I like giving “Sunday Metal” a theme, and so this theme is “Songs of My Youth”. I found heavy metal as a teenager and it’s always been a big part of my life. I wanted to highlight some songs that stand out from those youthful days.

The Coup de Grace are probably still relatively unknown to most of you. They were a band out of the Minneapolis area, and I got to know of them because I had a good relationship with their record label, Red Decibel. Hooray days of college radio.

What I remember most was traveling to NYC for a music convention, where they happened to be playing on my birthday (or just around it; I honestly don’t recall the exact date). Getting to see the band, hang out with them, and party quite well with them, made for a great birthday present. I can remember a lot about that evening, but I just can’t retell it here. 🙂

 

I like giving “Sunday Metal” a theme, and so this theme is “Songs of My Youth”. I found heavy metal as a teenager and it’s always been a big part of my life. I wanted to highlight some songs that stand out from those youthful days.

Not so much a single song or a band, but a movie and its soundtrack.

I was in grade school. I remember the family across the street had a treehouse in their backyard. I was friends with the younger boy, who had an older brother. This older brother had put up a movie poster in the treehouse, for the movie “Heavy Metal”. It’s the movie poster classic shot of Taarna, and that was quite striking in every way to a young me.

Of course, the movie has more to do with the magazine “Heavy Metal” than the genre of music. But still, that magazine, that movie, those songs, they all played a role in my youth.

Sammy Hagar’s “Heavy Metal” is still a perfect hard rock anthem

And Don Felder’s “All Of You”, and the segment of the movie… classic.

 

I like giving “Sunday Metal” a theme, and so this theme is “Songs of My Youth”. I found heavy metal as a teenager and it’s always been a big part of my life. I wanted to highlight some songs that stand out from those youthful days.

The P.M.R.C. was responsible for a lot of things in my life. One that I always appreciated was how they introduced me to new things.

I had no idea who the band Venom was, before the P.M.R.C. told me about them. Specifically the song “Sacrifice”

Hooray for the Streisand effect.

I like giving “Sunday Metal” a theme, and so this theme is “Songs of My Youth”. I found heavy metal as a teenager and it’s always been a big part of my life. I wanted to highlight some songs that stand out from those youthful days.

Another Slayer memory comes from the song “Angel of Death”.

Well first, it’s yet another example of Tom’s awesome screams.

But the vivid memory from this song is a trip I was taking. I forget exactly why I was on the METRO (the subway system in the Washington D.C. area), but I was and actually ran into a couple girls from school. One was a cheerleader, so obviously we weren’t from the same social circles, but she was actually nice and not to hung up on the clique thing. The subway got crowded so the three of us, because we were talking, ended up crammed into two seats. They asked what I was listening to (I had my Walkman with me), and I was listening to Slayer’s “Reign in Blood” album. They wanted to check out what I was listening to.

I played “Angel of Death” for them. The only lyrics they understood was “human mice for the angel of death” and they were… bothered. They didn’t understand the song, but it didn’t matter. I think I instantly alienated myself from them and I’m sure that cemented me being labeled a weirdo in their minds. 🙂  Sorry, Debbie (but I’m glad we got to know each other better in college).

I like giving “Sunday Metal” a theme, and so this theme is “Songs of My Youth”. I found heavy metal as a teenager and it’s always been a big part of my life. I wanted to highlight some songs that stand out from those youthful days.

Ah Slayer. So dangerous, right? If there was some band from the 80’s that embraced Satan for an image (and profited from it), it was Slayer.

One thing I always dug about them was not just the speed and aggression, but Tom’s voice. Honestly, I never cared much for the Satan devil stuff, because it was pretty evident that a lot was just because that was the gimmick of the early 80’s. So songs like “The Antichrist” are just a product of the time.

But what I always dug (and still do) is in these early versions of the song was Tom’s vocal range. He had such a deep and mature voice for his age, but then could hit these giant and powerful screams. Even to this day I don’t know all the lyrics of this song, but the tone of the song, the expression in Tom’s voice, it just kicks ass.

(yes, another cut from “The Ultimate Revenge” video. Go watch it for some awesome metal history).

I like giving “Sunday Metal” a theme, and so this theme is “Songs of My Youth”. I found heavy metal as a teenager and it’s always been a big part of my life. I wanted to highlight some songs that stand out from those youthful days.

I remember having the “Ultimate Revenge” video on VHS (which you should check out… it’s an awesome piece of thrash metal history), and just dying at all the silliness on the video, especially the interviews with Slayer and Venom. I mean, it was 80’s thrash cheesy fun at its best (who can forget the ending with “Major Mayhem” listing the “metal militia roster” of bands over at Combat records… just hilarious).

Exodus “Piranha” doesn’t hold any deep meaning for me.  But what stood out was how they introduced the song. Not just that they made stupid fish references, but they obviously spent time to come up with that introduction and obviously rehearsed it. There was effort here! Clever boys that they were. 🙂  It’s so stupid, but it’s just classic. And it was cool because they weren’t taking themselves seriously, at a time when everyone tried to be so serious. I dug that.

I like giving “Sunday Metal” a theme, and so this theme is “Songs of My Youth”. I found heavy metal as a teenager and it’s always been a big part of my life. I wanted to highlight some songs that stand out from those youthful days.

Another thing about Suicidal Tendencies was their… irony. So you’ve got a name like “suicidal tendencies”, which is a bit strong to some. And in some ways, it rang with the issues I went through as a teenager.

I mean, a song like “How Will I Laugh Tomorrow” is just another in the list of songs that provided me a way to express what was going on inside of me. The turmoil, the confusion, the rage, the hopelessness.

But then off that same album, there’s a song like “The Feeling’s Back”, whose subject matter is in the same boat but a totally different outlook:

And this too was an expression of the inner rage, the turmoil, the desire to make things better, and to continue to fight and survive. Really, despite all their supposed negativity, Suicidal was probably the biggest help to me in overcoming that very thing.

 

I like giving “Sunday Metal” a theme, and so this theme is “Songs of My Youth”. I found heavy metal as a teenager and it’s always been a big part of my life. I wanted to highlight some songs that stand out from those youthful days.

If you’ve been a long-time reader of my blog, you’ve probably heard me refer to “You Can’t Bring Me Down” on a number of occasions. This song is just awesome on so many levels, but it’s that outro rant that just rules everything. In some ways it forms a core part of my philosophy.

I think people would do well to remember that: just cuz you don’t understand what’s going on don’t mean it don’t make no sense, and just cuz you don’t like it don’t mean it ain’t no good.

And yes, sometimes I do feel like shit. I ain’t happy about it, but I’d rather feel like shit than be full of shit.

 

I like giving “Sunday Metal” a theme, and so this theme is “Songs of My Youth”. I found heavy metal as a teenager and it’s always been a big part of my life. I wanted to highlight some songs that stand out from those youthful days.

“Wild Side” was a dangerous song to me. For whatever reason, when this song was making the rounds, whatever it was going on in my high school life, this song really sung to me. I embraced it. I also spent many hours air-drumming to this song. Never really been a drummer, but some songs make me want to drum and this is one of them.

I also remember spending much time figuring out the lyrics and then scrawling them repeatedly in the margins of my papers while bored during history and english classes. I also remember some kid (M.C.) sat next to me, always taking great interest in “eavesdropping” on me, reading my margin scrawls, and thinking I was referring to the Lou Reed song. Still to this day I fail to understand why he paid me so much mind, especially when he was a jock and “cool kid” and I was a fucking nerd. Who knows.

I like giving “Sunday Metal” a theme, and so this theme is “Songs of My Youth”. I found heavy metal as a teenager and it’s always been a big part of my life. I wanted to highlight some songs that stand out from those youthful days.

Metallica’s “…And Justice for All” album was huge when it came out. One song that resonated with me, and probably with a lot of teenagers, was “Dyers Eve” because teenager, rebellion against parental suppression, and so on. Again, a voice, an outlet, for what I was feeling inside.