10+10 Pisciatori controvento. 11) Anton Maiden
Anton Maiden - Aces High At first, there were cover bands (or tribute bands, as some would say), stuff for terminal fans of some band who reveled in reproducing their idols' songs as closely as possible. Without flair. Without imagination.
Useless (if anyone's interested, go listen to Totò as the legendary copyist Scorcelletti explaining what it takes to be a great copyist).
The good ones interpret the pieces they cover; the truly great ones dissect them, dismantle them, and bring them back to life.
Then there are the pisciatori, who kill them and then have sex with them.
Now, here we have legendary figures like Justin RPG, Wiliam Shatner (yes, him: the legendary Captain Kirk!) or our very own, the great, Joe Sandalo.
But my favorites are Klaus Beyer (a genius from Germany who remade the Beatles in German on karaoke-like tracks and who shared the stage even with Einstürzende Neubauten, as part of the New German Wave, and is still out there performing) and this Anton Maiden.
It wasn't easy, believe me, to choose. In the end, I picked him, Anton Gustaffson, son of the suburbs of Gothenburg (another Swede! What could be in the air in those places?).
Between 1999 and 2000, Anton flooded the Internet with videos of himself singing, over MIDI tracks, the songs of his beloved Iron Maiden. Initially, it was just for some of his friends, but then word-of-mouth sent his videos skyrocketing in views. Anton became famous (!): he went on TV, was invited to shows and concerts, and Nihilistic Records (not a small label by any means!) signed him and made him record an album...
Now, in a world that spins the right way, scoundrels like
@[Falloppio] or
@Harlan should have at least two giant posters and Anton's complete discography at home.
Instead...
Instead, Anton, despite (or perhaps because of) the "success," fell into depression.
He disappeared for about a week, then he committed suicide.
He was only 24 years old.
Here follows an overview of the "best" pieces of this "genre."
