Showing posts with label Metallica. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Metallica. Show all posts
Saturday, June 13
Cool Metallica shows to download
Greetings. It's always an event whenever Metallic aplays Mexico City, mainly because they don't make it down there all that often. To put things in perspective, they played Dallas last year during Oz Fest 2008 and will be back in Big D again later this year. They dont' make it to Dallas every year either, but the last time they were in Mexico City was when they were recording for their big live box set back in 1993. That album was special and each song had a certain ring to it. Now that you can buy and download a show one to three days after they've been in a city, getting live shows has gotten a little easier. Anyway, they were originally scheduled for two nights in Mexico City, on June 6-7, but they were able to add a third on June 4. Due to some technical issues on a couple of songs on the June 7 performance, the price for that show was discounted a couple of bucks. They're all great shows though. It's really cool listening to a show where the fans are into it, and the fans south of the border are definitely into it. They ought to be since they don't get the regular live dose that we do here in the states. You can really hear the enthusiasm of the crowd from these shows. One of the things I enjoyed from the live album from 93 were the chants that certain parts of the crowd went through at differnt times. These new shows have plenty of those between some of the songs. The song selection was pretty wide too, from way old school to last year's "Death Magnetic" release. There were even some songs that aren't performed that often in their concerts, such as, "Holier Than Thou," and, "Dyer's Eve." The only downside for me was the effects that led into "One." From the 1993 recording of that song, it sounded like the Forth of July. However, these newer recordings didn't sound nearly as explosive. The fan reaction was still just as enthusiastic though, so I suppose it's okay. There's still something special though when listneing to those 1993 recordings. Lars indicated at the end of the June 7 show, and I've read from their email list, that they are putting together a series of shows for a DVD to be released at some point, which will show 12 selected shows, including shots from the 3 in mexico City. We'll see if the new dVD will be as explosive and popular, and hold as much lore, as the Live 1993 box set did. If you're even a remote Metallica fan, go and grab one or more of the shows from Mexico City from Live Metallica. Or hell, grab all three; you won't be sorry!
Sunday, March 15
Still kicking ass after all these years
Gretings. For those offended by the title of this post, you might want to skip this entry. For others, keep reading.
Metallica is my other fave band of all time. True, the pair of Petra and Metallica doesn't necessarily fit, at least when put together, but they each have their place in my world. Petra has brought me closer to God, and Metallica has (no, not what you're thinking), helped me cope with reality. No, I'm not doing drugs or anything like that. However, for lack of better phrasing, when your blind/disabled, you need some way of dealing with the mass of stupid people, or those that ask questions such as, "How do you get around campus without going up steps," or the ever popular, "Do you read lips?" Okay, to be truthful, I wasn't asked this second one directly, but a friend of mine was. Anyway, with all the daily stress you got from a job, boss, paperwork, etc., there needs to be an outlet for that stress. Or, in my case, for the dealing with stupid or "misinformed" or "ignorant" people. Metallica has filled that void perfectly. So far, they've been the only group to relieve that stress. There's nothing like putting on headphones, raising the volume, and jamming to Metallica to fulfill that need for satisfaction. Along with playing some truly awesome songs over their history, they've also helped me to calm down after a stresfull confrontation, whether it be with a "stupid" person, a coworker, or a family member. Yes, even family can bring stress.
They've also seen me through my recent training at The Seeing Eye. Many times while waiting for my instructor to come back with another student, I was jamming to Metallica, listening to a CD in the van's stereo and jacking the volume up to, well, loud. Or loud for me. I don't usually blast my stereo, but it's something I've started doing more of with the Sirius Satellite radio, and something I started doing more often in that Seeing Eye van. I often wondered if my fellow students and other instructors would bring this fact up to me at other times in class, saying that they could hear the music from down the block, but I didn't really care. No one ever did by the way, not that it would have mattered. I especially enjoy live cuts, and when the cut of "Cyanide" came on, as performed at Oz Fest last year, well, let's just say that those were times when you probably could have heard the CD from down the block. If you were to pass by the van at that point, which some people did, you would have seen me "head banging," bouncing up and down and I'm sure causing Gucci my new guide to look at me with quisical looks, wondering what I was up to. Those were fun times and ones that I'll always remember fondly.
Oddly enough, my first 'Tallica tape wasn't bought till about 10 years ago when I got the "Black" album that came out in 1991. I really burned that tape up, especially in the dorm at college. I especially enjoyed cranking the songs "Of Wold and Man" and "Through the Never." My first Metallica CD was the S&M double live album in the fall of 1999. I probably scored a little lower on my final exams that semester due to the listening that I did.
Favorite Metallica album: I've been going over this for the past day or so and can't really come up with anything, at least if we go by the criteria of loving each song and being able to listen to each song an infinite number of times without getting tired of it. For Metallica, I need to slightly alter the criteria to be: loving almost every song, since it seems like there's one or two songs I could point to on many of their albums that I could listen to in a pinch, but I really don't like all that much. In other words, if there's nothing else on the radio, then I'll listen to them, but I also won't go looking for these tunes to hear either. So, if that's the criteria, then my fave albums, in no particular order would be: "Death Magnetic," "... And Justice for All," and "Master of Puppets." If "unforgiven III" wasn't on the Magnetic album, then it would be perfect. Not only does it sound lesser than I know they can do, it doesn't even fit the pattern of the first two Unforgiven songs, in style or melody. But it's stil in that group of fave discs.
I've never been to a "live" Metallica show, preferring to live through their own live recordings, on the Live Sh*t disc and the recent incarnation of the Live Metallica site, where you can purchase shows and download them for a nominal fee for your listening pleasure. I'd love to go to a 'Tallica show someday, but for me, whenever I've contemplated going to a show my first problem has always been how will I get there, who can I get to go with, and that's where the desire stops since in my past that would involve having to justify going on a school night or asking a family member, none of whom, except maybe one of my brothers, would even entertain that notion.
In some instances, I love the recorded versions of songs better than the studio versions. The first two Metallica albums fit in this category. Aside from a few songs, like "Fade to Black," "For Whom the Bell Tolls," and one or two others, I really can't listen to those records. However, I absolutely love hearing those songs played live. There's just a certain quality of the live song that you don't get with the recorded one. Perhaps it's that you can hear more of the band's style when they play live; perhaps it's that James interacts with the audience, which gives a special feel to it; or, perhaps it's because it seems like live songs are played faster than their studio counterparts. Whatever the reason, I love the live songs. I read the book, "Slash," by Slash from the former Guns N' Roses superpower in the late eighties and early nineties, and according to him, he said that you can tell more of what a band's like by how they play songs live. I scoffed at that when I read it, but upon reflection and listening to some Guns' songs I have live and some Metallica songs, it makes sense. There's just something about hearing a good live recording, not one where the crowd noise is piped in for affect, or where the lead singer says something generic between songs like, "How's everybody feel?" But one where you can hear how the band fits together and why they're together.
I first heard Metallica on the now discontinued rock music network known as Z-Rock, when they were playing the "Black" album. Hearing "Sad But True" was the song that did it for me. So heavy, but so groovy; it had a slow melodic rhythm that jumped out at me and drew me in. That was the song that I had the thought of, "I've got to check this group out," which I did, slowly over time. Around 1992 or 93, the local rock station in Dallas, 97.1 The Eagle, started something that they did for at least 18-24 months, each night at 11 or midnight, they would play 20-30 minutes of nothing but Metallica, calling it "Manditory Metallica." This is where I really got familiar with the body of work up until that date. In 1997, the Eagle was part of the group of stations nationwide that airred a live question and answer session with Metallica and where the band played certain songs in acoustic form, for several hours one night. I also remember when "Enter Sandman" was big, and you even heard it on the local top 40 station, all be it in a slightly editted and shortened form. It was shortened I believe not so much because of any language, but because the station didn't want to be pegged as a heavy metal station. I think it even went up the top 40 weekly charts for a little while anyway, which was neat to see.
The "Black" album really changed Metallica. Sure, if they had continued in the direction they were headed in after the Justice album, then who knows where and what they might have gone and become. But, in other ways, after releasing the "Black" album in 91, they ended up drawing more fans than they might have otherwise done if they had stuck in the small metal category they were in before. Sure, there was some aspect of poppishness to some songs, like "Enter Sandman." But then again, who can argue with the heaviness of "Sad But True," or the grinding of "Holier Than Thou," and other songs that appeased the metal head. I think they carried on that more mainstream theme with Load and Reload later in the nineties, but still satisfied their core rock/metal fans. They disappointed and lost a lot of people with the "Saint Anger" record in 2003, but I think they gained those fans back, or a good portion of them anyway, with "Death Magnetic" released last year. I read earlier today that the Magnetic disc went platnum after only 3 weeks. Pretty good for an artist who lost many people with their prior record. And yet they continue touring. Any group that tours as much as Metallica doesn't do it for the money; rather, they tour because they want to play live. That's what I want to see in a group I listen to. Too many musicians do it for the money or because they "need" the money and those are the ones I dont' want to support. Metallica is one of the few groups that i'll probably keep digging even 10 years and more from now.
So here's to you Metallica; keep rocking, keep kicking ass, keep giving us great metal. Good on you for what you've done, and here's hoping that it continues for another 10-15 years, or longer.
Metallica is my other fave band of all time. True, the pair of Petra and Metallica doesn't necessarily fit, at least when put together, but they each have their place in my world. Petra has brought me closer to God, and Metallica has (no, not what you're thinking), helped me cope with reality. No, I'm not doing drugs or anything like that. However, for lack of better phrasing, when your blind/disabled, you need some way of dealing with the mass of stupid people, or those that ask questions such as, "How do you get around campus without going up steps," or the ever popular, "Do you read lips?" Okay, to be truthful, I wasn't asked this second one directly, but a friend of mine was. Anyway, with all the daily stress you got from a job, boss, paperwork, etc., there needs to be an outlet for that stress. Or, in my case, for the dealing with stupid or "misinformed" or "ignorant" people. Metallica has filled that void perfectly. So far, they've been the only group to relieve that stress. There's nothing like putting on headphones, raising the volume, and jamming to Metallica to fulfill that need for satisfaction. Along with playing some truly awesome songs over their history, they've also helped me to calm down after a stresfull confrontation, whether it be with a "stupid" person, a coworker, or a family member. Yes, even family can bring stress.
They've also seen me through my recent training at The Seeing Eye. Many times while waiting for my instructor to come back with another student, I was jamming to Metallica, listening to a CD in the van's stereo and jacking the volume up to, well, loud. Or loud for me. I don't usually blast my stereo, but it's something I've started doing more of with the Sirius Satellite radio, and something I started doing more often in that Seeing Eye van. I often wondered if my fellow students and other instructors would bring this fact up to me at other times in class, saying that they could hear the music from down the block, but I didn't really care. No one ever did by the way, not that it would have mattered. I especially enjoy live cuts, and when the cut of "Cyanide" came on, as performed at Oz Fest last year, well, let's just say that those were times when you probably could have heard the CD from down the block. If you were to pass by the van at that point, which some people did, you would have seen me "head banging," bouncing up and down and I'm sure causing Gucci my new guide to look at me with quisical looks, wondering what I was up to. Those were fun times and ones that I'll always remember fondly.
Oddly enough, my first 'Tallica tape wasn't bought till about 10 years ago when I got the "Black" album that came out in 1991. I really burned that tape up, especially in the dorm at college. I especially enjoyed cranking the songs "Of Wold and Man" and "Through the Never." My first Metallica CD was the S&M double live album in the fall of 1999. I probably scored a little lower on my final exams that semester due to the listening that I did.
Favorite Metallica album: I've been going over this for the past day or so and can't really come up with anything, at least if we go by the criteria of loving each song and being able to listen to each song an infinite number of times without getting tired of it. For Metallica, I need to slightly alter the criteria to be: loving almost every song, since it seems like there's one or two songs I could point to on many of their albums that I could listen to in a pinch, but I really don't like all that much. In other words, if there's nothing else on the radio, then I'll listen to them, but I also won't go looking for these tunes to hear either. So, if that's the criteria, then my fave albums, in no particular order would be: "Death Magnetic," "... And Justice for All," and "Master of Puppets." If "unforgiven III" wasn't on the Magnetic album, then it would be perfect. Not only does it sound lesser than I know they can do, it doesn't even fit the pattern of the first two Unforgiven songs, in style or melody. But it's stil in that group of fave discs.
I've never been to a "live" Metallica show, preferring to live through their own live recordings, on the Live Sh*t disc and the recent incarnation of the Live Metallica site, where you can purchase shows and download them for a nominal fee for your listening pleasure. I'd love to go to a 'Tallica show someday, but for me, whenever I've contemplated going to a show my first problem has always been how will I get there, who can I get to go with, and that's where the desire stops since in my past that would involve having to justify going on a school night or asking a family member, none of whom, except maybe one of my brothers, would even entertain that notion.
In some instances, I love the recorded versions of songs better than the studio versions. The first two Metallica albums fit in this category. Aside from a few songs, like "Fade to Black," "For Whom the Bell Tolls," and one or two others, I really can't listen to those records. However, I absolutely love hearing those songs played live. There's just a certain quality of the live song that you don't get with the recorded one. Perhaps it's that you can hear more of the band's style when they play live; perhaps it's that James interacts with the audience, which gives a special feel to it; or, perhaps it's because it seems like live songs are played faster than their studio counterparts. Whatever the reason, I love the live songs. I read the book, "Slash," by Slash from the former Guns N' Roses superpower in the late eighties and early nineties, and according to him, he said that you can tell more of what a band's like by how they play songs live. I scoffed at that when I read it, but upon reflection and listening to some Guns' songs I have live and some Metallica songs, it makes sense. There's just something about hearing a good live recording, not one where the crowd noise is piped in for affect, or where the lead singer says something generic between songs like, "How's everybody feel?" But one where you can hear how the band fits together and why they're together.
I first heard Metallica on the now discontinued rock music network known as Z-Rock, when they were playing the "Black" album. Hearing "Sad But True" was the song that did it for me. So heavy, but so groovy; it had a slow melodic rhythm that jumped out at me and drew me in. That was the song that I had the thought of, "I've got to check this group out," which I did, slowly over time. Around 1992 or 93, the local rock station in Dallas, 97.1 The Eagle, started something that they did for at least 18-24 months, each night at 11 or midnight, they would play 20-30 minutes of nothing but Metallica, calling it "Manditory Metallica." This is where I really got familiar with the body of work up until that date. In 1997, the Eagle was part of the group of stations nationwide that airred a live question and answer session with Metallica and where the band played certain songs in acoustic form, for several hours one night. I also remember when "Enter Sandman" was big, and you even heard it on the local top 40 station, all be it in a slightly editted and shortened form. It was shortened I believe not so much because of any language, but because the station didn't want to be pegged as a heavy metal station. I think it even went up the top 40 weekly charts for a little while anyway, which was neat to see.
The "Black" album really changed Metallica. Sure, if they had continued in the direction they were headed in after the Justice album, then who knows where and what they might have gone and become. But, in other ways, after releasing the "Black" album in 91, they ended up drawing more fans than they might have otherwise done if they had stuck in the small metal category they were in before. Sure, there was some aspect of poppishness to some songs, like "Enter Sandman." But then again, who can argue with the heaviness of "Sad But True," or the grinding of "Holier Than Thou," and other songs that appeased the metal head. I think they carried on that more mainstream theme with Load and Reload later in the nineties, but still satisfied their core rock/metal fans. They disappointed and lost a lot of people with the "Saint Anger" record in 2003, but I think they gained those fans back, or a good portion of them anyway, with "Death Magnetic" released last year. I read earlier today that the Magnetic disc went platnum after only 3 weeks. Pretty good for an artist who lost many people with their prior record. And yet they continue touring. Any group that tours as much as Metallica doesn't do it for the money; rather, they tour because they want to play live. That's what I want to see in a group I listen to. Too many musicians do it for the money or because they "need" the money and those are the ones I dont' want to support. Metallica is one of the few groups that i'll probably keep digging even 10 years and more from now.
So here's to you Metallica; keep rocking, keep kicking ass, keep giving us great metal. Good on you for what you've done, and here's hoping that it continues for another 10-15 years, or longer.
Tuesday, March 10
Metallica returns to satellite radio
Greetings. I received the following announcement in my email Inbox regarding Metallica's return to satellite radio. Personally, since hearing that Metalllica had a dedicated channel on XM Radio, this was something I was really looking forward to when signing up with Sirius last fall. I was slightly disappointed to discover that the dedicated band channels on XM weren't carried over when the XM and Sirius channels merged last november. Only slightly though; it seems that the Mighty Mat are given their due on several of the Sirius rock/metal channels that i regularly tune into. However, when i read this email from Sirius, I was furiously rubbing my hands together with glee. According to the Orbetcast blog, it looks like this channel will be around for about a month. I'm all in it, and always hoping that Sirius/XM will bring back the band channel for "All Metallica" at some point. Until then, starting this Saturday, I'll be enjoying the Manditory Metallica any time of the day or night. Enjoy.
***
***
Mandatory Metallica
takes over Liquid Metal
Exclusive Limited-Time
Engagement Channel
Starts This Saturday, March 14
You'll hear virtually every song from the Metallica catalog, including rare live cuts from the band's personal archives and new songs from their latest platinum album, Death Magnetic.
The channel will also feature interviews with all four band members, and with other artists including Linkin Park, Slipknot, Disturbed, Guns N' Roses, Chris Cornell and many others The launch of the channel coincides with the release of "Guitar Hero: Metallica" on March 29, as well as the band's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on April 4.
Monday, February 9
Great Metallica news
Greetings. Though I don't post about Metallica very often, they have been and likely will be one of my fave bands for some time to come. At last night's Grammy awards, they received some recognition for their awesome work, "Death Magnetic." The following blurb is taken from their Metallica News email newsletter I received today. The whole newsletter wasn't all about this news, but it could have been. Anyway, here it is:
Congratulations Metallica, you deserve it!
Incidentally, if you missed one of their recent shows in the United States or want to relive the magic, then you can visit LiveMetallica.com and purchase the recorded download of that show for $9.95 for the MP3 or $12.95 for the Flac version. CD labels and artwork are also available for each show. Live Metallica is a great way to experience the show without paying concert related prices. They've got recordings of all the band's shows going back to 2004, and usually the show is available between 24 and 48 hours after the concert. Enjoy.
Not only did "Death Magnetic" pick up four Grammy nominations, but we are excited that the album won Best Recording Package and My Apocalypse won for Best
Metal Performance!
Congratulations Metallica, you deserve it!
Incidentally, if you missed one of their recent shows in the United States or want to relive the magic, then you can visit LiveMetallica.com and purchase the recorded download of that show for $9.95 for the MP3 or $12.95 for the Flac version. CD labels and artwork are also available for each show. Live Metallica is a great way to experience the show without paying concert related prices. They've got recordings of all the band's shows going back to 2004, and usually the show is available between 24 and 48 hours after the concert. Enjoy.
Friday, July 11
Preview of Metallica song
Greetings. In my current state of insomnia, I thought I'd post this blurb here, and yes, I know, this has nothing to do with blindness. Consider it a glimpse into one of my other sides. I'm a big Metallica fan, having much of their musical material over the last 20 some odd years and even a few DVD's that they've done. A 1 minute preview of their upcoming song, "Remember Tomorrow," is availlable on the official
Metallica's MySpace page.
Its not clear if this is on the upcoming new album or their tribute album to Iron Maiden. Whatever the case, it sounds killer. If you're afan of the mighty Met, check it out. After the 1 minute preview, there are various Metallica songs in full which are taken from some live performances. I'm sure that the page lists the locations and dates of these songs, but honestly, I was too caught up in listening to scan it. Now that I'm using Windows Vista at home, the ability to adjust individual volume controls for that particular page in Vista came in very handy.
Metallica's new album should be out in a couple of months. From what I've heard from this short preview, assuming that the song is actually on the album and not on the tribute album, it sounds really cool. Looks like I'll be stopping by a CD shop up in New Jersey when I go there in September for my new dog to pick it up. The ironic thing is that I won't have a CD player to play it on since my music is all digital these days. Ah well. The trials of fandom. Enjoy.
Metallica's MySpace page.
Its not clear if this is on the upcoming new album or their tribute album to Iron Maiden. Whatever the case, it sounds killer. If you're afan of the mighty Met, check it out. After the 1 minute preview, there are various Metallica songs in full which are taken from some live performances. I'm sure that the page lists the locations and dates of these songs, but honestly, I was too caught up in listening to scan it. Now that I'm using Windows Vista at home, the ability to adjust individual volume controls for that particular page in Vista came in very handy.
Metallica's new album should be out in a couple of months. From what I've heard from this short preview, assuming that the song is actually on the album and not on the tribute album, it sounds really cool. Looks like I'll be stopping by a CD shop up in New Jersey when I go there in September for my new dog to pick it up. The ironic thing is that I won't have a CD player to play it on since my music is all digital these days. Ah well. The trials of fandom. Enjoy.
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