They're the men

Though it certainly deserves its place in music history, Run DMC and Aerosmith’s rap-rock single Walk This Way really amounted to no more than a novelty hit. The hip-hop group merely wanted to sample the record but Steven Tyler and his band of Rolling Stones wannabes thought it better to get more involved. (After all, they weren’t really doing much at that time either.) It was a hit and it probably was as revolutionary as everyone says it was. Fact is, though, it wasn’t that great.

Rather, the collaboration displayed none of the more incendiary virtues that made those two genres as vital as they were bracing to listen to: the deft, lyrical wordplay of the MC nor the Futurist soundscapes of beats and samples, the gutter-squalls of electricity nor the feral shaped riffage. Catchy, yes. Dangerous? Erm… no.

It was more Mickey Mouse than Beast.

If anything, it was Anthrax and Public Enemy coming together for the latter’s Bring Tha Noize that first brought together the excitements of both hip-hop and, now, metal into one song. Having been name-checked by Chuck D. and having released I’m The Man, Anthrax decided to do the P.E. track. (Scott Ian had already forsaken the long locks of his band’s glam past and was now sporting a cap in a salutary gesture to Chuck D.) This was it. And it laid down the groundwork and blueprint for later groups such as Rage Against The Machine.

Anthrax was already a more curious bunch than their contemporaries to begin with. The band had metal chops but they weren’t confined to it. They’d even recorded and released an excellent version of Joe Jackson’s Got the Message as well as continuing to put out seminal albums like “Persistence of Time” and “State of Euphoria.” They didn’t take themselves too seriously but these guys weren’t clowning around. This wasn’t music for those who rocked... moderately. Even a cursory listen is enough to disabuse anyone about how serious the band is.

Back then, cassette tapes were worn thin playing their stuff. But tomorrow, their Filipino fans will get to see the band live in “Colt 45 Presents Pulp Summer Slam XI: Resurrection.” “After a decade of providing the biggest annual rock mecca that literally tens of thousands of music fans of all ages, shapes and sizes troop to, Pulp Live Productions is set on raising the bar for 2011,” says Pulp editor-in-chief Joey Dizon. “In its 11th year, Pulp Summer Slam XI: Resurrection promises not only the biggest sound and light show this side of the country, but performances from more than 20 of the country’s best local artists, including Urbandub, Arcadia, Imago, Chicosci, Razorback, Dahong Palay, Franco, Kamikazee and many others, including Dubai’s premier extreme metal act Nervecell.

“And for the first time in Pulp’s history, the festival will be headlined by not one, not two, but three international hard-hitters, namely: Filipino thrash metal legends Death Angel, Southern metallers Hellyeah (featuring ex-Pantera drummer Vinnie Paul and former members of seminal millennium nu-metal outfit Mudvayne) and one of thrash metal’s Big Four, Anthrax!”

According to Dizon, local metalheads will be treated to a “humongous stage design like no other, with V.I.P. “pits” for the loyal metalheads who want to be closer to their heavy metal heroes.” For only P5,000, not only will they get the chance to see, hear and maybe even “high-five” their heroes, but will treated to unlimited free Pizza Hut Pizza and Colt 45 Beer while supplies last.

General Admission music fans will also get their fill for only P350, which gets them free Colt 45 Beer, free slices of Pizza Hut Pizza, free Smart Load, a discount from the official Tribal Gear Pulp Summer Slam 11: Resurrection T-shirt available only on the event date, and access to “The Slam.” So hurry and grab those tickets now at all TicketNet, TicketWorld, Odyssey and SM Tickets outlets! See you at the Slam this Saturday, April 30, at the Amoranto Stadium, Quezon City. Gates open at 12 noon, and show starts 1 p.m. onward.

V.I.P. tickets are still on sale until April 28. Call 687-1709 and/or log on to pulpmagazinelive.com for more details.