I’ve always been a fan of music. I think I got that from my mother. I have vivid memories of her cleaning the house or washing dishes with a big, old set of cans on her ears, a huge extension cord going into the living room where the stereo was.
I remember flipping through records. Billy Joel, The Jackson 5 and Michael Jackson, Chicago and the Moody Blues all stick out in my memory. And Neil Diamond. So much Neil Diamond.
That love of music just seemed normal to me. Now, I find that isn’t necessarily normal. Not everyone has a near constant soundtrack to life playing. But I do.
I moved on from my mother’s music to classic rock. I remember being blown away by Led Zeppelin and the Who. Then I discovered Rush. Something about their music connected with me. They were my first concert in May of 1992. The acoustics weren’t great in the Delta Center, but I was hooked.
Over time I continued to listen to classic rock, but like a huge percentage of the population, started checking out Metallica and Megadeth with their releases in the early 90s. Next was Anthrax and “The Persistence of Time”. Something about the heavier music spoke to me.
Fast forward to the early 2000s and I was in medical school. I stumbled on Opeth’s masterpiece “Blackwater Park”. It took a while for the death growls to grow on me, but eventually they did, and the rest is history.
As I’ve aged my musical choices have tended towards the more heavy. I still love all types of metal and even harder rock. But there is no question that I love the heavy stuff, despite the fact I am now in my early 40s. I guess it’s true what they say, “If it’s too loud, you’re too old!”
Rock on my friends. Rock on.
Middle Aged Metalhead 