German Metal (no, not Panzers)

I was vacationing back in Colorado this past week, catching up with old friends and reliving some of my old routines. I took in two Colorado State Volleyball matches, and was pleased to see the Rams stomp all over the University of Denver and then Wyoming (never mind that I'm a graduate of DU's Publishing Institute, my BA's from CSU!). I did a lot of reading, finishing John Mosier's The Myth of the Great War, and getting most of the way through Steven Erikson's House of Chains (I just have the final convergence left, it should make those final 150 pages fly by).

I stayed at SevSon1's place, and took the opportunity to listen to a few of his new CDs. I've been lax in acquiring new music, partly because the last efforts by some of my favorite bands were lackluster. I'm still not too fond of Kamelot's Ghost Opera, and so I wasn't too surprised that the new Poetry for the Poisoned did nothing for me. I will admit, however, that the lead song, The Great Pandemonium (video link), is pretty good.

I was more intrigued by Blind Guardian's new At the Edge of Time (video link for A Voice in the Dark). It's gotten mostly rave reviews so far, and SevSon1 was in agreement with those. The predecessor, A Twist in the Myth, was a bit too rock-ish for me, lacking the grandiosity that is Blind Guardian's reason for existence. I understand that they wanted to simplify everything (arrangements, concepts, number of overdubs, etc.) after the over-the-top-and-far-beyond nature of A Night at the Opera. They probably also believed they were going back, a bit, to their roots. But there's a reason the Guardians no longer make conventional Power Metal of the Helloween and Gamma Ray sort. Their particular skill is to make the intricate sound epic and overpowering.

I was pleased to listen to At the Edge of Time (video channel), because it could almost be A Night at the Opera, part 2. The first ANatO took me a good 5 years to fully appreciate, but now I adore it. "Spinal tap go to 11? Let's go to 12!!!" was the philosophy, and that spirit is back. Of course it is cheesy, that's half the fun. No other band can make such complex arrangements actually sound catchy and ass-kicking. If you have no interest in songs about The Wheel of Time and A Song of Ice & Fire, then Blind Guardian might not be for you. Blind Guardian also write about Michael Moorcock's Multiverse again, with a piece about Tanelorn. I didn't notice anything based on Tolkien this time, but I still hope they'll eventually continue their coverage of The Silmarillion, begun in the awesome Nightfall in Middle Earth.

Even if I wasn't crazy about A Twist in the Myth, I still jumped at the chance to see Blind Guardian, when they played Denver on that album's tour in 2006. SevSon1 and I drove up to the venue early, and were fortunate to bump into three of the Guardians returning from dinner. They were gracious enough to chat with us for a few minutes, and sign some CD booklets. Perhaps I'll get to meet them again in a few weeks. They are playing New York City on November 20, and I have my ticket purchased. By then, I'll have my own copy of At the Edge of Time, and will be fully familiar with the songs. We all need some cheese in our diets, Happy Headbanging!

Music that Bites!

I'll be spending the last week of October in the New York City area, going on as many interviews as possible as I try to land a job in the publishing industry. Wish me good luck!

As part of my early preparation, I'm adding more music to my MP3 player. I'm ripping songs off of my CDs, mainly from my collection of European Heavy Metal. But I'm also revisiting some other CDs that I haven't listened to in a while. I play some songs, or parts of songs, in my car on the way to or from work.

Today I listened to The Very Best of Asia. I mostly find the classic output of the band can be summarized as "Geoff Downes dumbing down the talent of John Wetton, Steve Howe and Carl Palmer," but there's individual songs I like quite a bit. Only Time Will Tell is probably the best known of their hit songs that I actually like. Open Your Eyes is another good one, and I'm sure Sole Survivor and Wildest Dreams will make the cut. I'm still not sure whether I'll add The Heat Goes On.

Listening to the Asia CD this morning had the same effect it has had on me on other occasions. It left me "itchy" inside. I had the uncomfortable feeling of needing to listen to something heavy and ass-kicking, something with some bite! I found the right song for the moment in The Will to Give, from Woods of Ypres' The Pursuit of the Sun and the Allure of the Earth CD.

I find very heavy rock and metal music to be extremely soothing. I thrash around on the inside while listening to it, and that becomes therapeutic. Conversely, calm and peaceful music, even upbeat tunes like Asia's, fill me with pent up energy looking for release. I have friends who experience music the same way, but my impression is that the majority of people actually find aggressive music to be agitating, and gentler music to be calming. As a guess, Metalheads may be more likely to share my reactions, while non-metal/punk fans may be the opposite.

Regardless of hows and whys, I know what works for me, and most of the songs I'll be adding to my MP3 player kick serious tail!