Can you believe that my Metal fiends? Yep, it’s the Big 10th Season for a Metal program and that is pretty cool in my humble opinion. Of course let’s immediately get this out in the open that the show while running for ten seasons has never had a season that showed more than ten episodes and its only been on the air since November 2008 which is not quite four years as of this posting. If you were to use shows like “Big Bang Theory” or “CSI” as an example, their first seasons were 17 and 23 episodes respectively. In addition to that there are many fans who feel this is more of a Hard Rock show than it is a Metal show and I can see where they come from based on some of the episodes that I have seen. These fans should try to realize that this is on VH1 Classic and that means we are not going to see Behemoth, Dimmu Borgir or Kamelot on any time soon.

For those in the dark or returning from a faraway land and needing some background on the program, the show is now an hour in length and hosted by radio personality Eddie Trunk with comedians Don Jamieson and Jim Florentine as his co-hosts. It features an interview format along with a few special segments that allow the hosts to banter at length. There is a live musical guest who brings them to commercials and while its been guitarists and bassists since they started, with season ten they shall bring out guest drummers. As a former hobbyist skinbasher I kind of like that idea. The later seasons actually found the hosts interacting with this guest more than they did in the earlier broadcasts. Outside of that there is no true musical guest performer doing a song from a new album or anything. It’s probably a cost issue. Oh yes, the show is recorded in Los Angeles as opposed to New York City where it started.

So what does everyone think of the show so far? Are you loving it? Are you hating it? What parts make you feel a certain way and what do you wish they would do differently? Me? I guess I can admit to liking parts of the show but I agree with those who feel there is too much banter time happening but that is to be expected when you have three hosts. Losing a little of that might allow for longer interview time and that benefits the artist and the fans that are interested in learning what is up all the more. For me as a supporter of the Metal scene I don’t find a lot of the bands that I consider of vital importance to the sound today being represented but I don’t really expect them on VH1 Classic anyway. Yes I love the old stuff but as many Metal fans point out on the forum board sites and news feeds, we don’t need a show to tell us how Judas Priest, Alice Cooper, UFO and Thin Lizzy are bands that we should be listening to. Yet for those fans who are locked into the traditional side of things the show rules since it caters right to that preference and only deviates every once in awhile. It’s nice to have something related to Metal on the air, but I still very much miss Talking Metal on Fuse and hope we find something new and perhaps even edgier coming on somewhere soon.

I’ve met Eddie Trunk a number of times on my own adventuring around the Metal Realm, so I do send congratulations to him on the 10th Season. It has to be a nice feeling. Here is to your 11th, 12th, 13th and etc.

Watch Full Episodes HERE if you are curious about it. Comments are open on this post to let us know what you think about the show.

Official Website: http://www.eddietrunk.com

Eddie Trunk's "Essential Hard Rock & Heavy Metal"

PiercingMetal.com had the honor of being one of the many guests of Eddie Trunk and the fine folks from Abrams Books at the Hard Rock Cafe in Times Square in order to celebrate the release of the radio/television personality’s first ever book –  ”Eddie Trunk’s Essential Hard Rock and Heavy Metal”.   For many years the general public has known Eddie from his radio shows both satellite and terrestrial and then as the main man on the VH1 Classic hit program “That Metal Show”.  Now he can add author to his listing of accomplishments.   The affair was not open to the general public but some of the shows fans were given the opportunity to win a spot in the room and also to receive a copy of the book to take home with them after it was all done.  Pretty cool eh? (continue reading…)

Many people know of the talented Richie Kotzen based on his work with either Poison or Mr. Big and while those two are to be commended there is really a lot more to the guitar player than we would ever hope to find in either of those bands. As July got ready to close it doors for August the musician would make an appearance at the legendary B.B. King Blues Club in Times Square. We made sure to be a part of the fun in order to share this report with you about how it all went down. Just click the logo below to be taken to our item on the main PiercingMetal.com website. It was truly a night to remember.

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The other night VH1 Classic gave us a brand new program that is dedicated to “all things Hard Rock and Heavy Metal”. It’s name is “That Metal Show” and its hosted by radio personality Eddie Trunk (from the “Friday Night Rocks” and some Sirius XM stations) along with comedians Don Jamieson and Jim Florentine.

Initially I was surprised to see this happening on VH1 Classic but then again the original station along with MTV are more about R&B/Rap styles and “reality” programs about teen pregnancy, sobriety or how to find love if you are an aging music personality these days. Sigh. I remember the days when MTV first showed killer videos and then you at least had VH1 when the original station stopped. The times they are a changing eh? I guess this was the only place it had to land.

So what’s the premise? OK, the show is done in a talk show format with Eddie and his co-hosts discussing a number of Hard Rock or Metal related topics and of course since two of them are comedians there is a lot of ribbing on Eddie being done. They also do a quick interview with a guest of the week and the debut show found eighties rocker Lita Ford which I found to be a little bit of a surprise on a debut show. If I had the ability to launch something like this I would have really tried to get a super power lead off and not someone who most Metal fans stopped being curious about ages ago. Perhaps Lita’s new album had something to do with it. In this episode the guitarist shows her appreciation of the support she was given on her touring return and we even get a quick appearance by her husband Jim Gillette. I posted a review of the NYC appearance of Lita a few months ago which can be enjoyed HERE. There was not the biggest crowd to be quite honest so maybe that had me wondering why she was the first guest. There was also a rant from Eddie and a segment they call “Stump The Trunk” where Eddie tests his Metal cred against the viewing audience who pose questions to him. If the audience wins the shows “Miss Box Of Junk” comes out and gives them a prize. The show is filmed in NYC and runs for one half hour. I will be honest and say that the show moves very quickly especially if watching on DVR and bypassing the commercials.

Thoughts On It? Well, it is nice to have another Hard Rock and Metal related program on television and Eddie has been around long enough to deserve being the host. I am not sure what I think about the presence of the comedians after only one episode and only hope that they do not have too much banter and hence time wasted that could have been used on interviews and things of that kind. Upcoming guests for the season are said to be Yngwie Malmsteen, Rush and Twisted Sister along with many others. Good and legendary artists for sure but nothing that is pushing the envelope as far as bands are concerned. The show is very different when compared to the no longer running “Talking Metal On Fuse” which I really liked (and not only because I was one of their couch guests for an episode – seen HERE).

I’ll remain hopeful that the show will offer some insight and attention into a bunch of things that make Metal a special genre to me and that we don’t get the same old same old. Congrats to you Eddie and good luck with the show.

Official Websites:
Eddie Trunk: http://www.eddietrunk.com
That Metal Show: http://www.vh1.com/shows/that_metal_show/series.jhtml
Don Jamieson: http://www.donjamieson.com
Jim Florentine: http://www.jimflorentine.com