#36 - Pride and Glory

The first rock concert I ever went to was on August 3, 1989 at Irvine Meadows Amphitheater in the town to which I would move a year later to attend college, Irvine, California.  I, a high school senior, went to this concert with a recent grad friend of mine, Nick Gozdiff and another friend of his, whose name eludes me but who I can remember got drunk at the show and hit on a 12-year-old before passing out in the back seat of my car.  In retrospect, my willingness to drive was probably a big reason why these seasoned 18-year-olds were willing to go to a show with a lowly high schooler, in dumb awe of just about everything he witnessed that night.  Nick had been a school band member, a trombonist in fact, and a metal fan, so perhaps our similarities made it possible for him to tolerate my woeful lack of experience and sophistication.  The lineup for the night included openers, all-female hair band Vixen, all-male hair band White Lion and finally, headliner Ozzy Osbourne.  There are a handful of memorable stories from that fateful, magical night, but most memorable was the performance of another youngster, the then-22-year-old and relatively unknown guitarist in Ozzy's band, Zakk Wylde.

Zakk was (and is) a ridiculously good player with an enormous, crushing sound, unique approach to scalar soloing, impeccable technique, and that irresistible wailing harmonic squeal.  While his style certainly descends from legendary guitarists Randy Rhoads and Duane Allman, until 1988's No Rest For The Wicked album, no one had heard playing quite like his.

In 1991, Zakk started a side project with two guys from that tour that I was lucky enough to attend, bassist James LoMenzo and drummer Greg D'Angelo from White Lion.  They went on to produce one eponymous album in 1994 and a couple of contributions to compilations under Zakk's name prior to that, far too little output for what was truly a unique and highly talented band.  Their style was one I really haven't heard anywhere else, a sort of southern metal reminiscent simultaneously of country blues and classic heavy metal.  I can't recommend the album highly enough; Zakk's playing is top-notch and his vocals are surprisingly soulful, nuanced and capable.  He even plays banjo, mandolin and harmonica on it, and there are a couple of string orchestra accompaniments performed by the Seattle Symphony.  I'm including my favorite from the album, "Shine On", mainly my favorite because it features a monster jam with guitar solo for the second half of the track.  I'm also throwing in, as a bonus, "Farm Fiddlin'" from the Guitars That Rule The World compilation of 1991 because it's so much fun.

#37 - Age of Nemesis

One of the more obscure acts on this long list of obscure acts, Hungarian prog-metal band Age of Nemesis released their first few albums domestically only, as not much of the outside listening world would have flocked to an album sung in Magyar.  Many of their works have since been translated into and recorded in English, and as far as I know, they've had three albums released internationally by Sensory and Magna Carta Records, two big fish labels in the small pond of progressive metal.  Nemesis is a bit of an anomaly, in that their albums are so polished they sound like a major player in the genre, but one can easily find references to so many small stage performances and cover versions of the metal standards, an inference can be made that they're essentially a really, really good cover band that has managed to get decent distribution on some of their original work.  As for their musical style, they're firmly in the prog vein... heavy on the keyboards, soaring and powerful high-pitched clean vocals, and impressively technical playing, particularly from guitarist and founder Zoltán Fábián.  While not particularly unique, I think they do it better than just about anyone else, and they tend toward a more driving rock sound than many others, recalling greats Deep Purple and Iron Maiden, and resulting in a sound that is just plain fun to listen to.

Age of Nemesis has grown more polished over the years, and the track I'm going to share is the opener from their third and most recent album (the English language version), Terra Incognita.  The song is called "Tree of Life" and, while not especially complex, is a fun listen, an impressive performance and a thoughtful composition.  I think the somewhat lengthy introduction does a nice job of setting up the vocal entrance and main song form.  I also like the variety of sounds you get from the guitar parts and to a lesser extent, the keys.  The vocals are really nicely done too, especially the multi-part harmonies in the chorus.  Check it out.  As I've been doing with some bands lately, I'm also going to throw in a cover of Deep Purple's "Burn", which not only rocks, but also cleverly offers a different interpretation of the main riff every time it's reintroduced throughout the song.  Again, a really fun recording.

#38 - Anthrax

Anthrax was one of the most important metal bands of the 1980's.  Hailing from New York City, they pioneered the East Coast thrash metal sound, with a clearer punk influence than West Coast and European peers.  They also embraced the clean, high-pitched, wide vibrato vocals of much of the NWOBHM of their formative years, something that you didn't hear much of in the early music of contemporaries Metallica and Kreator.  Another characteristic of the band that became a staple of the NY thrash and metal scene was the levity in their song content and performance attire and demeanor. You can hear their musical and lyrical influence on later terrific NY bands Carnivore/Type O Negative and Scatterbrain to name a couple of my faves.  Another area where their enormous influence can be easily discerned is in the 90's rap/nu metal movement.  Anthrax was among the first bands to mix heavy metal and rap with 1987's "I'm the Man", paving the way for Faith No More, a Sir Mix A Lot and Metal Church collaboration, Body Count, and finally Rage Against the Machine in 1992 and the rap metal explosion that followed.  Credit to their NY compatriot Beastie Boys though, who were a clear influence on Anthrax at that time.  They also collaborated notably in the early 90's with Public Enemy on an excellent cover of "Bring the Noise"

As with most of the mid-eighties thrash and underground metal movement, I was late to the game with Anthrax.  I never really heard them until MTV picked them up for heavy rotation of "Antisocial" from their 1988 fourth album, State of Euphoria.  It was a good song and representative of their mid-eighties sound, as I soon learned when I delved into their back-catalog.  Their classic lineup broke up after the 1990 release of Persistence of Time, a heavier and more serious album then their previous work but no less enjoyable.  Well, maybe less enjoyable than 1987's Among the Living, which is top to bottom a fantastic album, with interesting and unusual lyrics for the genre and a similarly unique musical style, although as mentioned above, one that would influence a generation of crossover thrash metal artists.  On it, one can hear a song about the tragedy of John Belushi's death ("Efilnikufesin (N.F.L.)"), another based on comic book character Judge Dredd ("I am the Law"), two reworkings of Stephen King stories ("Among the Living" based on the novel, The Stand and "A Skeleton in the Closet, after the novella "Apt Pupil"), and the following classic lament for the lot of the native American.  Drummer Charlie Benante's opening nod to native American drumming, Joey Belladonna's wildly wailing (but pristine) vocals and the ultra-heavy "war dance" breakdown make "Indians" one of the best on an album full of bests.

#39 - System Of A Down

A very local band, and one of the most popular and well-known on this list, System of a Down hails from Glendale, California.  In fact, principal composer, guitarist and secondary vocalist Daron Malakian went to middle school at the same school my kids will likely attend.  Daron is the only member of the band who was born in the United States.  Singer Serj Tankian and drummer John Dolmayan were born in Lebanon and bassist Shavo Odadjian was born in Armenia, but all three immigrated to California as young children.  The band's lyrics tend to be politically charged, often focusing on American foreign and drug policies and social justice.  The songs "P.L.U.C.K.", from their 1998 debut and "Holy Mountains" from 2005 both decry and call on the Turkish government to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide carried out by the Ottoman Empire in 1915.  Musically, SOAD plays a quirky brand of alternative/nu metal.  The foundational style is one that generally doesn't appeal much to me, but their slant on it is so imaginative, experimental, angular and unexpected, that it's hard not to like.

SOAD's first two albums are wall-to-wall great songs, featuring more death metal grunts and growls than their later, more alternative rock offerings.  On the whole though, their sound has been pretty consistent over the past 17 or so years.  I remember hearing them live in Atlanta in 1999 and having a hard time getting a grasp on them, feeling ambivalent about both the lyrics and the music.  It took some time, but they definitely brought me around.  The turning point was probably when I heard their 2000 cover of Black Sabbath's "Snowblind", which remains one of my two favorite Sabbath covers of all time (along with Type O Negative's "Black Sabbath").  I was going to include an original, "Prison Song" from their second and breakthrough album Toxicity, which is a good example of their unique work, but I hate to pass up the opportunity to share the gem that is "Snowblind".  What the heck?  Here are both, "Prison Song" first, and then their original take on a classic.

#40 - The Gathering

There are not enough great metal bands fronted by women, but Dutch band The Gathering brings me to the first of my four favorite female metal vocalists.  There are some singers that are so compelling that they can singlehandedly push a good band into great territory.  We've heard from a few men who fit that bill in Midnight of Crimson Glory, Kenn Nardi of Anacrusis, King Diamond of Mercyful Fate, Geoff Tate of Queensrÿche, John Arch of Fates Warning, and of course the inimitable Ronnie James Dio of Rainbow and Black Sabbath.  I don't mean to imply that these bands were not terrific apart from their impressive vocalists; just that these singers play possibly a larger than usual role in what makes them special.  The Gathering's vocalist from 1995 to 2007, Anneke van Giersbergen, certainly fits that bill.  Her deep, beautiful and powerful mezzo-soprano along with her joyful performance style make her a true pleasure to listen to.  The rest of the band are no slouches either, producing interesting and thickly textured music as they piled influences on top of their atmospheric doom metal origins, notably alternative and prog rock as well as post rock and shoegaze over the height of their output between 1995's Mandylion and 2000's If Then Else.  They've always reminded me a bit of Pink Floyd, thanks to a blend of progressive, psychedelic and hard rock influences, frequently slow and trance-like grooves and smooth vocals.

I'm torn on what song to share with you, as I generally like the precision and effects of studio recordings.  But The Gathering is really a special live band.  If you'll indulge me, I'm going to share two.  The first is a recording of their first hit "Strange Machines" from Mandylion performed at the Pinkpop Festival in their native Netherlands in 1996.  The song is a good one, although early in their development, and the performance is so enthusiastic, it's a real treat to listen to.

The second is one of their more straight ahead rockers, this time in studio.  Again the sound is fat and the performance just so heartfelt and joyful.  Enjoy "Shot To Pieces" from 2000's If Then Else.

#41 - Spastic Ink

Spastic Ink was an aptly named brainchild of guitarist extraordinaire and WatchTower alum Ron Jarzombek in the late 90's and early 2000's.  Their music and performance goes beyond impressive.  Some adjectives that leap to mind: angular, frenetic, ironic, complex, jarring... spastic.  It's truly unique music, simultaneously heavy and light.  That any human, let alone an ensemble, could play it is mind boggling, and the musicians enlisted to record it leave little doubt of their proficiency.  A brilliant example, not included below but highly recommended, is Wild Hare, an amazing adaptation of the movie Bambi, with even dialogue recreated instrumentally.

The first album, Ink Complete, was essentially a release of nearly-raw demos which, while imperfectly engineered, maybe makes it all the more impressive.  The second album, though, Ink Compatible, is a thing of beauty (if, like me, you find art like that of Georges Braque beautiful).  The list of contributing musicians includes some greats, but it may be even more impressive that they were able to play this stuff than that Ron was able to secure them for the album: vocalist Daniel Gildenlöw of Pain of Salvation, guitarist Marty Friedman of Megadeth and Cacophony, bassists Sean Malone of Cynic and Michael Manring of Attention Deficit, and keyboardist Jens Johansson of Yngwie Malmsteen and Stratovarius fame, as well as old WatchTower bandmate Jason McMaster and brother Bobby Jarzombek.  Ron is clearly a bit of a techno geek, and all of the songs on Ink Compatible are themed around wordplay on computer programming terms and topics.  Give a listen to "Aquanet", the album's opener, for a taste of this fantastic band's style and a reminiscence on the golden age of dialup internet.  And imagine trying to sing or play any of the instruments on this.  For those who make it to the end, you'll be treated to a funny bit where the automated intercept operator repeats her message "If you'd like to make a call..." over and over again in an increasingly annoyed tone.