high school music history

By anders pearson 02 Nov 2002

AC/DC - back in black

when i was in junior high, AC/DC was the beginning and the end of music as far as i was concerned. at one point, i had every single one of their albums. my friend russ was similarly obsessed and we would hang out and listen to AC/DC together.

Black Sabbath - We sold our soul for rock n roll

when i was finally starting to branch out from AC/DC, Sabbath was just a natural progression.

Motörhead - 1916

Lemmy is god. this isn't motörhead's best album but it was the first that i'd heard.

Megadeth - Countdown to Extinction

my older sister and her friends were incredibly influential during my junior high and early high school years. for quite a while, i would use my little dual cassette deck to copy every tape that her friends lent her. i think someone lent her a video tape of an episode of Headbangers Ball with the video for Skin of my Teeth.

Faith No More - the Real Thing

when my sister got her drivers license, we used to ride around blasting this album.

Pantera - Vulgar display of power

i met my friend cj in art class. during one of our first conversations, he asked if i liked pantera. "pantera? who's that?" Vulgar remains one of the all-time heaviest albums ever. pure, distilled aggression.

Sepultura - Chaos AD

i think cj showed me this album and i was mostly attracted by the spikey, 'S' logo. the music turned out to be good too.

Morbid Angel - Covenant

cj kept going on and on about how great morbid angel was. when i first heard it, i didn't know what to think. they were the first band i'd ever heard who used totally distorted, growling vocals. while any metal band worth listening to has some kind of satanic overtones (or at least is accused of it by the right wing), morbid angel went all the way. they had songs about feeding christians to lions and sacrificing virgins and pentagrams all over their albums. how could i resist? Ministry - a mind is a terrible thing to taste

someone left this tape in my sister's car. i found it on the floor or in the glove box or something and started listening to it.

NIN - broken

i was discussing ministry with one of my sisters' friends and they said something to the effect of "i don't know... they sound too much like NIN for me..." by that time i was obsessively listening to ministry so i immediately went out and picked up a copy of broken.

Tool - Opiate

i'd bought Tool's album Intolerance after seeing the video for Sober. but it was Opiate that really grabbed me. i actually wore my way through the tape.

Godflesh - selfless

by this time i'd started playing guitar and was reading various guitar magazines all the time. one of them had a small article on godflesh basically saying that they were the musical equivalent of the apocalypse. so when i saw Selfless in a used bin, i decided to give it a try.

Type O Negative - Bloody Kisses

during high school, i used to drink a lot of mountain dew. this would keep me awake late at night. i spent most of that time just lying in bed listening to the radio. i first heard the song 'Christian Woman' at about 3 am and didn't catch the name of the band. i spent the next week staying up all night hoping for them to play the song again so i could find out who it was by.

Carcass - Heartwork

the greatest blend of aggression and melody i've ever heard.

Fugazi - Repeater

Fugazi was the first concert i ever went to.

White Zombie - La Sexorcisto

for some reason it took me a while to get into this album.

Pink Floyd - The Wall

dark. creepy. complex. i have a theory that the first time anyone seriously listens to this album it changes them forever.

Fear Factory - Demanufacture

i have vivid memories of listening to demanufacture in cj's car riding around maine in january at night with no heater. the combination of ice cold temperatures, headlights piercing the darkness, and fear factory somehow seemed just right.

Life of Agony - River Runs Red

venice gave me this CD. at the time she'd decided that she didn't like keith's voice. years later i reintroduced her to LOA and she repented.

Wammo - Fat Headed Stranger

when my sister was a dj for the USM radio station, she rescued this disk from the throwaway bin on a hunch. "There is too much light in this bar" is sheer brilliance. i think i have yet to meet a single person who has even heard of wammo.