“And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music.”
― Friedrich Nietzsche
Hello. My name is Jonathan, and I enjoy metal. I was born in 1980, in Vancouver, BC.
I like metal not because it includes me with others, but because it separates me. This is my music. I like it because they don't. I owe my appreciation of Metal mostly to my father, who doesn't really like most metal, but who certainly taught me to listen to music. I grew up listening to a wide variety of music in my young years. At the age of 3, I was a huge Michael Jackson fan. My mother took me to see MJ during the Thriller tour in Vancouver, 1984.
My first album was a mistake. My father's birthday was coming up so I wanted to get him a cassette. I picked out Dire Straights. When he opened it, he thanked me and then gave it to me. He already had it. I listened to that album a lot. The first album that I really stood up and took notice to was ZZ Top's Afterburner album. I would hang out with my father a lot. Lots of road trips etc, and the radio was always going. The Clash, The Police, Floyd, Zepplin.
We talked a lot about how important certain people were in the evolution of music. Hendrix mostly. Dad always had a boner for Hendrix's style.
Skip ahead a few years, 1989. I started Skateboarding, and my best friend lived near some older kid who were into skating. We all pitched in and got a half-pipe and some other ramps built in my friend's backyard. Being around the older guys and reading Thrasher Magazine got me introduced to more energetic music. The Bad Brains, Black Flag, Dead Kennedys, The Red hot Chilli Peppers. I'm 32 now, and hopefully within a year I'll have a child of my own. I'll be able to tell that child that I remember a time when the Chilli Peppers made music that was worth listening to.
I listened mainly to Punk and some Hip Hop through my young years until the age of 16. Throw in some Rage Against the Machine as well. I never ignored the classics, but Punk was my thing. It reflected an energetic kid's lifestyle.
And then ÆNIMA was released.
I had seen a tool video before, "Sober", but didn't think much of it. When ÆNIMA came out, it was like I woke up. This music had an entirely new dimension. I didn't understand what the **** they were singing about, and every time I listened to a song on that album, it felt like I was hearing entirely new sections to it. I was hooked. To this day, tool is my favourite band.
Skip back a bit;
Some point in there, my friend introduced me to a band called "Pantera". I had heard death metal bands here and there. I knew of Napalm Death, and I liked some of the softer Metal like Megadeth and Metallica. Pantera was like a bridge between the two. Pantera became my favourite metal band, with one of the most bad ass frontmen. They weren't a thrash band like Slayer, they weren't like Metallica either. This was groove metal! It had heavy basslines with drumming that put Lars to shame. And the vocals were some of the strongest in all of music.
My first Pantera album was Vulgar Display of Power. From there I awaited each album release, and each album was heavier and greater than the last.
When I heard Pantera, this is when I understood metal. Before then it was angry noise that was sometimes ok, and usually just too much. With Pantera, something clicked, and I understood.
I believe this was around the time when I became a complete ******* music snob. I began judging and grading people based on their music choices. I wasn't vocal, but to this day I could never take someone serious who cranks up U2. Metal gave me a "Me versus Them" attitude. For better or worse, I am not sure, but since my early teens I've always known what I liked and I certainly knew what I didn't like, and everyone else is wrong.
So here is a basic music progression for me, very incomplete, possibly out of order in some parts.
80's:
MJ
Dire Straights
ZZ Top
The Clash
Pink Floyd
Bad Brains
Black Flag
Kennedys
90's:
Cypress Hill
Faith No More
Nirvana
Black Sabbath
Bad Religion
NOFX
Wu Tang Clan
Rollins Band
Ministry
Pantera
Type O Negative
tool
MotorHead
KMFDM
Slayer
2000's:
Down
Superjoint Ritual
Iggy Pop and the Stooges
Strapping Young Lad
ISIS
Voivod
Alice in Chains
Cannibal Corpse
2010's:
Pelican
Neurosis
Old Man Gloom
Melvins (Why ? Why didn't I listen to them since the 80's ???)
Rosetta
I'm missing a ton of bands but essentially most of these are the ones who stood out. Many are not Metal, and many are some twisted mangled form of metal.
I've found that as I get older and more mature, I tend to have more appreciation for the more raw metal. the production and sound of the 80's and 70's albums. I'd trade the high production values and clean sound of a well produced AC/DC album for the sludgy grindy down tuned riffs of something like Down or EyeHateGod.
I've also found that crisp detailed speakers lend themselves very well to bands like Type O Negative. The textured distorted filtered string instruments really come out with revealing speakers. I've also found that albums from the early to mid 90's really sound better in the bass guitar area.
These days, you listen to an album like Lamb of God's "Wrath", you can't even pick out the bass guitar. You get drum, guitar and vocals. Then listen to tool's "Prison Sex" from the undertow album. Prison Sex is my go to reference song for auditioning speakers. Similar albums from that era, any of the Rollins Band albums are mixed so well. Why the **** ? These bands didn't have a lot of money, and not much in the way of production budgets, but those albums sound ****ing great. And it's not just because of loudness wars and compression.
I watched an episode of Metalocolypse where the bassist tries to pick up some women at a bar. They asked him which instrument he plays. "I play bass! I'm William Murderface!" The two girls walk away muttering "why don't you play an instrument that people can actually hear." That's the truest statement.
Anyways, my musical tastes seem to be getting heavier and heavier every year. And I don't see it stopping anytime soon.
Oh and for some content, check out
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pa1r1WZtYcc
Skip to 21:00. Devin Townsend's Skullet is the most metal haircut. Also that part of the show is jaw droppingly good.
Edited by jonathanc - 3/10/13 at 11:59pm
