Beautiful Rock, Beautiful Metal

I am misunderstood when it comes to music and I’m bloody sick of it.

I’m often asked “What kinds of music do you like, Dave”

When I reply “I love classic rock and heavy metal”, the person reacts in one of three ways:

First, they run away, screaming “Devil worshipper”.

Or second, they say “Oh – so you don’t really like music then. Heavy metal is just a wall of noise that makes most of its fans tone deaf.” They then proceed to lecture me on how the singers can’t sing, the guitarists just pour out wailing noise and can’t really play before accusing me of having no musical taste whatsoever. I have to listen to a one way diatribe about how “rock is dead” and that all rock lovers are smelly, brainless, long-haired idiots who wouldn’t know a decent tune if it came up and said “I’m a decent tune”. Finally, they say something along the lines of “If you want to listen to some good music, buy the latest album by Britney Spears or Take That”.

Or third, they say “YEAH! METAAAALLLLL!!!””

I want to target this post at those in the first two categories (as those in the third category are usually like minded people).

Before I go on, I would just like to say that I appreciate most forms of music and have a varied collection of CDs. I just happen to prefer rock music and heavy metal.

There are people out there who genuinely believe that rock music is the spawn of satan and all people who buy CDs by bands like Black Sabbath are destined to burn in the fires of hell for all eternity. There are also people out there who believe that heavy metal simply isn’t music at all, claiming, as I said above, that the artists are in fact using electric guitars as noise generators and somehow convincing people like me that it is music when in fact it is a tuneless dirge.

Well I want to make a stand here and now and prove these people wrong. The purveyors of rock and metal are not satanists and they are, on the whole, possibly the most gifted musicians on the planet.

I have numerous discussions with Mrs PM about music and I frequently end up banging my head against the wall in frustration. To say our tastes are different is a massive understatement.

Mrs PM would rather listen to nonsense like Britney Spears and Lady Ga Ga. When we drive a fair distance, we argue constantly about which radio station to listen to; she prefers Galaxy, a station that plays endless dance music. We end up playing one or two tracks of my music and one or two tracks of hers, which means that I am exposed to the latest bilge from Britney whilst trying to educate her about the finer points of heavy metal.

“It’s over,” she keeps saying to me when I extol the virtues of rock.

I am utterly fed up with this stereotyping and I am sick of people accusing me of having no appreciation of decent music just because I like to play air guitar with Metallica, or leap up and down while singing along with Trent Reznor or Geddy Lee.

Who else can play a musical instrument the way that Kirk Hammett, Joe Satriani or Tony Iommi can play the guitar? Who can play drums better than Neil Peart, Ian Paice or Cozy Powell?

Here for you delectation are a few songs by classic rock and heavy metal artists that will prove once and for all that these people have a rare talent for song writing, can actually sing delightfully and most importantly are superb musicians. These songs are, in my humble opinion, beautiful.

I present to you some exquisite examples of beautiful rock and beautiful metal, without a devil and barely a wailing guitar in sight. Follow the links to YouTube, close you eyes and let your imagination take you away on a cloud of wonder:

(1) Black Sabbath – Laguna Sunrise
(2) Ten – The Elysian Fields
(3) Foo Fighters – Still
(4) Queensrÿche – Silent Lucidity
(5) Jethro Tull – Slow Marching Band
(6) Joe Satriani – Day At The Beach
(7) Black Sabbath – Fluff
(8) Gun – The Only One
(9) Pink Floyd – Comfortably Numb
(10) Evanescence – My Immortal
(11) Nine Inch Nails – Right Where It Belongs
(12) Deep Purple – The Aviator
(13) Def Leppard – From The Inside
(14) Rainbow – Temple Of The King
(15) Led Zeppelin – All My Love
(16) Nazareth – Fallen Angel
(17) Whitesnake – Don’t Fade Away
(18) Rammstein – Ohne Dich
(19) Little Angels – Feels Like My World Has Come Undone
(20) Ozzy Osbourne – My Little Man
(21) Black Sabbath – Spiral Architect

These songs are so delightful that they bring tears to my eyes.

I hope you appreciate how musical these guys are and I hope that I’ve persuaded you a little. If you decide to listen to a little Def Leppard, Deep Purple or Black Sabbath as a result of this post I feel I will have done a good job.

Let me know what you think.

And finally, in the words of Bon Scott – LET THERE BE ROCK!!!!!!!