It was draining being out in the water and sun that long. It felt good to be on my way home from Devils lake. It was most likely going to be the last trip I went on that summer, but it didn't bother me. I just sat there staring out the window, while my listened to the local rock radio station. I zoned in and out of listening to it up until I heard a song that started to make me head bang. me and my dad both liked it. they announce that they were playing Metallica on the radio, but I had no idea what Metallica sounded like up until then. Over the next few months I had heard that particular maybe one more time. Beyond that, I had basically forgotten about the song, but it still stuck in the back of my mind somewhere.
Before any of this had happened, I was stuck in a world where the heaviest music came from Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, and AC/DC. There appeared to be nothing out there with any "oompf". I was becoming a teenager, which meant I was more hormonal, angrier, and just down right moodier. I knew that since I was such a huge dork that hardly anybody liked that having a girlfriend was out of the picture so I needed a different way to relieve tension. I wasn't a very violent person so I wasn't going to just start hitting people or anything. Something had to happen though. I was losing it!
I was sick of everything. Classic Rock wasn't any good anymore. I knew very well that the pop music kids had been listening to was absolute crap. The music on the pop stations were so childish and had the most shallow lyrics I had ever heard, and kids kept telling me that it was the best. I even tried lying to myself think I could get into that stuff, but it just wasn't me. I despised that stuff. I hated boy bands (they all, literally sounded exactly the same) I hated those eye candy pop singers. they were nothing but piece of meat for the dogs and had almost no vocal talent (which didn't matter, Because computers fixed that aspect)
March rolls around, and I had almost completely forgotten about that song. but then I heard it one more time on the radio. It was now my third time hearing the song. It sounded even better now that I had some louder speakers to hear it. I looked at my dad, and with authority I look him dead in the eye and say, "I really really like that song". Little did I know that he had actually taken that inward, and thought about what I had just told him.
Over the next few days he kept asking me what I wanted for my birthday. My Birthday was on the 15th which wasn't too far away. Of course I kept telling him I didn't know and that I didn't really want anything. My dad knew better than that. So, on my birthday, it wasn't a surprise that he had a gift for me.
I pulled the bag towards me. I looked in and pulled out the first out of two items in the bag. It was a black T-shirt with an flaming skull on it. The skull was orange with slight streaks of purple to emphasize depth and shading. It didn't appear as if the skull was on fire but rather the skull was made of fire. It seemed pretty cool to a 13 year old (and still is a pretty cool shirt). That shirt was nothing compared to what I was about to pull out of the bag next.
I thought at first that the shirt was all that was in the bag, but I noticed something sitting on the bottom. I was in a shiny black case. it appeared to be a CD. I was correct. I looked at it with a slightly confused look on my face. I couldn't tell what the CD was. It appeared to just be plain black. but then I tilted it back to there was a bit of a glare. I noticed a coiled snake in the bottom right corner but I couldn't tell what was in the top left corner. It looked like letters but I couldn't make them out. I looked on the side. "Well?" my dad asked. I looked up with a smile, "Metallica, huh?". I got really excited, and tore the wrapping of as if it would explode if it wasn't off of there in time. The first thing I did was pop the CD into the player. I was so excited that my finger almost missed the "Play" button at first. Then, the first track began. The guitar opens the song with such and amped up sound that I haven't heard before. It vibrated parts of the house that I didn't realize could shake just by the sounds of a song. The vocals kick in with a lot more force than anything I had ever heard. The drums were so precise and hit me like fireworks. It sounded so heavy, and so rough. It sounded like it could punch you in the face if you got close enough to the speakers. I thought to myself, "Wow, there is now way anything could beat that!"
I'm glad my dad bought that CD for me. If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't have made that push to just branch out and find music that appeals to me. He taught me that it was okay to change my style a bit, and that changing did mean I wasn't being true to who I was. Changing just meant that I was getting older. Nowadays I have found music that could most definitely out do Metallica, but back then, it was edgy.
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