Music

So this is Blog number 3.

As you can tell by my blog name i in some way like Metallica...well i LOVE Metallica! So this blog is about my love for music and how it came about....

My history of music from an early age is vague and the timeframe is all over the place. All i can remember now are little pieces of the past that involve music.

As far as i know my first taste in music was POP, the good old pop of yester-year. I remember for my 7th birthday getting a tape player and a spice girls tape (yes i know!!!). From then i remember little bits. When we were on holiday (prob about 8-9years old) i would listen to my tape player with an 'All Saints' tape in it. =] some good, innocent times.

After that, and prob a year or so later i remember getting my first taste of GOOD music. This was in the form of Pink Floyd. Whenever I would go somewhere in the car with my dad he would put on Pink Floyds album 'Animals'. At the time i think what i loved about it was the fact it had animal names as songs and some pig sounds as sound affects. But it wasn't long before i was appreciating the amazing guitar work by David Gilmore. Closing my eyes in the car and trying to hear every guitar note from a solo and just being so peaceful.

But my love of Pink Floyd remained in the car with my dad for some time....Outside, when i was in school, i remember getting into a small bit of rap music, nothing too heavy and prob only to try to fit in. I do remember listening religiously to Eminem and Dr. Dre for a period of time. But it didnt last that long.

I think it was at the age of about 11/12 I was at home in my room and my brother put on a CD. On the CD was at least 3 songs i will always remember. They were Radiohead - Paranoid Android. Pearl Jam - Alive. and Metallica - One.

I think those 3 songs were my electric shock into heavy guitar music...From then i remember getting heavily into Korn. Listening to 'Follow The Leader' all the time and then getting the album 'Issues'. But prob my best memory of Korn music was sticking in the CD of there first album, self titled, Korn and hearing the first song! The lead in with the slight drum beat and guitar notes for about 30secs and then Jonathan Davis's vocals of 'ARE YOU READYYY!!' Pure music bliss at the time.

After the electric shock i couldnt get enough of Rock, Metal and generally good Guitar music. My dad introduced me to ACDC via the 'Live At Donington' CD's. He also introduced me to Queen.

Then came METALLICA!...Im not too sure how exactly i got into Metallica but im sure it was from someone at school. But ever since getting into Metallica my music life has been one big heavy metal party.

Bands i got into after Metallica were:

Megadeth
Black Sabbath
Led Zeppelin
Slayer
Foo Fighters
Iron Maiden (not too heavily for some reason)
Pantera
Corrosion of Conformity
...and other bands i really cant remember.

As i said at the start, the timeframe in which my music tastes have grown, i cannot remember.
I do remember hanging out with 'friends' at school and being told about Megadeths album 'Rust in Pieces'. I immediately looked it up and was blown away. Every song is pure thrash metal bliss. The solo's are perfect, the riff's perfect & Dave Mustaines vocals & lyrics just add to the awesomeness.

But for years my music taste really stayed with Metal, Rock and heavy guitar music. I tended to dismiss other genres or types of music. However over the years i have learned to appreciate a lot more genres of music. I have gotten into a lot of 60's Rat Pack style music and love Frank Sinatra's work. Always hit the right note with me.

Classical music also hit me heavily enough. I would say it was through Metallica's live album S & M, in which they played there songs with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra. It helped me to realise how similar Heavy Metal music is to Classic music.

Now i have never been able to learn the names of pieces of classical music so i cannot really mention which peices i love. But i know i love fast paced classic music, with fast piano and string instrumental music. So enough about classical music.

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But now i wanna talk about Metallica. As i said, im not too sure how i got into Metallica but they have always been my favourite band. The first album i fully listened to was 'The Black Album'. And i loved it. The slow guitar start to Enter Sandman to the beautifully poetic and amazing 'Nothing Else Matters' i listened to that album for a long time. But i craved more Metallica music. And i soon found it in the form of 'Master of Puppets'. That album blew me away at the time. The acoustic start of 'Battery' was brilliant and then it hit the fast paced guitar music of Kirk. The song 'Master of Puppets' has and always will be a classic to every Metallica fan out there. Although not personally my favourite Metallica song there is something about it. And im not even going to describe it, just listen to it!!!!

The next Metallica album i got into was 'Ride the Lightening'. I think this appealed to me more because it was faster paced then any other album and it pushed my buttons. My favourite song on that album has to be 'Fade To Black'. The song is AMAZING! So so beautiful, yet heavy in all the right places....About half way through the song, the heaviness hits! It goes from melodic to pure guitar riff in a heartbeat....And the solo, god!*drools slightly*. One of the most amazing guitar solo's i will ever come across. Its dark, beautiful, fast, melodic and just pure guitar heaven. What more can i say.

The song 'Call of Ktulu' off Ride The Lightening introduced me to instrumental music. The lack of lyrics in the song MAKES you concentrate on the music. And its worth it. Call of Ktulu is just a song of its own.

Soon after Ride the Lightening i discovered 'Kill 'Em All'. Kill 'Em All is Metallicas first album. It was made in 1983. James Hetfields vocals are raw, the production is raw and the music is FAST! There is no real way of describing Kill 'Em All other than saying it is THRASH METAL MUSIC! Its an adrenaline rush of fucking kick ass riffing.

So I am a BIG Metallica fan. What i love about Metallica's music is that in its own right every album has been different. They started off being full on Thrash with Kill 'Em All, progressed to Thrash with more melody and general melodic music. Then Master of Puppets was quite heavy, not so much Thrash but still awesome Heavy Metal Music. And in each album his vocals have kind of changed, whether through production or not.



The first time i saw Metallica Live was 2004, in the RDS. When i got my ticket in the post i fucking JUMPED in the air with excitement. And counted down the days till i went. It also happened to be my first concert, which really added to the anticipation. I wont go into the whole concert but lets just say it was fucking amazing!!!!!!

I have seen Metallica a total of 4 times and will gladely see them again. Each time I see them it is amazing, and you even end up seeing a bunch of people from the last Metallica Concert.

Which brings me onto my next area of talk - Concerts.

Concerts to me are like unique experiences, whether it be the band, the venue, the country i personally enjoy the whole concert experience. I am always willing to go to the venue ealy in the morning and queue. I think, as boring as it can be at times, you talk to so many random people are are really there for the same reason, to see a kick ass band play a kick ass concert! I always get a sense of unity when in the queue for a concert. Personally i dont see the point in drinking and getting shit faced before or during a gig because at the end of the day you have paid 30, 0, 50 or up to 60Euro for the ticket alone to see your favourite band play live and then you are drunk at the concert, miss the band, maybe get kicked out! Come on, what is the point?!

When im at a concert i sometimes stop moshing and moving about and try to focus on the lead guitarist during a solo or a part of a song i love. Im just a fan of musicians playing the music i love live. And it always brings a smile to my face! =]

I used to be kind of afraid of going to a concert on my own due to the whole lack of confidence mixed with nobody to talk to and finding it extra boring. My first concert on my own was Dragonforce. And it was great because i could be my natural self around that setting and i ended up talking to loads of people. And even saw some 'concert buddies' (as i call them) from other concerts. Since then i wouldn't have a problem going to see a band live on my own!

My 3rd favourite band, who i got to see live in March 2008 was Machine Head. I got into Machine Head when i was in 5th year. A friend copied there albums 'Through the Ashes of Empires' and 'Burn My Eyes'. I didnt get that into them too much until I heard they about the album 'The Blackening', which they released in 2008. And damn is it a good album....

I honestly believe that 'The Blackening' is the best metal album since Pantera's 'Vulgar Display of Power'. Everything about the blackening is perfect. The production isnt over the top. Robb Flynn's vocals are just wow!!! And the music is just intence. Some of the dual guitar work between Robb Flynn and Phil Demmel is just out of this world!

So anyway seeing Machine Head live is a particularly memorable concert. I went up on my own and ended up hanging out with some randomers, i think i had met 1 or 2 at another concert. The concert itself was seriously awesome!!!!! They are an amazing band live, very intence and create a very good atmosphere.

So after the concert a friend and me decided to go to fibbers across from the Ambassador (the venue Machine Head were playing) to see what the story was, seen as we heard that Machine Head were heading there after the concert. After about half an hour in there, low and behold in walks Machine Head =] I was blown away. Obviously there were quite a number of people trying to talk to him, vying for attention and congratulating the band on a kick ass performance. But to keep it short i ended up having a quick chat with Robb Flynn, shaking his hand and getting a picture of him. I was bowing down to a master of metal! And it felt good!!!

As i said, its one of the most memorable nights in my life...oh and my friend and i ended up sleeping in a hostel over night =]

I do have other stories of concerts and about my musical interests but i'll leave it for now...And your prob fuckin bored by now lol.

Keep rocking amigo's and have fun!
Cormac
Metallica A La Kittykat