Metallica, the bay-area giants that legitimized “thrash metal” with albums like Kill ‘Em All, Master of Puppets, …And Justice For All and “The Black Album” were welcomed into the hallowed confines of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on April 4, 2009.

Their inclusion, though absolutely deserving in every conceivable way, poses a wider question to my ever curious mind: Will the inclusion of now two “metal” acts, (Black Sabbath being the other. Let’s face it, Led Zeppelin and The Who don’t count as metal.) clear the way for other metal and proto-metal acts?

The governing body of “The Hall” is still skittish when inductions are concerned. The Hall has inducted piano music lightweight Floyd Cramer, but has passed up The Stooges. They’ve welcomed jazz “rockers” Steely Dan and the doo-wop group The Moonglows, but took forever to induct The Ramones and The Talking Heads. So, what would make you think The Hall will get heavier anytime soon?

There are several bands that fall into the metal, punk, thrash and hardcore categories that are entirely deserving of the honor of induction. Here is a list of bands that are eligible and in my mind, should be included. Bare with me, it’s a short list.

Motorhead: Without Lemmy Kilmister and the boys, the genre of thrash (and Metallica) probably would never have existed. Their album, Ace of Spades, is a benchmark of lawn killing volume and speed.

Megadeth: Dave Mustaine, former member of Metallica, focused all his aggression and hatred into classic ear splitting albums such as Rust in Peace, Peace Sells… But Who’s Buying?, Countdown to Extinction and Killing is My Business and Business is Good. And as an added bonus, the band takes it’s name for the loss of lives from a nuclear detonation. Now that’s Metal.

MC5: The Detroit based house band for the Black panther Party was the first to “Kick Out The Jams”. Their explosive shows, incendiary guitar work of Fred “Sonic” Smith and Wayne Kramer and controversial political stances helped set the stage for both punk and metal.

The Stooges: Again, another band that helped in the invention of metal and punk. For god sake, listen to Raw Power and tell me Iggy Pop and his Ann Arbor, Michigan brethren don’t belong.

Black Flag: No they aren’t metal, but hardcore punk arose from the “forbidden beat” created by metal and more precisely, Motorhead. Black Flag gave birth to thousands of punk and thrash bands either by groups attempting to copy their sound or by guitarist Greg Ginn’s indie record label SST.

The Melvins: Masters of sludge and drone, no Melvins equals no Nirvana. No Nirvana equals none of the good bands and some of the bad (I’m talking to you, Bush and Candlebox) that appeared in the 1990’s wake of “Smells Like Teen Spirit”.

Judas Priest: Rob Halford is the King of the 1980’s wave of British Metal. British Steel is an album for the ages.

And there is just a taste of the metal, thrash, hardcore and punk bands that have shaped the musical landscape over the past 30+ years that are up for induction. They have all, either directly or indirectly, changed the public’s perception of what is great, what is groundbreaking, what is acceptable and what is not. And in the process have warped my brain for the better.

I must extend my congratulations to Metallica. They truly are one of the greats of this or any other time. Who knows, maybe next year someone from my list will be asked into The Hall, but my bet is that the voters will probably go with The Carpenters instead. Man, could they wail!

If you are a person that follows rock music history even a little bit, you more than likely know The Stooges. The wild racket they made with their instruments and the aggressive stage presence of their lead man, Iggy Pop, was completely at odds with the flower power, hippie love of the late 1960s. They spit in the face of convention, along the way spawning the rock sub-genre known now as punk.

The Stooges were ground breakers, revolutionaries in a revolutionary time and with songs like “Raw Power”, “Search and Destroy” and “I Wanna Be Your Dog”, they birthed a million punk and metal bands. So, it’s a no brainer that they should be inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, right?…

Wrong.

Apparently, the powers that be (headed up by Rolling Stone’s Jann Wenner) felt that The Stooges do not merit inclusion into this year’s class, a full forty-two years after the band’s debut album (rules state that a band must wait at least twenty-five years after their debut for consideration) and only days after original guitarist Ron Asheton was found dead at his Ann Arbor, Michigan home.

There are a few in the class of 2009 that do, in my mind, belong in The Hall. Heavy Metal gods Metallica, rockabilly princess Wanda Jackson and rap giants Run DMC do fit here. I will deduct one point from Run DMC’s credibility however for inadvertently giving the world rap-rock acts like Kid Rock, Limp Bizkit and Korn.

But honestly, do we really need to see Jeff Beck inducted a second time? (His first time was as a member of The Yardbirds). Or Bobby Womack and the doo wop of Little Anthony and The Imperials over The Stooges? I know these are opinion and judgment calls, but being asked to become a member of The Hall has gone from being a great honor to being about as important as winning a Day Time Emmy for Best Bra Stuffing.

Until the old bastards on the selection committee either die off or wake up and see the error of their ways, The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame will be the most exclusive joke of all time. When it comes time to consider acts like Husker Du, Nirvana, The Minutemen, The Cure, The Replacements, Sonic Youth, Nick Drake and The MC5, will the committee truly consider these great acts? If they stay true to form, probably not.

But hey, at least we’ve got ABBA, Barry Manilow, Supertramp, STYX, Dokken and Rick Springfield to look forward to, right?