Awful truth: heavy metal music often "a comfort for the bright child"

Thrasher Magazine, June, 2007

Intelligent teenagers often listen to heavy metal music to cope with the pressures associated with being talented, according to research. The results of a study of more than 1,000 of the brightest five percent of young people will come as relief to parents whose offspring are devotees of Iron Maiden, AC/DC, and their musical descendants.

Researchers found that, far from being a sign of delinquency and poor academic ability, many adolescent "metalheads" are bright and often use the music to help them deal with the stresses and strains of being gifted social outsiders. He said: "There is a perception of gifted and talented students as being into classical music and spending a lot of time reading. I think that is an inaccurate stereotype. Participants said they appreciated the complex and sometimes political themes of heavy metal music more than perhaps the average pop song. It has a tendency to worry adults but it does not indicate problems."--Telegraph.co.uk