Disclaimer: Any opinions expressed in this message are solely my own, and hopefully yours.
I was going to put this in the What was the first Enchant song you heard? thread, but I figured it was too long, so heres my story. And yes, Im stickin to it. Its long and spans decades, but please humor me.
Ill start about 1977, in my algebra class. Someone brought some albums into class that they had been listening to in the previous class, music. The album cover depicted a nude man fending off a large star that resembled a pentagram. The name of the band was Rush and he swore the album was awesome. I scoffed and said that they werent going anywhere. Note that I had not listened to it.
Forward to winter of 1980, I had joined the Navy the previous summer of 1979. I went to the barracks laundry room and heard some very loud music that the guy on watch was playing. The guy was a black fellow wearing dark shades and his head was doing the head banging motions. The music was excellent and I immediately like it. I went upstairs and asked my roommate if he had heard it. Indeed he had, he told me it was Rush, 2112. I immediately recognized the name and was surprised. Believe it or not it took me months and getting stationed in a different state to find a store with the cassette. I commenced buying every Rush album.
Forward to about 1993, I left the Navy in 1985 and got married in 1990 and now had a lovely daughter and an addiction to a PC connected to Compuserve. I searched the forums and found other people that were also fans of Rush. I started subscribing to The National Midnight Star, which was emailed on a regular basis. It was an email based forum distributed by a list server. In retrospect, I was observing the birth of flaming, but it did have some very good discussions. One that came up in many issues was about a band named Dream Theater. I had never heard of them, but based on what I was reading in the NMS, you either loved them or hated them. Sadly the NMS has ceased publication. If you search the web, you can find archives of the issues.
Forward to about 2000, I now had a daughter and a son. Around 1995 I had broken my addiction to Compuserve with an addiction to the internet. However the internet wasnt quite as developed as Compuserve so I lost touch with the Rush fan community. Eventually I found the internet gathering places for people that liked Rush as much or more than I did. And still the discussions of the band Dream Theater existed. Finally I could take no more. It was as if Fate had decreed that I listen to them. I had received my new BMG CD catalog in which Dream Theater; Scenes From A Memory was given a lot of space. I ordered it.. We went camping the weekend I got the CD, so I took it with me. I put it in the player and was surprised at the type of voice that the vocalist had. I really didnt get to listen to it because I was too busy. A few weeks later I took it to work and got a chance to listen to it over and over and over. I started buying all the studio albums by Dream Theater.
I started lurking the Dream Theater official forum and kept hearing of a band named Spocks Beard. It took some time, but I eventually went and bought Spocks Beard; V. I immediately loved it and commenced buying Spocks Beard albums and lurked the Spocks Beard official forum. If youve never lurked there, be informed that they tend to mention a lot of bands there. Thats a good thing. One of the bands that was mentioned many times was Enchant. I resisted for awhile, but in a fit of hunger for new music, eventually went out and bought Break. I loved it. The next weekend I went and bought Juggling 9 Or Dropping 10. When I heard What To Say, my heart stuttered. The song stirs up such emotion.
Forward to 2002, I bought Blink Of An Eye as soon as I realized it was released. This new album was like the next page of a good book that keeps getting better and better with each chapter. The guitar is simply breath taking and emotional and once again, the lyrics are required reading.
So ends the tale of how I met Enchant. Whats even more interesting, to me, is that all of the new music Im listening to is the result of me doing my laundry in the winter of 1980. That includes Dream Theater, Spocks Beard, Enchant, Pain Of Salvation, The Flower Kings, Transatlantic, Symphony X, and Planet X.
- Frank
I was going to put this in the What was the first Enchant song you heard? thread, but I figured it was too long, so heres my story. And yes, Im stickin to it. Its long and spans decades, but please humor me.
Ill start about 1977, in my algebra class. Someone brought some albums into class that they had been listening to in the previous class, music. The album cover depicted a nude man fending off a large star that resembled a pentagram. The name of the band was Rush and he swore the album was awesome. I scoffed and said that they werent going anywhere. Note that I had not listened to it.
Forward to winter of 1980, I had joined the Navy the previous summer of 1979. I went to the barracks laundry room and heard some very loud music that the guy on watch was playing. The guy was a black fellow wearing dark shades and his head was doing the head banging motions. The music was excellent and I immediately like it. I went upstairs and asked my roommate if he had heard it. Indeed he had, he told me it was Rush, 2112. I immediately recognized the name and was surprised. Believe it or not it took me months and getting stationed in a different state to find a store with the cassette. I commenced buying every Rush album.
Forward to about 1993, I left the Navy in 1985 and got married in 1990 and now had a lovely daughter and an addiction to a PC connected to Compuserve. I searched the forums and found other people that were also fans of Rush. I started subscribing to The National Midnight Star, which was emailed on a regular basis. It was an email based forum distributed by a list server. In retrospect, I was observing the birth of flaming, but it did have some very good discussions. One that came up in many issues was about a band named Dream Theater. I had never heard of them, but based on what I was reading in the NMS, you either loved them or hated them. Sadly the NMS has ceased publication. If you search the web, you can find archives of the issues.
Forward to about 2000, I now had a daughter and a son. Around 1995 I had broken my addiction to Compuserve with an addiction to the internet. However the internet wasnt quite as developed as Compuserve so I lost touch with the Rush fan community. Eventually I found the internet gathering places for people that liked Rush as much or more than I did. And still the discussions of the band Dream Theater existed. Finally I could take no more. It was as if Fate had decreed that I listen to them. I had received my new BMG CD catalog in which Dream Theater; Scenes From A Memory was given a lot of space. I ordered it.. We went camping the weekend I got the CD, so I took it with me. I put it in the player and was surprised at the type of voice that the vocalist had. I really didnt get to listen to it because I was too busy. A few weeks later I took it to work and got a chance to listen to it over and over and over. I started buying all the studio albums by Dream Theater.
I started lurking the Dream Theater official forum and kept hearing of a band named Spocks Beard. It took some time, but I eventually went and bought Spocks Beard; V. I immediately loved it and commenced buying Spocks Beard albums and lurked the Spocks Beard official forum. If youve never lurked there, be informed that they tend to mention a lot of bands there. Thats a good thing. One of the bands that was mentioned many times was Enchant. I resisted for awhile, but in a fit of hunger for new music, eventually went out and bought Break. I loved it. The next weekend I went and bought Juggling 9 Or Dropping 10. When I heard What To Say, my heart stuttered. The song stirs up such emotion.
Forward to 2002, I bought Blink Of An Eye as soon as I realized it was released. This new album was like the next page of a good book that keeps getting better and better with each chapter. The guitar is simply breath taking and emotional and once again, the lyrics are required reading.
So ends the tale of how I met Enchant. Whats even more interesting, to me, is that all of the new music Im listening to is the result of me doing my laundry in the winter of 1980. That includes Dream Theater, Spocks Beard, Enchant, Pain Of Salvation, The Flower Kings, Transatlantic, Symphony X, and Planet X.
- Frank
