MOTORHEAD - ACE OF SPADES

(Rigsy - ATL Presenter)



As the rest of the ATL office gleefully declared today, I am possibly the least metal person in the world. Even the stuff that I like which I think is rock is probably known to most as indie. Thus, my lame tastes in guitar music would no doubt be greeted with hilarity and disdain by most. I do quite like Ace Of Spades though...

IRON MAIDEN - PHANTOM OF THE OPERA

(Paul McClean - ATL Producer)



Up to 1985 and a certain soft drink advertisement, it was all synth pop and boating shoes for a young Carrick lad. Enter Iron Maiden's Phantom Of The Opera. It isn't necessarily Maiden's finest track, but it was the first that lifted the lid on a whole new, dark world of metal. The combination of power, speed and heads down riffage was intoxicating. At one point, there were no less than six different Evil Eddie posters up my bedroom wall, which considering my brother was a religious chap, and we shared a room, didn't fly too well. Later, it transpired that Bruce Dickinson was a fencing champion and wrote history books, rather than eating non-pagan babies as an aperitif and drinking hemlock. Illusions shattered, it was time to take down Aces High, Two Minutes To Midnight and the terrifying Number Of The Beast, (the cover of which featured hordes of souls slipping inexorably into Hell). My brother is now a missionary. I produce ATL. Work that out.

PANTERA - COWBOYS FROM HELL

(Amy McGarrigle - ATL Content Assistant)



Apparently a departure from their 'Glam Metal' days (that I know nothing about), this tune (and album) was the beginning of the end for me. The chugging guitars, the screech of Phil Anselmo, and Dimebags guitar solo, I'd never heard so many pitch harmonics in one song. It was a world I knew nothing about until this album and one I would fall in love with (albeit fairly briefly). It fell away from my stereo for years until I was in The Underworld in London a couple of years ago, where I most certainly embarrassed myself and those with me. RIFF!

BLACK SABBATH - THE WIZARD

(Joe Lindsay - ATL Chum)



When it comes to the majesty of rock and the mystery of roll, it is a virtual shmorgesbord of riffage. If I had to pick a favourite I would look to the frankly flawless Black Sabbath. Back before his missus turned him into a complete parody, Ozzy was actually in a great band, making great music. The pinnacle for me comes from their eponymously titled debut. The Wizard starts with a bluesy harmonica then quickly erupts with drums like Satans door-knockers and guitars that reveal an R n B foundation, upon which they built a dark cathedral of rock. The blue-print of metal was carved in stone like the 11th commandment!!

METALLICA - CRASH COURSE IN BRAIN SURGERY

(Warren Bell - ATL Web King)



I'm not a big metal fan, but I've had my moments. While I may not be a slave to the genre, I know what I like, and I like this. Pre-pomposity era Metallica, from the excellent Garage Days Re-revisited EP of rawly recorded covers, it kicks off with a deliciously frenetic Jason Newsted bass lick (his first recorded contribution after the tragic death of Cliff Burton) and launches into some of the finest "everyone in a car headbanging together" metal anyone could ask for. The whole EP's worth a look actually, even for notorious anti-Metallicaite like Rigsy.