ES's "All Time Nifty Tunes", The Mix Tape "Legacy"?

Another all-encompassing retro review!

While I've been gearing up for a new Big Ass iPod, I've been going through my CD and tape collection and tagging stuff that I want to convert into digital formats. In the process, I found a tape cabinet full of all of my "All Time Nifty Tunes" collections. These were 90-minute compilation tapes with two sides of what I considered to be my favorite tunes at any given period of time. Basically, a mix tape. Commonly called "ATNT", they were usually contemporary "hits".... sort'a my version of those awful "NOW That's What I Call Music" CD's (or the K-TEL compilations of the early 80's). Most evolved organically, as I'd tape stuff off of radio or borrowed from a friend. Each tape took about a month to build. Even though I billed them as "All-Time"... after about a year, I really hated some of these tunes.

Anyways, here's All-Time Nifty Tunes Vol 1.
I originally made this as something I could listen to on my paper route. From about April 1988, and I taped over my dual-album copy of "Night Ranger- Seven Wishes" and "Night Ranger- Midnight Madness". I actually recorded on Side Two first, so this is the only compilation with semi-reverse order. I had just turned 14 when I started doing these...and you can kinda' see how my tastes evolved.

Side Two:
1. Dio- "Time to Burn"
I was really starting to sour on Dio, and simply wanted to copy this track from the "Intermission" EP. Couldn't stand that EP and this saved me from ever having to listen to it again. After two months, I would FF this song.

2. David Lee Roth- "Just Like Paradise"
First "contemporary" hit I recorded. I remember buying this album on vinyl during a blizzard in January 1988. I found myself turning the record off after this song, so I wanted to pull it out of there. I really liked DLR's "Eat 'em and Smile", but this follow-up single from "Skyscraper" was one guitar track above a Journey song.

Anthrax- "I'm the Man"
I stayed up late to listen to "Metal Shop" one night and on a whim decided to tape this song. The DJ just said "here's a new song from Anthrax" and I hit REC. Completely changed my tastes and outlook on music. It was suddenly okay to laugh and have fun with heavy metal.

Dokken- "Burning Like a Flame"
Another "contemporary" single from "Back for the Attack". Wow, these guys were so damn poppy. The gutar solo used to thrill me, though.

Iron Maiden- "Wasted Years"
This is still one of my favorite Maiden tunes, today. I taped this off of vinvyl, so I could have a handy version to carry around.

Billy & the Boingers- "I'm a Boinger"
A single that was packaged with the BLOOM COUNTY collection, "Bootleg". A studio recording of Steve Dallas, Hodge Podge, Opus and Bill the Cat doing their new theme song. Mandated by the FCC and Tipper Gore when they determined "Deathtongue" was too offensive. Best and most realistic line: "Sure we look disgusting. But whose chops are we busting? In a year, maybe two, we'll seem tame!"

Megdaeth- "Peace Sells"
Another "Metal Shop" radio recording. You had to stay up late to hear the COOL BANDS of the time. This got me hooked on Megadeth for about two years. Has one of the greatest opening lyrics with "Whatta' ya' mean I don't believe in God? Talk to him everyday".

Great White- "Lady Red Light"
Another radio recording. Liked the opening guitar riff, but the rest was your typical west coast pop metal. Like all of Great White's songs, the phrase "rock me" is a substitute for ... gasp... "fuck me".

Ozzy Osbourne- "Shot in th Dark"
"Ultimate Sin" was one of my favorite albums, so I pulled the lead single from it.

Kick Axe- "Red Light"
Another late night "Metal Shop" recording. West Coast pop metal with a gravelly singer. Never heard of this band when I taped it, and I still haven't!

Judas Priest- "You've got Another Thing Coming"
Radio single from the then recently released "Priest: Live". It was simply cool to hear NEW Judas Priest on the radio back then. Editted version, without the allbum's drawn-out crowd sing-a-long, but my tape cuts out, anyways...

Side One
Night Ranger- "You Can Still Rock in America"
This was the only Night Ranger song I didn't tape over. Was my favorite of theirs, but soon became an FF while listening to this tape. In my younger days, I used to hum this song as my "victory theme" when I was playing with my GI Joe crap.

Iron Maiden- "Wrathchild"
At the time, I wasn't thrilled with the "Killers" album, so I pulled what I felt was the only good song from that album. I didn't listen to the rest of "Killers" until about 1992, and realized I had missed some good crap.

Whitesnake- "Here I Go Again"
I had just seen Whitesnake in concert and still enjoyed them... but after a few listens, I realized I liked their video with a pantsless leggy redhead more than the song itself.

Dokken- "Lightning Strikes Again"
Yeah..but Dokken was one of my favorites at the time. Plus, in the mid-80's, you were required to have a song about Lightning (see also: Metallica, Ozzy, Loudness, etc..). Not a radio friendly single, but Don Dokken sings at a higher pitch for the entire song.

Guns n' Roses- "Welcome the the Jungle"
Taped from the radio, when it was red hot. After awhile, I would FF through the first four songs, so I could crank this. For me, GnR was all downhill after this. (snif)

Anthrax- "I am the Law"
After "I'm the Man" cracked me up, I went out and tracked down some more Anthrax. I was completely enthralled with this song about a COMIC BOOK CHARACTER. If I had any musical talent, I would've been tempted to write my own song about the All-Star Squadron.

Great White- "Rock Me" (live)
A radio exclusive, taped when the band performed at a local club. Probably the band's best song. Insipid lyrics (again, what does "Rock me" translate to?), but some cool psuedo-bluesy elements to the song.

Judas Priest- "Johnny B. Goode"
Taped from the radio and a loose translation of the Chuck Berry staple. I think it was the single for a new teeny bopper movie with Anthony Michael Hall. Over-produced and a jumbled song, but it was simply cool to hear Priest on the radio, then.

Iron Maiden- "Black Bart Blues"
From the B-side of "Can I Play With Madness" (and much better than that song). Yes, I actually bought the 45 LP! To me, it was a trip hearing Maiden goof around and sing about strippers and getting blitzed. Fun song, but I made sure to not record the final 4 minutes with Nicko McBrain fucking around in the studio.

Capt. Lou's History of Music (/w George "The Animal" Steele)
I had just purchased the "Wrestling Album" and this song cracked me up. I thought it'd be fun to close out my first comp tape with a comedy track.

Any of This Shit Make the Cut?
The Maiden tunes are automatically in and so is "I Am the Law". "Shot in the Dark" might make it, simply because I always felt that album and Jake E. Lee were somewhat undeappreciated. "Peace Sells" is Megadeth's best song and a classic, so that's in. I think I have all of these as Mp3's somewhere. "Capt. Lou" might make it, but I'll probably hit "SKIP" when it comes on.

Most importantly, "I'm a Boinger" needs to get on there for preservation's sake. But I don't have an easy way to convert audio tape (or vinyl) to digital. I'm sure there's a USB device out there somewhere.

The rest? Probably headed to the audio tape graveyard.

All-Time Nifty Tunes Vol. II
Continuing on with this... it's really not any different from the usually lame "What Song Are You Listening to" Thread, so pipe down and play along, bucko.

This version was mixed in fall 1988 into early 1989. Big transition period for two reasons: 1- Over the summer I got into the whole "speed metal/thrash metal" movement. Namely, Metlalica, Anthrax, Megadeth, Slayer, etc. This changed my tastes drastically, as I dumped the West Coast/Hair metal bands almost overnight.

Second big reason: Z-Rock began playing on the radio. This was a national satellite network that played all ranges of metal and hard rock. In the summer of 1988, they were billed as "the only station that plays ALL of the Monsters of Rock"-- all AOR stations had been playing Van Halen, Scorpions, Dokken and Kingdom Come. They were all scared to play Metallica. Z-Rock was a huge step up from AOR radio, which was still playing Supertramp, Journey, Billy Squire and other garbage. Now you didn't have to wait through 2 hours of crap to hear one "cool" metal song.

Side One:
Metallica- "Last Caress"
I had heard "Master of Puppets" for about a year, but never was able to sit through the shitty opening track of "Battery". Saw the band live at Monsters of Rock and they stole the show for me. This track especially.

Anthrax- "I'm the Man (live)"
A complete mess and a downgrade from the studio version. I think I added this track because it has a two minute section about "fucking up" and, gasp, NAUGHTY WORDS made me feel cool!

Megadeth- "Anarchy in the UK"
I think this is actually better than the Sex Pistols version and Dave Mustaine doesn't try (too much) to sing with Johnny Rotten's accent (unlike Vince Neil, 3 year later).

Cinderella- "Fallin' Apart at the Seams"
Okay, I didn't dump all hair metal. This was my favorite track from their second album, "Long Cold Winter". They try to base it on a blues beat, but it's better than their usual crap. The chorus has the late 80's studio effect of "chanting background vocals"

Guns n' Roses- "Nighttrain"
Don't know what I ever saw in this song. I was actually disappointed with "Appetite for Destruction" and thought this was the only other single from that album.

Iron Maiden- "The Clairvoyant"
The bass intro is a lot of fun. Again, I felt I had to get some mileage out of "Seventh Son of a Seventh Son" and felt this was the only good single.

Dokken- "Mr. Scary"
All instrumental track named after George Lynch's favorite guitar. I had begun to sour on Dokken's vocals, so I made sure to pick out a song without vocals.

AC/DC- "Heatseeker"
It was their new single at the time. A bit heavier and quicker than usual bar room AC/DC songs.

Joe Satriani- "Ice 9 (live)"
Another new discovery for me and another instrumental. This was actually my theme song for my fictional pro wrestler, "Daredevil" Vic Suicide

Deep Purple- "Knockin' at your Back Door"
I had liked this song when it came out wayyy back in 1984. My brother was home from college and brought his record collection with him, I snuck into his room while he was at work and recorded this song that I had been trying to get for years. I still have this on one of my mp3 discs and still enough it.

Led Zeppelin- "Rock & Roll"
Same as above. This was the only Zep song I liked. I think that statement's still true, almost 20 years later.

Side Two:
Yngwie J. Malmsteen's Rising Force- "Faster Than the Speed of Light"
Wow. Talk about something I completely blocked out of my mind. With good reason. Yngwie was expelled from my collection shortly after this. This was from his total "I wanna be AOR friendly" album with former Rainbow singer Joe Lynn Turner.

Van Halen- "Sucker in a Three Piece"
From Van Hagar's "OU812", which I felt was devoid of any real rock tracks. This was the only one I found.

Metallica- "Orion"
EVIL instrumental. I would routinely listen to this before football games and it got me incredibly psyched up.

Heathen Dan- "I Like You, too"
Comedy track taped from Z-Rock and it's pretty damn hilarious. It's a parody of Tom T. Hall's "I Love", only instead of "I love... little baby ducks, old pick up trucks.." it's: "I like.. shankers on my tongue, sniffin' monkey dung.. smellin garbage burn...and worms". Look up the lyrics if you can.

Testament- "Nobody's Fault"
Taped from Z-Rock and turned me on the band. I had heard this song over the summer, but wasn't able to tape it until the fall. Relaly dug it, at the time.

Flotsam & Jetsam- "Saturday Night's All Right for Fighting"
Didja' ever like the Elton John song, but didn't want to acknowledge it because it was...well, Elton John? Then here ya' go. Fun thrash version, but they could have done without the piano insertion.

Anthrax- "Antisocial"
Great tune and one of their best. Unfortunately, it's a cover, which really soured some people on the band.

Tesla- "Did it for the money"
Awful. I had really liked Tesla's debut album, so I tried to tape the singles from their new album on Z-Rock. Got this awful track and I never liked Tesla again. Became a "FF" job after one listen.

Armored Saint- "Can U Deliver"
Another Z-rock tape job. I had heard about this band for years and finally taped one of their songs. I thought it was just one of their fringe songs, but after further research (and purchase of their album) I found that this was probably their best song. Never got into them, but I felt smart in 1993 when their singer, John Bush, joined Anthrax. People would say "never heard of him" and I'd say "au contraire... I have" and impress two people by pulling out my Armored Saint tape.

Warrant- "Down Boys"
Yes, you may throw insults and garbage upon me. I wanted to hate this band, and I did. But Z-Rock played this track consistently and it stuck in my head. Fortunately, I never bought their album.

Great White- "Once Bitten Twice Shy"
Y'know, it's not THAT bad of song. This was actually my Most Favoritest Song around April 1989. Listening to it now, the vocals are way too high and screechy. Unfortunately, you can still hear this tune at your local shitty bar, once a week.

Any of This Shit Make the Cut?
Anthrax's "Antisocial" is in, along with Testament, Deep Purple and the two Metallica tracks. I'll slip in Flotsam & Jetsam and Megadeth for some Wacky Cover Tune variety. The Heathen Dan track always cracks me up, so it's in.

The rest won't. Even the Maiden song. "Ice 9" is a really good tune and I dig Satriani, but it's been played as "sports highlight background music" for almost 20 years, making it unbearable. I'm tempted to include the Cinderella song for variety, but if I do, I'll be sure to add the bluesy intro that I excluded from this tape.

All-Time Nifty Tunes Vol. III
I think I mixed/recorded this compilation in early 1989. With lots of Z-Rock copies. but it looks like the first side was just me trying to fill up a tape. I don't have fond memories of this tape and don't think I played it much.

Side One:
Metallica- "Harvester of Sorrow"
I was heavily into Metallica at this point and began to give them my lead-off spot. You always need a strong opening cut. This cut was probably my favorite from "..And Justice For All". Even more so than "One".

Great White- "Mistreater"
This was probably the third single from their "Once Bitten" album. It stuck in my head for a few days and since it was on the radio, I thought I had to add it. Shitty blues emulation and screechy vocals. Not a pretty sound.

Cinderella- "Gypsy Road"
I actually liked this song.. but again, it was just me wanting to pull off the "hot single" from one of the albums in my collection. Has the over-produced backing vocals, but it's similar to their more famous "Shake Me" tune. Even today, I can still remember hearing this song for the first time on the radio.. on a summer night in June 1988, sitting by my pool.

Van Halen- "Dreams"
I used to sing this song to myself while biking or skiing. Cheesy lyrics, but it was the 80's and Van Hagar.

Megadeth- "Wake Up Dead"
Almost an instrumental, but a complete mosher tune. I never got into Megadeth heavily, but this was always a favorite.

Accept -"Midnight Mover"
This song used to be played as the background music for those old "Sunday! SUNDAY! SUNDAY!" monster truck ads. Cool guitar intro and, yeah, probably one of Accept's best songs IMO. Holds up well. Udo's screechy vocals really play over the music well.

David Lee Roth- "Hot Dog and Shake"
An attempt at a goofy party/fucking song, something which DLR was famous for. Not a classic by any means, but a decent, rare tune from DLR's second album (you only need the first two. Everything else stunk... and about 75% of the second album stunk, too)

Dokken- "in My Dreams"
WTF!?! I thought I had outgrown these clowns by now. Guess not. George Lynch was one of my Big Bro's favorite guitarists, so I think I still liked Dokken for that reason.

Ratt- "Back For More"
I had stopped listening to Ratt about a year earlier, but when I was organzing my tapes one night, I popped in their debut album and this song stuck with me. I think I included it as the one redeeming Ratt song in my collection.

Guns n' Roses- "One in a Million"
The forgotten "other single" from the semi-acoustic "LIES" EP. This is a fairly cool song and a good break from my usual sounds. Stripped down version of GnR and it works well. I forgot about this tune arond 1990, but during the Napster craze of 2000, I found a copy and burned it to my 2001 mix CD.

Anthrax- "Antisocial"
Weird... guess I liked this song so much that I included it on back-to-back compilations. Me thinks I was simply trying to fill up one side of the tape and threw it in, due to sheer awesomeness.

Side Two:
Metallica- "Breadfan"
Again, a Metallica opener and another Z-rock taper. This was quite the legendary song in 1989. Lemme' explain. It was a rare B-side, but was the #1 song on Z-rock's weekly countdown for about 8 months. Everyone wanted to know "what's that cool Metallica song they always play on Z-rock?! It's not on the album!" Nobody knew what it was called, either. "French man", "Dread Van" and "Bread Man" were the top candidates. This song absoutely destroys.

Since this was my only copy of it, with some radio static, I forgot about the tune a year later. But in 1997, I was driving to Tucson and picked up an unknown radio station. The song sounded familiar and I thought "what's this? I used to dig this song". Then I remembered everything and how much this song kicked ass. The entire band of Metallica was apparently shot and killed in April 1989, but this is worth tracking down.

Joe Satriani- "Surfing with the Alien"
Taped from Z-Rock. Another guy that I liked, simply because he had the Big Bro Seal of Approval. Ayup.....STILL used as the background music for sports highlights today.

WASP- "Blind in Texas"
Taped from Z-Rock. A fun "party song" from WASP. It's not trying to disguise anything, it's about getting shitfaced in Texas. Funny stuff.

Ozzy Osbourne- "Miracle Man"
Over-produced, but a very heavy Ozzy tune. Zakk runs through all of his signature sounds and that's a good thing. Also, it's officially 1/2 of Black Sabbath, as Geezer Butler played bass.

Pandemonium- "Eye of the Storm"
Huh? Taped from Z-Rock and it's bizarre. An attempt at a mythological/D&D song by a very repititive band. While each verse talks about "the gods and their death machines", the chorus switches to an almost West Coast metal sound. Just a weird song.

Slayer- "South of Heaven"
This song Mutherfuckin' demolishes! This was Z-Rock's unofficial theme song for the summer of 1988. Turned both me and Big Bro onto Slayer. After further research, we found that we didn't really care for their other albums, though. You always hear "dude, go get Reign in Blood", but I really REALLY dig "South of Heaven".

Iron Maiden- "Cross-Eyed Mary"
'Nother Z-rock thing. They would play all the previously unheard (in the US at least) b-sides from the band's history. It was all for the release of the UK only "First Ten Years" 10-disc set, but at least we Dumb Yanks got in on the party a little bit. Those things are still selling for a hefty price, today. Anyways, this is a Jethro Tull cover from about 1983. Like all Maiden b-sides, it's good variety compared to their album cuts.

Van Halen- "Running with the Devil"
Taped from Big Bro's VINYL! A classic that I suddenly realized I had no copy of. Felt like I was flunking Metal 101 without this tune.

Accept- "Balls to the Wall"
I finally had a copy of this tune. I remember seeing the video on USA's "Night Flight" and cracking up, back in 1984 or so (and it IS a funny video...just ask Beavis & Butthead. "Uh..how did this butt-munch get up on stage?!"). Nobody outside of the hardcore metla heads (and geeks like me) knew about this song and Accept. Made me feel special to have it.

Manowar- "Kings of Metal"
Oh boy...Manowar. What the HELL was I thinking? This tune was apparently written for the sole purpose of being an audience singalong at concerts. They sing about their speakers and world record noise. Manowar is probably one of the most ridiculous bands of all time. They're like Spinal Tap, but serious.

Kix- "Blow My Fuse"
Another song that I began to like, due to continuous airings on Z-rock. Ugh. All of Kix's songs were about getting a blowjob or fucking.

Addams Family Theme
I didn't have enough room left on the tape for a full song, so copied some stuff from my TV Themes tape. A very well-known song, but I had a buddy in Scouts with the last name of Adams. I'd play this to annoy him. Nowadays I hear this and feel like I'm at a baseball game.

Jetsons Theme
Same as above...only I didn't have a buddy named Jetson.

Any of This Shit Make the Cut?
Breadfan, Midnight Mover, One in a Million and South of Heaven are shoo-ins. Blind in Texas, Miracle Man, Running with the Devil, Wake Up Dead, Hot Dog & a Shake and Surfing with the Alien might make it. They'd be good variety, but not main event material. In other words, if someone was in my car and those tunes came on, I wouldn't feel too cool. I might toss in Back for More and Gypsy Road just to say "hey, I used to like these bands". Crap, have I just given the thumbs-up to TWO Cinderella songs?!

I'm a huge Maiden fan, but Cross-Eyed Mary isn't something I want to hear. I'd include Balls to the Wall, but it's become such a punchline with its constant VH1 Classic airings. It's really not a terrible song, so maybe in another year or two.

All the recent Hair Metal talk has led me back to this.

All-Time Nifty Tunes Vol. IV
This is unique among the ATNT series in that it's the only 60 minute tape. I was short on dough or too lazy to walk to Walgreens and spend 3 bucks for some 90 minute tapes. This is also probably the weakest comp tape of the entire series. I was leaving for the 1989 Boy Scout National Jamboree in August 1989 and wanted to take along some "cool" tunes. I stayed up late, the night before my trip and tried to piece this compilation together. It stunk.

Side One:
Muppet Show Intro
Okay, it didn't entirely stink. I used to do an awesome impression of this song, complete with the old guys voices: "Why do we always come here?" "I guess we'll never know" "It's like a kind of torture..to have to watch the show!!" I can still do it for the most part, right down to the Kermit voice.

Flotsam & Jetsam- "Hard on You"
I had just recently gotten their "No Place for Disgrace" album and wanted to pull something else off of it. Screechy vocals, but typical 1989 speed//thrash stuff.

Fat Albert Theme
Listened to this way too much. Even today I an stil recite "this is Bill Cosby, comin' atcha' with music and fun ...and if you're not careful, you just might learn something! Hey, hey, heyyy!" How can you not like this song?

Ozzy Osboure-- title unknown
For Ozzy's "No Rest for the Wicked" album, he had about four or five extar hidden tracks. Each version of the cassette had a different track, so you never knew what you were getting. This tune was taped from Z-rock and it's an up-beat poppy song. Ozzy garbles the chorus, but it sounds like he's saying "what of the peace sign". Probably a cover from an old NWOBHM band.

Tesla- "Hang Tough"
Another Z-rock import..and I still wodnered WHY I liked Tesla at this stage. This sounds like a leftover AC/DC track, with a crappy singer. It's possible that I may have been on a year-long project to tape every Tesla song from the radio and thus save myself the 8 bucks I would've spent on the tape. Now that I think about it...that's probably exactly what I was doing! Cheap bastard.

Anthrax- "Caught in a Mosh (live)"
I love this song and it makes numerous appearances on the ATNT series...all the way up to the final version in 1998. I only had a less-than-stellar 2nd generation copy of "Among the Living", so I took this from my store-bought "I'm the Man" EP. The song loses a little something, live, but it's still cool.

Great White- "Let's Move it"
From their 1989 "..Twice Shy" album. I remember I had stayed up that night in hopes of getting the title track recorded. Couldn't get it, so I settled for this leftover. Wacky semi-truck sound effects in the background. I also liked this song at the time, because they say "let's get this mutha' on". Oooo..pseudo-cursing!!

Unknown Band-- "Fire in the Hole"
A thrash/speed metal song and to this day, I still have NO idea who it is. Taped off of Z-rock, again. Basic thrash verses, but the music stops and the singer screams "FIRE IN THE HOLE!!" Maybe Sacred Reich?


SIDE TWO:
Accept- "Generation Clash"
This is a rarity. It's from Accept, AFTER Udo Dirkschneider left. The new singer sounds like Paul Rodgers and it's more US radio-friendly. I think the guy was from New Jersey, even. This song attempted to be an "anthem", like "Balls to the Wall" was, but it's very over-produced and almost sterile. Accept got a big push from this record, but the album itself had little to offer outside of this track. The whole thing was forgotten by October 1989. I think I had this tape somewhere..but I may have sold it to the "Used Music Store" when I was in college. I'd like to find it for weirdness' sake. Sort of like the fourth Quiet Riot album from around this time-- established bands cut crapy studio albums without their trademark vocalists.

AC/DC- "Back in Black"
Pulled from one of my old tape copies. I was running out of time and wanted an old standard to beef up this tape. Soon became a fast forward job, since it was constantly played on the radio.

Batman TV theme (1960's)
Okay, it's not the official TV theme..it's a lame wannabe. About 90% accurate. Since it was a wannabe', I originally thought this was from the 1940's movie serial. This was the summer of 1989 after all, and I wanted to be "cool" by throwing in the old school Batman theme.

Another unknown Thrash song
The radio curse and time crucnh strike again. Wow...still no idea who this is. The song relaly has no chorus, so I can't for the life of me make out any lyrics. Sorry..completely worthless paragraph!

Sacred Reich- "Surf Nicaragua"
Sort of a black humor song, something common among speed/thrash bands. I loved this song when I first heard it, but each successive time it dropped down my list. Completely forgettable now.

Testament- "Practice What you Preach"
This is pretty cool. Their singer has an angry growl in this one. Think of Pantera around the "Cowboys From Hell" phase. Really sold me on the band and got me to buy the album when it came out in September 1989 (this was an advance single, played on Z-rock). I had forgotten about this, until now. May have to track it down.

Dokken- "Tooth & Nail" (live)
Complete tape filler. I didn't have a good copy of the studio track, so I copied it from my "Beast from the East" tape. Had a heavy beat for Dokken. At first listen, you wouldn't think it was Dokken...until the end when Don Dokken starts screeeeeeching. I always felt guitarist George Lynch was one of the few redeeming Hair Metal axe-men. I think he continued to release solo albums well into the 90's (after Lynch Mob flded). Mostly "guitar for guitar's sake" type of albums.

Any of This Shit Make the Cut?
Maybe "Practice What You Preach" and "Muppet Show Intro". I've listened to this tape maybe five times since I cut it. Really nothing worth preserving here. If I ever get back into Ozzy, I may have to do some research and track down that pesky unknown tune.

I somehow need to hear your version of this.

ATNT Vol V This was recorded around late August 1989 and was my "back to school tape". A return to the 90-minute format, too.

SIDE ONE-------------------------------------
Megadeth- Set the World Afire
Sorta' sounds like "Wake up Dead" and it's about 5 minutes long. That was one of the rules that sorta' metamorphasized out of the ATNT series-- always open up with some "epic" song. Something that would sound good to start off a concert. Similar to the way Iron Maiden would always open their show. This Megedath song is okay, but Mustaine sounds like he drunk more than usual on the vocals.

Scorpions- "Blackout"
I started to dislike the Scorps, but this was one of their older songs that I always liked. Taped it off of the radio.

Dangerous Toys- "Teas'n Pleas'n"
These guys were sorta' like a combo of Van Halen, Guns n' Roses and ZZ Top. Dirty hair band from Texas, but with a slightly harder edge than most of the hair crap that was coming out at the time. I liked this song, but the ending absolutely sucked/sucks. The song changes tempo 3 different times (for you young'uns, think of System of a Down's "Chop Suey") and one of switches is incredibly awful. If I had an MP3 editor and CD's back in the day, I would've editted that part out.

WASP- "The Real Me"
At the time, I didn't know that this was a cover of a song by The Who. But it sounds more EVIL with Blackie Lawless screeching the lyrics. Lots of synthesizers in the background, but it still sounds kinda' heavy. This actually got me to go out and buy a WASP album for the first time in my life. They were a hair band, but one of the "ugly" hair bands. Like the kind of guys you'd see playing at a smoky bar, instead of Bon Jovi who seemed like they'd play at a junior high dance.

Metallica- "Master of Puppets"
I first heard "Master" in 1986 and it took me a LONG time to warm up to the album. Everytime I put it on, I'd hear "Battery"-- which is one of the worst Metallica songs ever (well... that's out of songs cut pre-Jethro Tull Incident, when Metallica was still a band). I couldn't get through that song, so I'd hit "EJECT" and never listen to the rest of the record. After seeing them as "Monsters of Rock" in 1988, I finally warmed up to Metallica and learned to "FF" though "Battery". Turned out, I loved the rest of the album. The title cut was one of my favorites. To this day, if I'm around buddies and we hear any word that sounds remotely like "Master".. you know what we'll say.

Felix the Cat Theme
At Boy Scout Summer Camp that year, I began to annoy all the little shits by constantly singing this song and saying "Righty-o" like Felix did. Felix cartoons made a bit of a comeback via syndication around 1988, and all of the kids HATED him. So I included this as a joke song. The joke died in September and I was left with an annoying song. It backfired on me!

Ozzy Osbourne- "Hero"
Another of the "hidden Ozzy songs" from "No Rest for the Wicked". Ozzy's vocals sound practically haunting in this one. I thought it was probably the best track on the entire album, despite being "hidden". I originally called it "Unwilling Hero" and it wasn't until lately that I discovered the real name.

Anthrax- "Be All, End All"
Anthrax was slowly becoming one of my favorites. This has a deep, pounding beat to it and it's very creepy. Sorta' the unofficial title track to "State of Euphoria", too.

Slayer- "Dissident Agressor"
I was only 14, but already feeling OLD! This was a cover tune of an old Judas Priest song that I actually remembered. Awesome, and probably an overlooked Slayer "gem". The story is that Slayer got their start doing Maiden, Priest and Sabbath covers in LA, so you can tell that they put some effort into this tune. The drums really help to deliver this thing. For once, someone does a Priest cover and the lack of Halford's vocals is NOT noticed.

Led Zeppelin- "Misty Mountain Hop"
I was on a campaign to discredit and destroy Led Zeppelin, but this was their only song that I liked. I wanted to preserve it on the tale of this side of the mix tape, while I erased all my other Zep copies.

SIDE TWO-------------------------
AC/DC- "That's the Way I wanna' Rock and Roll"
The second single from "Blow Up Your Video". I simply wanted to get some mileage out of that album, which I seldom listened to. Figured it'd be a good idea to include this...but it soon became a FF job.

Testament- "The Ballad"
Or, "The Obligatory Power Ballad". This is ten times better than 1992' "Return to Serenity", which alot of gearheads believe is Testament's "greatest song, man". I liked it at the time, but listening to it now, I can't belive how horribly mismatched Chuck Billy's voice is for a "ballad". The heavy parts of the song are good, but the quiet parts stink.

Celtic Frost- "Mexican Radio"
Holy Fucking Shit. This song kicks so much ass. It's a cover of an old Wall of Voodoo song, but sounds nothing like the original. Completely heavy and EVIL. I could never tell what the singer was saying in the chorus, so I thought they had changed the name to "Radio Maker". Unlike most of the ATNT songs, I've kept this song alive on various compilation tapes/CD's over the years.

Great White- "Mr. Bone"
Hey, another west coast metal song about FUCKING! Who'da thunk it? Has elements of their bluesy "Rock Me", but it's so fucking stupid. I had a teacher named "Mr. Boehm" and I'd hum this tune in my head whenever I was in his class. Could never take the guy seriously after that.

Metallica- "One"
The novelty of this song had passed, but it was still heavy as all fuck for 1989. In February, it completely took the world by storm when the video hit MTV. It was only shown once per day and it was intense. Scared the shit out of me and it's still a good video, today. This was the Unofficial Fuck You, Corporate Radio Song of 1989.

Gorky Park -"Bang (live)"
Ugh. Yup, the Glasnost band from the Moscow Music Festival. Boy, does this stink. I had the entire radio broadcast of the show taped once, and think I was preserving this song while I erased most of the others. These guys were over and done in about one week in September 1989.

Tesla- "Heaven's Trail"
Shit..what the hell was wrong with me?! Another Tesla song taped from the radio. Fuck, I think I really WAS trying to tpae the entire album off of the radio, in an attempt to save a lousy 8 bucks. Oh, the pain. Howeer, this was probably the least shitty song from their second album. But a little bit of shit is still shit, Beavis.

Great White- "Face the Day"
Radio copy. Okay song. Fairly rare at the time. Great White's stuff from "Once Bitten" and "Twice Shy" was all over the radio, but their old stuff was rarely on the radio or found at the record store. I tried not to include two songs from the same band on each side of an ATNT comp, but made an exception for this "rarity".

Blue Oyster Cult- "Godzilla"
At the time, a flashback for me. I used to LOVE BOC back in the early 80's. Big Bro would always crank their albums while were playing D&D, Micronauts or Star Wars. An early nostalgia trip for me. How can you NOT like this song? It's about frickin' Godzilla! And it kicks ass. YES! YES! Can't beat that, Beavis.

Popeye The Sailor Man Theme
Added because I had less than a minute of tape remaining. From the 1930's cartoons and you can hear Bluto in the back, sounding like he's being cornholed. It has the seldom-sung second verse, too. With Popeye singing "I biffs and I boffs 'em, but none of them gets nowhere.." Well blow me down.

Any of This Shit Make the Cut?
"Mexican Radio", "Godzilla", "The Real Me" and "Dissident Aggressor" are already in. I need to track down the Ozzy "Hero" song. "Be All, End All" might be added when I copy in some old Anthrax stuff, but I'm not making a special effort to get it. The Metallica songs are good... but I've heard them countless times since (despite the fact that I've played the LP's on my stereo maybe twice since then). Even though old Metallica is good shit, it's become some overplayed that I'm numb to it anymore. Maybe in 10 years.

Everything else... sorry, going the way of my Ratt albums.

Digging deep!

SIDE ONE----
ATNT- Vol VI
Recorded mainly from Z-Rock from September 1989 until March 1990 or so. This was one of my favorites for about a year and became my first unofficial "Road Trip Mix Tape"-- I got my driver's license in March 1990.

Metal Church - "Badlands"
I heard this song once...and liked it. Waited and waited to hear it again, but when I finally recorded it, I thought it kinda' sucked. I wanted to get into this band, but they never quite did it for me enough to go out and spend 6-8 bucks on a tape.

Alice Cooper- "Poison"
Another song that I began to like due to consistent airings on Z-Rock and MTV (I think I wrote about the chick in the black lingerie in one of my old "Metal Mania on VH1" reviews). A fairly big, poppy, hit for Alice and it pulled him out of the 1980's depths of obscurity he had been in (WrestleMania 3 appearance wasn't really mainstream).

MOD - "Bubblebutt"
A funny song to an eighth grader... and this entire band was pretty much made up of guys with eighth grader mentalities. They were basically an offshoot of SOD...just without Scottie and Charlie from Anthrax. My copy of this tune has the Z-Rock DJ (I think it was Dave Bolt) saying "...awwww, you got that right!" during the last chorus, so it's ruined.

Death Angel- "I'm Bored"
Another entry from the group of Metallica/Slayer/Anthrax wannabes. These guys were a shitty act from California who kept trying to capitalize on trends. They added a DJ and became "DA" in the early 90's... when that didn't work out, they tried a sludgier sound and became "The Organization" in 1993. Whatever the name was, they sucked.

They were most famous for this song, which blasts along with your typical thrash sound, but immediately stops at the chorus. Gimmicky effect in a bad song.

Dangerous Toys- "Scared"
Another song added due to constant airings. A tribute to Alice Cooper with a silly chorus: "Hey man, I think I like being SCARED..and I wish you all were there. Man, I really really think, really think that I think... I like being scared!" Kinda' like Guns n' Roses meets ZZ Top, if these guys had written tighter songs, they would've been huge.

Guns n' Rose- "Mama Kin"
From the "Lies" EP. "Here's a song about your fuckin' mother". Sounds better --and trashier-- than the original Aerosmith version.

LA Guns- "Never Enough"
Damn...ANOTHER track added due to constant airings! I was never a fan of LA Guns, but this is probably my favorite song of theirs. Not saying much...but it is.

The video for this song had a cool concept-- the band appearing on an old Ed Sullivan show-- but it should have been a more popular band in the slot. I'd say Nirvana liked the idea, though, as they used the same thing for their 1992 "In Bloom" video.

Megadeth- "No More Mr. Nice Guy'
Weird....another connection to Alice Cooper. From the soundtrack to the ill-fated "Shocker" movie. Which I remember seeing with my brother when we were in Pittsburgh. This was one of early connections between metal and horror fans... making each seem cooler than they really were (following in the footsteps of Dokken and Nightmare on Elm Street...HA!). And yup, I think I sold my brother on seeing "Shocker" because of this song.

Testament- "Practice What You Preach"
A higher-quality, direct-from-retail-tape version of the song I had taped from the radio on Volume 4. Probably the pinnacle of their career.

LA Guns- "Rip n' Tear"
Taped from the radio after "Never Enough" had seeped into my brain. Proved to me that I didn't really care for LA Guns.

Joe Satriani- "Big Bad Moon"
Heard it on the radio early one morning...and it blew my mind. Became one of my absolute favorite songs for the next 5 or 6 years. Still pretty damn cool with its heavy blues riffs. Satriani's best known for being this wacky guitar virtuoso, but I think this song (where he SINGS) is probably his best.

Blue Murder- "Jelly Roll"
What...the....hell?!! I had forgotten all about these guys! Basically three studio musician cast-offs who had played for a ton of NWOBHM bands. The first half has a great, bluesy, vibe...but then kicks into a whiny second half where they keep chanting "Love to break your hearrrrt". Not surprising, my tape cuts out after about 30 seconds of the second part.

SIDE TWO---
Testament- "Sins of Omission"
A song I sorta' liked from their album, but it doesn't work on a mix tape.

DRI- "In the Pit"
Umm, yes, it's about being in a mosh pit. I never took DRI seriously and when it came down to it-- I really didn't like their music.

Kix- "Don't Close Your Eyes"
Holy shit... this may be the only Kix song that's not overtly mentioning a blow job or fucking. And yet ANOTHER song that I taped after hearing it countless times.

D.A.D- "Sleeping my Day Away"
Freaky Scandinavian band whose initials stood for "Disney After Dark", but left it off due to the Copyright Police. A pretty cool song about ...being lazy. I think this tune was dug up and promoted by Bam Margera a few years ago, and it's worthy of inclusion and exposure.

Scorpions- "Can't Live Without You"
Another instance where I was trying to record all of a band's songs from the radio to prevent from buying their albums. I remember HATING this song..and I still do...don't know why I taped it.

Motely Crue- "Dr. Feelgood"
I left Crue behind after "Girls, Girls, Girls" in 1987...but wound up liking this song. Yet I never broke down and got back into them. This soon became so overplayed that, within a year, I disliked it. Still...it was cool at the time.

Joe Satriani- "Satch Boogie"
Started to get into him heavily after "Big bad Moon" broke. Another Sports Highlight Background Music song. I think I used this as music for a skit I did in "ACTING" class my sophomore year of high school. I pantomimed breaking into a car with a slim jim, then taking off and getting busted by the cops-- at which point Metallica's "Orion" cut in.

W.A.S.P- "Mean Man"
Yes, I had actually purchased WASP's "Headless Children" cassette. Liked this song for about 3 days. Dumb chorus: "cuz I'm a MEAN... mother-fucking MAN..."

Badlands- "Winter's Call"
Former Ozzy guitarist Jake E. Lee's band..and their best impression of Led Zeppelin. First time I heard it, I thought it was a new Robert Plant song...then realized I had this song on tape.

Steve Vai- "The Attitude Song"
After the success of Satriani, Vai's obscure "Flex-able" EP was re-released in preparation for his upcoming "Passion and Warfare" album. But Flex-able had some WEIRD crap. Mostly "guitar songs for guitarists" stuff that made Frank Zappa proud. This tune has a catchy beat, despite the obligatory WEIRDNESS in the middle of it. I don't think this was ever released as a single, but it's good if you're a Vai fan.

Any of This Shit Make the Cut?
The Satriani and Vai songs are already in. So is an album version of "Bubblebutt". Also, "Sleeping my Day Away" and "Poison". Among the rest, the only song I'd like to track down is "Winter's Call". Maybe "Never Enough" if I feel ambitious or like a completionist. The rest will only be archived HERE in this thread , as text, for my memory's sake.

This tape pretty mucn encompassed the entire 1990 calendar year.

SIDE ONE---
Steve Vai- "The Audience is Listening"
A fairly big hit for Vai; first on the radio, then on MTV in the summer. The voiceover skit and antics can get a little bothersome, but overall the guitar parts rock. The teacher hollering "heads UP!" became a little pop culture meme among my friends for awhile.

Metallica- "The Prince"
A b-side from the 45 single of "One". I'm always a sucker for rare b-sides and I wonder if I still have this record. I think this was another Diamondhead cover, but it's really not too catchy. I put it on tape just to get some portable mileage out of it. As cool as 45 singles were, they weren't portable.

Van Halen - "Panama"
Realized I had liked this song since it came out, but never put it on a mix tape. This may have been my first instance of going backwards into my library and pulling out "old" stuff.

AC/DC- "Who Made Who"
Hmm...wasn't this on an older mix tape? Still one of my favorite AC/DC songs and I think I finally had a legitimate non-radio copy of it.

Anthrax- "Sabbath Bloddy Sabbath"
Going back again, from 1987's "I'm the Man". Have to admit, some of Anthrax's best songs are covers. See: Antisocial, Got the Time, etc.

Joe Satriani- "The Phonecall"
Electro-banjo music with distorted vocals. I was still in the heights of my Satriani mark-dom.

Dokken- "WIthout Warning/Tooth and Nail'
Whoa... this may be the LAST appearance of Dokken on these things. I liked the "Without Warning" intro, but once again I was digging through looking for "old" favorites. As poppy as DOkken was, I always thought their guitarist, George Lynch, had a cool sound.

David Lee Roth- "Tobacco Road"
It had been stuck in my head for years and made me realize how much I dug "Eat 'Em and Smile". Another "oldie".

Ozzy Osbourne- "The Ultimate Sin"
Great pounding intro. If I had made a mix tape in 1986, this would've been in the leadoff spot.

Joe Satriani- "Big Bad Moon"
Second striaght appearance, but this version was taken from the album, not the radio like the last tape.

SIDE TWO--
Scatterbrain- "Don't Call Me Dude"
I thought this song was funny for about two days. Taped from Z-Rock with a big ball of STATIC in the middle. I think I got over this tune and never made the effort to get a good copy of it. Not a bad call.

Sammy Hagar- "Only One Way to Rock'
Another radio copy. I was turned on to this song when Van Hagar used it as the opener on their "Live Without a Net" video. It's okay, but the lyrics are kinda' dumb.

Guns n' Roses- "Civil War"
I forget the circumstances, but this song was released in the summer of 1990 all by itself...well over a year before "Use Your Illusion I & II" were released. I had forgotten all about this tune until now. Proves that there's ONE song I like on two worthless lumps called "Use Your Illusion"

Living Colour- "Cult of PErsonality"
Took me awhile to warm up tot hese guys (wasn't sure if they "METAL" or not). But when I did, I was into them, big-time. Still like their stuff.

Judas Preist- "Livin' After Midnight'
Apparently another radio copy job. I think "Painkiller' was coming out, but I realized I liked thier older stuff.

Steve Vai- "Erotic Nightmares'
I was trying to dig and find another "hit single" from "Passio and Warfare" and this was the closest I got. It didn't work for me and the song is fairly forgettable.

ZZ Top- "Doubleback'
Ahh...my favorite song from my usher days at the movie theater! This was from "Back to the Future 3" and played over the credits. I always wanted to clean the theaters showing that flick so I could "rock out".I remember air-guitaring with my broom and invoking the spirit of Billy Gibbons. Ahh... youth: what an joyous mistress thou wert.

AC/DC- "Thunderstruck'
From fall of 1990 as the lead single from their "Razor's Edge" album. This song was insanely popular and helped turn one of my longtime friends over to the "dark side". He no longer listened to A-ha and Depeche Mode after this. The opening chant was used by our offensive line for awhile.

ZZ Top- "Tube Snake Boogie"
I knew this song..but never knew it hd been done by ZZ Top until late 1990. It suddenly became much cooler to me and I taped it off the radio.

Iron Maiden- "Holy Smoke"
From Iron Maiden's comeback album, "No Prayer for the Dying", with their new (shittier) line-up fueled by the Gigantic Douche, Janick Gers. Pretty much the only reason to buy that album.

Any of this Shit make the Cut?
Hmm...pretty much everything except for Dokken, Sammy Hagar and Scatterbrain. "Erotic Nightmares" is best left behind, too. I think Metallica's "The Prince" was on "Garage, Inc", so I need to pull out that disc and see if it's worth including.

ATNT Volume 8

This tape actually has "91 update scribbled on it". Probably because I was heavily into sports cards around this time. It was compiled between January 1991 and April 1991. Things start to shake up on the next volume (vol. 9).

Judas Priest- "Touch of Evil"
Lots of studio production on this track, but Rob Halford's vocals are awesome in it. Even though Priest tried to go all thrash/speed on the Painkiller album, this track fits right in with their older 80's stuff.

Living Colour- "Type"
Became my favorite song for 1990. Also, primarily because of this song, "Time's Up" became the first-ever CD I got. For Xmas in 1990 when I got a CD player.

ZZ Top- "Concrete and Steel"
I became a big ZZ Top fan during their "Recycler" album. Saw them in concert in December 1990 and realized how cool they were.

Van Halen- "Unchained"
Going back to 1981 or so and the "Fair Warning" album. Which was the second CD I ever had. Big bro, knowing I was getting a CD player, went out and bought me something from the "Sound Savers" (bargain) bin. Still a pretty solid CD, overall as this and several other tracks from "Fair Warning" have remained on my mixes ever since. "Hey, hey..take a look at this. Hey man, that suit is you! You'l'l get some leg tonight for sure. Tell us how you doooo

AC/DC- "Moneytalks"
Yup.. from the THIRD CD I ever got. The second single off of "Razor's Edge" and not as cool as the first. Liked this song for about 1 month in early 1991..it's been forgotten now.

Led Zeppelin- "Wearing & Tearing'
Well, I was full of shit. I noticed in several earlier post that I claimed to only like one Zeppelin song. Well, here's another, proving I liked them more than I realized.

David Lee Roth- "A Little Ain't Enough"
I loved DLR"s first two solo albums (okay, "Skyscraper" not as much as the first), so I was psyched when this premiered on the radio. But after one listen, I wasn't into it. I tried and tried... but this song never grabbed me like "Yankee Rose" or even "Just Like Paradise".

Faith No More- "Falling to Pieces"
I was probably the only nerd with a mullet who didn't care for FNM's "Epic" (aka: "the fish jumping out-of-water video"). So when this second single came out, I was kinda' hoping the band would crash n' burn. But I heard this one and they won me over. I found out that "Epic" was probably my least favorite FNM song. I dug the rest!


SIDE TWO.
Bruce Dickinson- "Tattooed Millionaire"
I didn't like this song at first..but finally gave in, since I considered myself a Maiden completionist. Bruce warbles much more than he ever did in Maiden, but it's tolerable and kinda' catchy. But like all Maiden songs, it's probably only for the Maiden fans. I liked this song, but would only crank it in private.

Anthrax- "Got the Time'
Here we go... one of my absolute favorite songs EVER. Would've made a good Ramones song, but this is a great ANthrax song (even though it's a cover). I had liked ANthrax for a few years at this point, but this song catapulted them into my Top Three. Saw them open for my favorite band, Iron Maiden, in January 1991 and they blew Maiden away. They were probably my favorite band for the next two or three years.

Van Halen- "Meanstreet"
Milking my "Fair Warning" CD! An often overlooked and underrated (yet incredibly awesome) VH tune. Y'know..I'd even go so far as to say this is my favorite Van Halen song. Like "Unchained", it's stuck with me, ever since.

Great White- "Call it Rock & Roll"
Taped from the radio, as I had drifted away from these guys. a VERY uncreative tune, as it's essentially the same song as "Once Bitten, Twice Shy". Confirmed to me that I shouldn't buy their new CD and that they were growing old with me.

Queensryche- "Last Time In Paris"
This was before I began to HATE Queensryche, but they would pop up form time to time and I didn't mind them. Didn't LIKE them either. This song was taped from the radio and I believe it was their entry to "Ford Fairlane" soundtrack... a movie which I still have a strange affinity for.

Metallica- "Stone Cold Crazy"
Taped it from the radio just to have it. I think it was officially released on an Elektra records compilation. I was always mystified that they won a Grammy for this thing. It's rather ordinary and there were much better songs that year...but we all know this was a make-up award after the Jethro Tull thing (with destroyed Metallica...but THAT is another story)

GWAR - "Sick of You"
Z-Rock had mellowed out and hair bands ruled the local channels... but I found out that on Saturday nights at 12, they began to air a show called "Metal Lix", which featured non-radio friendly bands. First time I tuned in, I got this song. The DJ simply said that this band had a crazy stage show, better than anything Kiss had done. They reminded me of the Mentors a little bit... as I had no idea they dressed up in crazy styrofoam costumes. THey made me giggle a little bit, but I never really got into GWAR.


Faith No More- "From Out of Nowhere'
Pretty awesome. See my description for "Falling to Pieces"

Iron Maiden- "The Prisoner'
One of the great Maiden tunes that they always seem to ignore at concerts! At the time, I bought "Number of the Beast" on CD from a friend..and remembered how much I loved this tune.

Van Halen- "Everybody Wants Some!"
Most famous for appearing in the animated pizza segment of the flick "Better Off Dead" (TWO DOLLARS!) Just a crazy Van Halen piece that sounds like the whole band is drunk.

Jimmy Page- "Wasting my Time'
From a solo album he did with Paul Rodgers, circa 1989. Unfortunately, this was the only listenable song on the whole album. Taped it from my brother, who made the mistake of buying the damn thing.

Any of this Shit make the Cut?
Lot of staples of "my music" on this one. DLR, Great White, Queensryche, AC/DC and the GWAR tracks are out, though. I'd like to get "Wasting my Time" just for variety's sake, if I can find it.

You have to see GWAR to appreciate GWAR. Or to get covered in fake blood and semen.

(to get covered in real blood and semen, then you just have to go to Scrooge's. Or Rowe's. Where is that bastard lately?)

ATNT Volume 9
This volume appears to be from Summer 1991 into Fall 1991. The second side was my unofficial "First Semester Senior Year Soundtrack".

SIDE ONE
Dangerous Toys- "Gimme' No Lip"
The lead single to their follow-up album... which didn't meet with much success. Taped this from the radio and while it fits in well with their first album, it's once again a gimmicky song that wears thin after one or two listens. Subject matter is an old favorite: please be quiet (specifically women).

Deep Purple- "King of Dreams"
Yeah, they were still around in the early 90's. This is with former Rainbow singer, Joe Lynn Turner...which is kinda' ironic, since Rainbow was formed when Ritchie Blackmore left Deep Purple, back in the 70's. I had forgotten about this song completely until now. Has a pretty cool, heavy, slow, plodding intro. The chorus is a little poppy, but this works okay. It's not great, but a good listen with its heavy ORGAN sounds.

Living Colour- "Elvis is Dead"
Probably one of their few "fun" tracks.Although they get in one jab about how "a black man taught him how to sing". It's about, yup, Elvis being dead. It was a little behind the times, since all the "Elvis is Alive" stuff was all over pop culture in the mid to late 80's. Song mixes up a little bit, but it's cool to hear these guys having fun.

ZZ Top- "My Head's in Mississippi"
Another ZZ tune from their 1990 "Recycler" album. I was starting to sour on the pop-ish ZZ stuff and began liking their older stuff. While this track has their 80's production value, it's more akin to something from "Deguelo".

Thunder- "Dirty Love"
What...the... HELL? AN English hairband that I taped from the radio. Forgot all about these guys, but they had a cup-of-coffee on US airwaves in 1991. Totally 80's...and I remember my friends ragging on me that I had included this on my mixtape. Oh well.

Suicidal Tendencies - "Send Me Your Money"
Another band I finally discovered a few years too late. Tune about another metal favorite-- TV evangelists. Simplistic, but a lot of fun. This got me into ST and they became a Top Ten band for me for the next few years. Really got into them in 1992-1993.

Anthrax- "Bring the Noise"
YES! Taped from the late night metal show on the radio...and instantly became one of my favorite tunes. Still remains there. I almost immediately learned all the words to this and can still "rap" it pretty well. In fact, on one of the first dates I had with the Main Chickie, the Public Enemy version was playing at a bar. She was mildly impressed that I knew "a song by Flavor Flav". She was into "Flavor of Love" on VH1 at the time, so these were some of the early Cool Points I scored with her.

Probably the best 12 bucks I have ever spent was picking up Anthrax's "Attack of the Killer B's". Just an all-around FUN album and it rocks.

Van Halen- "Poundcake"
I don't think I ever bought their FUCK album, so I think I taped this from a friend who had. A subpar VH song, even for Van Hagar. It's funny that Michael Anthony is listed as actually playing the bass...as it's just a constant thump-thump-thump.

Jane's Addiction- "Been Caught Stealing"
Really, I had thought these guys were a ...choke...New Wave bad and taped this from somewhere because I thought it was their only semi-heavy song. I think I eventually got the entire album from my Big Bro, sometime in late 1991 and it changed my opinion.

SIDE TWO
Anthrax- "I'm the Man '91 Remix"
More from "Killer B's"...and it made me realize that while all versions of "I'm the Man" are fun, they're not good singles. But this has some funny additions, like the spoken verse of "you see him riding around in his van...that's him, man,that's The Man". I think that line was from the Rodney Dangerfield flick, Easy Money.

Guns n' Roses - "You Could be Mine"
Radio tape job, as this song was all over the place in the summer and fall of 1991. Due to GnR's popularity and its inclusion in Terminator 2. Always hated the whiny chorus. I still the think the ending of the video is humorous, though. "Assessment: waste of ammo".

Ozzy Osbourne- "No More Tears"
If I only I could've edited out the piano solo.

Metallica- "Enter Sandman"
Golly...these last three songs were pretty much THE three songs you needed if you were a metalhead in 1991. Metallica, GnR and Ozzy became the metalhead's Trinity until 1993 or so.

Queensryche- "Empire"
Again, I was flirting with getting into these guys and I think I had tilted to "HATE EM" shorting after taping this song. Fairly certain I simply copied from a friend's CD because I thought it was their "only song that I kinda' like".

Lynch Mob- "Wicked Sensation'
George Lynch's (Dokken) spin-off band which had a pretty cool name. I had tried to find this song since it came out in late 1990. So I waited for almost a year and finally taped it from a friend's CD....and found out that it was kinda' lame.

Primus- "Jerry Was a Race Car Driver'
To this day, I STILL can't figure out why metalheads like Primus. This was a novelty song at the time and believe it or not, a lot of folks would get them mixed up with Prong. "Oh yeah, didn't they also do Prove You Wrong?!"

Metallica- 'The Unforgiven"
Think we're up to October 1991, when this song came out and, along with "Sandman", embedded Metallica on rock radio forever. Coolest thing about that move was that the radio stations were now allowed to play the OLD Metallica stuff, too! I remember how weird it was to hear "Trapped Under Ice" on the way to school, one day. I didn't start to hate Smell the Glove/Black Album/Metallica until mid-1992, however.

Fishbone- "Sunless Sunday"
Another "alternative" band that began to seep into metal playlists. Although the term "alternative" hadn't been coined yet. This is probably my favorite Fishbone song. While I eventually grew to like their ska stuff, this song just blows the rest away. It's really out-of-place for them and gave a lot of people the wrong idea about the band's song (myself included). I think I got the "Reality of my Surroundings" album sometime in late 1991 and thought: "what's all this crap with horns?"

Any of this Shit make the Cut?
I just tracked down and added the Deep Purple cut. Fishbone's is, as are Anthrax and ST. I want to track down the ZZ Top tune and maybe "Been Caught Stealing" if I can find it for free (legally, or course). The rest? Well, they soon became rock radio staples and I began to hate them. Especially Metallica, as this may be the last time one of their "current" tunes will be included. I could write a whole 'nother column about Metallica's demolition with Smell the Glove...but that, is another story!

Well, before I get-- I'll add one key element about how Metallica went sour:

In November 1991, tickets went on sale for Metallica's Denver concert in February 1992. Me, three buddies, and Big Bro all snatched up tickets the day they went on sale. It soon SOLD OUT and a second show had to be added. Still, we felt like royalty for scoring some exclusive tickets for the first night. All of our football teammates congratulated and envied us.

About a week later, I was in chemistry class in all my Jim Cornette lookalike glory, and talking to ..well, let's call her "Alicia" (not her real name). I had had a crush on her since I first met her in fifth grade math class. She was gorgeous, really friendly, became homecoming queen, cheerleader, and all that. She really was that stereotypical All-American Cutie.

So there I am in chemistry class and she asks me: "hey, heard you guys got Metallica tickets". I'm all: "whoa, Alicia's cool, she knows I like Metallica" and I confirm that I have a ticket. Then she says: "wow! I SO wish I could go! They're awesome!"

Whoa, whoa, whoa...waitaminut. Alicia the Homecoming Queen likes Metallica? That's not right!! They're about ass-kicking METAL...I mean, METAL's in their name! They're this ugly, primal, brute force that's supposed to scare people! Alicia would give me rides to school every so often and she was always playing Depeche Mode or Amy Grant on her car stereo. But now SHE likes Metallica?! I still had a huge crush on her....but this... this was just Not Right! They're one of MY bands, darnit! I don't listen to Amy Grant and you shouldn't listen to Metallica!!

My world was shattered.

ATNT Volume X
Compiled from about March 1992 into August 1992. This basically bridged the gap between high school and the beginning of college for me. As such, some of these tunes enter my "College Age of Music"--- everybody has one of those, regardless of when they were born, and it pretty much becomes your "Golden Age of Music" as you get older.


SIDE ONE
Suicidal Tendencies- "You Can't Bring me Down"
Starts off rather quiet, then builds up. A return to the "intro epic" to start off a tape. This was before shitty bands like Korn began to use the phrase "bring me down" ad nasuem (ELO in the 80's doesn't count). A solid ST song and while I used to like the lyrics, I now realize how they're trying to stand out too much.

Red Hot Chili Peppers-"Higher Ground"
RHCP started to get BIG in early 1992. I went back and ordered "Mother's Milk" from 1989 though the ol' Columbia House system and thought it was surprisingly good. Again, I had thought these guys were like Depeche Mode, but they rocked and seemed to have a sense of humor (an entire song dedicated to Magic Johnson and the Lakers? That's kinda' funny). Didn't know this song was a Stevie Wonder cover at the time, but loved it nonetheless.

Pearl Jam- "Alive"
Another band that I couldn't figure out at first. I had them confused with Ned's Atomic Dustbin and Primal Scream-- two "alternative" bands that were getting some play on MTV at the time. I liked their vibe, and thought I was being cool by expanding beyond traditional "metal". I liked their rough, but not metal, sound and they reminded me of a 90's Van Halen. Speaking of which...

Van Halen- 'Ice Cream Man'
Old fashioned fun from DLR and the original crew. Again, I was stepping into the past to pull out a "Greatest Hit".

Jane's Addiction- "Stop"
Surprised again. As this song had a brief release in late 1990 and I vaguely remembered it. Combined with "Been Caught Stealing", I suddenly had a new band that I was into. The original Lollapalooza had just finished in 1991 and I was starting to get into the whole "art rock" bullshit. Hey, I was going away to get an art degree.

Rush- "Dreamline"
See, I loved RUSH as a wee lad, but for whatever reason (they weren't metal), I drifted away from them in the 80's. Since I was becoming all "artsy", I got back into them when their "Roll the Bones" CD came out. Suddenly, RUSH was back in my good graces and they've remained there ever since.

Red Hot Chili Peppers- "Give it Away"
Saw it on MTV the first day of school in August 1991. Thought it was kinda' wacky and wondered why it didn't get more of a push. After I decided I liked RHCP, I went back and pulled this track in early 1992. About two months later, it was re-released and became a huge hit for them. I thought it was all skat, but I actually learned the lyrics and can still sing this song, thoroughly, to this day.

Infectious Grooves- "Punk it up"
A side project from ST as this was their "funk" alter egos. But still with the ST metal edge and pretty much sounded like their other stuff.

Fishbone- "Fight the Youth"
Hey, another "artsy" band that was seeping into my consciousness.

ZZ Top- "Cheap Sunglasses"
Another ZZ classic that I taped from the radio.

RUSH- "Where's my Thing?"
Coo instrumental and it made my YEAR when I heard it played as the "bumper music" during a Pittsburgh pirates game in May 1992. A few years ago, I re-watched the original airing of the 1992 Royal Rumble and was pleased to hear that the WWF used it for their "outro music" for that show. RUSH did a handful of instrumentals around this time and most of them were great. I think they were tied together as a "trilogy" or some shit.

SIDE TWO
Red Hot Chili Peppers- "Under the Bridge"
Once again, a tune that starts out soft, then builds, to open the set. This was probably my favorite song from about March 1992 until June 1992. I used to watch the video every night on MTV and dug it every single time.

Iron Maiden- "Be Quick or Be Dead"
I was getting a little sick of the constant Metallica praise and airings...so I was thrilled when one of my old favorites came back with a new album; released right around the time I graduated high school, no less. A bonus graduation present for myself. This song starts out very intense and sounds like it will destroy. But then it gets to the chorus and Bruce begins to warble.

Anthrax- "Parasite"
From my favorite "Killer B's" album again. I knew it was a KISS cover, but I was surprised because I had always thought KISS kinda'....sucked. What's this old KISS stuff? It sounds cool.... (a SUBPLOT has developed!)

Slayer- "Dead Skin Mask"
Taped from the late night metal show, again. It's pretty much the same song as "South of Heaven", so I still think it's a big disappointment. It's about serial killer Ed Gein in case you're interested. I kept this on here because it scared my college roomate and he thought it was "Satanic".

Megadeth- "Symphony of Destruction"
Taped from the radio...and it began to wear on my after one listen. Soon hated it. I liked how Megadeth seemed to copy every marketing move Metallica made in 1991, in 1992.

KISS- "Detroit Rock City"
Curious about old KISS, I borrowed "Smashes, Trashes and Hits" from Big Bro. Whoa, whoa, whoa... this song came out in 1976 and I've missed it my entire life?!! That must be corrected. Still my favorite KISS song ever and it turned me into a fan.... 16 years after it was relevant.

Faith No More- "Midlife Crisis"
From FNM's less-successful second album. A little bit more trippy (if that's possible) and something of a forgotten tune from them. It's stayed in my music rotation ever since as its creepy vibe really sticks with you.

Joe Satriani- "The Summer Song"
Follow-up to his 1989 stuff...but not as intriguing.

Alice in Chains- "Would?"
Another BIG realization for me-- these guys rocked. I couldn't stand "Man in the Box" with its whiny chorus when it came out in 1991. I thought that this would be "that one song I like that they do", but they won me over by year's end. Awesome tune and arguably on of my all-time favorites. Maybe even #1 (yes, I argue with myself over worthless crap like that).

Black Sabbath- "Paranoid"
I was over Ozzy at this point, but doing some "research" of old metal, I couldn't help to pass this oldie by. It's possible that this song gave birth to the whole thrash/speed movement of the 80's. Any Sabbath song not named "Mob Rules" recorded after 1978 sucks, but their classics are just that-- Classics.

KISS- "Unholy"
From KISS's then-current album "Revenge", where they basically shed the prettyboy glam look and wanted to look all evil. Gene, of course, nailed the look n' feel as this song was his unofficial theme for awhile. Combine this "new" album with my recent discovery of old KISS and they soon sat next to Iron Maiden as one of my favorites.

Spinal Tap- "Hellhole"
On a whim, me and my buddies rented "This is Spinal Tap" from the video store one night in July. They had never seen it, and it soon became the favorite flick amonsgt our little clique. My buddy "J" went out and tracked down the CD and I taped the "single" from it.

On a sidenote: our Spinal Tap rental started a mini-tradition that we ran whenever we were all together and in town: get a weird movie and watch it on my bigscreen TV. We watched "Cape Fear", "Body Parts", Galaxy of Terror" and other random CRAP that summer in our own live-action MST3K. I have fond memories of every flick we watched. We did it randomly until late 1997, when we watched "Jack Frost". One guy got a girlfriend and moved in with her soon, and that kinda' ended our Movie Club.

Any of this Shit make the Cut?
Higher Ground, Ice Cream Man, Be Quick or Be Dead, Parasite, Detroit Rock City, Midlife Crisis, WOuld, Paranoid, Cheap Sunglasses, Unholy and Hellhole are already in.

Need to track down copies of Stop, Dreamline, Where's my Thing, Fight the Youth and Under the Bridge. The remaining songs are rather overplayed and I don't need copies.

ATNT Volume XI
I can see eraser marks on the tape case, as it looks like I did an initial mix, then taped over everything.

This was compiled in late 1992/early 1993 and was pretty much my "Freshman Year" soundtrack. Most significantly, during that first semester my dorm was located across the parking lot from... gasp... the Used Music Store! My first exposure to such a thing and I seriously wondered how I had ever lived the past 18 years without finding out about such a place. Suddenly, my cheapness didn't prevent me from spending a few bucks on some used tapes and, on special occasions, a CD. Tapes were usually 2-3 bucks each and CD were 7-8 bucks. I pretty much bought at least one new CD or tape every week for the new few years.

SIDE ONE
Ministry- "Jesus Built my Hotrod"
My first exposure to them was the somewhat less-than-inspiring "NWO". But found this at the used store and dug it. Not a favorite of mine anymore, but this was pretty influential for 90's "metal" crossover tunes and probably started the whole "Rob ZOmbie genre".

Celtic Frost- "Mexican Radio"
Finally a non-radio version of this awesome tune! Again, a side effect of the used music store.

Alice in Chains- "Them Bones"
The opening still scares the hell out of me at times. Just that sudden "I!!!" Was their big single when "DIRT" came out and sold me on them as one of my favorite bands.

KISS- "Mr. Speed"
As part of discovering KISS, I was slowly buying up their backlog of crap. From "Rock n' Roll Over" an probably an overlooked KISS tune. Better than "Dr. Love", in my opinion. Even if it sounds like RUSH's "In the Mood".

Anthrax- "I'm Eighteen"
Another music store side-effect as I was finally able to get the old Anthrax albums. This is from their 1984 debut album "Fistful of Metal"...which basically SUCKS. Only listen-able tune on the album, so I pulled it out.

RUSH- "Superconductor"
Going back to their 1989 Presto album. I saw RUSH live, for the first time ever, the night before I graduated high school. They did this song and it stuck with me as my "mental postcard of that concert". Still gives me a chills for that reason. The guitar riffs are much heavier than most RUSH stuff at the time.

Faith No More- "A Small Victory"
I was more than a little perplexed why FNM's "Angel Dust" album didn't do better. This was their second single and while it's weird at first, each time you hear it, you seem to like it more. Good mix of keyboard effects and Jim Martin's guitar riffs.

Temple of the Dog- "Hunger Strike"
Recorded from CD...when I think my buddy and I STOLE it from some douchebag's party. Since it was on MTV a lot, I figured this was the one song to pull off. Then a few months later I remembered "Say Hello 2 heaven" and realized how wrong I was. Still, this was a fun song for awhile. I remember a co-worker and I used to sing a duet of this before lunch break. Sounds gay...but we'd be in the warehouse around 11:30 and I'd croon Eddie Vedder's "I'm goin' hungraaaaaaaayyyyy" and he'd screech the Chris Cornell part pretty well.

Shit...should look that guy up on Facebook.

Living Colour- "leave it Alone"
Another album which low popularity that perplexed me. This song suffers just a little from the keyboard effect crashes, but it's overall awesomeness. I think if Living Colour had moved to Seattle in early 1993, this album would've been huge. One of the best concerts I have EVER seen was Living Colour and Bad Brains in April 1993.

Nirvana- "In Bloom"
Y'know...I think this really IS "the one Nirvana song I like". Really...I hate their other crap.

Jimi Hendrix- "Crosstown Traffic"
I had liked this song for YEARS. Think I even had the old VH1 video of it taped somewhere. Finally realized Jimi WAS heavy and could fit on my hard rock/metal mixtapes.

SIDE TWO
Soundgarden- "Outshined"
What can I say. It's one of the greatest hard rock/metal songs of the past 20 years.

Suicidal Tendencies- "Nobody Hears"
These guys released an album in late 1992, and it seemed like it follow the same formula as Metallica and Megadeth before them. Didn't work as well as those other two, but this song became an FM radio favorite for the next few years. Rocky George's solo in this thing is one of my favorites.

Sayyyy....whatever happened to Rocky? I really liked that dude. Wore a Pitt Pirates hat and he rocked.

KISS- "Domino"
It's Gene Simmons doing what he does best-- being lecherous and obnoxious. And it's awesome. When KISS did their "Farewell" tour in 2000, I heard they were doing some of the non-makeup tunes...and I badly wanted to hear them play this. No luck...we got "Lick it Up" and "Heaven's on Fire' instead. I dunno', the "Revenge" album is probably the coolest non-makeup KISS album out there.

Alice in Chains- "Angry Chair"
Included because it was a new single at the time. Really NOT a good song.

Suicidal Tendencies- "Asleep at the Wheel"
Skipped out the "I wasn't Meant to Feel this" intro..and this may be one of ST"s best songs. Period. This was skipped over as a single in 1992 and actually hung around "alternative" radio playlists until 1997 or so.

Gwar- "The Road Behind"
I had finally SEEN Gwar (on TV) and thought this song was kinda' corny yet catchy. Taped from the late night radio show, too.

Metalllica- "Killing Time"
From the same radio show...as it was played immediately after Gwar, so there's no SQUAWK tape break. I was souring on Metallica at this time, but kept this on here because it was a "rare B-side". Always a sucker for those.

Butthole Surfers- "Who was in my Room Last Night"
Uh huh. See the description for "Outshined". I picked up a promo copy of their album and feel in lust with this song immediately. Guitar Hero fans will probably agree.

Screaming Trees- "Nearly Lost You"
Following in the footsteps of Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Soundgarden from 1991, one year later. But these guys weren't as successful. My favorite song of theirs as it was pulled from the "Singles" soundtrack. The video, with two fat dudes jamming at a race track, is still cool.

Motorhead- "Hellraiser"
Got a limited single release as it was included in a then-current Hellraiser movie. Identical to the Ozzy song of the same name from "No More Tears"...but MUCH better with Lemmy on vocals.

MOD- "Bubblebutt"
About three years in the making, as I found MOD's "USA for MOD" at the used store and got a clean version of this song. Also helped that I had about 75 second of airtime left on this side of the tape.

Any of this Shit make the Cut?
Once again, about 90% of this volume is already on my iPod. "Angry Chair", "Killing Time" and "The Road Behind" are the only three I've excluded.

ATNT Volume OMEGA
I apparently have already trashed all my mix tapes from mid-1993 to late 1995. I remember having some really great mixes on a few... like Living Colur's "Bi" followed immediately by Pearl Jam's "Glorified G". Cool, because the ending of the first song sequed perfectly into the other. I was getting pretty snazzy with my actual tape recording skills!

But I still found this sucker laying around. I was mixed in the Spring of 1996. Usually, my mix tapes were trending with what I thought was "hot" at the time, but for this one I began going back and picking up some old stuff, just cuz' I thought those songs were awesome. This was at the height of the "Hootie Era", when mainstream music was full of wishy-washy ambivalent shit. So I wanted 90 minutes of some shit that simply rocked....all in a handy carrying case.

SIDE ONE

Senser- "State of Mind"
Wow, glad I dusted off this tape, as I had forgotten all about this band and song. I think they were an English industrial/techno/rock/rap band and fairly heavy. Has a long intro, then it really kicks in with pounding riffs and well-timed lyrics. I was surprised that this band didn't become bigger than they were. I originally saw their video on the local UHF video show in late 1994 and feel in lust with this song. Took me about a year to track it down.

Ramones- "Spider-Man"
I had picked up the CD "Saturday Morning's Greatest Hits" in December 1995 and this was probably the only song worth archiving. C'mon, it's the Ramones. Such a cool song that it's even on the latest (2010/2011) Guitar Hero game. Even cooler is the fact that it's about NYC's own Spidey, done by NYC's own Ramones. If only KISS or the Village People had done a song about Daredevil...

Jimi Hendrix- "Voodoo Child"
Yes, it's actually "Child", as opposed to other Hendrix songs like "Highway Chile". The Stevie Ray Vaughn version had been plaguing local airwaves at the time, so I wanted to dust off the original. Yes, it's a cool song. Just ask Hulk Hogan.

Pantera- "Cowboys from Hell"
I was going through my CD collection in '96 and thought: "darnit, I don't hear this song enough". Funny how Phil Anselmo is still showing his 80's metal "operatic" range, as opposed to deep-voiced grumbler he became.

Sanford & Son Theme
Because it rocks. Duh.

311- "Homebrew"
They had been on my late 1994 mix tape, but I was REALLY into 311 at the time and this was probably my favorite tune of theirs.

Killing Joke- "Millenium"
Great POUNDING beat to it. Lyrics are lame, but they're hard to understand, so it simply rocks.

Rush- "Where's my Thing"
Yup, there it is on my 1992 mix tape. Again, dipping into the old because I didn't want a tape of filler or Fast-Forward crap. Wanted some "classics".

God Lives Underwater- "No More Love"
AKA "The Song that Every Corporation Used to Hype Their New CyberSpace Presence in 1996". Back when the Internets were still new and exciting, this heavy techno/industrial beat really seemed to pop up everywhere. But it still holds up well.

Anthrax- "Got the Time"
Another oldie that simply rocked.

SIDE TWO
Alice in Chains- "Would?"
Same as above.

Pearl Jam/Cypress Hill- "Real Thing"
My favorite song by BOTH bands. From the ill-fated "Judgement Night" soundtrack from 1993, which I absolutely loved. It was an entire CD full of metal/rap collaborations and is probably worth an article of its own. There was absolutely crap like Therapy and Fatal's "Come and Die", cool stuff like Living Colour and RUN DMC's "Me, Myself & my Microphone", fun stuff like Sir Mix-a-lot and Mudhoney's "Freak Momma", obscure like BooYah TRIBE and Faith No More's "Another Body Murdered", then absolutely bizarre like Sonic Youth and Cypress Hill. I think all but two tracks from the CD are still in my iPOd.

ALL- "Million Bucks"
OK..another one I had forgotten. These guys were an offshoot of the band The Descendents and operated out of Colorado for awhile. This is silly little punk diddy love song with sappy lyrics. It was pretty much my "Unofficial Love Song for Whatever Girl I Wanted to Date" until 1997 or so.

I need to look up the video for it, because I think it had GARY SPIVEY.

Ministry- "Lay Lady Lay"
Yeah, Ministry's cover of the Bob Dylan classic. Runs a little long, though.

Presidents of the USA- "Devil in a Sleepin' Bag"
From the cool "Twisted Willie" compilation of 1996; buncha' bands covering Willie F'n Nelson. Everytime I hear this song, I want to get up and boogie.

NOFX- "The Brews"
For awhile, I liked NOFX... but I could never get through an entire album of theirs. Songs all sounded alike and their singer would wear on me. I think they're still around, doing reality shows and making essentially novelty songs (like "Please Play This Song on the Radio").

SickOfItAll- "Step Down"
One of the few bands that was still releasing "metal" a the time. I think I have this video in our "Video of the Day" thread, early on. Great stuff.

Davey Allan and the Arrows- "Blue's Theme"
Oh ....MAN! An old 60's fuzz-tone/psychedelic rock song, copied from a 45! This was, hands down, my favorite song as a toddler and is probably the reason I like the EVIL sound of distorted guitars. This song has it and if you've never heard it, the best I can describe is: imagine if Tony Iommi had joined the Beach Boys. My dad used to play this song to get me pumped up as a wee lad.

311- "Do You Right"
For about six months, this was my favorite song. It's actually from 311's debut album in 1993 and became something of a cult classic on the radio and around town. I had seen 311 live in 1995 and this song was their highlight. I played it at a party in late 1996 and realized it was kinda' lame.

Garbage- "Vow"
I had a HUGE thing for Shirley Manson at the time and this is a great song. The line where she says: "I came to suck you down" would give me Instant Wood back then.

Ice Cube- "It Was a Good Day"
For some reason, my dad and I were goofing around in a Best Buy and he wanted to get a copy of this song. For awhile in 1993, he used to watch MTV all the time and this song was his favorite. I'm sure Cube had some better pure rap tunes, but this is probably his most popular and memorable. Another great song to close out the tape.




OK, so I think this is it. I found one more mix tape, but I don't remember when it was recorded and the songs on it kinda' blow.

Needless to say, everything with the exception of 311's "Do You Right" is on my iPod. Oh, and that Senser tune, too... but I'm fixing that this weekend.