So you call yourself a pure rocker – you know the significance of Megadeth’s “Peace Sells”, well that was easy…what about the song who’s riff was developed because of the guitarist inability to mimic the singer; or the song – a description of a tropical storm, that helped re-launch a legendary band with a new singer? Music has always been about illusion and one’s interpretation of the lyrics. It is there that battle lines are drawn between fans that see a song one way or another, let alone where they rank in the hierarchy of metal-dome. Be careful, metal fans are a precarious bunch – referring to a song incorrectly could result in an extra shot to the dome! But, armed with a copy of Jackie Kajzer’s ‘Full Metal Jackie Certified – The 50 Most Influential Heavy Metal Songs of the 80’s and The True Stories Behind Their Lyrics and The True Stories Behind Their Lyrics in your musical arsenal can only help promote your sonic survival.

Quickly glancing at the dial to confirm his format choice, Dave proclaims, “What’s old is new again!” while fumbling for the volume knob on his car stereo. The cyclical nature of this axiom holds true for so much of our lives, especially the music we listen to. Long before the days when rock radio fragmented, album oriented rock (AOR) was the source for all things with loud screaming guitars and bands like AC/DC and Guns N’ Roses ruled the radio airwaves. The main factor with heritage artists, especially to a younger crowd, is cultural relevance. Some bands have it and others don’t. You can’t go into a mall anywhere in America and not see a black t-shirt with a hard rock band logo on it. Heritage artists such as Guns N’ Roses, AC/DC and Metallica help bolster a station’s gold library by bringing a connection between the old and the new. These records are over 10 years old and in most cases help to attract the higher male demographics, which are so important for the Alternative format.

The dream is always the same – a sleek sports car flying down the Pacific Coast Highway, the crashing surfing pounding the beach below. The music is pulsating out of the speakers; the searing guitars, the pounding drums, the thick rhythm of the bass and the unmistakable vocal roar. The songs may be interchangeable but one thing remains a constant – the band, Metallica! And for a quarter century, they have been just that, a constant! As my head begins to rock back and forth and my fingers tighten their grip on the steering wheel, I realize today is no dream. So, it’s off to the legendary Cow Palace in San Francisco for an intimate evening with Metallica and a few hundred of their closest friends and family. And the only thing between Los Angeles and the city by the bay was a lot of asphalt and several hours of rockin’, Metallica-style.