Friday, February 27, 2009

New discoveries of old music...

I suppose I might come off as some sort of music maven to some folks, especially considering my fondness for all the old country no one plays on the radio outside of what's been referred to as "the Sunday-night ghetto." It's not the case in all the genres, though; there's still a LOT I don't know. Just as an example, I didn't remember hearing much of the metal band Queensryche when I was growing up; as a matter of fact the only two songs I remember hearing from them, ever, were "Silent Lucidity" and "Jet City Woman." Of course that's changed in a big way now, as I've heard several more songs from them, all from their 1988 landmark album Operation: Mindcrime. I really liked all of them, and I heard another one this morning that really made me sit up and take notice:

...Sixteen and on the run from home
Found a job in Times Square
Working Live S&M shows
Twenty-five bucks a fuck
And John's a happy man
She wipes the filth away
And it's back on the streets again
Spreading the disease
Everybody needs
But no one wants to see
Father William saved her from the streets
She drank the lifeblood from the saviour's feet
She's Sister Mary now, eyes as cold as ice
He takes her once a week
On the altar like a sacrifice...


One could say I had more or less the same reaction I did upon hearing pre-Black Album Metallica: "Holy shit, that's hardcore..." Not terrestrial radio-friendly by any means, but still a great song. I am definitely going to have to hunt this cd down.