httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKABLbWbUPM
I started college right about when Napster hit the scene. Combined with a T1 connection, it was a great time to find music, and as much money as I spent on cds over the next few years, I feel I was a pretty good counter-point to ol' Lars's crap about music downloading. One of the first bands I found that stood out and sparked an interest in metal for me was Iced Earth. It was something of a revelation for me and set me off on a journey of discovery that has only recently slowed down due to lack of funds for things like cds, mostly because of kids and beer (and grown up life cost way too much money).
I know the video is kind of long, but its both one of my favorite songs of all time and a great live performance. Well worth the time investment.
At the same time, through Napster (and later Audio Galaxy) and the old About Heavy Metal forum (my first real internet community I was a part of), I discovered a lot of new bands I hadn't even heard of or would have considered in high school. Blind Guardian was the second band that really slapped me in the face and made me pay attention. Since I started this post with a literature based song, may as well keep up with that theme for today. This one's about Dune.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbsUpWvwec4
My main interests at this point were traditional (Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Iced Earth, etc.) and power metal (Blind Guardian, Hammerfall, Symphony X, etc.), with just a bit of the Goethenburg melodic "death" metal (Dark Tranquillity, In Flames before they became terrible, At the Gates, etc.) being thrown in there as sort of an introduction to the harsher vocal stuff. Mostly, though, it was clean vocals and soaring riffs and, as I've discussed a bit with DG in the past, a more melodic sound. Getting away from the angsty lyrics opened things up considerably, as well, and I'm glad I got out of that nu-metal scene before I had to listen to the whiny ramblings of a band like Linkin Park.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulfnJ0E34fU
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I listened to the whole thing...had a hard time picking up the lyrics, but otherwise thought it was entertaining. Some pretty epic guitar stuff in all three vids - could barely fight the urge to head bang and wail on my air guitar with a few of the solos/riffs in Traveler In Time, specifically from 3:35 to 4:30. Can you say, "SHREDDING IT"?
The best part about that is that is pretty much exactly how it sounds on the studio version. I don't play any instruments, but I suspect it is pretty difficult to play a complicated section from memory in a live setting. I'd love to see these guys live sometime, but I doubt they come to Wisconsin too often.