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Revolver Golden Gods 2011 Nominees & Performers: A Reflective Look

By Aniruddh "Andrew" Bansal

February 24th 2011, Club Nokia, Los Angeles CA: Any award show consists of two major aspects: performances and awards. I felt that the Revolver Golden Gods event improved significantly last year in both those aspects, as compared to its inaugural edition in 2009. The 2010 edition saw an award given to Ronnie James Dio, well-deserved recognition for The Dillinger Escape Plan, and a memorable performance by Lemmy, Slash and Drave Grohl on stage together for "Ace Of Spades". So when it was time for the unveiling of the list of 2011 nominees and performers, I was curious to see how things have shaped up for this year's event.

Performers: Right, on to the positives first. The list of performers has undoubtedly gotten bigger and better as the last couple of years have gone by, and this time it features none other than the original incarnation of the Alice Cooper group, performing for the first time since the reunion, their first Los Angeles appearance in nearly 40 years. Then there's also the all-star Black Flag tribute led by DevilDriver. And if that's not enough, you'll have Volbeat and Fozzy to open up the show, along with Duff McKagan's Loaded and Asking Alexandria featuring Sebastian Bach. But, the biggest disappointment is the headliner, Avenged Sevenfold. I have nothing against that band and more power to them, but in this case the Alice Cooper group should have rightfully headlined this event. Seeing Alice Cooper open for Rob Zombie last year was sufficiently insulting for me, but it's shocking, and rather blasphemous to see them listed below A7X on the bill. Nonetheless, this promises to be a highly entertaining show in terms of the performing musicians that are part of it.

Here's the official list of performers:
Avenged Sevenfold
The Original Alice Cooper Group
Duff McKagan's Loaded
DevilDriver
Asking Alexandria (w/ Sebastian Bach for "Youth Gone Wild")
Volbeat
Fozzy

Nominees: As for the awards themselves, I hate saying this but since I have to be honest in my assessment, I'll go ahead and say that I'm terribly disappointed with this year's nominations and I expected a lot better from them. If I begin listing the bands and musicians that have been ignored, those that should have been among the nominees, it could go on forever.

I was under the impression that the awards are based on a year-to-year performance basis, meaning the best musicians for each category selected based on what they did in the year 2010, in the United States. But judging from some of these nominees, that's clearly not the case. I mean, what have Soundgarden and System Of A Down really done in the last year to warrant a best comeback award? There's also the best live band nomination given to Rammstein. This is something I disagree with, not because they aren't the best live band, but because they didn't do enough in my eyes. A one-off show in New York is all they did last year, and that is a seriously small percentage of the US audience.

The best guitarist, best drummer and best vocalist nominations are somewhat respectable, but then again, there's way too much focus on the mainstream bands. On the other hand, the best album and best new band lists are complete jokes to be honest. And again I insist, I have nothing against the bands nominated in those lists, but I just feel that better choices could have been made.

As for the metal athlete award, I really don't get the point of it. I could understand the hottest chick award which was equally nonsensical, but at least it was fun, and featured actual musicians. Ironically enough, they got rid of that award this year. Another great award they got rid of is the Industry Award which was given to the Rainbow Bar & Grill in 2009. They should have continued that award and it would have been a nice touch to see a place like the House Of Blues being awarded.

Iron Maiden being nominated for four of these awards is perhaps the silver lining here, but if they don't end up winning at least 3 of these, I would lose faith in humanity.

Overall, come April 20th 2011, whoever attends this event will definitely end up having a great time, and for those who are still in two minds about it, I would recommend you to go just for the live performances if not for anything else. The awards are nowhere close to being a true representation of the hard rock/heavy metal genre, and if Revolver Golden Gods really aims to be the only legitimate metal awards show in America, it needs a serious re-work of its nomination process. Thank you very much.

Epiphone Best Guitarist(s)
* John 5 (ROB ZOMBIE)
* Dan Donegan (DISTURBED)
* Gus G. (OZZY OSBOURNE, FIREWIND)
* Synyster Gates and Zacky Vengeance (AVENGED SEVENFOLD)
* Janick Gers, Dave Murray, and Adrian Smith (IRON MAIDEN)
* Alexi Laiho (CHILDREN OF BODOM)

Drum Workshop Best Drummer
* Tommy Clufetos (OZZY OSBOURNE)
* Abe Cunningham (DEFTONES)
* Joey Jordison (ROB ZOMBIE)
* Roy Mayorga (STONE SOUR)
* Nicko McBrain (IRON MAIDEN)
* Mike Portnoy (Ex-DREAM THEATER, AVENGED SEVENFOLD)

Best Vocalist
* Glenn Danzig (DANZIG)
* Bruce Dickinson (IRON MAIDEN)
* Chino Moreno (DEFTONES)
* Ozzy Osbourne (OZZY OSBOURNE)
* M. Shadows (AVENGED SEVENFOLD)
* Corey Taylor (STONE SOUR)

Affliction Album of the Year
* AVENGED SEVENFOLD, "Nightmare"
* BLACK LABEL SOCIETY, "Order of the Black"
* DEFTONES, "Diamond Eyes"
* OZZY OSBOURNE, "Scream"
* STONE SOUR, "Audio Secrecy"
* VOLBEAT, "Beyond Hell/Above Heaven"

Samson Zoom Best Live Band
* AVENGED SEVENFOLD
* GWAR
* IRON MAIDEN
* MEGADETH
* RAMMSTEIN
* SEVENDUST

Most Metal Athlete
* Chris Cole (pro skateboarding)
* Dan Hardy (MMA fighting)
* Toni Lydman (NHL)
* The Miz (WWE wrestling)
* Jeremy Shockey (NFL football)
* Mike Vallely (pro skateboarding)

Best New Band
* ASKING ALEXANDRIA
* BLACK VEIL BRIDES
* THE DAMNED THINGS
* THE PRETTY RECKLESS
* TIMES OF GRACE
* WE ARE THE FALLEN

Eagle Rock Comeback of the Year
* ACCEPT
* FAITH NO MORE
* MURDERDOLLS
* A PERFECT CIRCLE
* SOUNDGARDEN
* SYSTEM OF A DOWN

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