Starting this particular entry, i think back to Forrest Gump's philosophy that "Lifes like a box of chocolates, in that you never know what your gonna get" (i tried typing that in Southern drawl, but it was practically impossible). it is a poigniant idea, and i suppose it applies to the selectin of music we chose, supposing that these particular chocolates have the ability to leave your grey matter splattered all over the back wall after listening to them on full blast.
what inspired me to write about taking blind stabs at new bands and hoping you picked a good 'un was an order i placed on a well known retail site (to avoid copyright issues, i'll call them Schmamazon) for a CD by the now defunct Virgina based tech thrash band Byzantine, having heard a decent word or two about them. i dont know, for some reason 'the bastard offspring of Meshuggah and Metallica' seemed to strike a cord with me. Wether this Band will be any good is something i await as i have heard nothing of them, and have no intention of listening to any snippets untill my purchase arrives. i will post a review of 'Oblivion Beckons' oncce it has arrived and i have listened.
it also got me thinking about my track record with such blind purchases. and yes, it has been a fairly patchy one. the first album i tried this with was 'Saint Anger' by Metallica. i as young and naive, and wanted a step up from the samey three cord grue that Nickelback had fed me before they sold out into Slush Ballad territory (although one thing i do thank Chad Kroger for is that Nickelback was a stepping stone into heavier, more diverse sounds andbands. thank you very much arseholes!).
anyway, i slapped my eyes on the Sainty Anger CD, seeing the Metallica moniker and thinking "hey, ive heard decent things about Metallica. i'll get that", 15 of my hard earned Pounds disappears faster than Twinkies at a aweight watchers meeting. expecting to hear "Skull crushing, brutal thrash metal" as described on the packaging, i was horrified to hear what sounded like a Tourette suffering cat being beaten to death by an irate rubbish bin collector (Hetfields Vocals and Lars's "drumming" respectively). i returned said CD almost immediately, and recieved an exchange on the epnymous System of a Down debut album, plus the 7 Pounds back as it only cost 8 Pounds on its own (as it turned out, a very worthy swap indeed). Although i did repurchase Saint Anger 3 years later and found that it DID grow on me after a few listens, it is a lesson in how wrong making a blind pick can be.
A similar experience with Rage Against The Machine's 'Battle of Los Angeles'. becoming slightly more politically minded as i grew up, i heard that Rage were a particularly venemous example of this, and i bought said album without prior listening. I rate it as a 5 star classic now, but believe it or not i ABSOLUTELY HATED IT when i first listened to it (RAP!?. i thought. WHY THE F**K DID I BUY A RAP ALBUM!?. in fact, i threw the CD and case under my bed in disgust after listening through it. however, six months later i happened to stumble upon said CD whilst cleaning out under my bed, and i thought i'd listen again. well....WHAT A CONTRAST!!. Move over God, Move over Allah, Move over Bhudda you Fat Baldy Git, The ultimate seat belonged to this CD!!!!. (yes, i enjoyed it by the way)
what are your stories of random guesswork when i comes to choosing music CD's, and how well did it turn out?. Answers on a postcard please.
Adios!!
