Best known for being dead..

This past week we were reminded that Michael Jackson died. Just by pure curiosity I watched the documentary, "This is it"; chronicling the preparation for his last tour. I was bored, nonetheless it made me realize that the performer I once admired as a child was no longer there. It begged me to ask the question: "Would it have been better if he had passed earlier on in life?"

Pretty broad question to ask I know, however it has always made me wonder about artists passing in their younger years, and how they would have been perceived if they had just burned out. Would Jim Morrison become such a drunk that his antics would have gotten old? Would he have cleaned up his act? Would Jimi and Janice have done the same? No one will ever know. What we do know that music fans hold them in such high regard for what they did in their short time on this earth; that their perceived problems did not over-shadow their musical genius.

Going back to Michael Jackson; he was not as fortunate. We can not be certain that the allegations made over and over about his particular taste for young boys were true; however we can be certain that it did do damage to his reputation and his fan base. One fan in particular; me. I am not judging the man by any means, god knows I have many flaws, however my respect level went down over the course of time and the increase of his eccentricities. If his unfortunate demise had occurred earlier in his career he might be remembered all together differently; such the likes of Jim and Janice.

More importantly would these fallen artists stayed relevant?  Would there be new music and a new evolution of their music? There have been artists who have pulled off such a grand stunt; a few come to mind like Aerosmith, Alice Cooper,  and, Ronnie James Dio. My belief is that some of them would fall into the Jackson category; their music would have gotten stale and their antics intolerable.

Which bring me back to the never ending rock & roll question: "Is it better to burn out or to fade away?". In my opinion: burn out.

Sex, Drugs, Rock & Roll, Rehab

Let's face it Sex, Drugs and Rock & Roll go well together. It is, as I have mentioned before, not only a mantra but a lifestyle. There is only two real ways we could finish this handy little slogan; death, or rehab. More and more artists are realizing that if they choose to partake in the first three parts of the equation, and if they are not comfortable with death, then they will be looking at rehab at some point. This does not hold true for all rock stars, but it does for the majority of them.  

Some hide it well and we are shocked to find out that they ever had a problem, others not so. Guy's like Ozzy, Nikki Sixx, and Scott Weiland had made it as clear as day that they lived the lifestyle. Others like Benjamin Burnley (Breaking Benjamin), and Adam Gontier (Three Days Grace) did not make us so aware. Please understand, I don't think that as fans we were under and delusion that they were not having a good time, I just don't think we knew the extent of their problems.

I am highlighting Benjamin and Adam, not because I am going after them; actually I am doing the exact opposite. Both of them have come out about their problems. They did it away from the stage, and out from behind the microphone. Each one faced down their demons in ways that most of us would never dream of.

In a recent article in, Revolver Magazine, Benjamin spoke about his addiction to alcohol and how it has effected his mind and his body. He had done so much damage to his body that he gave himself what is known as "wet brain"; a condition caused by consuming alcohol over a period of time and not eating enough; causing a vitamin deficiency of b-1. He spoke about this for the first time in the article, and did it in a very matter of fact way.  We as fans did not have a clue, and would have never heard about, it if he did not speak up. I find this rare and refreshing. His willingness to speak openly about his problem is amazing, but nothing to what Adam did.

Adam for years suffered behind the scenes with a pain pill addition. When things finally got bad enough he checked himself in to rehab. There is nothing really special about this, however video taping the whole experience and putting it up on the web is. Adam shared his pain and struggle with all his fans; typically done though his lyrics he gave us all an intricate look at what he went through. If you are interested in watching some if please take a look at "Behind the Pain" on Google videos.

I am speaking to this because these are two front men of bands I love, and I have struggled with demons all my life. Though not to the extent that either of these gentleman went through. I find peace in their music, and even before I knew these things about them their lyrics, and music spoke to me. This is really what the core of the this blog is to me; relating to music.

I think often times we take for granted that some of our favorite songs are driven from such a dark place. Though we love to sing along to them we must realize that there is real pain there.