Getting old sucks

It sucks for me, too. But in this case…

…I’m talking about artists I love. Specifically musicians. Even more specifically, hard rock and heavy metal acts that hit the scene in the 1980s.

I still love their music and I listen to it all the time. To me, it is timeless. Some of them are still on the road today, with wiiiiiiiildly varying degrees of success.

Let’s start up high with Metallica. Considering the various losses, bumps, and challenges that this band has encountered in their four decades (!) together, I think that they are as close as a hard rock act can come to “aging gracefully.” I know that there is a vocal, obnoxious, small subset of the Metallica fandom that vehemently disagrees with me (“Everything after ‘Justice’ sux”), and that’s fine.

I could not disagree more with Metallica’s detractors. Their latest album has some great songs, and they have embarked on yet another massive, globe-spanning tour. They have toned things down in one respect, because a standard Met live show now runs for precisely 16 songs. This is a far cry from the epic gigs of their youth. But I get it. It’s akin to managing the minutes of an older NBA player or the workload of an aging, veteran pitcher. On some levels, sure, it’s a bummer. But you do what you can to prolong their health.