Running with the Devil
Power, Gender, and Madness in Heavy Metal Music
Robert Walser
- “A
- solid,
- scholarly
- analysis
- of
- the
- power,
- meaning,
- musical
- structure,
- and
- sociopolitical
- contexts
- of
- the
- most
- popular
- examples
- of
- heavy
- metal.”
- —Library
- JournalDismissed
- by
- critics
- and
- academics,
- condemned
- by
- parents
- and
- politicians,
- and
- fervently
- embraced
- by
- legions
- of
- fans,
- heavy
- metal
- music
- continues
- to
- attract
- and
- embody
- cultural
- conflicts
- that
- are
- central
- to
- society.
- In
- Running
- with
- the
- Devil,
- Robert
- Walser
- explores
- how
- and
- why
- heavy
- metal
- works,
- both
- musically
- and
- socially,
- and
- at
- the
- same
- time
- uses
- metal
- to
- investigate
- contemporary
- formations
- of
- identity,
- community,
- gender,
- and
- power.
- This
- edition
- includes
- a
- new
- foreword
- by
- Harris
- M.
- Berger
- contextualizing
- the
- work
- and
- a
- new
- afterword
- by
- the
- author.Ebook
- Edition
- Note:
- all
- photographs
- (sixteen)
- have
- been
- redacted.“Walser
- belongs
- to
- a
- small
- but
- influential
- group
- of
- academics
- trying
- to
- reconcile
- ‘high
- theory’
- with
- a
- streetwise
- sense
- of
- culture
- .
- .
- .
- an
- excellent
- book.”
- —Rolling
- Stone“Takes
- musicology
- where
- it
- has
- never
- gone
- before;
- I
- once
- saw
- the
- chapter
- on
- metal
- guitarists
- and
- the
- classical
- tradition
- performed
- live
- in
- a
- lecture
- hall,
- but
- even
- on
- paper
- it
- smokes.”
- —SF
- Weekly“Walser
- is
- truly
- gifted
- at
- doing
- what
- few
- critics
- before
- him
- have
- done:
- analyzing
- the
- music
- .
- .
- .
- In
- virtuoso
- readings
- of
- metal
- music
- that
- forge
- persuasive
- links
- between
- metal
- and
- particular
- classical
- music
- traditions,
- Walser
- reveals
- the
- ways
- that
- musical
- structures
- themselves
- are
- social
- texts.”
- —The
- Nation“Making
- surprising
- connections
- to
- classical
- forms
- and
- debunking
- stereotypes
- of
- metal’s
- musical
- crudity,
- Walser
- delves
- enthusiastically
- into
- guitar
- conventions
- and
- rituals.”
- —The
- Washington Post
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