Thank you, my friend! I think the First Listens have had the key effect of keeping my tastes fluid and evolving. I’ll keep that going, as I said, so that I can keep my self-understanding sharp. That, and being in frequent contact with other (younger?) metalheads in my area; these folks are not shy about talking at me about <insert random band or subgenre> at me until I relent and promise to give it a listen with an open mind. See the rest here
Very nice work, my friend. I’m sorry that I haven’t had the time to fully invest in your project, namely that I don’t know a substantial number of the albums you have reported on. That comes to the most impressive aspect of your project: you listen to a shit ton of albums! See the rest here
I just watched it the other day—it was pretty sweet, though some of it, especially the end, felt a little rushed.
The parts about the recording of Human and ITP were especially enjoyable. Good stuff! See the rest here
I agree. Wow. Didn’t think they could still thrash like that. Also, isn’t it the perfect song for this crazy election year (and already the hottest year on record)? See the rest here
very sad. was jamming to Rust in Peace yesterday in his honor. See the rest here
That’s some excellent analysis, JaPaBo. I can’t argue with the math!
What I can say, however, is that I don’t intentionally go against the grain per se. If anything, I try to avoid groupthink and keep an open mind about albums I’m going to listen to. The payoff comes in those moments when I find myself saying, “You know, this new Winger album is pretty good!” See the rest here
I’ve been thinking a lot about your answers to my question. I agree with both of you on some points.
In particular, I can think of plenty of examples of bands that have a shifting relationship with the genre over time. (Hey, we can’t all be Overkill Inc.) And yet, most people don’t talk about metal albums; the categorization happens around the band. See the rest here
Although I suppose we could come up with a definition of metal based on some combination of objective musical criteria (e.g. double-bass drumming, de-tuning, distortion, etc.) or some common sense standard like the Supreme Court’s definition of pornography (i.e. “you know it when you hear it”), I have a nagging suspicion that metal is best defined by the particular emotions it most commonly expresses. See the rest here
The age old question: what makes something metal? It has come up for me lately a bit because my daughter has been enjoying AC/DC lately (started with hearing Highway to Hell over the closing credits of one of the Iron Man movies, now she likes some other tunes like Dirty Deeds and TNT) and she asked me “Is AC/DC heavy metal?” See the rest here
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