Metal - The underlying theme of all metal music is that it's dark. By extension, a metal band's name should be somewhat dark to identify it with the music (nobody wants to hear a band called 'sunshine children' growling about satan). But it's difficult to get a dark sounding name that doesn't sound a bit silly and over-the-top. For example, Slipknot is a fantastic metal name, As I Lay Dying goes too far.
There was a metal band called Pretty Boy Floyd which resulted in a rival band calling themselves Ugly Kid Joe. Def Leppard wanted something that sounded like their heroes Led Zeppelin (still one of the sharpest rock band names of the lot. LZ that is, not DL).
Are Pink Floyd still, for legal and tax reasons,
The Pink Floyd, or did they drop the 'The' without telling us? (And where did The The get the name 'The The' from?)
I can remember in the 80s reading the gig guide in Sounds just to marvel at the names of some of the indie bands playing the pubs and street corners. The name Andy Pandemonium always stood out and he eventually appeared on some weird rock music contest on the telly wearing a fluffy jumper.
Best band name in the 'cor wot a mouthful' category is a tie between Einsturzende Neubauten and Xmal Deutschland. (Polarlicht is a good track by the way.) And try pronouncing perennial Moldovan Eurovision favourites Zdob si Zdub without checking it up on an online Moldovan pronunciation site.
Chris
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