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Hair metal nostalgia fuels yuletide alternatives
10/28/2007 9:00 PM, Reuters
Todd Martens
When producer/composer Paul O'Neill
founded Trans-Siberian Orchestra and launched the yuletide
franchise with the album "Christmas Eve & Other Stories" in
1996, he helped lay the foundation of an unexpected niche
genre: hard rock Christmas carols.
Eleven years later, TSO is a mainstream yuletide tradition.
According to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore since 1999,
TSO's touring company has sold 2.9 million tickets and has
grossed $111 million from 487 shows. The project is mainly
known for extravagant concerts filled with lights, pyro effects
and amplifiers, but its recorded-music titles are also solid
sellers. Five titles have sold nearly 5.6 million copies,
according to Nielsen SoundScan.
Atlantic senior director of A&R and marketing Greg Nadel
predicts that TSO will extend its reach farther this year. Its
single "Wizards in Winter" is gaining traction on radio, and
Atlantic is working on a promotion with iTunes. "It's just a
phenomenon," he said.
But though TSO has staked the biggest piece of the
snow-covered metal market, other projects in a similar vein are
seeking a place under the tree, and they're being created by
bands whose careers peaked during the '80s hair metal era.
As far back as 1997 and 1998, Steve Vai got some fellow
guitarists together to record two Christmas albums, which have
since scanned 4,000 units total, according to Nielsen
SoundScan. And now with a little digging, such albums as Koch
Records' "We Wish You a Hairy Christmas," Perris Records' "The
Glam That Stole Christmas, Vol. 1" and Rusty Diamond's "Bangin'
Round the X-Mas Tree" can be found at Amazon.
One record that has achieved solid success is 2006's "A
Twisted Christmas" by Twisted Sister on Razor & Tie. The band
earned more publicity than it had in decades, and the album has
sold 70,000 copies. To sustain the title's momentum, the band
released the DVD "A Twisted Christmas: Live" September 25;
however, it has sold fewer than 1,000 copies so far.
Razor & Tie, pleased with last year's "Twisted" success,
approached band guitarist J.J. French to co-produce "Monster
Ballads Xmas." The compilation, released September 11, has such
bands as Dokken, Firehouse and Winger put their stamp on
seasonal evergreens. It also has sold fewer than 1,000 copies
to date.
The album is part of Razor & Tie's "Monster" compilation
series, which gathers hits from hair metal acts for such
collections as "Monsters of Rock" and "Monster Ballads."
"We had had so much success with the 'Monster Ballads'
packages over the years that (the Christmas album) was just a
really natural hybrid to make happen," Razor & Tie head of
marketing Michael Krumper said.
Relapse mail-order and wholesale buyer Brian O'Neill
pointed out that the holidays are a time for nostalgia, and
'80s nostalgia is in vogue.
"Thanks to YouTube, now you can watch everything from
Twisted Sister from the videos that were in high rotation on
MTV back in (those) days," he says. Though he considers holiday
metal a novelty, "I will say this," he adds. "All this stuff,
it beats hearing 'Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer' for the 4
millionth damn time."
Reuters/Billboard
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