Metallica’s Black Album was never good. It just took several hundred listens for me to accept such a harsh reality as a devout tween metalhead. And I would like to say the band redeemed itself since then, but they haven’t. If anything, they’ve only sunken further into a pool of shit, money, and bad haircuts. The Black Album would have been more tolerable though had it sounded like this Metallica/Bryan Adams mash-up by Wax Audio. James Hetfield’s voice is pitched up just enough to get me all nostalgic about the good old days.
Black Album Redux: Enter You
The Lessons of Glenn Danzig
In 1990, I bought my first guitar. It was a black Ibanez RG560. I paid for it with money earned from my paper route, delivering the Pittsburgh Press. But I forgot about sales tax. I always forgot about sales tax when buying things as a kid. My parents covered the difference. I took the guitar home and had nothing to plug it into. No amp. So I strummed on it, almost silently, and attempted to play from my Mel Bay Guitar for Beginners book. Read more…
The Faith of Graffiti: Watching My Name Go By
Graffiti writers in New York City, 1973. (Photo: Jon Naar)
Back in 1973, Norman Mailer and Jon Naar collaborated on The Faith of Graffiti. The book combined Mailer’s essay about the kids who were writing their names on the walls and subway cars in New York City at the time with Naar’s photographs. The Faith had been out of print for years, until HarperCollins reissued it this past January. I’ve read large pieces of Mailer’s essay over the years, but never had the opportunity to sit and absorb it in its intended format, as a book of words and images. So many of today’s books about graffiti are defined by glossy pictures and provide little or no historical context from an author — often there’s no text at all. Books like this end up in clearance bins after being zeroed out from the displays at Urban Outfitters, or countless other culture emporiums. Read more…
A Brief Phone Conversation with Harvey Pekar
Back in 2005, I called Harvey Pekar on the phone. My reason for calling was to ask if he’d be interested in contributing an essay to an anthology I was putting together called Fame & Misfortune. I’d gotten his number from a man who used to book him for speaking engagements. He told me: “Harvey’s real cool, just give him a call.” So I did. The phone rang a few times, then Harvey picked up. I heard that same voice I came to know from his days on Letterman. It was scratchy and distinct, brimming with character. Read more…
The House That Brev Mekis Built
The home of the late Brev Mekis in Athens, Ga. (Photo: D. Nelson)
Rumor has it that R.E.M.’s new album, Fables of the Reconstruction, contains a song about a schizophrenic man named Brev Mekis, who actually divided his home into two separate living spaces, one for each of his dual personalities. I say this is rumor, because I don’t own a single R.E.M. record. Nor do I keep up with their career. But I’ve been told their early work is good. That knowledge has still never motivated me to seek it out and willingly hand money to a stranger in exchange for their music. Perhaps someday. Read more…
