Howdy how all you beings out there!
The 28h of June in 2009. Not a special day, no – it just happened to be my 2nd anniversary here on Last.fm. Actually I thought it would be on the 29th day, and now I’m a bit late as you can see… But ah, you can’t always remember everything correctly. Or, on the other hand, do everything in time. And, by the way, I just noticed that my 1st anniversary journal entry was posted on the 29th day. So I’m keeping up the tradition of being late!
So. Two years. May seem like a long time, but actually isn’t. I can’t believe I have been here for so long. I haven’t even reset my scrobbles, they can still be found here on my profile…
Tokio Hotel,
Lostprophets,
My Chemical Romance… Everything. I just haven’t felt like getting rid of them. And why should I? Yes, yes, a little profile cleaning wouldn’t probably do any harm… I just like all those funny skeletons in my closet, that’s it. I have listened to them once, and they’re all parts of my musical history, so I’ll let them be there.
Well, I have had a
great year in music. Simply
great! The summer of 2008 has probably been the best musical period of my life so far. And that great enthusiasm didn’t cease as autumn leaves started to fall again, no… I found more and more interesting bands, artists and genres to check out. Music is a one huge ocean. Better not get drowned.
Anyway… During this year, there has been one genre that has ruled a big part of my music taste. And it is…
power metal. No laughters, please, ha-ha!
In the summer of 2008, my friend introduced me to this great genre. I became hooked immediately. A door opened in front of my eyes, and I saw a completely new world full of possibilities and paths to follow. I saw glorious warriors, enchanted lands, evergreen fields, immortal legends… Like I had returned to home after a long journey. I fell in love. Yep, I do know that many people tend to look down on anything related to power metal. But I couldn’t care less. And all those genre stuffs aren’t important, after all – it’s music that matters, nothing else.
Okay… Why does power metal please me, then? I don’t really know. I only know that I like good stories, whether they’re dealing with fantasy subjects or war or…gardening. I love melodies and guitar solos, and I love epic masterpieces. Power metal must be one of my personal full strikes or something, ha-ha. And…actually I don’t even want to explain these things, so…let’s move on, shall we?
Thinking about my past year on Last.fm, many paths seem to lead to one band:
HammerFall. Another personal full strike, I’d say, and definitely the most remarkable group of all those power metal (or simply
heavy metal, like HammerFall guys say) bands I’ve fallen in love with during the past year. I can tell you that HammerFall has become one of my favourite bands ever. Since this friend of mine made me listen to
Renegade, I’ve… Well, no, Renegade didn’t really impress me – but this friend somehow decided to send me all the HammerFall studio albums, and I couldn’t help falling in love. This is, however, another story, read it
here if you’re interested.
So… In the summer of 2008, I found a band that soon became one of my favourites. What else? Well, I found the melody of my life. I found
In Memoriam, and its creator,
Stefan Elmgren. What a great guitar player! In Memoriam was the second HammerFall track I heard, and the one that got me into the band. It’s a massive guitar-driven instrumental song with a grandiloquent, swinging melody that leads its listener through an unbelievable journey. It inspires me time after time, and it… I can’t get enough of it. I can’t.
Have you ever heard a perfect song? A song that strikes you like an arrow (quoting HammerFall’s
Stronger Than All, yup), bangs like a lightning? Well, I have never been banged by a lightning or an arrow. But I have heard a song like that. I would change nothing in In Memoriam.
Nothing. Not a single chord, not a single tone. I love it just the way that it is. My former art teacher once said she believed everyone had a completely perfect song for themselves somewhere waiting; they just had to find it. I agree. And I believe I have found my own song.
What a year indeed… I found a band that pleases me in every possible way – at least almost –, and I found the melody of my life. But that’s not everything, no… I also found a bunch of other great power metal bands, such as
Cryonic Temple,
Rhapsody of Fire,
Iced Earth,
Dream Evil,
Helloween and
Sabaton. I especially fell in love with Rhapsody’s epic masterpieces and great symphonic melodies. Sometimes I still find myself wondering how such brilliant music can exist on this planet.
Never Forgotten Heroes is, in my opinion, one of the best pieces of music ever written. Period.
And then there is Cryonic Temple… Yes. What an incredibly great band! Just so underrated, so terribly underrated… Seriously, I love Cryonic Temple, and I want people to get to know them. It’s just…power metal at its best, really! Feel free to check them out and spread the word. I don’t want to advertise or anything, it’s just so strange that they haven’t received any more publicity… Such a great, great band!
Steel Against Steel,
Rivers of Pain and
Metal Brothers are good examples, I think.
Okay. Let’s end this power metal section now, shall we? I mean, I actually didn’t listen to power metal, only, ha-ha… I also found Mr.
Mark Knopfler and his band
Dire Straits. And fell in love with both. I must have listened Knopfler’s album
Sailing To Philadelphia hundreds of times, ha-ha… It’s just so great. That man must be a genius or something.
What It Is, for example, and
Silvertown Blues. And
Sailing To Philadelphia, oh yeah! Dire Straits, too, what an awesome band. I’m in love with
Brothers In Arms.
Telegraph Road is a complete masterpiece as well. Just…great!
There have also been lots of
Gary Moore during the past year, yes. Another great artist my father liked. I have also found these immortal classics he seemed to love:
Led Zeppelin,
Uriah Heep, and
Deep Purple. The last one didn’t keep my interest for very long, but I really like Led Zeppelin. And Uriah Heep, probably the most hilarious band ever (if you don’t count
Gamma Ray, which, by the way, seems absolutely loveable)!
Blood Red Roses is simply
great.
I could name you a bunch of other bands, too, but I guess that those above-mentioned groups are enough to show how pleasant my year was, musically. Let’s move on and talk about gigs!
I attended one concert and one festival: a Dynasty Tour 2008 show in October, and Sauna Open Air 2009 in June. Dynasty Tour performers were
The Rasmus,
Mariko, and
Von Hertzen Brothers. It was a great concert, and I had a very good time there! You can read my review
here.
Sauna Open Air is an annual Finnish metal festival, and the reason why I fought my way there was HammerFall. I had a change to see them live, and it just… Well, it was the first festival experience of my life, and also one of my best experiences ever. The bands I saw live were
Sparzanza,
Poisonblack and HammerFall. And yeah, there was a little bit of
Finntroll, too… We had a great, great time, me and my brother! My review with pics can be found
here.
So, if you read between the lines, you should find out that my musical year has been quite nice. I’ve got to know many, many great artists and bands, and I’ve been enjoying their music a lot. I wouldn’t probably change a thing. This has been a great year, and I’m already looking forward to finding more interesting bands, songs and genres. And people. Meeting new people here on Last.fm is always pleasant – and, of course, keeping in touch with the old ones.
One more thing now…
Keep the flame burning!
Thanks for everything!
Janita Nahkala AKA Chikyro
Gary Moore
