Popular Culture Review 30.2
tion with metal ’ s communal expressions ” ( Scott 26 ). Moreover , several metal academics call for further research that aids in squaring how “ individuality and community [ can ] be simultaneously celebrated ” within the vast and complex global metal community ” ( Varas-Díaz and Scott vii ).
After reading Eric Smialek ’ s article , “ The Unforgiven : A Reception Study of Metallica Fans and ‘ Sell-Out ’ Accusations ,” the inherent contradictions between collectivism and individualism in the metal scene becomes even more manifest . Smialek maintains that the visceral backlash Metallica experienced in the wake of its copyright infringement lawsuit against Napster was caused , in part , by a “ gradual reduction of the band ’ s social and symbolic capital within the metal scene ” ( 114 ). Most specifically , fans perceived the band as having “ sold out ” to the interests of mainstream music after the massive commercial success of its Metallica , or “ Black Album ” not long after the lawsuit began , and Smialek believes this phenomenon was the main contributing reason for the exacerbation of outrage felt by Metallica fans with respect to the Napster issue ( 112 ). The band ’ s monetary success and ability to cross over and attract non-traditional metal fans , in other words , did not jibe with the image it had initially touted in the 1980s as being “ complex , in control , and independent ” �in vast opposition to the hedonistic , sex-charged glam-metal bands of that same golden era of heavy metal music ( Smialek 107 ). Because individualism , according to Smialek , “ represents a common value for metal fans ,” the manner in which Metallica convinced its fan base early on that the band represented and fully embraced such philosophies “ played a central role in their subcultural consecration ” ( 107 ).
While I generally agree with Smialek ’ s depiction of the fans ’ abject betrayal of Metallica post-Napster , unlike him I can-
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