SentiMetal

Just trying a nu thang here, stealin' an idea from Scream Magazine. The object of the thread will be to highlight albums that have a special place in our hearts, for whatever reason. So dust off your CD, or vinyl, collection, along with your minds and memories, and tell us some stories. If you wanna use images and sound, then it's all the better!

I'll go first.

Saxon - Rock The Nations - 1986



Admitting that you like this album is almost like committing heavy metal heresy! Nonetheless, that is exactly what I do! The reason has of course a huge nostalgic factor playing the lead role. While 'Rock The Nations' is the Saxon album most fans regard as the bands worst, I have always loved it.

You see this was the very first album I bought myself, on my own, with my own money, on cassette. After borrowing tons of cassettes and LP's from my older brothers, and getting into heavy metal as a result, this was my own personal choice in buying. And as an 11 year old metalhead, there was nothing wrong with this album in my ears. And truth be told, I still like most of the songs to this day! Yes, the band went for a much more polished sound, clearly an attempt at making a radio friendly commercial album, but who cares as long as the songs rock? The title track, "Battle Cry", "We Came Here To Rock" are all great heavy rock tunes. And "Northern Lady" is as good a ballad as they came back in the mid 80's. And still do, if you ask me. Also look out for an obscure cameo by Elton John on "Party 'Til You Puke".

I think the mindset of not liking this album has more to do with a narrow minded view some metalheads had at the time. They just hated anything even slightly popular, and wanted all their bands to be just theirs. The mass public was not allowed to like their music, as that took away the rebellion in listening to metal. But the fact of the matter is that heavy metal was a big industry during the 80's, and it was a part of the mainstream scene back then. The music may have come from the underground, but it didn't stay there. So I'm going to keep diggin' this album, as it has a special place in my metal heart, and in my collection.

I'll go next.

I had just gotten 'saved" ( March of 1987). Old friends from my teens had some things going on in the christian metal scene of The Inland Empire (Riverside/San Berdoo region of So. Calif) Emerald, Redeemer, First Aid, and Towne Cryer. My friends were all doing stuff together, playing at the same places and having alot of fun. It showed me an aspect of ministry that was really beneficial for a baby christian to experience. Emerald had "Armed For Battle" out already and not everybody on that album were Christians at the time it was recorded. The other bands my friends were in were just doing demos on reel to reels in the band rooms are paying/bartering for "expensive" bottom of the barrell recording time in local "industrial unit" studios.

I played drums at a few shows for a band but was never really a member and met the guys in Holy Rite during those gigs. They gave me a copy of "Stand As One" autographed by the entire band. It was the first "christian metal" music ever given to me. So that is where the sentiment lies.




Sean Silas is one of the BEST guitar players I have ever seen. It's hard to tell from this particular album but dude has skills. Miss ya broha

Cool idea for a thread!! I got dozens 'n' dozens of albums I could put in this space but I'll start with this one cuz I was just listening to it a few days ago:



Raven's GLOW is generally not an album that gets mentioned a lot, even amongst diehard fans of the band. Hell, *I'M* a Raven fanboy and even I only rank it in the middle of the pack as far as their discography goes. But GLOW is a special album to me mainly cuz of the memories it brings back.

Set the Way-Bac machine for January 1995. I've been a massive Raven geek for about a decade at this point but hadn't heard much from their camp since I'd paid stoopid $$$ for imports of their ARCHITECT OF FEAR and HEADS UP CDs a few years prior. I don't even know if the band is still active at this time. So anyway, it's a Wednesday night and as is my habit at the time I pulled into my local Tower Records on the way home from work to pick up The Aquarian Weekly, the local "rock" newspaper with all the local concert listings in it. Mind you it's the mid 90s so grunge is at its peak and I'm in New Jersey (land of the cover band!), so good shows are few and far between. Imagine my surprise when flipping thru the ish and I see a gig for "RAVEN & ANVIL" listed at the Birch Hill in Old Bridge in just a couple of weeks. I swear to you I went weak in the knees right there in the store. I'd never had the chance to see the band live so naturally I flipped my wig..."HOLY @#$!!" I ran home with the paper in my hand and told my brother "WE ARE GOING TO THIS F**KING SHOW!"

A few weeks later I'm at the Birch Hill for the first time. The show was billed as an "Old Bridge Metal Militia Reunion" and I feel right at home. This is the first time I've been at a show and seen people wearing Venom T-shirts and Accept patches on their jackets in ages. Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth is the emcee for the evening and he joins the first band (Bomb Squad, a cover band which I later learned featured former Overkill drummer Rat Skates) onstage for a cover of Sabbath's "Symptom of the Universe." Then Jon and Marsha Zazula of MegaForce Records fame come out onstage and a couple of the Militia dudes give them some kind of plaque commemorating their years of service to metal. This is fun! I missed out on all of this beer-filled bar crawling metal camaraderie in the early 80s due to being just a few years too young to go to clubs at the time, so I feel like I'm making up for it tonight.

While we're waiting for Anvil to hit the stage, I see John Gallagher of Raven walk through the crowd carrying a big box. He sets up in the lobby of the club and starts hanging up t-shirts and other merch. I sez to my brother "Dude! That was John Gallagher!" He sez "So? Let's go talk to him, man! I know you're dyin' to." So we head over to the merch line and I'm having total fanboy overload while waiting for the guys in front of me to finish yappin' with John. My brother gets to John first and basically says, "Hey John, how ya doin', I've been a fan for a long time, but the guy you REALLY need to talk to is my brother Keith here, he's freakin' out, it's his first Raven show but he's been a fan forever, he's got every damn thing you ever put out." John smirks and sez "Oh yeah? I bet he doesn't have THIS one yet" and whips out a copy of GLOW, which at that time had just been released in Japan and nowhere else. Needless to say, when it was my turn I babbled some fanboy nonsense to John and bought a shirt and a GLOW CD which he gladly signed for me. He was totally cool and it was a blast to talk with the guy for a couple of minutes. We then said our goodbyes and went back to the stage room to watch Anvil blow da roof off da joint.

When Raven came onstage we thought Anvil would be a tough act to follow, but Raven kicked twice as much ass and were twice as loud. They played everything I wanted to hear and then some, I was in the front row for the whole gig and had the time of my life. It was such a rush to FINALLY see that band live after being a fanboy for so many years, and every time I listen to that GLOW album it all comes flooding back.

Like FF, I could have named any number of albums, but I am going to name the first album and band I ever got into AC/DC.

My mother is Colombian and my father is Puerto Rican so rock music of any sort was not really heard at my house. My older brother liked Ted Nugent and Aerosmith but I did not pay attention to him or his music because I always thought of him as bit of douche bag, even when I was a young kid. I heard the odd rock track when my sister would buy a '45 from a band such as Queen or the Rolling Stones but it was usually their more pop material.

At an anti rock ralley at First Baptist Church of Largo, where my parents would make me go on a Sunday in hopes to save my God forsaken soul is where my life would forever change when on Rev Billy Mayo would change this lad's life.

His anti Rock sermon featured albums played backwards (which I thought was bizarre) that he called back ward masking (WHATEVER!!!!), told stories of sex, drugs, and occult pre occupations among many rockers ( I made sure I took careful notes, because this lifestyle sounded good to me) displayed album covers and finally, the grand finale, he told the story of two young ladies who got killed on the way to see AC/DC (shades of Detroit Rock City!!!) and at the funeral, they played, you guessed it 'Highway to Hell!!!!! The reason this was played at the funeral because they had a Satanic funeral, whatever that is. Then Rev played the song over the loud speaker, this was the first time I heard them and to say I was captivated would be an understatement.

Never heard music like that in my life or a singer that sang like Bon Scott, had a new hero in Bon and had began a life long love affair with AC/DC and all things metal.

The next day I bought this album at Cook's Dept Store much to my mother's horror!!!

I started growing my hair and for my 12th birthday, despite my parents strong disapproval of AC/DC, they bought me their entire discography of the band on vinyl.

I was very sad to hear that Bon Scott had died a year and half prior to me discovering the band, but it did warm my heart that even from the grave, Bon Scott was able to upset a Baptist snake oil salesman. Bon Scott became my first rock hero and is still one of my favorite singers.