Well, i am not too proud of my musical beginnings. The first band that i heard and liked, and was anything remotely close to Rock was Linkin Park.I am not ashamed to admit it now, but i went two whole years thinking in my mind that LP was the best band in the world. A classic case of the 'Frog in the Well' Syndrome. Then Metallica happened to me.
Credit goes my old friend Cyril. Then straight out of London with the cockney accent in place, he asked me one day after class if i had heard of Metallica. It was a time when MI:2 had just come out and they were constantly showing its OST (I Disappear) on the music channels. So i told him that i had. Even though it was just one song(which i didnt tell him then),the fact that i heard about Metallica impressed him enough to be friends with me. Another weird thing about the whole affair was that i had the whole of Metallica's discography on my hard disk, but was never arsed to listen to them, and i needed this new friend of mine to wax lyricals about them 24-7 to inspire me to listen to them. Thank God for that !Unlike my Linkin Park phase, The Metallica phase was never going to end. Even to this very day, when upset or angry, its 'Master Of The Puppets' or 'Seek and Destroy' which helps me regain myself. Never gets old this routine.
After i started listening to Metallica, there opened a lot many
metaphorical windows in me and before i knew it i was listening to all of 80s Thrash/Heavy Metal. Maiden, Anthrax,Pantera, Testament,Kreator,Megadeth and Slayer. I was awe inspired when i heard Maiden for the first time.Orgasmic almost. 'Hallowed Be Thy Name' was the song in question. Couldnt sleep that night, with THAT famous riff going on and on in my mind . I was bloody counting Dickinsons before i slept that night. One Bruce, Two Bruces, Three...My romance with 80s Thrash went on as i listened to every album i could lay my hands on. From 'Reign In Blood','Rust In Peace', 'Master Of The Puppets' to 'Among The Living' and 'Extreme Aggression', i bloody listened to them all. And I loved them.
During this extreme Thrash infatuation period, i was made to listen to a bit of Punk Rock by some of my friends in high school. No offense guys, but the likes of Good Charlotte, New Found Glory,Simple Plan and All American Rejects just dont do it for me. After listening to their music i was absolutely convinced that the people who listened to their music are probably either men with extreme levels of bodily estrogen who wear pink frilly panties in private or EMOs of the highest order. The topic and subtopic of every song is the same. The girl has left me. So i will pen down my emotions so that i can croon about my feelings to a bunch of prepubescent EMOs whose girls have left them as well. We can then cry together and with a bit of luck turn the whole thing into wild gay orgy and in the process make the world a better place to live in.
After the whole unfortunate and utterly avoidable punk mini phase, i was introduced to the world of Black Metal, and like every newbie i was shocked beyond my wits when i heard Dimmu Borgir for the first time. 'Progenies of the Great Apocalypse' was the song. The heavy riffs, fast drumming and guttural vocals surprised the intestines out of me. But slowly Shagrath and his awesome band grew on me and with the passage of time, i could come to terms with their brilliance and consequently fall in love with their music. This started of a phase of obsession for me in terms of anything closely related to Scandinavian and Black Metal.Again, i listened to stuff from every band that i could find. After Dimmu, i listened to Dark Funeral, Emperor,Marduk, Fintroll, Graveworm, Catamenia and Satyricon, just to mention a few. I read up about the legendary pioneers like Mercyful Fate,Venom and Bathory. And then about Barzum and Varg's Church Arsons. I thought it was barbaric and disgraceful.Discovered Melodeath and Power Metal almost around the same time. Children Of Bodom and Kalmah . What bands they are ! Its bloody unbelievable the amount of depth in some of the Kalmah songs.Their bass guitarist seems insanely talented to pull off some of the stuff that he does. That said, even some of Bodom's riffs are absolutely out of the world. Alexi Laiho ! What a man you are !
Around the same time, i discovered the Grand Daddy Of Metal. Black Sabbath. That would prove be one band that almost came close to influencing my life as much as Metallica had done. There really isnt much to say about them except they singlehandedly created Metal. Its not without reason that its said that these 4 dudes from Birmingham are directly or indirectly responsible for every metal riff that you will ever hear. All that said and done, most of my free time these days is spent on air guitaring to Crazy Train's solo.
My Dad is a big fan of Classical Rock and he introduced me to it . He did this when i was hooked to LP for good and my old man decided that his son ought to have better musical taste than the current trash he was listening to. So he introduced me to the world of Led Zep,Pink Floyd, AC/DC, The Beatles, Deep Purple, Eagles,Springsteen,The Doors, Bob Dylan and the like.Nothing really there to say about the legends that each of them were except....
What a man you are Daddy :-)
Currently, i am going through a Progressive Metal phase, listening to a lot of Dream Theater. In fact i am listening to the Metropolis album as i type my longest ever entry on the blog. Protnoy and Petrucci are Gods.
Adios. And if you actually read up till here, Muchos Gracias ;)
