I bought this somewhere in Canada. I don't even remember where. It was at this music store in kind of an outdoor shopping center, possibly near Edmonton. I don't remember. Anyway, there's a lot of stuff on here. There's some good stuff, some great stuff, and some wretchedly horrible stuff (I'm looking at you Clawfinger). This is also noteworthy because it is the first time I heard Slayer and Ministry.
That Canada trip was fairly important in my formation as a metalhead. I bought several random cassettes during the trip, including the ever popular (mystifyingly enough) Quiet Riot. I also bought this cassette, the Sepultura Roots CD, my first metal t-shirt (also Sepultura which I have since lost), and my first issue of Metal Maniacs. This is probably when I stopped being a casual fan of the genre and became much more.
Anyway, enough sidetracking, on to the compilation!
MOTLEY CRUE: "SMOKE THE SKY"
This was a single off of the band's first release after Vince Neil was kicked out. John Corabi is actually a pretty decent vocalist and he lent a harder edge to the band's sound. The riffs had a heavier bottom end and were more powerful as well. Of course people didn't listen to the Crue because they were heavy so the album flopped. It's a decent song though and highly underrated.
ANTHRAX: "AUF WIEDERSEHEN"
This is a cover of a Cheap Trick song done when John Bush took over on vocals. I don't like Cheap Trick so I don't have anything good to say about this song. This was only available on the Japanese release of Sound of White Noise.
STONE TEMPLE PILOTS: "SEX TYPE THING"
NFM. But, this is my favorite song by Stone Temple Pilots. It wasn't long before Wieland descended into major drug addiction and completely flaked out. I like this song quite well even though it is a major grunge ripoff.
PANTERA: "THE BADGE"
This is another cover song, this time of the hardcore group Poison Idea. They actually pull this off quite well. Dimebag's riffs are razor-sharp as always and Anselmo's voice seems to fit the style. It's fast, nasty, and aggressive. I like this quite a bit better than I thought I would.
MINISTRY: "JUST ONE FIX"
I first heard Ministry on this song right here and what a mindfuck. This song is an absolute juggernaut. It features inhumanly precise riffs, pounding drums, and shrieking vocals. This was a great introduction to the band. For some reason though, I have never really looked much into them further.
SLAYER: "SEASONS IN THE ABYSS"
Also, this tape was the first time I ever heard Slayer. This song is not the most representative of the band's output, as it's a longer song and considerably more melodic. However, it got me hooked. I picked this album up very quickly and soon picked up everything else by the band.
DANZIG: "MOTHER"
This song single-handedly drew me to listen to Danzig. But, I had heard it some time before. I already knew this song well by the time I got this compilation.
CANDLEBOX: "CHANGE"
Grunge rip-off band. NFM. Don't care for it at all.
SKID ROW: "SLAVE TO THE GRIND"
Skid Row came out in the last few years of the hair metal/rock scene. They were never as irritating as their contemporaries of the time and were in fact, a whole lot more metal. This song is a blistering testament to that. This is a great song.
DREAM THEATER: "PULL ME UNDER"
This is my favorite track by Dream Theater. I had taped this song off the radio at some point and always enjoyed it. For some reason, I don't own the album this came from. I only ever bought one Dream Theater album.
HAREM SCAREM: "NO JUSTICE"
This is the opposite of the Skid Row song above. The verse parts are okay, but my god, the chorus is obnoxious. No thanks.
KING'S X: "BLACK FLAG"
King's X is a difficult band to pin down. Existing somewhere in the realm between heavy metal, hard rock, punk, and psychedelia, the band plays with a variety of influences. The one thing they could always do is play amazing songs. This is no exception.
FAITH NO MORE: "MID-LIFE CRISIS"
Faith No More was an early band that helped me get into metal. My older brother and some of his friends loved the band. This helped influence me. This is one of their better songs, which I already had on cassette prior to this compilation.
MY SISTER'S MACHINE: "ENEMY"
This is some sort of mix of funk, metal, and alternative rock. I don't particularly care for it.
CLAWFINGER: "TRUTH"
Awful mix of hard rock with rap vocals. This is just fucking terrible. Plus it's the edited version so we get "fucker" replaced with "sucker" throughout. Embarassingly bad.
BLACK SABBATH: "PARANOID"
Well, obviously this is one of Sabbath's best songs. Hard to believe that it nearly didn't get recorded at all. How different metal would have been.
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