Hellooo there! My name is Rob and the good folk at Lyric Lounge Review are trusting me to keep you up to date with the goings on in the world of Hard Rock and Metal! I shall be bringing you some live reviews, album reviews and I also, rather foolishly, may voice my opinion on certain matters in the metal world; always dangerous! The first lot of my opinions you’ll have to stomach are my top 10-metal/rock albums from 2011, but I’ll tell you a little about myself first.
I’ve been listening to rock and metal for well over fifteen years now. I first got hooked when I was at school like most metal fans and I’m afraid I’ve still not grown out of it! That’s not a problem though, music is a major part of my life from record collecting (yes, vinyl), to going to as many gigs as Im allowed to (yes, I’m married), I cant really imagine what life would be like without music really. I dont play music though. I’ve tried more than once and Im not particularly any good at it, so I’m just a music fan giving one music fans opinion. Of course everyones opinion on music, and especially metal, is different. I’m not going to preach to you and I always try to see the rock and metal world as a large family rather than a petty battle of coolness between genres. Were all here to enjoy it, right?
I’ll try to give you a broad outlook taking in all the genres. There are no areas of rock that I don’t like although weve all got our favourites, so dont be surprised if I tend to bang on about Iron Maiden, The Wildhearts and Machine Head a lot! Like most rock fans Ive lived through the different trends but some bands are just timeless, and the three I just mentioned get my vote whatever mood I’m in. I’m always open to listening to new music and finding new bands though, there’s nothing better than stumbling across a band that you’ve never heard of before who totally blow your socks off.
There are so many reasons why metal appeals to me. There are the obvious ones; it is always played loud and sometimes it can feel a bit dangerous, it gets the blood pumping. There is the image, although Ive never had too much of an ‘out there’ image I have always enjoyed being part of the denim and leather tribe. It feels good to be a bit of an outsider where music is concerned, although in reality there are thousands of us metal fans everywhere. Another thing I really love about metal is the honesty of it. You don’t find many people in metal bands that dont live and breathe the music. Most bands are formed for the love of it and rightly so, the chances of making a fortune playing heavy metal are slim in this day and age. It can be done of course and I don’t begrudge any band of success.
The thing I REALLY love about metal though is it makes me happy! There’s a common misconception about us rock fans that we only listen to this type of music because we’re miserable, unhappy, unhinged or whatever. Well, I like to think I’m pretty normal(ish) and I would disagree with that. Nothing puts a smile on my face like seeing my favourite bands live or picking up a highly anticipated new album for the first time.
So there you go, that’s me. If you think there’s something going on out there that we should be covering or reviewing, get in touch!
Rob
