Metal saved me

I’m back from vacation and the first thing I am thinking about is how metal saved me. It was a grueling 12 and 1/2 hour drive from South Carolina back to New York and I got through it thanks to, mostly, Pantera. I was listening to an audiobook during the first part of the drive but started to get sleepy and needed the proverbial splash of cold water on my brain to get me through the rest of the ride. I put on “Cowboys From Hell.” I never really listened to that album until recently during my recent exploring of the iPod and my reawakening to old music that I have talked about.

Another part of the problem I had while in my musical rut was a tendency to dismiss albums that came previous to the album that got me to love a band. I came into my Pantera phase with “Vulgar Display of Power,” which if you know it is a fantastic album of mind blowing metal proportions. After listening and having my brain wired for Vulgar, I just couldn’t get into Cowboys. And I stayed that way for a long time. I got into the follow up album to Vulgar, “Far Beyond Driven,” but nothing after that. After I got into drugs I tended not to listen to metal music as it usually “harshed my mellow.” I went towards stuff like Pink Floyd and The Beatles, like most people do when they take up smoking weed. Being sober for quite a few years now and loving guitar more than ever, I’m back into metal in a huge way right now. I have to say, I’m sorry I never gave Cowboys From Hell the fair shake it deserved. Because it really is an awesome album. Dimebag Darrell’s guitar work on the album is superb.

Another band that comes to mind as having received a similar treatment, as Pantera, is Megadeth. I got into them with the album “Countdown to Extinction,” and really became fans with “Youthanasia.” I never really got into anything before those albums until a few years ago when my love of “Rust in Peace” blossomed. This vacation I really got to give a good listen to their earlier albums and really enjoyed them on the road home.

~ by nilentropy on January 24, 2014.