Breakin' Outta Hell - Airbourne

Oh hey, 100th blog post! Here's to another 100 over the next few years!
I've been looking forward to this album since I heard the title track (even though I had the same feeling about their last album and was ultimately disappointed). Apologies for the lack of album reviews recently but my aim is to write an average of one or two album reviews per month for the rest of the year.
Anyway, enjoy!

Before I start this review, I should begin by explaining my main problem with their last album (Black Dog Barking). It was an OK Hard Rock album but only if you listened to random tracks now and then as opposed to the whole collection as an album. I liked some of the songs off it but would only recommend buying those tracks instead of the album. Sadly, it's the exact same situation with Breakin' Outta Hell. There are a couple of brilliant songs in a sea of mediocrity. One of these stellar tracks is the album opener, title track and lead single, "Breakin' Outta Hell".
It has a great riff, an explosive mix and a true Hard Rock chorus designed to cause serious throat damage when you belt it out full volume at a live gig. Unfortunately, with the bar set so high, the rest of the album needed to deliver an equal amount of musical aggression and energy instead of slumping back into the foot-tapping Hard Rock that usually plagues Airbourne albums, this one included. Granted there are a few songs that up the tempo and deviate from the norm, such as frenzied rocker "Thin The Blood" and riff-based powerhouse "When I Drink I Go Crazy" (the latter seemingly inspired by the band's earlier material, which is always welcome in Rock), but they're few and far between.
The other album highlight is the album closer, "It's All For Rock N' Roll". It's a strong, anthematic love letter to Rock music although even that drops the ball by fading out at the end. However, it's more of a memorable track than any of the bland, basic 4/4 120-130 BPM songs that the band just fucking love to write ("Get Back Up" and "I'm Going To Hell For This"). The slower songs on the album make decent background music if you're driving or doing housework but the band have already given us three albums of plodding riffs and rhythms. The album cover, name and title track all suggested that they were going to take things further and challenge themselves by turning it up to 11 and releasing their heaviest album yet, especially since frontman Joel O'Keeffe has acknowledged that fans love faster tracks. Instead, it's just Airbourne being Airbourne.

If I had to single out the biggest change, it wouldn't be the heavier tracks; it'd be the lyrics. Airbourne have never really taken themselves seriously with their lyrics but there's something about these songs that just seem sillier than others. When I first read the tracklist, I thought it read like a Spinal Tap record ("Do Me Like You Do Yourself") only without them being a parody. I'm not saying the band have to write about politics or war but when you're listening to a proper band singing "When I was a boy, I played with my toy, every single day, ooh it was a joy", it removes you from the music. I would expect that kind of ridiculous line in something by The Darkness, not Airbourne.
Luckily, it's not all bad. The band have been influenced by the right sources, as some of the better songs have echoes of contemporary Hard Rock bands such as Audioslave and classics such as AC/DC about them ("Rivalry" and "It's Never Too Loud For Me", respectively). I'll admit that AC/DC is an easy comparison to make but in the same way Rush and Triumph are often compared for being Hard/Prog Rock power trios from Canada, you won't find a better band to compare AC/DC to than an Australian Hard Rock group who are making a career out of releasing the same album over and over again.
However, the main difference between AC/DC and Airbourne is that AC/DC were capable of releasing solid albums containing iconic Rock hits across different decades. Airbourne sound like they're already running out of fuel for entire records and their first album only came out nine years ago. This album needed more songs like "Never Been Rocked Like This", a track with a good riff and a slightly grittier edge. It's still Airbourne but it's not a carbon copy of 60% of their previous material. It might not be as awesome as the title track but it doesn't have to be; it's a great song and it sounds like it belongs on this album, if only to further enhance some of the more powerful tracks.

Overall, Breakin' Outta Hell will probably please fans of generic Hard Rock who want to stick this album on whilst occupying themselves with odd jobs around the house. It could've done with less songs about sex and more inspired by aggression or power like literally everything about the album suggested before you listened to it. If it was advertised as another plain old Airbourne album, I would've been a bit more understanding and probably praised it for the tracks I discussed.
Instead, it feels like they (or the record label/producer, probably) wanted to make people think it was something heavier to get more sales, so I give it a 5/10. It's OK, I didn't strongly dislike any of the songs but I was bored by quite a few of them. Buy this album if you loved any of Airbourne's previous albums and just want more of the same. Listen to the album if you like the band/genre and purchase the songs you really like individually. I imagine a tour promoting this album would be worth getting tickets for, as Airbourne strike me as a band who really bring the thunder live, but can't get it above a couple of flashes and a dull rumble in the studio.
Maybe album number five will be the one where they take a step forward with the asskicking...but it'll probably just be the same as the rest of them.

Tenology: More Terrible Rock/Metal Lyrics

It always seems to be the way when you're compiling a list of some sort. You gather a bunch of examples that you spend quite a bit of time looking for, sort them into a handy blog post and then a few days later, even better examples fall right into your lap!
This blog post has been months in the making, as I wanted to spend longer gathering even better examples of truly rubbish lyrics from great Rock and Metal songs. If there are songs with shoddy writing that you feel I've missed, feel free to let me know on Twitter or the comment section, although keep in mind that I may have already covered your song choices in the first of these posts.
Anyway, let's get cringing!

1. "Pour Some Sugar On Me" - Def Leppard

"Step inside, walk this way,
You and me babe, hey hey"

I was surprised to learn the crappy edit of the song with this intro is the actual album version!

Def Leppard aren't lyrical wordsmiths by any standards but as long as they're capable of pumping out top quality music, that isn't a problem. However, there are times when that belief is put to the test, such as in the intro to their signature song. There are stories about this song being written and finished in an hour or so whilst on a break from recording other tracks and I'm tempted to believe them with lines like this. It's as if they couldn't be bothered to think of anything better to rhyme with "way" so opted for the Krusty The Clown ending. It's not even the only shit lyric, as someone on Twitter once pointed out that the song about sex officially stops being sexy at the line "one lump or two".


2. "The Jack" - AC/DC

"She's got the jack, she's got the jack
She's got the jack, jack, jack, jack, jack, jack, jack"

This song makes Rock Or Bust sound like bloody DragonForce

Give me any 40 minute Prog odyssey over this shit as I'm convinced "The Jack" is quite possibly the most boring fucking song in all of Rock. I know AC/DC albums tend to have uninspired filler tracks but this takes the absolute piss. Ignoring the fact that the band couldn't think of any clever or even bad lyrics after "she's got the jack" and decided to just repeat the line until you feel like jacking your life in yourself, the lyrical matter of this song doesn't match the music at all. It's a slow Bluesy number that is such a poor fit for a song about a girl with the clap; maybe that's what they were going for just to be cheeky but instead, it comes across as dirge.


3. "Death Or Glory" - Iron Maiden

"Climb like a monkey,
out of hell where I belong"

This lyric is the main reason I don't listen to this song that much anymore

Usually, Iron Maiden tracks (whether filler or singles) have great lyrics and even if they are overusing the theme of war, those songs can still drive a point home regardless of when that point was first made. However, this song has one line that removes listeners from the greatness of the music and feels like it doesn't belong with the rest of the lyrics. "Climb like a monkey" sounds like something out of an Ozzy Osbourne track, not an Iron Maiden one. Shame too, as the rest of the song is awesome.


4. "Should I Stay Or Should I Go" - The Clash

"If I go there will be trouble,
And if I stay it will be double"

Never liked this album cover, not sure why.

I think this argument was first brought up in a book by Al Murray (could be wrong) but I've always felt the same way about these lyrics too. Surely, if that's the dilemma The Clash are facing, the logical answer is to go! "If I stay it will be double" means that they're in a worse situation if they stay, so why the fuck are they so confused about this? There may be some underlying metaphorical bollocks about the connotations of "it will be double" but the denotation implies they'll be worse off if they stay. Good thing I started watching Stranger Things, otherwise I may have forgotten about these lyrics!


5. "What Difference Does It Make?" - The Smiths

"So what difference does it make?
So what difference does it make?
It makes none..."

Shittalking lyrics in a Smiths song? Fuck, I've got some explaining to do!

I'll admit, this entry is probably more of a personal pet peeve than me pointing out genuinely rubbish lyrics but stick with me! Morrissey is kind of like a musical Banksy; people can go on for days about all the poetic statements he's made about his beautifully grim view on life but when all's said and done, he comes across as a massive bellend, more so than Sting or Bono in my opinion. However, we're not here to talk about his alliance with vegan nutjobs PETA or his attitude towards his past/superior work, just these lines in this song which MAYBE a more humble musician wouldn't have included.
Call me pedantic but I have a massive problem with lyrics that answer their own rhetorical questions; imagine how much shittier that last track I talked about would be if The Clash sung "Should I stay or should I go? I should definitely go" in each chorus. It comes across as patronising, like we couldn't work out what Morrissey was fucking getting at without him spelling it out seconds later...and yes, I'm aware of the irony of that last sentence. At least Johnny Marr's guitar is a constant redeeming factor here, as is the case with most decent songs by The Smiths.


6. "Soul To Squeeze" - Red Hot Chili Peppers

"Doo doo doo doo dingle zing a dong bone,
Ba-di ba-da ba-zumba crunga cong gone bad"

Probably the most RHCP-y song of all RHCP songs

Usually, Red Hot Chili Peppers songs have fucking great lyrics and even if you can't make out all of the words, they all mesh perfectly with the music and rhythm. However, I can remember hearing this part of the song and finding myself removed from the music. To me, the only band that can get away with fitting vocal nonsense to great music is Tenacious D (hence their absence from this list). For a band known for amazing lyrics, this string of gibberish is especially worthy of a place in this post although I probably would've included it even if they had the lyrical genius of a Poison song.


7. "Civil War" - Guns N' Roses

"What's so civil about war, anyway?"

Guys, have you heard? War is bad! GNR figured it out!

Yeah man, what IS so civil about war? That's, like, such a clever observation dude and get this; why do Universal Studios only ever show the Earth if they're UNIVERSAL Studios?
Aren't all glasses technically 3D glasses?
Is your mind blown yet, brah?
OK, in what I assume were Axl's last words before recording this bollocks, let's get serious now. I'm not sure what the worst thing about this lyric is; the fact that Axl is questioning his own message about all wars being civil wars, the way it's still trying to make the song seem like it gives a fuck about other people despite being all about Axl telling us how much HE doesn't need war or the pathetic, patronising tone Axl takes when he utters this line during the outro. The rest of the lyrics are pretty shocking too, although not in the way Axl intended. When you have verses singing "look at the people dying, look at the women crying" or some shit and then try to round the song off with a pseudo-philosophical question about war, you've got a perfect candidate for this blog post.


8. "ABC" - The Jackson 5

"Sit down girl, I think I love you,
No, get up girl"

It might not be "Rock" but I would argue it's a Funk/Pop-based Rock subgenre so it counts, damnit!

I've always hated this song about a teacher trying to chat up a child who doesn't know her basic alphabet as sung by a four year old but this lyric is the final straw for me. It's fucking annoying and makes no bloody sense; plus it makes Michael Jackson's teacher sound like an absolute prick, berating a young girl for doing exactly what he's ordering her to. People give modern Pop artists like Justin Bieber and Nicki Minaj shit for singing truly awful lyrics written by six studio producers to make as much money off idiotic teenage girls and teenage boys trying to get with idiotic teenage girls as possible but...well, you get the point I'm making.


9. "Bad Bad Boy" - Nazareth

"I'm a bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad-bad boy"

I'll admit this is similar to a previous entry on the list but it's still worthy of this list

If you've heard this song, you'll probably already think it's annoying anyway. If you haven't heard it, it's quite possibly one of the worst Hard Rock songs in existence. As soon as the slide guitar comes in and you realise it's yet another shitty rendition of the Blues chord progression, you know you're in for a godawful track. However, I'm not here to discuss this song's quality, just the lyrics.
They're serviceable for the most part but towards the end when the band ran out of ideas, it goes from shit to shite. Dan McCafferty starts singing the word "bad" over and over, similar to when Dave Grohl sings "The Best" in "Best Of You" - Foo Fighters, only this time it's grating and sounds like it goes on for fucking ages. They could've improved this song by...hmmm...well, not writing it, I suppose.


10. "Teenage Dirtbag" - Wheatus

"I've got two tickets to Iron Maiden, baby
Come with me Friday, don't say maybe"

Apparently, this song came from an actual album! Who knew?

Another song I fucking despise. To be honest, I could've copied the entire song's lyrics down as the whole thing is stupid but I chose these two lines for reasons I'll explain a bit later. It starts off with a dork singing about a girl named Noel, given a boy's name just to allow for a shitty rhyme, and he laments the fact that she's going out with a dick. If this song were written now, everyone would hate the lead singer for being a "nice guy", although he claims that this jock brings a gun to school so I'm not really sure who I'm supposed to hate here; someone who may shoot up a school or a whiny pussy bitching all the way through this song.
Anyway, by the end of the track (during the lyrics I've quoted), the girl he fancies approaches him at the prom and asks him if he wants to go see Iron Maiden with her. Leaving aside the fact that if the romance was genuine, this would NEVER HAPPEN, the cynical part of me thinks this is basically just the girl mentally screwing with the dork to get his hopes up. However, the lyrics or band aren't nearly clever enough to give that impression. Fuck Wheatus and fuck this song.


Chances are I'll hear a song with worse lyrics than any of these in the next week so, similar to what I'm doing with one of my Showdown posts, I'll add any extra songs to the end of this post until I reach 10 tracks with shitty lyrics; then I'll paste them all into another blog post.
If you have any recommendations of songs with terrible lyrics, let me know via Twitter or the comment section. Apologies if I forgot any feedback I received from the last one of these posts (as I know somebody messaged me). Next week, album review(s)!

Rapid Fire: Blue Oyster Cult, Rush, Deep Purple

Bit late posting this one but I'll definitely make sure I get another one up this week.
Last time I did a Rapid Fire post, I picked three big albums from the 90s all belonging to different popular genres of the decade. THIS time, I've picked three albums not only from the same decade but also belonging to the same genre; Hard Rock.
Whilst all three albums aren't necessarily iconic hits from the 70s, I chose these three because (in my opinion) they stand out in the band's careers. I could've picked various classic Hard Rock albums from this decade but I don't think I'd have as much to write about them. Anyway, I'll leave you to decide whether I picked the right albums!

1. Tyranny And Mutation - Blue Oyster Cult

If asked to name a Blue Oyster Cult song, most people will go for easy choices like "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" or "Burnin' For You". Some might go for less obvious choices such as "Godzilla" or "Astronomy" but it's incredibly doubtful anyone will pick any tracks from this album. It was their second album released and even though it spawned many deep cuts that would become fan favourites, none of the tracks would become iconic Classic Rock or Hard Rock hits. It's a shame too as this album has some right crackers!
Album opener "The Red & The Black" kicks things off to a feisty start, showing the band hadn't spent all their energy on writing a solid debut. It's a perfect track for anyone who's into guitar-driven Rock, thanks to the fretwork of Buck Dharma (my favourite guitarist), and fortunately the rest of the album follows suit. Tyranny And Mutation contains a variety of different Rock subgenres but at its core, it is a Hard Rock album done right. Whilst it may not contain any instantly catchy songs or riffs that the band would become known for in later years, it's high quality material from start to finish.
Whether it's the band's take on Blues Rock ("O.D.'d On Life Itself"), Heavy Metal ("Hot Rails To Hell") or even borderline Psychedelic Rock ("Wings Wetted Down"), each track fundamentally "rocks". There's also a good amount of Classic and Hard Rock, such as "Mistress Of The Salmon Salt (Quicklime Girl)" and my personal favourite track on the album "7 Screaming Diz-Busters". All in all, though, it's a must-listen for any fans of Riff-Based-Rock and 70s Hard Rock.

1. The Red & The Black

2. O.D.'d On Life Itself

3. Hot Rails To Hell

4. 7 Screaming Diz-Busters

5. Baby Ice Dog

6. Wings Wetted Down

7. Teen Archer

8. Mistress Of The Salmon Salt (Quicklime Girl)

ALBUM RATING - 8/10

2. Rush - Rush

The debut and self-titled album from a band arguably more associated with Progressive Rock and the 80s. Again, most fans will likely list tracks off Moving Pictures, Permanent Waves or 2112 when it comes to picking great Rush songs. Some might choose "Working Man", easily the most well known Rush track off the album, but when I first listened to this all the way through I was surprised to hear so many great Hard Rock tracks. That could explain why it tends to get ignored, as it's pretty far away from what most people would consider to be classic Rush.

Not only is it the only album with original drummer, John Rutsey, but most of the songs are about general themes such as love and friendship ("Need Some Love" and "Take A Friend") as opposed to the blend of philosophy and Sci-Fi the band would adopt thanks to Neil Peart. The lack of significant Prog Rock elements and the increase in Blues Rock factors almost make it sound like a lost Led Zeppelin album, something many Rock fans would kill for.

It's not the best Rush album but it definitely doesn't deserve to be forgotten about, which is its current fate. Seek this album out if you like 70s Rock, particularly early 70s Hard Rock. Whilst I'm at it, you might want to listen to the first half of Caress Of Steel too. I know it's often regarded as Rush's worst album but it only really gets dull when it gets to the 11 minute tracks. As for Rush (album)? It starts and ends strong, which is more than I can say for Moving Pictures.

1. Finding My Way

2. Need Some Love

3. Take A Friend

4. Here Again

5. What You're Doing

6. In The Mood

7. Before And After

8. Working Man

ALBUM RATING - 7/10

3. Machine Head - Deep Purple

The only album on this list which is generally regarded as the band's "best" or at least a standout effort. It's probably my favourite Deep Purple album out of the ones I've listened to and it's definitely got a solid collection of great Hard Rock tracks starting off with the absolute belter of an album opener "Highway Star". It's not just one of Deep Purple's greatest songs but it's quite possibly one of the greatest Hard Rock tracks in the history of the genre, boasting awesome work from each band member from Ian Gillan's roaring vocals to Richie Blackmore's Classical-inspired guitar solo.
The rest of the album never quite reaches that same high, in my opinion, but that's not to say it fails to impress. By this point in the band's career, they'd established themselves firmly in the Hard Rock category after a Psychedelic Rock start and if you like your Hard Rock with epic riffs and organs, there's bound to be at least a couple of other tracks up your alley here. Chances are those tracks are the other two well known songs off the album, "Space Truckin'" and "Smoke On The Water", the band's signature song with quite possibly Rock's most iconic riff (even if the rest of it is largely uneventful).
For me, this album could've done with another track containing the same amount of power and pure Rock as the album opener, as the closest Machine Head comes to that again is seven minute Blues number "Lazy" and even that's pushing it. They probably chose "Highway Star" to kick things off with a bang but neglected to think about whether they were prematurely blowing their load. If you haven't heard any of the previously mentioned tracks, I'd recommend listening to this album. Otherwise, you're unlikely to get much out it.

1. Highway Star

2. Maybe I'm A Leo

3. Pictures Of Home

4. Never Before

5. Smoke On The Water

6. Lazy

7. Space Truckin'

8. When A Blind Man Cries

ALBUM RATING - 6/10

If there are any albums you'd like me to discuss or if you have any suggestions for decades, genres and/or bands to cover on the next Rapid Fire post, let me know in the comment section or via Twitter.

I'll be posting again this week (probably not another Rapid Fire post though) so keep your eyes peeled for more from me!

How To Tell If A Band Is In It For The Money

Time to kick off September with a short little opinion piece!
When dealing with fans from practically any mainstream Rock band, you'll always have a bunch insisting that said band have sold out. Whether it's a Grunge band going Alternative or a Thrash Metal band going Heavy Metal, any stylistic changes to a band's sound will always result in grumpy fans arguing that they've lost their way and "forgotten about the real fans".
So how can you tell if a band have really sold out or if they're simply adapting their material into a new sound because they don't want to become stale? How can you tell if a band are still going because they care about their fans enough to challenge themselves into recording quality music or because they need some way of paying off various mortgages and lawsuits?
Hopefully, this blog post will help answer those questions!

Let's start with one sure-fire way of telling if a band is after the cash; deluxe albums.
I've mentioned my hatred of deluxe edition albums via Twitter and this blog before, something I doubt I will ever apologise for. Deluxe editions are something I can tolerate if they were released decades after the original album, containing never before heard demos or various edits/live versions on a second disc. If a band chose to rerelease their material in order to introduce younger fans to a classic album whilst also giving older fans something new to enjoy, that's understandable...provided it happened before services like iTunes and Spotify came about.
However, now there's a trend of bands releasing deluxe editions alongside the standard editions. Not only that but the deluxe editions contain brand new studio versions of tracks that, for some reason, the band chose to omit from the original album. Any band that does that is categorically doing it for the money or, at the very least, isn't big enough to tell their record producers (who are absolutely in it for the money) not to cash in off their fans.
So what should a band do if they have too much material to fit on one album but don't want to rush through writing a new album for the sake of three filler tracks? Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you...the double album!

Let's look at a few recent examples. Iron Maiden released their first double album this time last year, claiming that their decision was based around having longer songs that wouldn't all fit on one disc. Since they wanted to release all of the music they'd written in one package, they chose to make The Book Of Souls a double album. No deluxe edition, no Best Buy version, just the album you paid for. Iron Maiden are definitely in it for the fans and a love of their craft.
Now let's look at an upcoming album, Metallica's long awaited Hardwired...To Self-Destruct; also a double album. They first teased this album a couple of years ago with the track "Lords Of Summer", a solid Thrash tune that followed the Metallica formula and got fans excited, even though they only officially released a demo version of it (if you're not counting the times fans filmed them playing it live). Cut to a month or so ago where Metallica announced the date, title and lead single off the album; title track "Hardwired".
It's a mediocre album opener, title track and lead single compared to "Lords Of Summer" that sounds like it was one of the last songs written for the album after Hetfield and Hammett ran out of the epic riffs they usually load their songs with. But enough dishing about that, let's dish about something else. Turns out "Lords Of Summer" isn't on the main tracklist. Instead, it's been relocated to the first track on the third disc of the deluxe edition, shortly before a shitload of random crap from the studio, certainly worth the £6 extra you'll have to pay!
Hey, Metallica, the whole point of a double album is to include ALL the songs you record. If you've got too many to fit even on a double album, maybe don't wait eight goddamn years between album releases! Alternatively, release one as a non-album single and wait until the next album to release the other (assuming you've only got a couple of extra tracks spilling onto the deluxe edition, which is always the fucking case). The point is Metallica may have some integrity and their new album will probably be good but as far as squeezing hardcore fans for more pennies goes, they're as crooked as a crone's fingers and that's WITHOUT the whole Napster thing entering the equation.

Another way of working out if a band are actively trying to make their album as commercial as possible is by counting the number of versions of each song. Some bands will record an album, release it and not touch those tracks until it's time for a live or remastered album. Others will release demo versions, live versions, single edits, clean edits, alternate takes, extended cuts, deep dishes, stuffed crusts, hot dog stuffed crusts, burger stuffed crusts, tearaway cheesy bites, quadruple stuffed bacon and oreo wrapped crusts and studio outtakes.
You could argue most of these are for the fans (especially hot dog stuffed crusts) but when a band releases a clean single edit for radio play before the extended and/or explicit album version, you know they want that chart money. The best example I can think of right now would be Tenacious D recording two different versions of their Rize Of The Fenix album; one with original lyrics, the other with clean, radio/licensing friendly ones. I'm assuming the reason for this is because of the financial loss they took after The Pick Of Destiny album, tour and film so I can forgive them for wanting to make a bit of dosh back by playing it safe.
I suppose now's as good a time as any to remind you that there's nothing wrong with more modern bands starting out wanting to make more money so they can take off and have more creative freedom for future records. Hell, there's nothing wrong with a band wanting money at all. I mean, this is their career. However, there will always be a difference between a worker who has a genuine love of what they do and one who is counting down the hours until clocking off. When it gets to the point that these clockwatchers are conning the fans with old rope masquerading as rare studio cuts, that's when you can put the tiny violins away.

Finally, the last surefire way of telling if bands are in it for the money is the amount of Greatest Hits tours they go on. Most tours are in aid of promoting a new album (not a cynical money grab as it's still providing a service and giving fans what they want) and some bands will fill a live setlist with hits because they're playing various festivals, the perfect venue for fan favourites. However, bands that repeatedly go on tour just to play the same twelve chart singles without any new material are fuelled by a desire to make enough cash to afford a new car.
The difference between these bands and bands that go on anniversary tours, plugging a rerelease or remaster, are that the latter bands will be playing filler tracks that they haven't played live in decades. Most fans, old and new, won't have heard these songs live before and the band will have to relearn them after years of neglect. That requires effort on their part, unlike acts that are going through the motions on stage each night because it's all they know and all anyone else wants.
Of course, some fans can argue that they only want to hear the hits and that the band are giving them exactly what they want. Guess what? Those aren't fans. Fans can name filler tracks, fans are aware of a band's career outside of maybe two well known songs. If you go to see a band on their own tour and spend the entire gig waiting for them to play their signature song at the end, you're a glory supporter and have no right to dictate what a band includes on their setlist. On an unrelated note, there's a difference between fans who see a band live just to hear one song and fans who see a band live only knowing one song but hoping to discover more.

There are, of course, other ways to tell if a band are more interested in cash than reaching new fans (for example, excessive licensing to shitty ads/TV shows/films/games) but they're more or less alternate versions of what I've just said and I'm not interested in undermining everything above, thank you very much.
Be that as it may, there's a chance I may have missed some glaring signs that a band have made the transition from Rock icons to marketing whores. If that's the case, feel free to educate me via Twitter or the comment section. Don't tell me about reality TV shows though as they only create/promote Pop bands and the only Pop bands not in it for money are in it for fame and awards too.
I hope you enjoyed reading this piece and if you're wondering when I'm going to start reviewing new albums again, the answer is hopefully this month and the next!