The death of the Black Sabbath singer Ozzy Osbourne this July, and the huge reaction it provoked worldwide, represented something of a landmark to us heavy metal fans. After decades of having been shunned, scorned and ridiculed, this genre had not only become acceptable, but the passing of the frontman of heavy metal’s founding fathers became an occasion for national mourning.
How different it had been in the 1980s. In that decade, heavy metal was deemed a form of music made by morons, for morons. And the undisputed kings of the genre in that decade were Iron Maiden. They were certainly my favourite band at the tail end of that decade – I first saw them live in concert at Wembley Arena in 1990. But I was an outlier. Being a rare metaller aged 15 wasn’t much fun. The cool kids were into The Cure and The Stone Roses.
50 Years?
There’s an episode of The Simpsons from the third season where the character Sideshow Bob marries Bart’s Aunt Selma to kill her. When his scheme falls apart and he’s hauled back to jail, he shouts, “I’ll be back. You can’t keep the Democrats out of the White House forever, and when they get in, I’m back on the streets with all my 
In the Dickens classic, Christ redeems capitalism