Welcome to Thorsday! On this day we give thanks to the Norse God of thunder, lightening… and METAL!!!!
Yes, I know Thor isn’t REALLY the God of Metal… but just imagine if that hammer had some strings and frets… it would be magnificent!
But, before I jump into the music, I want give a bit of background on how I came to have such strange musical tastes. I grew up in a very conservative part of central Pennsylvania. We lived in a small farmhouse with Amish next door neighbors and no cable… heck, the internet didn’t even exist yet. I didn’t know what I didn’t know, and life was safe and predictable. I remember listening to my parents’ records which were mostly religious music, some classical, and oldies. So to say my musical influences were limited, might be a slight understatement. Almost no popular music at all… no Michael Jackson, no Stevie, no Hall and Oates, no U2, no Bon Jovi. This persisted until puberty, mostly because the lost social capital from not being “cool” didn’t have any negative effects yet, and I had very little time away from supervision to explore music for myself.
But everything changed in middle school when I met a science teacher, Mr. Schwalm, and the chorus and music teacher Mr. Sheaffer. Mr. Sheaffer, whose musical influence probably shaped me more than any other, had something he called the ‘Album of the Month’ which introduced me to artists like Bela Fleck, Jeffrey Gaines, and Live. Mr. Schwalm would often let students play music during tests and quizzes, provided it didn’t have any bad language. These were some of the first times that I heard non-parent sanctioned music and it had a profound effect on me. And, it was during one of our first quizzes that Mr. Schwalm played his music, and exposed me to the unique genius of Yngwie Malmsteen. This Viking can shred. His music is equal parts dramatic 80’s metal, and absolutely astounding musical proficiency. He even wrote a Concerto Suite for Electric Guitar.
Since those early middle school days, I’ve been on a mission to seek out the odd and extreme wherever I can find it.
So, what metal do I listen to now (asked no one)? Well let me give you some highlights…
Yngwie’s newest Album: World on Fire – It isn’t his best, but it is his latest…
Metallica’s newest Album: Hardwired… To Self-Destruct
The Metallica album St Anger rerecorded by a different band. The original sounded so terrible that it was actually insulting to listen to…
AND, my song of the day, The Number of the Beast by Iron Maiden. The scream at 1:17, like the band, is a classic!! Anyway, I hope you enjoy it. I’ll catch you tomorrow for my final day on the blog.
Hail Satan and have a great day!
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