Controversial What constitutes "selling out"?

[SoapboxQuantez08]

What (in your opinion) does "selling out" involve?

For example, Metallica began being called sell-outs from the Black Album onward.
Is it simply because the album appealed to a larger audience, or is there something more to it?
Then there's the Load/Re-Load albums.
Did the "die-hard" fans not dig them just because they're derivative? So they sound like 70's metal.
What's wrong with that? If anything, a classic sound is something to be ecstatic about.
It's not Metallica that changed, it's the original fan's perception that did.
By the time the Black Album was released, metal had come into the mainstream.
This happened via albums of the previous year (such as Queensryche's Empire & Megadeth's Rust in Peace).
Had metal begun appealing to the general population in 1980 rather than 1990, their first four albums would have been just as successful. My two cents.

 

[chainsaw_metal1]

When the Black Album came out, it split many of us in the metal community. I loved it, and still think it's one of their best albums. But for many "die-hard" metal fans, it was too far from what metal should be. Before that, metal albums weren't overly produced, slick sounding records. They still had a rough edge to them, so to speak, that garage sound. So the first strike against them from those fans was getting Motley Crue's producer, who made it more radio friendly. As for Load and ReLoad, they are an example of a band expanding and exploring new musical territory. The Beatles did it, Led Zeppelin did it, Black Sabbath did it. But Metallica had a fanbase that didn't want "new", they wanted every album to sound like Ride The Lightning. Sure, they changed, but every band changes. Either you like it or you don't. The only album of their's I really don't care for is St. Anger, but I appreciate it more after watching Some Kind of Monster, and knowing the struggle they went through to make that album.

As far as selling out, just don't do anything Kiss did. And that's coming from a Kiss fan.

 

[McQualude]

Metallica wasn't mainstream in the 80's but metal was... Motley Crue, Slayer, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Scorpions, Motorhead, Dio; and there were plenty of metal bands that weren't quite mainstream but were well known ... Metallica, Queensryche, Anthrax, Krokus, Celtic Frost (probably stretching it with that one. My family thought I had literally become a devil worshiper when I bought To Mega Therion). And there was glam metal or hair metal, a lot of which was really hard rock or pop rock (there wasn't really any difference in the 80's). I'm more into it now than I was then, some of those bands had real talent, like Cinderella.

Sell out? I have no idea. I think it's unrealistic to expect a musician or band to play the same style of music forever. As skills progress they will appreciate other styles of music that will worm their way into their music. Motley Crue made a much more dramatic change than Metallica and nobody called them sellouts. Judas Priest changed their music pretty radically from the 70's to the 80's and nobody called them sellouts. Black Sabbath evolved, no one called them sellouts. LOTS of rock bands and individuals evolved or changed up their music for the 80's and no one called them sellouts.

 

[SoapboxQuantez08]

Metallica wasn't mainstream in the 80's but metal was... Motley Crue, Slayer, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Scorpions, Motorhead, Dio; and there were plenty of metal bands that weren't quite mainstream but were well known ... Metallica, Queensryche, Anthrax, Krokus, Celtic Frost (probably stretching it with that one. My family thought I had literally become a devil worshiper when I bought To Mega Therion). And there was glam metal or hair metal, a lot of which was really hard rock or pop rock (there wasn't really any difference in the 80's). I'm more into it now than I was then, some of those bands had real talent, like Cinderella.

Sell out? I have no idea. I think it's unrealistic to expect a musician or band to play the same style of music forever. As skills progress they will appreciate other styles of music that will worm their way into their music. Motley Crue made a much more dramatic change than Metallica and nobody called them sellouts. Judas Priest changed their music pretty radically from the 70's to the 80's and nobody called them sellouts. Black Sabbath evolved, no one called them sellouts. LOTS of rock bands and individuals evolved or changed up their music for the 80's and no one called them sellouts.

I guess what I meant by metal not being "mainstream" in the 80's was that back then, metal wasn't getting Grammy awards.
But I do agree, many bands changed much more drastically, without dealing with the "sell-out" tag.

 

[Doctor Omega]