I am no a metal expert. I have never really cared for GNR. I think that the opening riff to “Crazy Train” is one of the all time sickest riffs ever… no contests period. My wife and I danced down the aisle after being pronounced man and wife to “The Rhythm of Love.” I have never owned a Metallica t-shirt. One time I dated a girl who had a sister who had an ex-husband who had performed at The Whiskey once. Although I can name-drop many of the greats, I can only pick a few out of a listening line-up. I guess I could be called a dabbler at best.
The band I am thinking about has probably never even owned a cassette-recorder. I am sure that their demo tape was sent out digitally. I do know that they do have long hair, muscle tees and cutoff jean shorts. I also know that since my buddy Matt and I went on a 100+/- mile, 5 store, 2 burrito, and full afternoon search for the album after hearing the single, I was hooked. Behold… Black Tide… my current favorite metal fix. I typically enjoy them at about 5am on my way to work, or pretty much anytime I feel the need to get tough.
Sooo, the question now is what am I talking about? I am talking about what happens when you put together 4 teenagers, lots of hair, rock instruments, a lyric written using barely 35 different words, and record it all about for about 6 minutes… a song called “Warriors of Time.” That’s what.

One day when I was about 10 years old or so, I asked my older brother, who had a pretty extensive collection of music, if I could borrow a couple CDs. I was looking for something besides my usual suspects: symphonic rock, the Phantom of the Opera, and the Chipmunks.

One of the CDs he gave me was The Specials: Specials.

The Specials original line-up had actually broken up the year before I was born, and to this date have not played together in their entirety, although many of the original members have formed and re-formed many times in many combinations over the last 30 years to put out an occasional album or play on tour here and there. I remember a concert for the Special Beat being advertised by KJQ. According to the house rules, I wasn’t old enough to go.

That is pretty much where it all started. Since the first time, The Specials have always been music that I could get down to. In San Diego, some of the local radio stations play “A Message to You, Rudy” a couple times a day. It is my all time favorite “on the way home from a 10 hour day in the work truck and stuck in traffic because it took us too long to get the job done” song. Sometimes during my shifts at Starbucks, I get to listen to some of my old time favorites: “Monkey Man,” “Nelson Mandela,” “Ghost Town,” and even their version of “Pressure Drop,” as they have made it onto official “hear music” play list.

However, none of the aforementioned songs were ones that I would listen to on repeat in my room for hours at a time while reading or playing videos games or whatever. “Doesn’t Make It Alright” was.

To my brother, I say: thanks for sharing.

To everybody else, I say: enjoy.

Click to Play———–> “Doesn’t Make It Alright”