I have pretty eclectic music tastes, I’ve been known to like anyone from The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, to old school Bobby Brown, to Ludacris, through to Silverchair, a-ha and Ben Folds Five. These days I usually prefer alternative, often Brit-rock, outfits such as Silverchair, Travis and Coldplay, but I still also enjoy heavier rock outfits such as the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Metallica and Chris Cornell.
My music tastes have varied and expanded over the years, I first got introduced to music through my older sisters and as such took a somewhat disturbing attraction to the likes of Boy George, Wham and a-ha. Then around the time of pre-pubescence I started to drift towards the r&b, rap and hip-hop genres taking – ashamedly – a liking to Bobby Brown, Bell Biv DeVoe and countless other now forgotten r&b acts.
As I was going through high school and university, a lot of my friends liked heavy metal music, listening to the likes of Sepultura, Megadeath and Pantera. Most of these bands I had – and still have – little time for as they were just not my kind of music. But, one band who bucked that trend and who I grew to truly like was Metallica. There seemed to be just something more to them that the previous bands mentioned. And, as time went on they seemed to develop a more mature, sophisticated and complex repertoire compared to their earlier, more base lyrics.
Like many, I first took notice of Metallica when they released their self-titled ‘Black’ album with great, raw, rock tracks such as “Enter Sandman” and “Wherever I May Roam”, along with the more reflective rock-ballads “The Unforgiven”, “Nothing Else Matters”.
By this stage, I was thinking Metallica is a band I like to hear. By the time of their Load and ReLoad albums when most of their more-established, long-term fans were bemoaning their softer, more reflective direction, I was liking them more than ever. And, it’s from Metallica’s Load album that today’s Song of the Day comes from. It’s entitled “Until It Sleeps” and is dark, moving piece about the trails of finding solace amongst the dark dog of Depression that lurks inside many of us. This song’s an example of Metallica’s transition throughout the 90s, a direction which I enjoyed seeing them take.
Enjoy~!
