Blog for D.X. Ferris, who wrote two books about Slayer. Check 'em out at SlayerBio.com. Scroll down for interviews and other activity about the author & books.
I wrote two books about Slayer, and you can buy âem both cheap here. Theyâre paperbacks, and the one about Reign In Blood is available as an audiobook, cheap or free, from the same page.
http://www.SlayerBio.com
One book is about the Reign in Blood album (its creation and legacy).
One is a full-length bio with 33 photos, 11 illustrations, 59 chapters, 400 endnotes, an index (paperback) and 3 appendices (in the highly hyperlinked e-book, 2 in the paperback).
Keep scrolling down in this blog for a bunch of interviews, podcasts, and behind-the-scenes info about the books and how I wrote them. Thereâs a bunch of random Halloween stuff, but after that, itâs all Slay-age!
Hey, yâall. Itâs your pal Ferris here. I have some cool Slayer stuff coming up. As you know, I do some other things. Right now, for example, Iâm plugging my other book, which is an official collaboration with Donnie Iris and the Cruisers, one of my favorite bands ever. More about that in a second. My point for now:
IF YOU JUST WANT TO SEE MY SLAYTANIC STUFF, CLICK HERE.Â
Itâll get you to all the Slayer podcasts and articles and such. And you can skip over all the classic rock, comic strips, Misfits material, etc.
If you dig my Slayer work, please check out the other things. I wouldnât waste your time with bullshit. OK, maybe the comic strip is bullshit. But the rest is good and good for you.
WHY DANZIG RULES, or, HAPPY BIRTHDAY GD, or SOULSTICE ON FIRE
Someone over at 7th House, the official Danzig group, pointed out that Danzigâs June 23 birthday is basically six months from Christmas. Itâs, like, the Danzig Soulstice.
Anyhow, in honor of GDâs birthday, hereâs why he rules.
Danzig.Â
Most talented and accomplished guy from the old-school hardcore generation.Â
40+ years in the game.Â
Wrote the words.Â
Wrote the music.Â
Played it when he had to.Â
Assembled the imagery.Â
Had not one, not two, but THREE good bands. But thatâs not all:
Had a No. 1 album on the CLASSICAL Billboard chart. And a second one in the top 10 (or 11? I've seen 10 cited, but Billboard's terrible online database says 11).Â
Kicked ass in the other genres he worked in: punk, rock, electronic/darkwave/whatever you want to call it.Â
Damn near cracked the top 40 with "Mother" (peak position #43 March 26, 1994? Is that right? Seems wrong).Â
Directed videos. (Still waiting for the movie, but financing is a B.)Â
Wrote comics.Â
Took pictures.Â
Wrote for Johnny Cash. Wrote for Roy Orbison.Â
Was covered by Metallica and Guns N' Roses, the two premier hard rock bands of their generation.Â
That's four Rock & Roll Hall of Fame acts who recorded his songs.
As Steven Blush of American Hardcore renown pointed out, Misfits are the only old-school band to sell out arenas.Â
I'm sure I'm leaving some out, but... Happy birthday. Fangs.
SIMPLE TITLE. LONG STORY. TOTALLY UNDERRATED BAND. SERIOUSLY.
âDonnie Iris and the Cruisers were always clever dudes who made great records and had great, great songs. It was a working manâs rock band with undeniable hooks and melodies.â â Jason Pettigrew, editor-in-chief, Alternative Press
DONNIE IRIS AND THE CRUISERS is one of those bands. Every cool city has one: Tommy Conwell in Philadelphia. Southside Johnny in Jersey. Motherâs Finest in Atlanta. The Nighthawks in DC. Willie Nile in Buffalo. Michael Stanley in Cleveland. Theyâre beloved in their home town. But three hours away, theyâre obscure, possibly unknown. The Cruisers is one of those bands. But none of those bands has a career â or story â like Donnie and the Cruisers.
The Cruisers are the best-kept secret from the early â80s golden age of FM radio, when a band suspended between classic rock, album-oriented rock, and new wave was at home on the airwaves next to the Police, Elvis Costello and Van Halen. Donnie is best known for his string of MCA/Carousel Records albums, which are best remembered for his signature song, âAh! Leah!â
Music snobs will look at the video, snicker, and dismiss him as a one-hit wonder; in fact, the band had three Top 40 hits and seven Hot 100 singles, including the MTV hit âLove Is Like a Rock.â But thereâs more to the story, before and after.
Iconic in Pittsburgh and beloved in Cleveland, Donnie Iris has a career that spans over 50 years in the show-business middle class. He was a singer before the Beatles, but the â60s baby-boomer rock explosion led to his first big group, the Jaggerz.
The Jaggerz recorded an album with Gamble and Huff, but only graduated from colleges and supper clubs to arenas after the breakout success of their single hit, âThe Rapper,â a novelty song that went to No. 1 (Record World) and No. 2 (Billboard) witha push from Kama Sutra/Buddha Records. That was Donnieâs last hit for a full decade, though.
Donnie stayed in the game. Hungry for a gig, he signed on to play with a fading Wild Cherry, who were coming down from the smash hit âPlay That Funky Music.â In Wild Cherry, Donnie met keyboardist Mark Avsec, a multi-talented Cleveland up-and-comer who cut his teeth with Jonah Koslenâs Breathless. The two liked each other, so they drafted a band, hit the studio, and recorded the 1980 album Back on the Streets, which launched âAh! Leah!â on to the Billboard charts.
What follows â as documented in this painstakingly researched oral history and official band bio â is a winding story that plays like a cross between the four-hour Tom Petty & Grateful Dead documentaries, The American Hardcore Book, and beloved music movie That Thing You Do!: The Cruisers score a record deal (sort of). They make some albums. The have more hit singles than most bands. When the hits stop coming, Donnie faces some difficult decisions.
The Cruisers splinter, refocus, reform, reunite, and get day jobs â Donnie as a mortgage broker, Mark as an internationally respected attorney, Kevin Valentine as drummer for bands including Kiss. But they never break up. And when their career hits a commercial low, Donnieâs hometown rediscovers the band.
The Cruisers kept gigging and recording, selling out county fairs (for a while), then finding their footing in sold-out clubs and theaters. (Donnie celebrates his 75th birthday in February, with two sold-out concerts in Greensburgâs 1600-seat Palace Theater, and a third about to go on sale). Unbeknownst to many fans, they continued scoring impressive musical credits: Bandleader/co-songwriter Mark Avsec played with Joe Walsh in James Gang reunions and wrote tunes for two Rock & Roll Hall of Fame acts (Bon Jovi and Carlos Santana). After a stint playing with comedian Sam Kinisonâs band, Valentineâs experience producing led to sound mixing in top-tier TV shows like The Good Wife, Legion and Better Call Saul. And the band keep on playing. And itâs good.
Features colorful, never-before-told scenes from days of yesteryear, from the Jaggerzâ supper-club showband era to the Cruisersâ arena-rocking glory years opening for Ted Nugent, Hall & Oates, and Loverboy. Lots of Pittsburgh & Cleveland stuff.
Itâs big and long, but accessible and illustrated: 75 chapters are fully indexed, easy to read, and packed with vintage and newly discovered photos by veterans Anastasios Pantsios and Richard Kelly. Design by Cruisers guitars Marty Lee Hoenes.
Foreword by Pittsburgh hero Jim Krenn, who featured Donnie in landmark skits on WDVEâs DVE Morning Show, which are recounted in one of the longer chapters. The band, friends, witnesses, critics and fans recount how it all happened and what it means.
Ferris is an Ohio Society of Professional Journalists Reporter of the Year. He writing credits include Rolling Stone, The AV Club, Alternative Press, Decibel, and Cleveland Scene. This is his sixth book. Previous volumes include two about Slayer, one of which is part of the prestigious 33 1/3 series. Heâs a Pittsburgh native who worked in Cleveland, so he knows his ish. He has a lot to say about Donnie, rock journalism, metal, natural xylitol gum, independent publishing, and good music to listen to while you write.
Published by the Cruisersâ Primary Records Group
They like us! They really like us! ANOTHER thumbs up from the hometown crowd. I grew up reading these papers, so to be in the spotlight for a minute... wow, mind blown.
Dio passed eight years ago today. I've been meaning to do that "my favorite musical moments" thing. In honor of RJD, here they are. Sure I left a few, but hey, you know?
I was back in Pittsburgh this week, and I had a TON of "This Is Your Life" flashbacks. Came full-circle on a lot of hopes & aspirations I had once.
Long story short, I was once in a Ph.D program in Duquesne, a fancy-schmancy Catholic university that is a big deal, epsecially in Pittsburgh. I thought the big gothic-D ring would maybe give me some Burgh cred and a veneer of respectability.
But when I was a the ritzy school, all I could ever think about what how incompatible I was with the place... and if I could do it all again, I'd go back to the California Times, the school newspaper that I dabbled at as an undergrad, but never immersed myself in, for reasons. And if I could go back, I thought, Iâd use that as a launchpad to writing about popular culture.Â
And back at the Times is exactly where I would up a year after I walked away from Duquesne.
And, hell, as long as I'm rambling: BEFORE I was in that ill-fitting academic program, I spent time working a pointless, soul-sucking suit job after I got totally off-track in college.
And when I began to formulate an escape from THAT shitshow, I use to think about how I'd be satisfied if I had a life where I could maybe chill on the South Side, a hip-happeninâ neighborhood, during the day... maybe be the kind of guy who wrote a record review for the weekly City Paper now and then... the kind of cat who knows some of the record-store staff on a first-name basis.
And then, Wednesday, there I was. Back in the Burgh. Appeared on KDKA with Donnie Iris to promote the book we collaborated on. Then I met with one of my longtime heroes on the South Side. And maybe THAT will be my next book, collaborating with the person.
So it took 20 years, give or take, but I'm feeling like I'm back on track a little bit.
If you're not where you want to be, start heading in that direction now. Keep your head down, and you can get there. We're not getting any younger. Now is the time.
I forget to mention this more. My Reign in Blood book is available as an audiobook from Audible [.com]. AND you can get it free if youâre a first-time member. Huh, I said âmember.â Christian Hummel, whoâs a good dude, does an excellent job reading it. He sounds a lot like me (me on a good day).
The audiobook also available, cheap, as an mp3 disc.
âBut,â you ask, âwhen is The Jeff & Dave Years full biography going to be available as an audiobook?â Stay tuned, dear listeners. Stay tuned.
Anyhoo (sic), you can get the audiobook directly via Audible or at Amazon, where my paperbacks ship free with Prime, or if you order enough.
^^ Image from unrelated article, which is a good read.
Hey, listeners. It's your pal Ferris here. I dropped 40 pounds over the last year* by doing cardio yoga â specifically, DDP Yoga, which is a great low-impact workout. Unlike every other workout Iâve ever done**, at the end of it, I feel charged up, not drained and sore. It's good, and it's good for you.
* And, knock on wood, Iâm keeping it off.
** I put on all my size doing pushups, and Iâm a black belt (Taekwondo).
Granted: sometimes the long workouts can feel... long. So here's a special soundtrack to make the time fly and get your blood pumping.
My playlist "Slaytanic Yoga: Well Awaits" runs about 65 minutes, and it cycles through a dynamic range:
- 10 minute warmup
- 10 minutes moderately quick
- 5 minutes hella fast- 5 minutes moderate
- 5 minutes hella fast
- 6 minutes on the light side of moderate
- 5 minutes cooldown
- 4 minutes intense
- 10 on the light side of moderate
- 5 minutes cooldown
Consult your doctor before thrashing like a beast.
Long story short, just do what the music dictates. If it's fast, go fast. If it speeds up, go faster. If it's slow, go slow. (If youâre doing DDP Yoga, this mix fits with the Double Black Diamond workout; or do Mixtape twice.
Be well. As Ian MacKaye said, "Thanks a lot, friends!" Enjoy.
Hereâs a thought thatâs been nagging at me awhile now:
The Dark Knight Returns is the ultimate Batman story. And a significant, worthy piece of Western fiction. The cartoon movie, however, makes some baffling choices.
Itâs probably my favorite Bat movie (after the Batman â66 one). Iâm famously picky about Bat movies. I think Tim Burtonâs Batman flicks are basically worthless â influential and significant, but crappy. And the Nolan ones are no fun: No scene can be summarized as âBad guys are doing bad shit, then Batman drops in and kicks much ass.â (Captain America: The Winter Soldier is a much better Batman movie than any of the Batman movies. And the Bat fights in Bats v. Supes sure are swell, but...)
So unlike ALL other Batmovies, proper director Joy Oliva gave the cartoon Dark Knight Returns enough good action to satisfy. Still: over time, those choices gnawed at me. Some consciously, some not.
The cast is swell, but voice acting is disjointed and awful. Voice Director Andrea Romano is an hero in animation, but man, I donât understand what she OKâd here. Peter Weller, Robocop himself, voices Bruce. He said he didnât even read the comics, because he wanted to do his own thing with it. Oooof. I wish he had read it.
But more important: The script. Two things I can't get over, one obvious, one subtle but significant:
One: Cutting the narration, bad choice: If you're going to make a movie from the book, do it. Don't make it something else. Cutting the narration is like them adapting Year One, but totally changing the art style (only to use it in the credits,as if to say "Yeah, we coulda done that, but this is OUR shit â great, right?!"). But here's the one(s) I noticed this month, when I caught it on HBO:
Two, and hereâs the kicker: The adaptation does everything it can to soften the political content. And the political content is essential. Not only does the adaptation remove the Bruce quote that serves as a thesis:
Bruce to Clark: "You say yes to anybody with a badge & a flag."
It also removes a nearby line from Oliver, who calls the police âfascist sons of bitches!"
The âbadge & a flagâ line is replaced with a couple utterly toothless, vague lines about being obedient to the wrong kind of authority. The changes remind me of Alan Moore objecting to V for Vendetta adaptation because the movie fails to mention fascism.
So, in conclusion, the Dark Knight Returns cartoon has stellar action, but fails because it won't say what the book does. The cartoon tells the story, but reduces it to a clash between two big superheroes â two essential American ideologies, not so much.
And I get it: What do you expect from a corporate cartoon?
But still, you know? If you're gonna do the thing, do the thing.
â BONUS: Hereâs my full Winter Soldier vs. Nolan Batman piece, after the jump
I wrote this when Winter Solider was a new release, for Diffuser, which tried to be the AV Club for a minute, before the bosses stepped in and f*cked it up:
Captain America Out-Batmans Batman, and It Didnât Take Much
Itâs on. Captain America will go head-to-head against Batman and Superman in the DC heroesâ all-but-guaranteed megasmash crossover, when both franchises' next movies are released on the same day, May 6, 2016. Improbably, brand loyalty notwithstanding, Cap has the advantage if youâre waiting for an emotionally charged, kick-ass thrillride.
 Providing three-or-more thrills a minute, the pulse-pounding new âCaptain America: The Winter Soldierâ retroactively reduces all Batman moviesâ scores by two letter grades. (OK, 2008âs âThe Dark Knightâ only loses one letter, for reasons weâll get into). If âWinter Soldierâ isnât the best Super Hero Movie, Super Hero Action Movie, and Comic Book Movie, then itâs certainly in the top 3, in contention with âThe Avengers,â âScott Pilgrim vs. the World,â and M. Night Shylamanâs underrecognized âUnbreakableâ â but definitely not Chris Nolanâs Bat-movies (or Bat-writer David Goyerâs mixed-bag of a Superman reboot, 2013âs âMan of Steelâ).
 Captain Americaâs dark return once and for all shines a spotlight on the glaring fact that Batfans have been hesitant to acknowledge since Tim Burtonâs slavishly overrated 1989 Batman: On the big screen, Batman has never been presented as an action hero.
 Both modern Batman franchises have been propelled into cult status through heroic applications of geek gratitude: A decent, dark Batman movie is better than no Batman movie. So the fanboys eat them up. And the people who donât know any better embrace them as well.
 In retrospect, the Batmovies from the 1980s and â90s paved the way for the superhero movie as we know it. But as Batmovies, theyâre thorough failures. Burtonâs first âBatmanâ was an art film with roughly thirty seconds of action, half of which involved Batman firing machine guns at Jack Nicholson, who was impersonating Daffy Duck, but somehow passed off himself off as the Joker. Clad in a rubber suit, Michael Keatonâs Batman punches a couple guys and almost randomly squares off with a Joker goon who has some martial arts training⊠for about six seconds.
 Batman 1989 Trailer:
http://youtu.be/HlsM2_8u_mk
 And the rest of the old-school Bat franchise is downhill from there. By 1997âs âBatman and Robin,â even with action icon Arnold Schwarzenneger in tow, the movies had developed into a campy drag-queen aesthetic. The universally derided â yet financially successful â final installment did more justice to Uma Thurmanâs Poison Ivy than Batman or Bane. (In itself, thereâs nothing wrong with that vibe, but itâs not what anybody wants in a Batflick.) At least Michael Keaton aced the brooding aspect of Batman. With George frickinâ Clooney and Val Kilmer in the Batman role, these supposed action flicks become costume fantasies that are invested in the idea that a person can put on a costume and suddenly become somebody completely different. And maybe that works at night clubs, but not when youâre fighting crime.
 At the heart of those Batflicks is a willful blind eye to physical reality: Someone who spent his whole life training to become Batman would not look â or move â like Keaton, Clooney, or Kilmer. Those movies barely pass the actors off as a billionaire playboy. And the action? Forget about it. The âBatman [â66]â TV series holds up better.
 That said, physical reality didnât serve the Nolan Batmovies well, either. In 2005, âBatman Beginsâ provides a origin tale of young Bruce Wayne as a brawler-turned-ninja. And while it features some respectable action scenes, theyâre not anything to make a viewer cringe or rewind and watch again. True, Nolan finally depicts Bruce Wayne as a guy who does some pushups. And real martial arts are in the mix, albeit with some stiff choreography.
 Batman Begins, Bruce Wayne escapes the League of Shadows⊠or does he?
http://youtu.be/Z8tysDC31Yo
 In 2008, the overlong âThe Dark Knightâ staged a couple swell action sequences, but they werenât essentially rooted in Batmanâs character. The most memorable IMAX-size scene is the Jokerâs escape from a police van. In this second outing, Batman doesnât emerge as an Olympic-level athlete. In fact, the plotâs tech-heavy resolution doesnât make a very good case for Batman as a Sherlock Holmes-caliber detective, either. The guy in the costume is not doing what Batman is famous for doing.
 Dark Knight Van 2
http://youtu.be/Zg1cDKYmK98
 And the controversial misfire that was 2012 âThe Dark Knight Risesâ? Batman does fight more in it, but itâs nothing to blog about. Squaring off time and again, Batman and Bane trade rudimentary martial arts moves. The fighting style is realistic for a couple guys that size, but itâs dull.
 Batmanâs big move is a thrusting front kick, which he uses over and over again. The technique is devastating when it connects, but you can see it coming all the way from the Triskelion. Batmanâs first fight with Bane would be slightly more exciting if was really shot in total darkness. The movieâs climax involves a big vehicle chase, in which a weaponized camo SUV lobs a half-dozen slow-arcing, heat-seeking missiles at the Batwing. And it zooms away. Big whoop. Catwomanâs action had better choreography and revealed more about her character. At some point, Nolan deluded himself into imagining he was making a James Bond movie. âDark Knight Risesââ most memorable action sequences involveâŠ
 1) Bane hijacking a plane (with Batman nowhere in sight).
 2) Hines Ward running back a kickoff for a touchdown as a football stadium collapses behind him (with Batman nowhere in sight).
 And
 3) Bane punching the sh*t out of a Tuscan column (instead of turning around, zeroing in on Batman, and displacing the rest of the Batâs spinal column).
 Bane vs. the Architecture
http://youtu.be/DImh0ac-jdQ
 After all that realistic fighting, Bane can suddenly barehandedly dismantle a stone column? Now, obviously, Nolan made a decision to root his Batmovies in reality. But who cares? Whatâs more exciting? Tom Hardy, Chris Nolan, and very few invisible wires? Or this boss fight from the videogame âBatman: Arkham Originsâ?
 http://youtu.be/OqEqN17zW8s
 Batman, obviously, has endless potential as an action hero. And itâs not like it canât be done. The only Batman movie with real action scenes that will make you applaud, duck, and empathetically wince is the 2013 adaptation of Frank Millerâs game-changing mini-series âThe Dark Knight Returns.â Director Jay Oliva researched real-life muay Thai and mixed-martials arts techniques to choreograph larger-than-life action scenes like Batman taking out an entire SWAT team (granted, they have the aim of Imperial Stormtroopers) and dissecting a feral gang leader whoâs bigger and fiercer than Bane:
 Bats vs. Mutants
http://youtu.be/RV18kZIBBZA
 In the movieâs adaptation of the greatest fight in comic-book history, Batman defeats Superman in visceral hand-to-hand combat. (More or less: Bats is wearing an armored suit, and Superman is weakened from a previous nuclear explosion.) Maybe bringing the ultimate Batman story to life requires a cartoon, but maybe not.
 Dark Knight Returns, Supes-Bats pt 2, including steamroller
http://youtu.be/OYBClxNR_fU
 In Rocksteadyâs âArkham Knight,â photorealistic CGI turns Batman into a high-flying, car-jumping, slow-mo leaping, gang-punching, bullet-dodging, man of action (with the aid of some brilliant writing on par with Nolan & Goyerâs best).
 Batman Arkham Knight Trailer
http://youtu.be/wsf78BS9VE0
 Presumably, Goyerâs upcoming Batman-Superman reboot will take its cues from âMan of Steelâ and deliver some superspeed hand-to-hand combat. But as of now, no Batmovieâs action scene can be roughly described thusly: âBatman swoops in out of nowhere and punches the bejeezus out of a bunch of dudes in a nimble, ĂŒber-athletic manner.â No, if you want that kind of action, you need to see âCaptain America: The Winter Solider.â
 If you experienced seen the movie yet, we know it sounds suspect. âCaptain America: The First Avengerâ was a good super hero origin story. But it wasnât an earth-shaker. Not like âThe Avengers, âwhich sets the bar on superhuman, comic book-style, truly-epic-scale action. But âCap2ain Americaâ brings the pain better than any franchise since the âBourneâ movies. The action in the new Cap flick isnât about the Hulk and Thor taking down an invading alien army. No, in âWinter Soldier,â simply put, the characters â guys and girls â kick ass.
 Cap ship scene:
http://youtu.be/6k0kkSHiiPE
 Now that is âHero drops in from the darkness and punches the bejeezus out of a bunch of dudes in a nimble, ĂŒber-athletic manner.â The first ten minutes of âWinter Soldierâ present Cap as an unstoppable fighter who thinks as fast has he moves. No slow build. The credits roll, and bam. Cap takes out an elite commando unit almost singlehandedly. Itâs an apples-to-oranges comparison, but Batroc the Leaper has more moves than Nolanâs Batman.
 Cap vs. Batroc:
http://youtu.be/aHh0XaW0UyQ
 In one fight after another, Captain Rogers, his allies, and foes sinker deeper into a disorienting world of intrigue and escalating stakes. And Capâs small crew of well-defined characters convincingly fight like theyâre in an MMA cage. Flying knee-smashes. Lethal acrobatics. Interpersonal hand-to-hand combat that will leave you ducking in your seat. Intricate weapons-play that might not be believable, but is sure as hell memorable. Captain America even walks up to Batmanâs home turf and makes it his. Contrast these two rooftop scenes:
 Cap rooftop scene:
http://youtu.be/zyUTeZVnd2w
 Dark Knight Returns Rooftop Scene:
http://youtu.be/D1zBw86sPk8
 Guess whose is more awesome? Again, perhaps not physically plausible, but awesome. Even without Cap running through walls, which one is more likely to make you want to watch it twice?
 In Nolanâs Batmovies, the Bat Tumbler may have provided some highlights. Batman sures operates motor vehicles a lot. But contrast the Bat-chases with this motorcycle scene from âWinter Soldier.â Of course, nobody could really singlehandedly take out a fighter jet. But the movie makes you believe â if only for a moment â that Steve Rogers could. The real âSupermanâ movie made a generation believe a man could fly. And the Nolan Batmovies? Theyâll make you believe a man can hop into a small flying vehicle and zoom away.
 Cap vs. Jet:
http://youtu.be/RYSgkqc9EWI
 If Goyer and Nolan have seen âWinter Soldier,â they should be losing sleep over it. The spent around $600 million to make three movies that are memorable mostly for their ambience and an unforgettable Heath Ledger performance. Compared to âWinter Solider,â the Nolan Batman films represent the largest wasted opportunity since the âStar Wars Episodes I-III: The Jar-Jar Trilogy.â The ballâs in your court, Bats. Weâre eagerly awaiting your response.
Dylan & Cash, "Girl from the North Country," Nashville Skyline
Kristin Hersh, "Your Ghost," Hips & Makers
Journey, "Don't Stop Believin'," Escape
The Who, "Baba O'Riley," Who's Next
Metallica, "Fight Fire With Fire," Ride the Lightning
Slayer, "Angel of Death," Reign in Blood
Megadeth âHoly Wars/The Punishment is Due,â Rust in Peace
REM, take your pick: "Radio Free Europe," "Drive," Finest Worksong," "Begin the Begin," probably some others Iâm overlooking.
NWA, "Straight Out of Compton"
AIC, "Them Bones," Dirt
Mastodon, âBlood and Thunder,â Leviathan
Danzig, "Twist of Cain," Danzig
Stone Roses, "I Wanna Be Adored"
Tricky, "Overcome," Maxinquaye
Boston, "More Than a Feeling"
GBH, Midnight Madness and Beyond. OK, granted, trigger warning. But the all-time hardcore greats going metal and launching it with an arena-sized song? Massive and awesome.
Beastie Boys, "Rhymin' and Stealin'," License to Ill
* "Smells Like Teen Spirit" should qualify, but I have a personal rule that Nirvana & the Beatles don't warrant any further discussion. We can all shut the f*k up them; nobodyâs gonna say anything that ainât been said before.
Podcast The Great Albums talks about â wait for it! â great albums. The welcomed my silly ass and let me talk about my life in metal, Slayer, thrash, and more... PLUS a track-by-track breakdown of Reign in Blood. This a long one:
If you like the sound of this one, check out the episode about Metallicaâs Master of Puppets with Doug Robertson (@TheWeirdTeacher). Lots of correct opinions in this 'un:
