comes to Jazz.

There certainly are some people who are complete snobs when it comes to jazz but it is very rare to be told that you are closed-minded when you say that you listen to jazz (or any other type of music that is not metal).

I think this is what VictimsofDeception and Empyreal meant.

I have a mate so far up his own arse about just that. "Jazz is the supreme musical genre and everything else sucks by comparison." I just quit arguing about it, he knows too much about music for me to stand a chance. He is, unfortunately from my stance, a talented drummer and really knows his musical theory, whereas I can barely tell the difference between 4/4 and 3/4. I tried showing him Wintersun (for anyone who doesn't know by now, I jizz over). I told him that it was one guy doing everything except drums. His response "One guy playing one note on guitar really fast, same with bass, some simply chords on keyboard and another guy playing drums really fast. Not good music and no talent." For a guy who knows so much about music, he's infuriatingly stubborn and ignorant over the talent of metal musicians.

I got a little worked up writing that and a little carried away. He's a nice enough guy, just displays elitist qualities when it comes to music. If I avoid debating him, we get along great.

Edit: typo

Why do people always seem to think jazz is this insanely talented, impossibly complex stuff? It can be technical, but Christ, some people think it's the music of the Gods.

A lot of Jazz musicians are elitist pricks because a lot of classical musicians do the same thing to them.

That said, jazz isn't always a shining example of technicality and speed or complex arrangements, it's about knowing your music theory inside and out without even bothering to think about it.

I've always thought of jazz as sort of free form classical, probably spurred by the improvisation it often employs.

But yes, jazz fans can be incredibly snobby, now back to Spetsnaz.

I was actually way more close-minded before I started listening to metal. I remember the first time I heard a song with harsh vocals (Hell Can't Stop Us Now-The Showdown..lol) and I thought it was disgusting and I couldn't believe that people actually listened to that crap.
On the other hand, my tastes were actually pretty decent back then as I listened almost exclusively to classic rock. But still, I have noticed that most of the metal heads that I've come across enjoy a wide variety of other music. I have also noticed that I've started to appreciate new kinds of music as I started listening to metal.

So, basically, what that dude said was a whole bunch o crap.

It's interesting, now that I think of it, that the most close-minded person I know, musically speaking, is a girl I work with who is only into pop music, made by attractive people, after 1990. She's THAT specific.

She has something against music made by people she knows are ugly, and cannot stand the production quality of pre-CD music. One day I intend to play Transylvanian Hunger for her. When she thinks 80's music of any kind, even pop, sounds like it was recorded in a garage, I think the revelation that music can be so raw will make her head burst.