Let’s Connect

I can remember with great clarity the first cassette I ever purchased with my own money. Rap Trax 2. Who could forget the classics on that seminal 1989 compilation? (Fun fact: to this day, I can still spit the lyrics of Slick Rick's "Children's Story.")  For days I didn't stop listening to it. I'd sit in front of my small ghetto blaster, watching the tape heads spin intently, hoping it would never end. I was certain I'd found my musical niche at the ripe old age of 10. I had it all figured out.

Or so I thought.

Hearing the muffled sounds of Skid Row's "Slave to the Grind" through the bedroom wall adjoined to my older sister's room just a short year later had me in flux. What were these sweet, sweet guitar tones I was hearing? They certainly weren't cut from the same cloth as all those CCR riffs I'd listened to ad nauseam in my father's truck on the way to elementary school each day. I had to know more. I made it my mission over the next several weeks to sneak into my dear sister's room to rummage through her tape collection. What treasures I'd found. Motley Crue. Def Leppard. Poison. Janet Jackson, ew gross. I'd found my mecca. Another couple of years went by, and my thieving skills were as sharp as ever--only now my older sister was collecting CDs. The game had changed. I had no means to play the albums she was buying and there's no way a 16-year-old girl is going to let her 13-year-old brother into her room to listen to music. I needed a plan.  As luck would have it, Xmas was coming. I was long past circling items in the Sears catalogue, so I pleaded the case to my folks. Call it hubris (i do), but I even went so far as to bike ride to Music World a few days before Xmas to buy a few CDs with the lawn mowing money I'd made during the summer. There was only one problem--I had no idea what I liked. So I did what any rational 13-year-old would do. Purchase something from nearly every corner of the music spectrum.

*drum roll*

I managed to purchase three albums that day with my hard-earned 60.00.  

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1. Jackyl - Jackyl (yes, THAT Jackyl)

2. U2 - Achtung Baby

3. Dr. Dre - The Chronic

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 You know the saying. My parents are cooler than your parents? Well, mine were. (and still are. Also--my Dad could beat up your Dad) They delivered. I only had the one gift that year but I felt as though Pandora's Box had been opened. I couldn't wait to burst open the three albums I'd purchased only days earlier. I'd already opened them to scour the liner notes. Though I was in awe of the enhancement in sound quality, I couldn't help but feel underwhelmed.  I hold immense respect for a pair of those albums today (I'll let you guess which ones) but neither of the three really spoke to me musically at the time. It was a very memorable Christmas, but I couldn't help but feel spiritually disappointed. I wanted to have that Skid Row moment again. 

It wouldn't be long until history was made. 

Growing up across the street from a close friend that just happened to have his finger on the pulse of metal at the time was a boon. Shortly into the new year of 1993, a leisurely two steps or more across the street happened to put Pantera's 'Vulgar Display of Power' into my earholes.  Now 14, I'd finally had another Skid Row moment. Only this one hit differently. All the synapses in my brain were firing in a sequence that I was both unfamiliar with and in tune with at the same time. I was hearing a musical language that finally spoke to me on a level that had, up until this point, eluded me. The floodgates had opened. My bicycle and I made many more trips to Music World over the next few years and I never once looked behind me. Some 30 years later, I've grown to appreciate music in all of its forms, but metal will remain the pacemaker that keeps my heart alive. From that passion, this website was born.

Today, I'm proud to be sharing recommendations, playlists and new releases with you.

I strive to keep my site fresh, showcase various artists and keep exploring new sounds and styles (but mostly metal). If the feeling of finding a "new favourite" artist tickles your fancy like it does mine, this blog might just be the place for you.

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Cheers, and happy listening

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Gregory