Monday, March 5, 2007

So In The End...




Last year I had my second heart surgery in eighteen months to repair a birth-defected valve.

In my recouping stage, I started playing more and more metal. A friend named John gave me a few CD’s from his collection—Lucca Turrelli solo albums: he being the guitarist of Rhapsody; Hamerfall Chapter V; Nightwish; Celesty; and Kamelot’s Black Halo. John referred to it as power metal. It had elements of Queen, Meatloaf, Classical Music, Goth Music; Moody Blues, Judas Priest, and something I had never heard before or since. I was hooked.

To help understand more, I ordered metal books to read during the recovery process—not necessarily Power Metal books, but not avoiding them either.

I chose a few books by Martin Popoff, a Canadian writer who had a passion for U.F. O., Rush, and Blue Oyster Cult. He also wrote numerous “Singles” and “Album” Guides on Metal. Seemed like a good place to begin—noting that one writer certainly has a bias. He seemed similar in age to me and musical interests; so I gave it a shot.

The eBay dealer I worked previously had tons of “Power Metal,” so I ordered quite a bit at a great discount. I also made my way to Amazon and found all of the Kamelot CD’s cheap. They were quickly becoming a favorite as the eBay dealer had the Hammerfall, Stratovarius, Mob Rules, Sonata Arctica, Rhapsody, and the like.

I was looking for a couple of Sonata Arctica and Rhapsody CD’s to fill in the gaps, when I came across a great Mail-In Discount Dealer called Sentinel Steel. They almost exclusively deal with Power Metal and sell them at a discount: check them out on my links.

So the list grew and grew and between Mail-order, eBay, Amazon, scouring pawn shops (uh, cheapest there because most people here in the Mid-West do not know what it is and they run a dollar or so per CD), I immersed myself in Power Metal. Noting the “Fantasy” themes of the music, I have always been a fan of Gothic literature, Myths, and the like—so it was a natural fit.

Then something strange happened; I began playing some of this music to set tones for my freshman Ancient History classes. We cover Vikings, I played some Tyr, Hammerfall, and the like. When covering Elizabeth Bathory—I played some Bathory music; when covering Ancient Greeks, Kamelot was playing occasionally in the background. Kids would copy it for power points or show some interest. Music and culture go hand-in-hand and the students began to incorporate themes studied with the music in power-points and other assorted projects. I wrote to Kamelot’s management and Hammerfall’s management and they were thrilled—so much so the students were sent autographed pictures of posters and photos for the classes.

I also noted the tax-paying bodies of my district were not giving their hard-earned wages for “Devil Music” or wasting time. I understood that and every time I played something, it was during “study time” or used to set tones—with my emphasis that music made today would not have been possible in ancient times. I never played anything vulgar or inappropriate, and I never will. Still, the themes of discovery, victory, quests, defeat, human frailties and the like certainly existed within the music I chose. Considering most of the music was not “American” per se and dealt with a more traditional “European” edge, the students saw it as a reflection of an occidental “other” that seem to dot the thematic study and approach of Ancient History.

Seems as if I am justifying myself, and perhaps I am.

When one is recovering from surgery, I could have taken a more submissive role, but I was playing things to “get the heart moving.” I felt a more stand and deliver feeling, especially after the second surgery. I felt some anger for going in again, but also some relief when it was all over.

So I decided to quit pretending and pleasing everyone to a degree in all aspects of my newly found and newly changed life, as I decided that Ricky Nelson was right: “It’s all right now, I learned my lesson well; you can’t please everyone so you got to please yourself.” (Uh…not something to write in a “Metal” site, I understand; but it fit).

Relationship changes, rediscovery, re-emphasis on that which is important and perhaps some clearing and de-cluttering of life and music lead me to the path I am on.

So I will use this site to explore and offer up some musically distant choices. I have always loved classical and the themes explored and I found a modern version of it in these recent months. And in my exploration here is a fairly complete—probably missing a few—CD’s over the last eight months that have joined the collection. If you can offer suggestions, please feel free to do so, in the meantime—take a look:

ANGRA Angel’s Cry
ANGRA Fireworks
ANGRA Holy Land
ANGRA Temple of shadows
ANGRA Rebirth
ANGUISH Symmetry
ASTRAL DOORS Astralism
AXENSTAR Perpetual Twilight
AXENSTAR Far From Heaven
BATHORY Hammerheart
BATHORY Oktagon 1995
BLIND GUARDIAN A Night at the Opera
BLIND GUARDIAN
CHINCHILLA Madness
CIRCLE II CIRCLE (Savatage) Watching In Silence
CREMATORY Illusions
DARK MOOR Dark Moor
DARK MOOR The Gates of Oblivion
DARK MOOR Shadowland
DARK MOOR Beyond the Sea
DARK MOOR Hall of Olden Dreams
DIO / ELF Dream Evil & Trying To Burn The Sun
DIO Lock Up The Wolves
DIO Master of the Moon
DIONYSUS Sign of Truth
DOMINE Dragonlord
DRAGONFORCE Sonic Firestorm
DRAGONFORCE Valley Of The Damned
DRAGONFORCE Inhuman Rampage
DRAGONLAND Battle of the Ivory Plains
DRAGONLAND Holy War
DRAGONLAND Astronomy
EDGUY Kingdom Of Madness
EDGUY Theater Of Salvation
EDGUY The Savage Poetry
EDGUY Hellfire Club
EDGUY Rocket Ride
EPICA The Road To Paradiso
EPICA Consighn To Oblivion
EPICA The Phantom Agony
EPICA We Will Take You With Us
ETERNA Terra Nova
EVANESCENCE Fallen Angel
EVANESCENCE The Open Door
EVERON Paradoxes
EVERON Flood
EVERON Venus
EVERON Fantasma I
EVERON Bridge
FAULKENBACH Heralding The Fireblade
FREEDOM CALL Stairway To Fairyland
FREEDOM CALL Crystal Empire
FREEDOM CALL Eternity
FRETERNIA A Nightmare Story
GRIM REAPER Rock You To Hell
HADES The Downside
HAMMER FALL Legacy of Kings
HAMMER FALL Crimson Thunder
HAMMER FALL Glory to the Brave
HAMMER FALL Renegade
HAMMER FALL Chapter V: Unbroken
HAMMER FALL Threshold
HARMONY Dreaming Awake
HEAVENLY Virus
HELLOWEEN Helloween & Master Of The Rings
HELLOWEEN Walls of Jericho & Keeper of the Seven Keys Part I HELLOWEEN Keeper Of The Seven Keys Part II & Judas
HELLOWEEN Chameleon & Power
HELLOWEEN Pink Bubbles Go Ape & Future World
IRON FIRE Revenge
IRON MASK Horders Of The Brave
JACK STARRS Guardian of the Flame
JAG PANZER Thane to the Throne
JAG PANZER Casting Stones
KAMELOT Dominion
KAMELOT Siege Perilous
KAMELOT Epica
KAMELOT Karma
KAMELOT The Fourth Legacy
KAMELOT The Black Halo
KAMELOT One Cold Winter’s Night
KENZINER Prophecies
LABYRINTH Sons of Thunder
LABYRINTH Return to Heaven Denied
LABYRINTH Freeman
LUNATICA Fables 7 Dreams
LUNATICA The Edge Of Infinity
MANILLA ROAD Out Of The Abyss
MANILLA ROAD The Courts Of Chaos
MANILLA ROAD The Circus Maximus
MANILLA ROAD Atlantis Rising
MANILLA ROAD Spiral Castle
MANILLA ROAD Gates Of Fire
MANOWAR Battle Hymns & Sign Of The Hammer
MANOWAR Into Glory Ride & Hail To England
MASQUERADE Surface of Pain
MOB RULES Among The Gods
MOB RULES Hollowed By The Name
MYSTIC PROPHECY Regressus
NEW EDEN Obscure Master Plan
NIGHTSHADE Wielding The Scythe
NIGHTWISH Oceanborn
NIGHTWISH Wishmaster
NIGHTWISH Wishsides
NIGHTWISH Best of…
NOCTURNAL RITES The Sacred Talisman
NOCTURNAL RITES Shadowland
NOCTURNAL RITES New Messiah
NOSTRADAMEUS Words Of Nostradameus
NOSTRADAMEUS Prophet Of Evil
NOSTRADAMEUS The Third Prophecy
NOSTRADAMEUS Hellbound
OPUS ATLANTICA Opus Atlantica
PARADISE LOST Draconian Times
PLATITUDE Nine
POWER SYMPHONY Lightbringer
PRIMAL FEAR Primal Fear
PRIMAL FEAR Jaws of Death
PRIMAL FEAR Nuclear Fire
PRIMAL FEAR Black Sun
PRIMAL FEAR Devil’s Ground
PRIMAL FEAR Seven Seals
RAINBOW Long Live Rock ‘N’ Roll & Bent Out Of Shape
REPTILIAN Castle of Yesterday
REPTILIAN Thunderblaze
REQUIEM The Arrival
REQUIEM Mask of Damnation
RHAPSODY Dawn of Victory
RHAPSODY Rain of a Thousand Flames
RHAPSODY Symphony of Enchanted Lands
RHAPSODY Power Of The Dragonflame 2002
RHAPSODY Symphony Of Enchanted Lands II
RHAPSODY OF FIRE Triumph Or Agony
RIVAL State of Mind
SACRED STEEL Bloodlust
SAVATAGE Sirens
SAVATAGE Power Of the Night
SAVATAGE Poets And Madmen
SAVATAGE Ghost in the Ruins
SAVATAGE Hall of the Mountain King
SAVATAGE Edge of Thorns
SAVATAGE Fight for the Rock
SAVATAGE Gutter Ballet
SAVATAGE Handful of Rain
SAVATAGE Power of the Night
SAVATAGE The Wake of Magellan
SAXXON The Very Best Album Ever
SECRET SPHERE Mistress of the Shadowlight
SECRET SPHERE Heart & Anger
SERAPHIM Ai (Beauty and some Beast)
SEVEN SERAPHIM Believe In Angels
SEVENTH WONDER Waiting In The Wings
SHADOWS FADE Shadows Fade
SKYLARK Wings
SLAYER Seasons In The Abyss
SONATA ARCTICA Ecliptica
SONATA ARCTICA Silence
SONATA ARCTICA Reckoning Night
SONATA ARCTICA Winterheart’s Guild
STEEL ATTACK Where Mankind Falls
STEEL PROPHET Dark Hallucinations
STRATOVARIUS Fright Night
STRATOVARIUS Twilight Time
STRATOVARIUS 4th Dimension
STRATOVARIUS Destiny
STRATOVARIUS Episode
STRATOVARIUS Dreamspace
STRATOVARIUS Elements I
STRATOVARIUS Elements II
STRATOVARIUS Intermission
STRATOVARIUS Visions
STRATOVARIUS Infinite
STRATOVARIUS Chosen Ones
STRATOVARIUS Stratovarius
SUPREME MAJESTY Elements of Creation
TAD MOROSE Undead
TAD MOROSE Modus Vivendi
LUCA TURILLI Prophet of the Last Eclipse
LUCA TURILLI King of the Nordic Twilight
TYGERS OF PAN TANG Best of the Tygers of Pan Tang
TYR Eric The Red
WUTHERING HEIGHTS Shadow Cabinet
ZONATA Buried Alive
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)