Rolling Metal Thread 2010

first 3 CDs were Pink Floyd - Meddle, Iron Maiden - Killers, and Tad - God's Balls.

I didn't think God's Balls was released on CD except for that truncated version tacked to the end of Salt Lick?

Anyway, these are my firsts:

First single: Def Leppard - 'Animal'
First tape: Michael Jackson - Bad
First LP: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles OST
First CD: Soundgarden - Superunknown (I still love this one)

Can't wait for LOTM. Just received new Darkthrone though... which should be good.

I stand by my take on the LOTM disc. I think it's been all downhill for them since The Ultimate Destroyer. Based on the new song they played last night, though, I'm very excited for the next disc by The Sword. (I also hope they record and release the version of Thin Lizzy's "Cold Sweat" they played, 'cause that kicked all kinds of ass.) I didn't get either of those on video (I was still online during the new song and only heard it because it was an outdoor show, and...well, I just didn't record the other one), but you can see them play an older song, and see the first song of Motörhead's set ("Iron Fist") right here.

I gotta tell you, this Flip Video camera/device is fucking amazing. It cost me $185, and the recording quality is fantastic. I feel kinda goofy using it, because the model user in the TV commercials is, like, a six-year-old girl, but fuck it - the thing works.

Oh, and as far as firsts are concerned, my first metal album was by Judas Priest...might have been Point of Entry, might have been Screaming for Vengeance, I don't remember exactly, but it was right around 1982-83 that I discovered them and immediately became a huge fan and had my dad (parents were divorcing) buy me pretty much their whole catalog from Sin After Sin through Screaming, which was new then. I specifically remember picking up British Steel and Hell Bent for Leather in one of those big chain stores where the cassettes were in almost indestructible plastic sleeve things that I had to chop open with a knife because the cashier hadn't removed them before we left the store. I had those two and Screaming on cassette, but the others - Sin After Sin, Unleashed in the East, and Point of Entry (I never had Stained Class) were on vinyl.

I should be more nervous about interviewing Lemmy in front of what I'm thinking is gonna be 5-600 people today, but I'm weirdly calm. I'll probably flip out and shit myself (only figuratively, I hope) about 4 PM CST, when we're meeting up - the event starts at 5PM CST. It doesn't look like it's gonna be webcast or anything, fortunately/unfortunately.

Lemmy was the coolest guy ever when I met him at an aftershow my sophomore year of college and clumsily asked him for an impromptu interview. He gave me 10 minutes of his time, answered all my stupid questions, and then offered me some Jack Daniels at the end.

But yeah, I can understand how interviewing him in front of a big audience would be an entirely different thing -- DON'T CHOKE.

Good luck Unperson, and say hello to Lisa and Jenny from me. Would love to be there for the Home Of Metal shizzle alone.

Wish I could see that Q&A with Lemmy, as well as to see all the Voivod shows down there this week. Best of luck, Phil!

Yeah, my nervousness is all about the presence of a live audience. I know exactly how cool and helpful/friendly Lemmy himself is; I've interviewed him twice before. In fact, the first one is one of my favorite stories ever, and I don't think I've ever shared it here. So here goes.

The interview took place in 2003, when Motörhead was supporting Hammered and I was still EIC of High Society. I met up with them at The World, a club owned by the WWE, and since it was for High Society, we brought along two female models. Lemmy and I did a half-hour interview, which went great, and then he sat down on this big leather couch to be photographed, and the girls took their clothes off. Whereupon the WWE flack in the room shit himself, immediately trying to quash the whole thing and have all of us ejected from the building. We started frantically arguing, pointing out that there were no WWE logos in the shot (the couch was propped up against a blank wall) and that we promised not to reveal the location of the shoot in the final piece (we didn't; we just said "High Society caught up with Motörhead when they came through New York), and on and on. Either way, I was dragged upstairs afterward to meet with some VP of something or other at WWE Entertainment, had to sign some papers swearing to all of the above, blah blah blah. Totally bonkers, to my mind; oily dudes in Speedos are okay, but naked women aren't? Oh, well. Lemmy was totally good-humored about it all, of course.

I didn't think God's Balls was released on CD except for that truncated version tacked to the end of Salt Lick?

That's what I had. Didn't realize that this has never been corrected? I'll have to ask Tad about that next time I'm in Seattle.

Yep, if you want the other three tracks, you've gotta track down the (out of print, I think) vinyl.

Oh I've had the vinyl since it came out. One of my very favorite records. I always claim that it's the heaviest record Seattle produced until Burning Witch.

I don't get starstruck by anyone but it's still a bit weird to me that Tad is my friend now.

Tad were my favorite Seattle band. Saw them play City Gardens in Trenton, NJ in support of Salt Lick. They were opening for Primus for some reason.

Have you seen his new YOB-influenced doom outfit Brothers of the Sonic Cloth? I'm not blown away by the recordings but the live show is GREAt.

Don't think they've hit the East Coast yet, and anyway shows are a rare thing for me these days.

This doesn't have much to do with metal; I just love it...

http://bit.ly/9ktCbR

That is fantastic and I don't even watch BSG.

facebook'd

Yeah, Decibel is great. Honestly, the best thing to do to really get into metal? Just start buying shit. Really. I was in your position back in 2004, trying to get back into metal after more than a decade of not really keeping up with it. I just started sampling from all over, grabbing albums by bands I'd never heard before or even heard of. Heard a lot of horrible shit and a lot of great shit. But it really helped me focus on on the subgenres that did the most for me. Since then I feel like I've developed a definite "taste" in the metal I love. You just need to dive in and surround yourself with the music. Take chances. As great as Decibel is, don't let it dominate your selections. Browse Terrorizer, browse BW&BK, browse whatever mags you see at the newsstand. You'll be better off and find yourself exposed to quite a wide variety.

Anyway, hope that helps somewhat.

― he's always been a bit of an anti-climb Max (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Thursday, March 11, 2010 11:59 PM (6 days ago)

Thanks, jon! That's solid advice. I've already learned a bunch just from reading this thread and some older ILX threads on metal, but I definitely think just buying a bunch of stuff is a good idea.

ksh: there are a bunch of really, really good mixes here: http://ghostradio-archive.blogspot.com/

I don't know who the guy is that does 'em but he knows his shit, like, immensely. The one I am rocking right now is #XXI, the newest one...fucking incredible. they're all beautifully put together & grouped well & will give you lots to dig into. I

― the most sacred couple in Christendom (J0hn D.), Friday, March 12, 2010 12:29 AM (5 days ago)

Oh that looks great J0hn! Thanks so much. I'm going to download one or two of them and check 'em out. :-)

In the 90s, those hoary days before blogs, I used to just take several hours a week to go to record stores (like Cheapo's in Minneapolis) and look through all the CDs alphabetically, searching for metal albums with covers/logos/names that interested me. I'd listen to piles of them in the store, and take chances on anything that seemed intriguing. I put back 3/4 of what I picked up, but some of the shit I discovered has stuck with me for life. That's how I first heard Amorphis - Karelian Isthmus, Grave - Into the Grave, and even Coroner - No More Color (which I discovered way later than I should have).

The thrill of the hunt counts, and good metal CDs are hiding in record stores everywhere.

In the 90s, those hoary days before blogs, I used to just take several hours a week to go to record stores (like Cheapo's in Minneapolis) and look through all the CDs alphabetically, searching for metal albums with covers/logos/names that interested me.

Haha, that was me in a nutshell from 1984 to 1988. The best was making a blind purchase because the cover looked cool (Slayer's Haunting the Chapel, Megadeth's Peace Sells for instance) and being utterly floored or just plain baffled by the music inside.

Yeah for me it was all about discovering death metal around '94. I saw the Chaos AD tour and was already into Carcass and Bolt Thrower and Necrophobic. So the floodgates were blowing open.

Oh yeah, I was gonna say that I discovered Vader - The Ultimate Incantation this way, but then I remembered reading it's review in S.O.D. They gave it a rating of Ten Fucking Skulls, so I knew I had to have it.

BTW - YOB on Spin.com

http://www.spin.com/gallery/best-worst-scion-rock-fest?page=4#main

The interview with Lemmy went about as well as I could possibly have hoped. He was funny as hell, and answered every question I asked, ducking nothing. Afterward, I interviewed the co-directors of the documentary:

http://www.youtube.com/v/6D2wSsj2Dso

what would i want to listen to by Yob, btw? Like a good entry point? unless this has been covered on here and i missed it and you can just c+p an answer.

The Illusion of Motion is really good. As is The Unreal Never Lived.

I'll give them a shot.

Thanks for posting that link Phil, those guys seem like pretty decent dudes. Can't wait to see the movie. Also glad to hear the Q&A went well, wish I could have been down there for that.

The thrill of the hunt counts, and good metal CDs are hiding in record stores everywhere.

― Nate Carson, Thursday, March 18, 2010 4:29 AM

Good point! I should start going to record stores more . . . and perhaps keep my eyes open for those that have a larger-than-usual metal selection. :-)

Go to used places! Seriously! Even if they aren't known for having a great selection of stuff. I've found a TON of used metal albums in unexpected places, some really good shit too. We have this place in the north shore suburbs of Chicago called Half Price Books that has a decent sized vinyl/cd area. The vinyl selection is mostly meh, but I've found some real treasures in the CD section. Best part is, they seem to not know how well metal will sell and it is almost always priced way cheaper than the more "standard" stuff. I know I've picked up Suffocation, Neurosis, Morothead, Slayer, and Morbid Angel there for less that $4 each.

Wow, that's awesome! Thanks dude. I pretty go exclusively to Newbury Comics, since that's all that's convenient, but even when I leave the area I don't venture into anywhere half-interesting most of the time. I should change that.

I pretty go exclusively --> I pretty exclusively go

for those of you into that kind of thing Terrorizer has a Secret History of.... Death Metal Special on sale now.
No doubt metal forums will be full of the usual complaints of too many bands who didn't split up after amazing demo tapes are in it :)

http://www.terrorizer.com/sites/terrorizer.com/files/imagecache/product_full/DM_Cover-1_LORES_0.jpg

Damn. Was just at the newsstand that carries Terrorizer and they didn't have it. Wonder if it sold out or if they haven't gotten it yet.

Out April I think, plus its a special issue not a regular issue so it will be more expensive. I didn't even see their secret history of the decade special in Smiths here when it was out. I did get the BM one before that though.
I will be skipping this one. Got zero interest in it, plus I've probably read most of the articles in old issues.

I get the feeling the next secret history of.... issue will be an industrial one. It could be really good or incredibly shite depending on what they focus on. But terrorizer has definitely went in a more mainstream direction in the past year due to the current financial climate (special metalcore and deathcore specials really? terrorizer never covered that shite much so its sad to see them forced into having to just to survive)

but if you like death metal then im sure its a great buy

Terrorizer went mersh a few years ago really, but I got their grindcore history issues (last year I think?) and they were pretty good. Not as good as the Decibel special last year, but hey, it's a marginal genre so I can't complain.

Speaking of Decibel, I finally bought myself a year's subscription (last week in fact), but I'm not sure what the story is re: when I should expect my first issue to arrive. Will they wait till the next one's out before adding me to the subs list, or should I have already received one? I've ordered singles a few times in the past and they've arrived pretty swiftly (3 or 4 days at most) but my mailbox is still empty.

Are the shipping prices a killer?

Not that bad all things considered. An international subscription set me back $70, which is about €50 or £45. Considering issues in the newsagents (when it was still distributed here) cost a fiver or so, 12 issues for 50 quid is a pretty good deal. Not as sweet at the deal you yanks get, of course.

I need to break down and just subscribe to Decibel, I keep buying it off the newsstand.

You're lucky you could get it in the newsagents. Not only did smiths not stock it but you couldn't even get it in Glasgow. Even Borders didn't stock it before they went bust.

Its weird to be in this position, for most of my life I've been jealous of all the good music rags the Brits put out that I have to pay import prices for!

There was only one place in Dublin that had it, and they stopped stocking it a couple of years ago. But it definitely came through a UK distributor - that bloody superglued sticker was pasted over the barcode on the front.

smiths didnt even get the 2nd last Wire in. My mate got me the latest in glasgow, no idea if they have that one in, but smiths definitely are cutting down on the amount of music mags they get.

yet you can buy the nme,mojo,Q,uncut,kerrang and mixmag in every supermarket and mini-market/corner shop.

I just subscribed to Decibel, too, and got the current issue (which I already had, of course) along with the hilarious New Wave of Stupid Heavy Metal Acronyms shirt I ordered in about a week.

Being unemployed and broke means I broke down and bought Ludicra offa iTunes. Figured it was better to pay the $7 than continue waiting til I can afford the physical copy.

It takes a while for the international copes of Decibel to arrive, trust me on that, so it's best to be patient. But Mark Evans is super nice and will answer any question you might have, his email address is in the masthead if you have an older copy.

xpost - Jon I do believe that Ludicra's 2nd album is also up on iTunes for a low price as part of some Alternative Tentacles anniversary sale...