6.24.2008

Justice For Dimebag Darrell: Stop The Adness


I may have a giant stick up my ass today but that doesn't change the fact that the March 2008 issue of Guitar World represents a major low point for Metal. The magazine's umpteenth tribute to Dimebag Darrell Abbott might not have started as a reprehensible cash-in sanctioned by bandmate/brother Vinnie Paul and widow Rita Haney, willing participants. But it got majorly ugly: Paul has transformed into a nightmarish used car salesman, favoring a George Jones-meets-stripper wardrobe and shamelessly hawking all sorts of crap with Dime's name on it; Haney, for her part, tainted her opportunity to personally eulogize one of Metal's greatest figures by hurling specious accusations at asshole Phil Anselmo (duh).

So a sensitive topic spun out on Guitar World; it happens. And, sure, a traumatized family is prone to weirdness. There's a way to make it up to everybody, though: Though Dime's death was more than three years ago, that hasn't stopped unconscionable guitar gear companies from continuously using him to sell shit, following the Jimi Hendrix Estate model. Magazines like Guitar World rely on ad revenues, but if they respect Dime (and his fans, friends, family) like they claim to all the fucking time, they'd bar ads exploiting Dime's image and let the man rest in peace. Haney and the Abbott family, on their side, need to junk their DimeVision shit and cease licensing Dime's memory to the lowlifes. Sorry if I sound all breathless and shrill, but Dime meant a lot to Metal people and doesn't deserve to be reduced to a brand name. Think of the children.

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