Metal Monday

Confessions of a Metal Head

I'm a metal head. I started in 1987, the first metal album I bought was White Snake, Slide it In. Before that Van Halen's 5150, but I never thought of them as a metal band.

By the the spring of 1988 I was growing my hair long and listening to metal. By the fall of 1989 I had a mop of hair in my face, later a mullet and a black metal T-shirt for everyday of the week. By December though, things were changing.

You see, this cute little blonde said I should get an earring. My parents, sensing a rare opportunity, said if I wanted an earring the hair would have to go. That Xmas the hair duly came off. In the spring my wardrobe changed a lot and by the fall o 1990 I was dressing more like a hippie than a metal head. A lot of ripped jeans, some tie-dye. I actually started to look like the lead singer of a 70's era classic rock band.

By senior year my hair was short and I wore a lot of long sleeve tees. I was a pretty good looking kid if I don't say so myself.

So the metal hasn't always been thriving for me. That said, even when I was looking respectable I was still buying GnR, Metallica. Heck, my soundtrack to 1990 was Led Zeppelin.

When Metal blew up, like everyone else I listened to Grunge. I never liked Nirvana, but man, Pearl Jam was a metalhead's salvation. Same with Sound Garden and Alice in Chains.

When Grunge fell I walked away from rock and 1995 was the last year MTV was important to me. Man was I getting off that train at the right time. I turned to classical, but lo and behold, the classical I liked was heavy, Tchaikovsky, Mendelssohn, etc etc.

In the winter of 2001, when I was looking for some heavy music, Metal was still there. In 2003 I was listening to Zeppelin everyday, and in 2006, just as the Metal revival was really kicking in, I was back. I saw Maiden twice that year, AC/DC three times.

Metal was back and so was I.

Metal Monday

Post 9/11 kicking Muslim Butt edition:

People of Earth, I give you:

Ahhhh Iron Eagle. Yeah, yeah, I know. Still its a lot of fun and God Bless Queen.

Twenty Five years ago I was listening to this sound track everyday. Queen does a song here for Iron Eagle, but also Highlander.

Check out Brian May's solo at about 3:00. It has a heroic feel, an almost operatic feel to it. Then he just hammers the listener.

Back then, when I was 18 mind you, I was writing about galactic alliances and such. I've held on to a few of the ideas I had and got them in print. Anywho with the One Vision opening I used to see helicopters rising out from a hill, the morning sun behind them. Very Apocalypse Now, I know. That massive sword fight in the middle, well that used to make me think of space dreadnoughts trading fire, one volley after another.

The interesting thing about Queen was their ability to adapt. In the early 70's they sound like a guitar driven classic rock band. By the end of the decade they're heavily influenced by Disco. By the mid-80s they sound kind of metal. Which was no fluke. Brian May is on my top ten guitar players list. Heavy was always in them, oh stop snickering.

Queen also has a special place in my generation's heart. Well, you know:

Before Wayne's World one only heard Bohemian Rhapsody on the musty classic rock stations, 92.3 and 102.7 in the NY metro area. As it happened Freddie Mercury died a few months before this came out, so this was kind of his swan song cum tribute. Yes, my friends and I drove around in my 86 Celica doing this. Heck, we do it when DJ's play the song at weddings.

Fuck yeah, who says the gays can't rock?

Metal Monday

Irish Sellout Edition

In 2008 I saw AC/DC three times on tour. Each time my favorite new band opened. The first time, I was thinking, yeah, come on do your set and let the big boys on stage.

This was them and this was the song:

I've been a fan ever since. Sounds like Zeppelin without ripping Zeppelin, don't it.

Their first album, Rise, was good.

Here's another one from Rise:

Their second album, Everyday Demons was better:

Well, this evening I got a note from them on FB:

The new The Answer album Solas is a contemporary, uplifting rock album, channelling the band’s Irish roots to deliver a bold new sound.

I'm terrified.