Walser Critical Review (Set 2 #2)

The introduction of Wasler's book spends a lot of time developing an analogy between metal and classical music (at some points valid, at others it is stretching) and explaining the content of each chapter, but it provides a great deal of reflexivity.  One of the ideas that appealed to me was the approach of music as an activity ("musicking") rather than a product.

In the first chapter, he examines the origins of the term "heavy metal" and how that term was used and interpreted differently by different groups for different purposes.  He then examines the history of metal, splitting it into sections by time periods and explaining the transformations that occurred between them, using a more liberal definition of metal then Weinstein, while still acknowledging the subdivisions.  Finally, he gets into a more hands-on ethnographic approach to dispell some misconceptions about racism in metal and fans' reasons for listening to metal, being very explicit about his methods and reliability.  He saves the fireworks for the final section, in which he tears apart a laundry lists of other studies on metal, detailing the faults with each.

The strengths of this reading were that the beginning provided a great example of effective reflexivity, and the end was helpful in bringing up errors/faulty approaches in other ethnographic readings.  However, I don't feel that this selection offered much on its own, perhaps a different chapter might bring more to the table.

Also, it should be noted that Steve Harris is the BASSIST for Iron Maiden, not the guitarist.  Given that only 3 of the 6 members in the band are not guitarists, I would hope that someone writing an entire book on heavy metal might be able to keep that one straight.

Discussion Question:  This article concludes that the metal audience consists of a mix of middle- and working-class people.  I can't think of an article we have read that has mentioned any kind of upper-class audience.  Why do you think this is?  Do upper class people not listen to music?  Do they all listen to classical, opera, etc.?  Is it too small a group of people to be relevant to study?  Are academics glossing over the upper-class or are they looking at it and finding nothing relevant?