By Francesca Baratta
The Aquarian
VH1 Classic, usually filled with a line-up of music videos from artists ranging from the Beatles to Madonna, is giving metal its turn to shine or be its darkest as the case may be. Started on Nov. 15, That Metal Show, hosted by Eddie Trunk, is filled with arguing, a multitude of pranks and talk of Metallica, KISS and any other metal band ever. Yes, metalheads, you have been let down before, but this talk show has not disappointed so far. The show airs new episodes on Saturday nights and reruns play during the week. To see this week's episode, tune in to VH1 Classic on Dec. 20 at 11pm.
Host Eddie Trunk, known for his radio shows on Q104.3, is actually a great host with his vast music knowledge, connections, and easy-going attitude, unless you talk about how Alice Cooper is still not inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame. His co-stars Jim Florentine (Special Ed on Crank Yankers) and Don Jamieson mix their metal expertise and their comedic skills with pranks like leading fake tours in the Hard Rock Cafe or waiting outside a Van Halen concert and telling fans that they have a direct line to the band backstage.
No metal icons from the 60's to today are safe in this 30-minute smorgasbord of all things metal. Already Lita Ford, Twisted Sister, Mike Portnoy, and Yngwei Malmsteen have all been guest stars on the show with AC/DC, Rush, Ace Frehley from KISS and more still to come this season. Mike Piazza joined the group last week but what he has to do with the metal scene I don't know. The stars are really funny even if the interviews sometimes end up like The View with more leather and less shrieking.
Other segments of That Metal Show are the "Pick Of The Week," "Whatever Happened To," where they track down metal artists that have gotten lost during the years, and "The Throwdown" between bands such as Black Sabbath vs. Led Zeppelin. Taking a cue from ESPN, That Metal Show has a segment called "Stump the Trunk." However, Trunk usually can answer only half of questions asked of him, leading to a barrage of jokes from his two co-hosts and the loss of many metal DVDs and CDs to the lucky questioners. Good times for all. For more info on the show, go to vh1classic.com.
