I grew up during the "devil worship" phase of rock music vilification by Those In Power. As a kid, Iron Maiden, AC/DC, Black Sabbath, Alice Cooper, Judas Priest and others were the go-to music for those of us who weren't on the football team or popular. Most of us would crank their tunes during the day, say our prayers at night, and go to Church on Sunday.
We would see televangelists rant and rave that listening to this music would ruin society and the kids would start worshipping Satan...well, here is a news flash: our parents listened to Sinatra and Perry Como and got divorced and destroyed the family. Even the televangelists were proven to be money whores and cheats.
The other thing was that the claims by those in authority were so pathetic. Sure, I can get my arms around Slayer not being good for little Mary's tender ears (personally I don't like their music and I think Kerry King has issues) and that some of the syntax in Highway to Hell may not perfectly bring glory to God...and that whole bat thing with Ozzy didn't help. But when I read some that some religious dude thinks Pat Benetar's "Hell is for Children" is evidence of satanic music, the case suffers.
I'm older now (aren't we all?). I still believe Tipper Gore and the PMRC were a crock and it is sad that Zappa is gone. I also believe Highway to Hell pushed kids to be devil worshippers as much as Wagner's Ring Cycle pushed incest. But I have seen more performers being open and blatant about their disdain for religion and unchanging morals. I see death metal bands that openly push satan. These things should be called out and - here is the key - PARENTS need to step in.
I hope this is clearer and my apologies for getting things wrong (especially for Robert DeLong). Again, nobody knows what was in Malcolm's heart before he died. I hope he was at peace with our Lord. AC/DC is pretty low on the devil worship index for me but I always preferred the The Who anyway. So let us all Rock on and go to Church today. Thanks for listening.
Probably the worst album I had was a tie between Kiss and Alice cooper, although a girl friend I dated briefly talked me into buying an Elton John album (I didn’t tell my friends); yes, that was a pathetic purchase. After getting married, my wife (we met in a bar) found those records in the closet, and was surprised that I had those and a few other lame lps.
But, 4 yrs later, we both were born again, and the “old things are passed away, and all things become new”, literally got underway. One of the old things was music that didn’t glorify God. The rock, blues, jazz, and country music that didn’t promote a healthy and/or Godly life, were burned. No regrets
I liked AC/DC, Black Sabbath, & Alice Cooper, but never really got into Iron Maiden, or Judas Priest as I had grown out of the heavy metal music, about the time when they ousted Ozzy Osborne from the band. Though I do like You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’ by Judas Priest.