Has anyone else noticed the recent amount of comebacks former superstar musicians are making?

For example, I had the honor of playing with Motley Crue on its Greatest Hits tour in September and soon I will have share the stage with Vanilla Ice.

Limp Bizkit is another comeback band I’ve played with.

“Hold on right there,” you might say. “Limp Bizkit isn’t old. Limp Bizkit is a cutting-edge band that only recently broke out.”

I can’t argue that point, but DJ Lethal from House of Pain is Limp Bizkit’s turntable wizard.

You remember House of Pain, right? How could we forget the Irish trio from Hell’s Kitchen, N.J., made up of DJ Lethal, Danny Boy and Everlast.

That’s right. The very same Everlast that is currently bringing you tales of abortion clinics and drug deals gone bad with his hit single, “What It’s Like.”

It makes you wonder why Danny Boy is dead.

But the recycle bin doesn’t stop there. Oh no. We’ve just begun.

Snoop Dogg has made his return with full force. The former lead dogg of Death Row Records is back in full strength with Master P and the No Limit posse.

This past summer, my band was blessed with the opportunity to perform at Mancow’s Lazer Luau, an outdoor festival that brought an estimated 22,000 people through the gates.

Who did those 22,000 people come to see? The ultra-hip, super-modern rock of Anthrax.

Does anyone realize that in 1990, Monster Magnet had a video on MTV that completely bombed, leaving the members of the band literally pumping gas in New Jersey?

And what about the hottest metal concert in America right now? Is it Korn, Rob Zombie and Coal Chamber?

Nope.

Then maybe it’s System of a Down, Head PE and Kid Rock?

Wrong again.

It’s the incredibly modern tones of Black Sabbath, Pantera and The Deftones.

Okay. The Deftones have some credibility as a recent trendsetter for West Coast hardcore. In actuality, they were doing what Korn does before Korn ever existed.

But Pantera and Black Sabbath?

Black Sabbath was big when the Beatles were hot. Ozzy Osbourne is an old, pamper-wearing crackhead with an attitude problem and a gender dilemma. He was cool in 1959, not 1999.

Pantera also had their day. I think that day was the second day of my sophomore year of high school.

In short, am I the only one in the world who is hungry for some viable new talent? I’m not talking about these fluke bands such as Third Eye Blind, Eve 6, Marcy Playground and Harvey Danger.

I’m talking about viable musicianship—a pure mixture of a fresh message, a fresh sound and a fresh style.

For those of you looking for the same thing as I am, there are a few bands out that have the previously mentioned skills.

Check out System of a Down, Vision of Disorder, E-Town Concrete, Madball, Scarhead, Stem, Fury of Five and Eminem.

We’ll talk later.

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Chad Calek is a senior in journalism and mass communication from Persia.