Prog Metal, Tin Soldiers and Beavis & Butthead. An Interview With Kip Winger of Winger

Love ’em or hate ’em, you have an opinion of Winger. Led by bassist/vocalist Kip Winger, the band were on top of the world during the hair band days and into the 90’s. With videos playing in heavy rotation on MTV and tons of radio play, Winger were huge. Massive hits like Seventeen, Headed For A Heartbreak and Easy Come Easy Go earned Winger two platinum selling albums.

Then something so powerful happened, it’s hard to fathom. A cartoon series started on MTV (the same network that helped make the band so popular) and the bands legacy was completely and quickly changed. The series was Beavis & Butthead and the (uncool) kid named Stewart was shown wearing a Winger shirt. Almost overnight, the bands career was halted. I honestly don’t think we’ve seen the broad scope or power of a single pop culture moment since, or possibly ever for that matter. To make matters worse, after pop culture kicked them in the crotch, along came grunge and big melodies within well-crafted songs just weren’t cool anymore. It was suddenly all about heavy, sloppy, angry teenagers wearing flannel. It was truly a shame for Winger’s empire to crumble so quickly.

Regardless of that fiasco though, the musicianship of Winger has always been quite astonishing. Their style has never really been matched and it probably never will. Love ’em or hate ’em, these cats can play their asses off.

Fast forward until present day and you may wonder what the band has been up to since their last album a few years ago. Well, they just released their newest album titled Better Days Comin’ and are poised to hit the road in support of, what turns out to be an incredibly solid record with even more prog rock elements, even bigger melodies and perhaps a little bit of angst sprinkled on top. There are still some party anthems to appease those fans, but this record is really worth a listen.

Winger – Tin Soldier:

I recently had the chance to speak with Kip Winger and we talked on a multitude of topics, including the new album and the Beavis & Butthead fiasco. Listen in to see what Kip had to say below:

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Winger – Rat Race: