#30 With my old church life now fading behind me, I returned to my - TopicsExpress

#30 With my old church life now fading behind me, I returned to my roots. I moved back into my poor parents house and reestablished myself there. I still had friends at church, but I became dismissive of their concerns that I was backsliding into sin. I was still a believer, but I found it harder and harder to reconcile those beliefs with being me. With Russ help, I taught myself the most important thing I needed to know about playing guitar... the power chord. I moved from the job at the mall to a position as a baker for Safeway. The baker job pretty much sealed my departure from the church as I was required to work weekends. Being back at my parents house ensured that I no longer had anyone looking over my shoulder at my music selection. Late Saturday nights, the MTV show Headbangers Ball ran for 3 hours. Because music videos had become big business during my years of isolation, I was instantly fascinated. Instead of rock magazines, I now had a 3 hour sample of metal of all types to pick and choose from. Metal had gone from being an underground/stoner thing in the early 80s to being generally accepted as a valid form of music as the decade wound down. Hair bands had become quite successful and it wasnt uncommon to hear people from all walks of life listening to Bon Jovi, Poison and Motley Crue. On one particular afternoon, as Russ and I were sitting around watching videos and hanging out, a new video premiered from a band that was quickly gaining popularity for their first hit from their debut album. This band almost had the look and sound of many of their hair band contemporaries, but not quite. They had the hair, but they really didnt do much makeup wise. They wore pants and tight shirts, but there was something distinctly raggedy about their look. More importantly, though, was feeling that the music evoked. It felt like barely contained chaos. It felt as though at any point, the whole thing would erupt into a maelstrom of violence. Some of the death metal bands featured on Headbangers Ball didnt feel nearly as aggressive as this band did. These guys came to play rock, and if you didnt like it, that was ok because they were still going to punch you in the face as hard as they could with it. I was scared... and, perhaps, a little bit in love. Welcome to the Jungle - Guns N Roses https://youtube/watch?v=o1tj2zJ2Wvg