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Staff page - Matthew
Matthew is no longer part of the RevelationZ staff. As long as his articles are available on the site, this page will be here.
I'm Matthew McDaniels, I'm 26 years old, and I'm currently living in Phoenix, Arizona, USA. I guess I'll start by letting everyone know how I got into Metal, and why it ends up taking up all of my free time!
In 1984, when I was 6 years old (Yeah! Metal from the age of 6! : )), I spent all of my time after school watching MTV. I thought the 80's Rock and New Wave stuff that MTV mostly played was ok, and then one day the video for Twisted Sister's We're Not Gonna Take It burst into my living room, and my life hasn't been the same since. Although I'm not the biggest Twisted Sister fan anymore, their music did help commence my love of Metal.
I received Twisted Sister's album Stay Hungry as a present soon after I saw the video for the first time. I listened to it at least 10 times a day, eventually wearing it out until I had to get another copy, and I watched every episode of Headbanger's Ball on MTV (ahhh, the good old days). For the next few years, besides 80's Metal I listened to stuff like Bon Jovi, Scorpions, and Queen (Queen being one of my favorite bands of all time). I slowly started listening to Metal less and less. Partly because I lived in a small town in Michigan, USA, and couldn't find a lot of Metal near me, but mostly because the American music industry slowly abandoned Metal in favor of the uninspired, insipid horseshit that populates the airwaves nowadays, and then rammed it down our throats. It was difficult for me in those pre-Internet days to discover new Metal.
That all changed when I was about 15. A HUGE influence in my musical life was the purchase of Helloween's Keeper of the 7 Keys Part 2 album. I picked this one up when I was about 15 after hearing about how great it was from some friends, and was blown away. I just couldn't get enough of the gorgeous melodies and speedy guitar solos, so I tracked down the Keeper of the 7 Keys Part 1 and Walls of Jericho albums soon after and have been a big Helloween fan ever since. I just saw Helloween in concert, here in Arizona a few months ago with Jag Panzer, and they haven't lost any of things that I loved about them so long ago. I owe a lot to Helloween for opening the floodgates to a world of Power Metal of which I had previously been unaware.
Another memorable Metal discovery for me was the first time I heard the band X-Japan. A friend of mine in high school went to Japan for a summer and came back with two albums by X-Japan: Blue Blood, and Jealousy. I was into Japanese culture and films at that time (and still am) and he knew I'd probably enjoy hearing an actual Japanese band, so he let me borrow the albums. I remember bringing the CDs home, popping Jealousy into my CD player, and laying on my bed after a long day at school. The beautiful piano intro to the second track, Silent Jealousy, began to play and after a minute or so, the twin guitar attack of guitarists Pata & hide burst out of my speakers. I sat up in my bed with my mouth open, and it didn't close for the length of the song. After it was over, I hit repeat and listened to the track 10 times in a row. To this day, nearly 9 years later, Silent Jealousy is my number one favorite song of all time. If you haven't heard of X-Japan, and are a fan of Melodic Metal, you must track down a copy of either Jealousy or X-Singles and experience one of the best groups of musicians in the history of Metal. The way songwriter/drummer/pianist Yoshiki adds piano, violins, and heart-wrenching emotion to some genuinely fabulous Metal is truly out of this world. The only other bands that have been able to emotionally affect me with their music in this way are Lost Horizon, Enuff Z'Nuff, and Savatage (particularly with their Streets album). One other thing - X-Japan's ballads are by far the best I've ever heard, in any genre of music.
So now I'm 26, and I continue to live and breathe Metal every day of my life. These days I'm mostly into Melodic Power/Speed Metal, but I'm very open-minded when it comes to Metal (and music in general) and don't limit myself to any one or two genres. I dig it all - Heavy, Prog, Neoclassical, Thrash, Symphonic, Black - all kinds of Metal, as well as Classic and Hard Rock. Some of my favorite bands are (in no particular order): Helloween, Iced Earth, X-Japan, Enuff Z'Nuff, Savatage, Rhapsody, Edguy, Angra, Queen, Lost Horizon, Children of Bodom, Iron Maiden, Sonata Arctica, & Rainbow. I have just over 700 CDs, and although the majority of it is Metal (probably 600 of 'em), I also have some Classical, Opera, Japanese Pop, and some other stuff in there to mix it up.
That's me as far as my musical tastes are concerned. In my day job, I work in the credit field here in Arizona, and I oversee a group of about 15 or so people. In my spare time, I'm an aspiring writer, and I'm working on two screenplays and a novel right now. Apart from that, I spend a lot of time playing the piano and guitar (I like to mostly play stuff by Listz and Chopin on the piano, and with the guitar it's all Metal), playing video games, and watching movies. My favorite movies include: Bottle Rocket, anything Monty Python, Pulp Fiction, Clerks, Evil Dead 2, and Hard Boiled, Wet Hot American Summer, and Napoleon Dynamite. Also, I've been learning to speak Japanese for the last 5 years or so, and although I am not fluent yet, I'm getting pretty good.
In the end, all you should know is that I love Metal. I listen to Metal every day, I'm constantly scouring CD stores and the Internet for new Metal purchases, and I'm always on the lookout for Metal bands that come here to the US for concerts (although that's not always easy, since most of my favorite bands don't tour here). Shoot me an email if you wanna talk!
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Here I am striking an ultra-nerdy pose in front of my favorite Chicago Metal store
My Top Ten Favorite Albums |
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RevelationZ Comments
| Comment by Paula Stevenson (Anonymous) - Friday, May 14, 2004 | WOW, what a great edition to revelationz!
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| Comment by Candie Bartlett (Anonymous) - Friday, May 14, 2004 | Matthew's keen insight into the world of medal is refreshing.
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| Comment by Mandy (Anonymous) - Saturday, May 15, 2004 | Hi Matt! It's your sister mandy! Mom told me about this site, congrats this is super sweet! Well I haven't talked to you in a long time, so just seeing how your doing? Talk to you soon! Love You, Mandy
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| Comment by Daniel Overman (Anonymous) - Sunday, May 16, 2004 | I have heard of this Matt McDaniels fellow before, is it true he has an inflatable farm for his other needs?
Thank you.
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| Comment by Walt Szpara (Anonymous) - Monday, May 17, 2004 | Matt seems to have a very good background, and should make a good staff person for you.
Graduate of Mich State U, E.E.
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| Comment by Matthew (Anonymous) - Monday, May 17, 2004 | Daniel Overman! You are wrong as wrong can be - I do NOT have an inflatable farm! What am I, a weirdo? I only have an inflatable goat, and a rubber monkey. And also, they are just friends...nothing more...
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| Comment by Anastasia Beverhousen (Anonymous) - Friday, May 21, 2004 | Matthew Rocks! He has very good taste in music and I'm very happy he has joined the staff!
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| Comment by Paul Childs (Anonymous) - Thursday, May 27, 2004 | Hi Matt,welcome aboard...try living in New Zealand if you want to catch your favourite bands..no chance.
cheers.
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| Comment by Simone (Anonymous) - Thursday, June 24, 2004 | Up the X Japan the best band in the world
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| Comment by jamie (Anonymous) - Friday, October 22, 2004 | have you ever tried out nightwish? they are absolutely amazing, and their most recent cd is the best yet.
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| Comment by Scott Sz (Anonymous) - Wednesday, December 1, 2004 | I never knew!!!!!!! What lies under the nerdy exterior? It is interesting and deep. Keep banging!
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| Comment by annonymous (Anonymous) - Thursday, June 9, 2005 | Hi, Matt remember me from Jackie's party.... thanks for the memories....
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| Comment by greekalien (Anonymous) - Wednesday, December 14, 2005 | I discovered x-japan.... it's fuckin amazing!! I would like to have a chat with you, add me (msn) msnforjoy@hotmail.com
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| Comment by Marco (Anonymous) - Sunday, October 22, 2006 | Hey Matthew!I red your review of X-Japan's third album(Jealousy)and I decided to try listening to it.Now X-Japan is my favourite band and I can't let a day pass without listening to one of their songs.I owe this incredible discovery to you and I'll be always grateful for that.Thanks dude!Cheers
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| Comment by Christopher (Anonymous) - Friday, January 5, 2007 | Very nice site!
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